On The Road: Day 1, Mother's Markets

So, we set off early this morning in our car, known as "The Avenger" this morning to our first set of stores.

---------> Our Maxim Mobile doesn't exactly speak, but he definitely reminds me of David Haselhoff's Night Rider.
As is typical with Southern California, traffic was brutal and there was a lot of extra time for music & existential musing about the purpose of my trip to the West Coast. With the sun streaming in through the windows, and the sound of Woodstock album in the background, the VP and me spoke at length about what good could come out of our in-store demonstrations and general schmoozing with West Coasters. We're very excited to teach as many women about Maxim's organic and natural cotton products as we can, because having choices and creating understanding about periods and products is what Maxim is about at its core.
Today we visited a unique brand of health-oriented and eco-conscious stores called Mother's Markets in Santa Ana, Huntington Beach, Anaheim Hills, and Laguna Woods. When I walked into each store it was hard to miss Mothers' tag line written in big red letters near the doors:

"Mother's Loves You"

I was surprised to see that each store had its own unique personality, but all of them had fresh juice bars and some type of healthy lunch provision station. While we were at the Mother's in Huntington Beach, I got to talk to many different women about their feminine hygiene product preferences, periods, and general experiences as women.

There were three main points about our products that I made sure every woman who came over understood. They were about how Maxim products are:
1. Synthetic Free 2. Chlorine/Dioxin Free 3. Made with Natural & Organic cotton products and not tree fluff pulp

As I stood there, though, all of my demos evolved into conversations...

There was one gorgeously pregnant woman who, after I told her about our natural cotton maternity pads, spoke to me about the medicinal qualities of an herb called "Blue Cohosh." Apparently, some women who are in the final weeks of their pregnancies will take blue cohosh tincture to help induce labor. She also told me that she'd been drinking red raspberry leaf tea throughout her entire pregnancy as a way to tone her uterine lining and keep her blood healthy. It was good to chat with a woman who felt so confident and empowered by her pregnancy.

There was another bright-eyed young lady that came over to my demo table and told me about how strongly she believed in the power of positivity as a part of maintaining woman's health. This young lady had just finished nursing school and was on her way to becoming a holistic healer. She said she'd take all of the points I'd shared with her and pass them on.

------------> Me and my demo table at the Mother's Market in Huntington Beach

Then, soon enough, it was lunch time, which is just about my favorite part of the day. And man oh man was I surprised! About a year ago I became a vegetarian. I won't go into the politics and the nitty-gritty bits of my decision right now, but I will tell you that it's kind of a nightmare to have to eat on the road and that I often end up eating rice and salad. So when I walked into the Cafe at Mother's Market in Huntington Beach, and there was about fifteen different kinds of fake meat, thirty kinds of vegetables and greens, fresh fruit smoothies, quinoa, brown rice, and a whole host of other "crunchy" (Urban Dictionary defines "Crunchy" as: Adjective. Used to describe persons who have adjusted or altered their lifestyle for environmental reasons) delights featured on the menu, I felt elated!

<------------- Vegan Lentil Nut Loaf, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Gingered Greens, Vegan Cob Salad, Vegan Biscuit with homemade grape jelly

Fun for my mind, heart, belly, and soul... First day down, ten more to go!