Kelly Garcia the owner of Momper Romper, is a mompreneur who is changing the maternity fashion world. She’s able to embrace motherhood, entrepreneurship, and at the same time has a full-time job. Kelly was looking for a modern one-piece she could wear throughout her nine months of pregnancy and beyond. Drawing on her experience and education from the Fashion Institute in Los Angeles, Kelly created the Momper Romper - a versatile piece of clothing that moms everywhere are 

Connect with Kelly on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest or her website.

Kelly's favorite time saving gadget for mompreneurs is Tax Jar!  

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This is a transcript of the This Mom Knows Podcast - Episode - 70

Jennifer Uren
Kelly Garcia originally from San Diego lives in Las Vegas with her family. She loves farmer's markets, thrifting, and escaping to explore with her family and their travel trailer. She's a mompreneur, who's all about simplicity and she designed the Momper Romper as a simpler and more comfortable choice for maternity clothing. And today she's going to share her story and journey with us. So welcome, Kelly.

Kelly Garcia
Hi, thank you so much for having me.

Jennifer Uren
Oh, I'm so glad we have this chance. I have to ask you because our family's dream was to full time in an RV. And we've had quite a few detours. We haven't done it yet. But how long have you had your travel trailer? And where are some of your favorite places to go?

Kelly Garcia
Oh, gosh, so we've had it now a little over two years. We've taken it up to Colorado, Utah, California, and Arizona but most recently, we took it all the way across the country, to Florida and yeah, it was a crazy five day trip with two kids in the back. And it was just it was a very, very long trip but we made it. And yeah, it's always been a dream of mine to have a travel trailer, and then we finally we did it. And it works so well for the business also for traveling, too. We traveled to artists, artistan markets. And so yeah, it's it's been great. It's been so fun.

That's fabulous and it gives you that, that continuity and consistency inside the Travel Trailer. You still have home for your family, even though your front door changes your view of your yard.

Yes, exactly. Yeah, that's the best part was we we never have to worry really about where we're gonna stay. You know, when we're traveling, we have everything we need in the back. And we also are able to bring our we have two little dogs, and we're able to bring them with us. We don't have to worry about "Oh, does this hotel allow dogs?" You know,

Jennifer Uren
Will the kids sleep?

Kelly Garcia
Exactly. Yeah, it's just it's been very, it's just been great. It was a great investment.

Jennifer Uren
Good, good. Well, today we're going to talk about something that you know, which is essentially simple wardrobes. So would you share a bit about your journey from studying fashion design to starting a clothing business?

Kelly Garcia
Sure. So, oh, my gosh. Yeah, it's, I've had a very long journey in the fashion industry, to where I am today. After graduating FIDM, the Fashion Institute in Los Angeles, I worked in various positions in the industry. I, I owned my own boutique right out of college, for a couple of years. It was a resale, women's resale consignment boutique. So I had that for the first couple years, it was super successful. And then 2008 hit, and we had a very, it couldn't make it through that period. And so I did have to close up. And so I've always, you know, always had a passion for recycling and reusing. And it is just now it's even more so with a company, you know, have more, do more with less, you know, is always the motto. So then, after the boutique, I worked at several startup e-commerce companies, as a buyer, as a copywriter, social media manager, you tend to wear several hats when you work for a startup. And so I had a lot of experience working for those companies. And then after some years, I worked for a couple of well established shoe companies, which you may have heard of TOMS shoes, and then Yellow Box footwear shoes. And so yeah, I had a great experience building the E-commerce platform for Yellow Box that had been around for you know, several 20 years, but they just didn't have an E-commerce presence. So I built that out for them. And then right after Yellow Box, I, I was they actually moved me out here to Las Vegas. I currently still work for Zappos.com,

Jennifer Uren
Okay,

Kelly Garcia
As a senior site merchandiser for them, so um, yeah, a lot. Yeah, a lot has happened through my journey.

Jennifer Uren
But look at how all those different roles, like you mentioned, all these little things that I'm like, look at that experience it gave you to kind of pull it all together into your own.

Kelly Garcia
Yes, exactly. Yeah. I just feel so blessed to have had all of those experiences, because now it's just I took a little piece from every one of those and created Momper Romper.

Jennifer Uren
Yeah, that's fabulous. Well, you looked for a solution. And you didn't find one. And so like so often happens, you created what you needed. So how did you discover that you weren't the only one and the other expecting mamas wanted and needed the Momper Romper too?

Kelly Garcia
Yeah. So let me give you a little backstory I, I was pregnant with my daughter and I went out looking for maternity clothes for the second time, because I had already had my son, you know, five years previous and previously, and I had already gotten rid of my maternity clothes from my first pregnancy, so I went out looking for maternity clothes again and found the same thing. They were overpriced, they were not my style at all, they were still super uncomfortable. And then I just hated the process of having to buy more and more pieces as you went up in size through the trimesters and I just thought there's got to be something better I you know, with that, you know, do more with less in my mind, and, you know, recycling clothing and this whole idea of, I just want something to simplify this whole, you know, it's really just such a short period, you know, and so I thought there's got to be something better and I started playing around with silhouettes and, and created the mamba romper. It was very fortunate to have a friend that was actually working in product development. That's what I graduated. I graduated fit them in product development, but had a friend that was actually working in it. And she found me a factory and we sampled it. I said, "Can we just make, you know, of just like 300 pieces? Let's just, let's just try it?" Because I'm not sure I mean, I have this need, but I'm not sure if this is going to go anywhere. So I said, "Can we just make you know, 300 pieces? Let's try", and we did and I took that step that's so challenging for most is putting it out there and putting it in front of customers. And I went to a local market here in Las Vegas. And we sold out within the first weekend, we had a tent down in Downtown Summerlin at a local market called Vintage Market Days. And I pretty much sold out.

Jennifer Uren
That's amazing.

Kelly Garcia
I, I said, "Gosh, I've got something you know, I, It wasn't just me". And it wasn't just moms that were you know, purchasing it. People love it just for the comfort. But those moms that, that were pregnant, just completely understood, they just they got it. As soon as they looked at it, they were they understood, gosh, this is just genius. You know, we hate wearing these uncomfortable expensive clothes, you know, and here's a one piece solution. So that's kind of a story how it all started.

Jennifer Uren
Yeah. Well, and what you described is what maternity clothes were 23 years ago when I was expecting my first you know, and, and at least I say at least but at least in your part of the country. It's it gets hot, but it's you know, we have seasons, we're up here with snow. And so when you're pregnant over winter, you know, not only is the short period of time that you need these clothes, but now you need them for three or four seasons. And that just triples your...

Kelly Garcia
You're right, exactly. And that's what I love so much about my piece is that it's easily it's so versatile, versatile. You can layer it, you can in the summertime, you can wear it sleeveless still and it still works. And the fabric is so soft and lightweight. You know, it's just, it's so easily either layerable you know, or just, you know, on its own with a with a cute I always, you know, recommend like a cute lace bralette in the summertime with some cute sandals. And you're ready to go. It's just one piece. That's all you have to think about.

Jennifer Uren
Yes. That's fabulous.

Kelly Garcia
Yeah.

Jennifer Uren
So you mentioned that this was with your second one that you were looking, so really this this is as old as your baby.

Kelly Garcia
Yes, five years or so, right. So it was created while I was still pregnant with her and so my son was about, about five at the time four probably going on five. So yeah, it was, you know, challenging at times, you know, because they've still got a little one that was, you know, very much dependent on me and, and then I had, you know, a newborn is still trying to get this business, you know, off and running. So yeah, it was a lot.

Jennifer Uren
Yeah. So as a mompreneur with littles, what was your biggest challenge when it came to kind of balancing home and business?

Kelly Garcia
Gosh, it's always, you know, it's always challenging, I think it's just the schedule and coordinate, coordinating everything, just to make sure that I'm balancing that I'm, you know, I'm making sure that I'm there as much as possible for the daily routine, the school drop off, school pickup, you know, homework, school performances, ballet, I want to be there for those things, you know, so I really make sure that I'm there. And then I just do that because I know it means a lot to the kids. So I keep that as consistent as possible. And then when I'm traveling out of town, we're blessed that my parents live nearby, and are retired and can help. That has been, you know, such a, such a blessing for us. And then, if my husband's not traveling with me, then he'll take over also. But for the most part, when this, when school is not in session, the kids come with us. And they're part of running the booth and the artistsan markets that we do. And so they get to experience, you know, entrepreneurship firsthand. And they've been doing that for years with us.

Jennifer Uren
And that's great, because they're gonna learn that it's a lifestyle, but you can still have boundaries, you know, it doesn't have to be everything, but it can be, it can be the way to something and how you, I mean, it's how you're traveling. Right? Some of those things.

Kelly Garcia
Exactly, exactly. Yes, they've had the joy of coming with us on many trips, you know, when I remind them often, you know, you're so lucky, you know, so many kids don't have this, you know, opportunity and the business has really opened that opportunity for them to travel. So.

Jennifer Uren
That's great. So while Momper Romper, I'm always afraid I'm gonna say it wrong,

Kelly Garcia
No worries. We've heard everything.

Jennifer Uren
It's because Romper Room was, was the kids show and so that's what I keep thinking up here. So well. Momper Romper is a product, I know that your heart is for that simplicity, especially through minimalism when it comes to clothes in the family, so let's talk a little bit more about that starting with like, why even bother? What's the benefit to paring down?

Kelly Garcia
Yeah, well, I, I as our lives, I just feel like as our lives get busier and busier, you might find or at least I find that there's a real need or a want to simplify. You know, you just want things to get easier, you know. And it also really allows my brain to focus on what's most important. So that whole idea of less is more, you know, if I can simplify this one area, then I have more time to spend on this other area. So that's why I really thought gosh, that you know, this is such it's so versatile. And it just, it's just it's so easy. So, basically, yeah, that's it's just do less to do more, right.

Jennifer Uren
And there's a difference between scarcity and minimal. And I think sometimes we get afraid of scarcity, and we don't understand that minimalism enough. Like you, there's abundance still, you know.

Kelly Garcia
You need exactly, yeah, exactly.

Jennifer Uren
Well, let's talk practically, how do you do this? Like, let's start with mom's wardrobe. I imagine that you're gonna say that there's some key elements that every mom needs. So like, what is it that you think should be in a wardrobe? To make it you know, minimal and, and sufficient?

Kelly Garcia
Yeah, so it's just really, you know, ironic that, you know, I would be focused so on, you know, this minimalist wardrobe piece when one of those several jobs that I had, that I had back in the day was working for a matchmaking company. And my job was to go into client's wardrobes, and pare down, and then create a list of essentials that they needed in their wardrobes, and you really need those essentials to then be able to create simple mix and match outfits. And so I always refer back to those, you know, I always think about is this is it an essential whenever I'm out shopping, I think, can I make four or five outfits out of this? You know, I'm always thinking, does it pair with my, you know, romper? You know, I always, I always keep those in mind. So, for me, essentials, you know, are the basics, you know, we need a good white t shirt, we need a good, you know, basic black T shirt, you know, we need those layering pieces, like a cardigan, a jean jacket, maybe a military jacket. And that's where I really start is like, do I have those essentials, that I can make several outfits with? I'm always thinking about those and always thinking about replacing those first before I do any kind of trend shopping, especially because we're very, it's very easy to get stuck in those shopping habits of trends, you know, because you walk into while my home away from home Target. And they putthose trends right up front.

Jennifer Uren
Front and center.

Kelly Garcia
Yep. Right up front. So, um, I'm always, you know, that's always the question that runs through my mind is first "Wait, is this you know, is this a trend? Or isn't essential?"

Jennifer Uren
Yeah.

Kelly Garcia
"Do I need to replace some essentials?" You know, it's always, you know, before I make that trend purchase? So yeah, that's kind of where I start.

Jennifer Uren
So do you start with those as like, more like basic black and basic white? Like, are they more neutral pieces? Or do you throw in, okay,

Kelly Garcia
Yes, neutral all the way. It's always black, white, gray.

Jennifer Uren
Okay.

Kelly Garcia
Always mix and match those. And then another one I always used to recommend to my clients is if you're going to accessorize, make sure those accessories too are neutral, so that you can pair with more outfits. A great example was, you know, any solid metal so, so gold or silver or whatnot. But also, I would always recommend, like clear beads or clear acrylic kind of jewelry, because then you're not trying to match it with a certain color and it just goes with everything and so yeah, just little things like that. I'm always thinking about, you know, how many different ways can I wear this?

Jennifer Uren
So do you pull in color, pattern anywhere, or?

Kelly Garcia
I do once I have all the essentials. And I really like to do that with my accessories. So I like to, you know, add a scarf or add me know, maybe my handbag is a little brighter than my normal everyday bag. My shoes can be different. Um, I really like to do that to keep that closet real minimal, but those accessories can add a little pop of color.

Jennifer Uren
Okay, okay. That's helpful because I'm, I am a follow a template kind of person. So like Garanimals were my best friend. So I'm like, yeah, that's, that's the challenge for me is knowing what, what to do so that you keep that creativity and variety, even in that pared down sense. You know.

Kelly Garcia
Yeah, it adds a little excitement every once in a while you could, you know, grab a new scarf, and it's not a huge investment, but then you've got something, you know, a little exciting and bright to add. But not a huge investment, like, you know, a wardrobe, wardrobe piece. So,

Jennifer Uren
Yes,

Kelly Garcia
Yeah,

Jennifer Uren
Yeah, we, when we thought we were going to be RVing full time, we knew we'd had to pare down our clothes. And so my husband and I went to one dresser for the two of us. And let me tell you, there is nothing like that to, to help you both, purge because, you know, we have to limit our space, but even then it still comes in and I noticed that when my kids were tiny, it felt like clothes multiplied like rabbits, you know, all you had to do was say, baby and suddenly people are handing you bags and bags of hand me downs and it's overwhelming. So how do you like you have to factor for seasons in some places and growth and, and so it makes sense with littles to keep a lot of clothes on hand because you know, child A might fit these shorts perfectly in the summer at the right time, and child B won't, even though they were both born in the same month. And so how do you approach the kids' clothes to keep it...

Kelly Garcia
Gosh.

Jennifer Uren
...you know, from being overwhelming?

Kelly Garcia
Yeah, yeah, it definitely, it can get crazy and if anyone has the grandparents, like I do, my parents love them, but they, my mom, especially is a shopper and dropping off clothes all the time, went to Target, went to Costco, "Here you go, Oh, look at this cute outfit I just got for", you know, it's just constant, constant. And so I've really, I've, I've had to have those difficult conversations with mom a few times that "Mom, they have so many clothes, please don't, don't get any more until you know, the holidays", you know, or, you know, I have to have those difficult conversations. But as far as the kids, we, you know, especially traveling, traveling in the RV, this past trip was really difficult because we start off in Nevada where it's cold, very cold and then we get to Florida where, you know, it was in the 70s and it was beautiful, and we're going to be on the beach in swimsuits. And so it just was it was very, you know, challenging. We took some heavy jackets to start and then those heavy jackets ended up in a tote, you know, by the end of the trip, we kind of just packed them away. And I tend to do that, you know, even with their wardrobes in the, in their closets, you know, their winter, their seasonal winter items go in the back when it's spring summer. And that way, it makes it easier for me when dressing them. So I always make sure I do that switch as soon as the weather changes. But yeah, I think it's really just, I've had those difficult conversations of keeping it minimal, with the relatives who are constantly gifting.

Jennifer Uren
Do you have a rule of thumb, do you have say like, you know, we need four, four long pants and you know, 10 shirts, because they spill? So I think there's, there's more?

Kelly Garcia
Yeah, there's less spilling for with my kids right now, just because they're a little older. Well, I have to say, Emmy, my youngest is five and she still is very messy. My messy child, but I do, I always, I stick to three pieces normally in every category. And then we stop and we do laundry, you know if it gets dirty, but I really try and especially pajamas, especially pajamas, we're constantly, two, three nights in pajamas because they take a bath and they get their pajamas on they go to bed, there's no way that they're dirty the next day, so it's a lot of, you know, reusing for a couple nights. And then we do stop, we'll do laundry, you know, and it's great, because then, you know, it exposes them to that going to a laundry mat, you know, it's something that they would not experience you know, just living at home and really prepares for the outside world a little you know out of it. I love that experience, you know, of having to put coins in you know, and, and things like that. So, yeah, it's, it's can be challenging. Sure, it takes up time but really, you know, it's, it's, you're really it's a gift to the kids, you know, they're getting exposure to the world. Yeah.

Jennifer Uren
And look how fast the laundry gets done when you only have three things.

Kelly Garcia
Exactly, yeah, yeah.

Jennifer Uren
Well, the other thing I think that comes into play is this fast fashion industry because, you know, some things are just so inexpensive that it's just easier to buy four cheap shirts rather than one expensive one, knowing that they're going to you know, stain it, outgrow, rip it, whatever. What are your thoughts on this? What does that do to

Kelly Garcia
Gosh, fast fashion, fast fashion. It's really taken a turn. I mean, we're, I think people are really catching on. It's not great for the environment. You know, we even saw this with you know, Forever 21 going into bankruptcy. I think people are finally, finally realizing spend a little bit more, you're gonna replace it a lot less. And you're gonna get that quality that you're looking for. So, yeah, with my romper, you know, our material is its rayon-spandex, so it's super long-lasting. It's going to last that whole nine months during pregnancy and beyond wash after wash. So with disposable, it's, you maybe get one or two washes out of it, and then it goes in the garbage, you know, it goes to donation. And, and I really wanted to make sure with my romper that we, we really found a quality material that was gonna last that whole time. And then even beyond, too, during, you know spills and things with a new baby. And it's easily washable. And you can actually dry it on low heat, if you want to, I love to just let it hang. And it'll last even longer. My, my cousin has one of our original pieces, it's now four and a half years old. And most of mine are about two, two and a half years, I can get out of them, so it just, you know, lasts forever. And I feel like that's so important, fashion can be such a dirty industry and we're just trying to, you know, create less of that.

Jennifer Uren
Yeah, yeah. And you said that it's not just expectant moms who are wearing this now, right? It's just moms who want to be comfortable and,

Kelly Garcia
Yeah, a real change happened during the pandemic, you know, more people were working from home. And during that time, when we were spending more time at home, everybody was looking for loungewear. And so we did, we actually survived the pandemic very well, because we were in that space. And yes, people just love it for the comfort, it doesn't have a waistline. And it's got giant pockets to hold, you know, all the essentials that us moms need =.

Jennifer Uren
And so pockets are the most important thing, you, you could just say, this has pockets, and no one would care who it was made for. They'd buy it.

Kelly Garcia
Yeah, we hear it all the time, customers will walk up, you know, and they touch the fabric first because the fabrics just so buttery soft. And then they go, "Oh my gosh, it just, it has pockets, just, just give it to me". And then we do have a cuffed ankle down a lot of there's a lot of features that set us apart from the rompers that you find at retail. Our, we have a tapered ankle down at the bottom of the leg. So that allows for you to adjust it up and down your leg wherever you want it. And also our sizing goes by height, which is super different than m ost rompers. If you've gone into a store, and you try romper on in a general size, it's either super big or super long, or super short. And so I decided, you know what, we've got it make this easier, we've got to make it so that it actually fits. So through a lot of testing, we figured out that we found a height ranges that work for our sizing, so we go extra small, to extra large. And that is based basically on on height. So it makes it super easy. So how tall are you?

Jennifer Uren
I'm five-two, I'm five-two.

Kelly Garcia
You're five two so you're an extra small in our size.

Jennifer Uren
Well, I love that because my, my fitness app keeps telling me I'm obese, so I want to be extra small.

Kelly Garcia
And the great part is it's super stretchy. And so yeah, people love you know, when I tell them their size, and they'll say "I've never been an extra small in my life, you know", and it's just it's even. They love it even more. Yeah.

Jennifer Uren
Yes. Yeah. Oh, that's great, that's great.

Kelly Garcia
Yeah.

Jennifer Uren
I love it when, I love it when I meet other moms who, you know, saw, saw a need, fixed it and everyone gets the benefit. You know, there are so many great things like you've mentioned for you and your family that are coming out of this, outside of an income stream. And that it's just, it's I love this when this happens so so thank you this has been a great conversation. And as we as we wrap up one thing I asked every guest I'm a gadget girl, I love anything that'll save time. So what is your favorite time saving gadget, system or tool?

Kelly Garcia
Oh my goodness. Oh, there's so many, I use so many to?

Jennifer Uren
Well, you can have more than one.

Kelly Garcia
Oh my gosh, for other business owners out there that traveled from state to state like us. I use Tax Jar for sales tax which is just fabulous because they file your sales tax in every state. If you've ever gone to one of those websites and have had to try and file your sales, your sales tax. It is so time consuming.

Jennifer Uren
Yes and confusing.

Kelly Garcia
Oh, it's so confusing and you can spend hours waiting for Customer Service on the phone. I mean, it's just, it's just crazy. And so, Tax Jar is my number one. I mean, I just, I love it so much. But I use, you know, so many different, you know, looking at my tabs right now I have, there's just so many that really make that juggling of, you know, home life and business possible. I sometimes feel like if I didn't have this, it just would be so difficult to do what I do, you know, working full time, business full time, Mom full time. I mean, it's just it would be super difficult without that without these, these apps and, and software that we have available to us now.

Jennifer Uren
It's amazing. It's amazing.

Kelly Garcia
Yeah.

Jennifer Uren
Well, I know that you have a coupon code for our audience. Do you want to tell us about that? And maybe how people can connect with you further.

Kelly Garcia
Remember? Yeah, I would like to extend you know, 15% off to anyone that has listened to this episode. And that code is THISMOMKNOWS all capitals 15, so THISMOMKNOWS15 and you get 15% off your purchase with us on momperromper.com

Jennifer Uren
Fabulous and we will make sure that that's in the show notes. So, so how can they find you? So momperromper.com, do you have social media channels?

Kelly Garcia
All the social media channels, so you can find us on, on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, I mean, just everywhere, YouTube.

Jennifer Uren
And it's all Momper Romper?

Kelly Garcia
It's all Momper Romper.

Jennifer Uren
Okay.

Kelly Garcia
Super easy. That's where you can find us and then we always post where we're going to be we might show up in a city near you. So just follow us on one of those social media channels. Typically Instagram is, is where you'll find, where we'll be next.

Jennifer Uren
And I love at the bottom of your website, how you've got that? I think it's how she wore it or who wore it well or something and you pull from other people. I think that's brilliant. I love that.

Kelly Garcia
Yeah, so many great outfit ideas when you jump on our social media, makes it really fun.

Jennifer Uren
Fabulous. Well Kelly, thank you so much for your time today.

Kelly Garcia
Yeah, thank you so much fun.