Regardless of our place in life, regardless of what we have or don’t have, we mother. It’s in our nature. We instinctively love, protect, help, and give to those around us. There is a string of people who have been touched by our mama hearts - some are older than us, some are younger than us, some are our peers, and still others are children. And one day when asked who influenced them and loved them, our names will be added to that list. So to me, that is the essence of mothering, of being a mama. Today, I have empty arms in the natural, no children to physically call my own. And yet, I am a mama. A safe place to those around me, an encourager and a loving, listening ear, while I wait for these arms to be filled.

I have always loved to hand letter and write, and as a teacher, I began to use my monthly hallway bulletin board designs as a creative outlet. In 2019, my husband, Justin, and I decided we were ready to start our family through adoption. My heart was in a fragile place, feeling discouraged because growing our family was not looking like I thought it would. One day, as I sat at my desk after work, I saw a pregnancy announcement from a friend of mine. ( If you have ever struggled with infertility or waiting for your moment to come, you know the tension these moments can cause. It’s a pull between joy and happiness for them, and the discouragement and pain it reminds you of in your own process.) As I was holding back the tears, feeling the wide spectrum of these emotions, I heard a small whisper - "Hey mama, I see you.”

I’m a praying, Jesus-loving person, and so I knew instantly that God was saying this phrase to me. And I was mad. Mad because I’m not a mom. Mad because I thought He had no right to say that to me. But the longer I let that phrase sink in, the more I realized it was a promise He was giving me. From there, words began to pour out of me. I began to write- small poems for mothers, even though, naturally, I wasn’t one yet. That is where Hey Mama Collective began. This, along with preparing for our adoption, led me to say goodbye to full time teaching, and hello to pursuing creativity. I started with creating hand lettered watercolor pieces of art to raise money for our adoption process, all the while knowing that those poems I wrote that day in my classroom would, at some point, join my creative journey. 

Our Story