Sarah Paiji Yoo is the co-founder and CEO of Blueland. A trailblazer in the nontoxic consumer cleaning product space, the company launched a year ago on Earth Day. Sarah and her Blueland team are redefining cleaning by replacing single-use plastic with the Forever Bottle, which will last a lifetime. Simply put, consumers refill it with water, drop in the cleaning tablet and go! Repeat forever. The company’s motto: A cleaner planet starts at home.
What are you doing to keep your kids engaged throughout the day while you’re all at home, and how are you approaching your work? My husband and I are both working from home and don’t have any childcare for our very active 3-year-old son Noah. Our jobs require us to be on calls or videos throughout the day, so we definitely need to plan our days and weeks carefully to ensure Noah is engaged.
We set a high-level schedule each Sunday night for the following week. We have activities that we plan for Noah to do each day, and make sure we have the materials ready to go in advance. I’ve found it’s so much easier to batch plan in advance rather than scrambling every day to find new activities, which I was doing initially.
I also have blocked out 1 hour for a morning activity, lunch and dinner with Noah on the calendar every day. It’s helpful to know that I have dedicated time for my son versus feeling pressure to try to do work and play with him continuously.
And of course, TV and lots of snacks have also helped us get through this difficult time. It’s like flying with a toddler; it’s an OK time to break some rules in the name of survival!
How are you lifting your spirits and keeping sane in the midst of this new normal? I’m trying to focus more than ever on being thankful. Despite the uncomfortable circumstances for our family, we certainly have many big things to be thankful for, like our health and safety, as well as being able to have this special moment to spend so much time together as a family. Being a working mother with typically longer hours, it is very unusual to be able to see my husband and son this much, so I’m really trying to relish it.
What’s your biggest challenge right now? I’m typically a big planner, so it’s challenging for me right now to not be able to make plans for both my business as well as our family and home life. It’s so hard at the moment to plan for the rest of the year, much less even next month.
What is your ultimate stay at home garment that’s giving you confidence and comfort? A clean, black T-shirt and my navy Summersalt vegan silk pants
How are you reinventing your Mother’s Day this year? I already have a growing list of delicious things I’d like my husband to bake for Mother’s Day!
About this interview series: As Mother’s Day approaches I’ve thought a lot about the importance of shining a light on all moms, particularly in the midst of this unprecedented new normal. The world is changing, but honoring and celebrating mom remains intact. Mothers come in many forms, those who gave birth to us or adopted us; our grandmothers and best friends; and those who found us in times of need and invited us into their lives. As part of my CANDID interview series, I had the pleasure of connecting with inspiring women who are mothers, founders and dynamic individuals. They share their stories of navigating the now and how they’ll re-invent Mother’s Day this year amidst this ongoing pandemic. I will add features daily to lauraksawyier.com until May 10, and all will be featured on townandstyle.com here as well. -LKS
Laura Katherine Sawyier is a women’s personal and wardrobe stylist and founder of the SALON X LKS event series. She is based in St. Louis and New York City.