Molly Guy, Founder of Stone Fox Bride, Mother to Sunny 3 and Caroline (Coco) 3 months

You’re running your super cool Stone Fox Bride brand as well as raising two kids in Brooklyn. What are some of your tips on staying balanced and staying inspired?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately since I have a newborn and a three year old and I’ve pretty much been back at work since she was six weeks old. I’ve been reading David Brooks’ book “The Road To Character” lately —  about people who’ve built lives of integrity and humility and depth (Dorothy Day, Saint Augustine, Frances Perkins) and he references the 19th century philosopher William James who talks about making our nervous system our “ally” instead of our enemy, how so much of our strong moral character is contingent upon having a physiologically balanced and grounded body. I totally relate! I think the only thing preventing me from having a full blown hypomanic nervous meltdown is the fact that I take really good care of my body. I try to sleep at least seven hours a night. I exercise. I eat well. I drink a lot of water. I hang out with people who I love deeply, who are really smart and grounded and self-aware and funny and supportive. I try to get acupuncture when I can. Maybe this all seems like a bunch of annoying privileged #whitewomanwhoworksinfashion luxuries, but for me they are an essential. I am naturally a very dreamy, wild, ungrounded person. I love to sleep late and party hard and cut corners and create chaos — all things that can result in utter sabotage if I don’t check myself. I’m a Pisces. We’re useless dreamy poets. I spent a ton of my life being lazy and entitled and having no real routine or responsibility, so the more I can do physically to keep my feet on the ground and my temperament calm and easygoing, the better a chance I have of being a successful, generous professional and present loving mom.

What has been the hardest part of becoming a mom? 

Having to say goodbye to my previous life where I was beholden to nobody and nothing other than my most basic low chakra impulses. When you have kids, you have to put their needs first. It’s a real mindfuck, let me tell you.

Who inspires you? 

My best girlfriends. I have two really solid groups of gals who I consider family: my BFs from seventh grade that I grew up with in Chicago, and the batshit crazy amazing bitches I’ve met in the 20 years since I’ve lived in NYC. I stay in touch with them all daily. It’s a constant stream of emails and text messages that keep me laughing and crying and connected.

What are some of your favorite ways to spend time together as a family? 

In the summer we spend a lot of time on the patio barbecuing and hanging out. My husband and I love to cook and we live right next to the Farmers Market, so on the weekends we’ll pretty much just hoard fresh produce and grill and read and chill out with the girls. In the winter, we do a lot of movie nights and cuddling up in piles of pillows and blankets. We’re homebodies.

How do you relax? 

Pilates, yoga, long walks. I love reading. Baths with Epsom Salts and essential oils. I love eating long dinners with my girlfriends and meeting up for quick iced coffees and catch ups. Also obsessed with cooking while watching junky TV — there’s nothing like a good Bravo show (“Millionaire Matchmaker” is a fave. Also “Say Yes To The Dress”) to really numb the insanity of my crazy mom brain.

What were some of your go-to looks or brands while pregnant? 

SFB Vintage India dresses, always. Great in the winter with black tights and boots and a big comfy black cardigan, so easy to throw on in the summer with sandals and call it a day. Isabel Marant makes some lovely peasant shirts and ponchos, too.

What about beauty routine? Did you have any favorite products while pregnant? Or after? 

Pregnant or not pregnant, I’m a huge oil person: coconut oil, avocado oil. sesame oil, rose oil, evening primrose oil. Obsessed with salt scrubs and coffee scrubs and a dab of peppermint oil behind my ears and in my bellybutton. Stila Liquid Blush is a must-have, too.

What do you hope your children learn from you? 

Endless optimism tempered by completely inappropriate dark + dirty humor.

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