At some point, we're all bound to be dealt a bad hand. But many would argue that those ill-fated cards determine how the rest of the game is played. For Juliana Brewer, founder and CEO of Happy 2nd Birthday, her complex deck of cards changed the course of her life.
Brewer and her brother's skin care company was born out of a deep desire to help their late father, who at the time was diagnosed with lymphoma. They struggled endlessly to find quality products that were safe as well as luxurious feeling while he was undergoing treatment.
"He used to have really healthy skin, but numerous chemotherapy and radiation treatments left him with rashes, dermatitis, redness, and very dry and flaky skin," Brewer tells CafeMom. "While he used drugstore brands that were recommended by oncologists, he missed the experience of self-care and feeling good in his skin care routine since the recommended products were pretty basic and bland. This inspired my brother and I to make our own skin care line that would be both safe and beneficial for our dad’s skin."
As if launching a company while caring for a sickly parent weren't enough, Brewer had also just become a mother herself.
Instead of letting that stress her out, she used it as inspiration to make her product even better.
"It was very important to me to create a brand that was safe for pregnant and nursing moms," Brewer emphasizes. "To help us with formulation safety and efficacy, we brought on board a team of dermatologists who specialize in Dermato-Oncology and Cosmetic Dermatology & Surgery as advisors."
But Brewer doesn't want to give the impression it wasn't all without its challenges.
In fact, she openly admits that there wasn't much that wasn't challenging about all of it.
"It took three years from the brand conception to launch day, and in that time I moved from overseas back to the US, had another baby at the start of a pandemic, and my dad passed away after a sudden health decline just three months prior to launch," she recounts. "Overall, I’d say that as a mom, making everyone else a priority made it more challenging. Moms tend to put the rest of the family’s needs first, and there just isn’t enough time or energy to fill their buckets before getting to your own."
Her ability to balance both is her innate will to embrace the chaos.
"My husband and I are used to things seeming to blow up all of a sudden with work, haha," she playfully admits. "I usually allow myself to freak out internally and feel all the feelings first. I find that afterwards, I'm more calm, focused, and determined to find solutions to the problems. It's funny how no matter how big the issue seems, it usually works out just fine in the end. I think after watching my dad's experience with cancer, nothing feels as critical as your health and time with loved ones, so I try to keep that in perspective."
For Brewer, her child rearing and day-to-day work are deeply entwined. Not just by origin story, but on a daily basis as well.
Brewer begins her day at 6:30 a.m., thanks to her early rising kids who are quick to wake Brewer and her husband up.
Brewer says she begins her day by snuggling her two girls.
"It makes me start the day with love and appreciation for another day we have together," she says.
After cuddles, it's time to enjoy the family's favorite meal: Breakfast. Brewer explains that her husband cooks something every morning for their family. Afterward, it's up to her to get the girls dressed and ready for their days, and she's typically the last to get ready. And then the day really begins.
Being the CEO of your own company has its perks, one of them being that Brewer says she has two versions of a typical work day.
One work day has the girls at day care, and in the other version they’re home.
"When they’re at day care, which they only recently started attending, I’ll drop them off around 8:30-8:45 a.m., then come home, make myself a cup of tea, and sit down in front of the computer. I eat lunch around noon and work until I pick up the kids at 3:30 p.m. Some days I’ll get a run in if the weather isn’t too bad. Since I’m also in the Navy Reserve, I check my Navy email and take care of those tasks during that time as well. When they’re not at day care, my work day doesn’t start until 4 p.m. My husband takes over child care while I have meetings, then we have dinner and do bedtime routine, and I resume working at 9 p.m. until 1 or 2 a.m."
Keeping crazy schedules isn't without its sacrifices, but it has shown Brewer's young girls what a great partnership looks like.
Brewer is extremely proud that her girls are getting a front row seat view as to how a healthy parenting relationship works. She notes that her husband is always there to help her manage the load, and the two work as a real team to make their home a happy and healthy place.
"I’m usually the one cooking. I love to cook, and even went to culinary school for baking and pastry arts for fun," she notes. "But my husband, who is an amazing partner, wanted to help take the load off, so he created a family household calendar with a meal plan, chore plan, and grocery list. That way, he could step in at any time and take over without having to ask me what the plan is. It’s nothing fancy, just in a Google Sheet so we can access it and make changes at any time, but it’s been super helpful. Unfortunately the grandparents all live far away from us, so it’s usually just my husband and me taking care of everything. But my husband does a lot around the house, especially when I have to work on weekends, like taking the girls grocery shopping or any cleaning that I didn’t get to during the week. It really is a partnership, and I love that our kids see both parents doing a bit of everything together."
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges she faces is the reality that managing both business and family, even with an amazing partner, can feel impossible.
But Brewer isn't one to make excuses. After all, she knows that if her cup is full, her family's can be, too.
"My husband and I like to watch a show together after the kids go to bed, which is a nice way to get my mind off of anything productive and just relax," she noted. "Then he’ll go work on his hobbies for his 'me time' while I get alone time. Depending on how I feel, I might watch another show or listen to an audio book and do sticker art — my latest discovery, it’s so satisfying! — or bake."
She also makes sure that her "me time" includes connecting with dear friends be it through FaceTime calls or attending ladies' nights once a month and visiting local mom friends' homes.
Aside from wanting Happy 2nd Birthday to succeed, Brewer wants to see her family truly thrive.
While there are so many lessons kids can learn from their own "momtreprenuers," for Brewer, the biggest thing she hopes her children remember is … nothing.
"Since my kids are so young, I hope they don’t remember it as anything that particularly stands out from their childhood," she admits. "Because that’ll mean to me that I was always present, and that they always came first."
*Disclaimer: The advice on CafeMom.com is not a substitute for consultation with a medical professional or treatment for a specific condition. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem without consulting a qualified professional. Please contact your health-care provider with questions and concerns.
