Rebecca Cohen, Founder of Love Shack Fancy and mother to Scarlett, 22 months

I try to find a good balance between work and family, but it’s really difficult. Luckily our studio is only a few blocks away from our house in the West Village, so I’m able to go back and forth quite often. I’m lucky that I can also work from home when I need to, so I really try to be around as much as possible. Sometimes I do whatever work I can on the computer at home while she plays, and we pretend like she is helping me with work. She loves that. I can usually be around for part of the day and do some work at home, and then go to the office in the afternoon. Occasionally, if I need to work on the weekends for a shoot or something similar, Scarlett will come. Or when we need to do fun projects like vintage shows, she’ll join me and we make it a fun adventure.

Every morning I wake up with Scarlett and bring her into our bed to watch a little TV and have some morning cuddle time. My husband, Scarlett, and I always have breakfast together as a family–usually eggs or pancakes and fruit. Then I’m off to the gym and then straight to the office. Some days I meet Scarlett with friends for a nice lunch down the street at Sant Ambreous, and I love to stop by the Bleeker Street Playground on my walk home from work. I’m always home to have dinner with Scarlett, and we usually take a walk after work to pick up cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery down the street–it’s her favorite. We walk to visit the stuffed animals at the little Marc Jacobs Kids store down the block, it’s magical. I’m usually home to put Scarlett to bed, and then if I go out it’s usually after that.

On the weekends it’s usually all about Scarlett. My husband, Todd, and Scarlett and I are pretty much inseparable on the weekends. We go out to eat together as a family quite often, it’s definitely one of our favorite things to do.

I’m also lucky that I have a great support system to help out with Scarlett. My parents and my in-laws all live Uptown, so they spend a lot of time with Scarlett. We also have an incredible nanny, so everyone always pitches in! It makes things much easier for me so I can be flexible with coming and going during the day and night.

My life at LoveShackFancy is different every day. I’m the Founder and Creative Director, so I’m pretty much involved in every aspect of the company. I oversee everything from design to events, trade shows and photo shoots, website design and special projects etc. We only launched the company two years ago, so we are small but growing quickly–there is always so much to do! I have a great team of girls working with me now, so hopefully it’s easier to manage my time. I’m constantly inspired by Scarlett, so being with her gets me excited about work. I especially can’t wait to launch our latest project with Romy and The Bunnies–it’s our first LoveShackFancy Girls collection for little ones and it will be amazing, especially because Romy and Scarlett are the cutest best friends. Being able to work on exciting projects like this are definitely the best part of the job. Especially when the inspiration comes from our daughters!

It was absolutely crazy! I put all of my energy into starting the company, and I was on overdrive. I felt very inspired and creative during my pregnancy, and I knew I was working against the clock to launch the company before Scarlett was born. We were launching our first collection in stores on the exact same day as my due date, so there was a lot going on. That same day, I was also shooting a resort look-book and was so pregnant and swollen I could barely move!  I thought I would be able to bounce right back after I gave birth and start working full time right away, but it definitely took me at least two full months to recover. Then it was a huge challenge to get back in the swing of things and be creative again, and manage my time between work and my newborn baby. It was definitely a huge adjustment but, after six months, everything shifted and I fully got back into the groove. At that point I only had one full-time employee and a few freelancers working for LoveShackFancy. I would have the girls come out to the beach and work with me there, while I was home breastfeeding.

We moved our studio downtown to the Meatpacking District earlier this year, and we also moved our home to the West Village so everything could be very central for us and make things easier. It made a huge difference.  I absolutely love having my own company and having the flexibility to be with Scarlett as much as I possibly can, while also working hard to make LoveShackFancy what it is today.

My childhood was all about Central Park! And Gymnastics. I’m from the Upper East Side, so we spent most of our time in the park. I love taking Scarlett to climb on Alice in Wonderland and to go on the Carousel. I also loved ice skating in the park during the winters, so hopefully next year we can do that together. Scarlett and I have lunch and dinner together all around the city – it’s our favorite activity. We spend a lot of time at Le Charlot uptown, and we basically live at Sant Ambreous in the West Village. Sitting outside and enjoying the beautiful spring time in the city is incredible. We spend a lot of time with my mom as well, so the three of us girls are always doing fun activities together. I grew up spending weekends and summers in Bridgehampton, where my parents still have their house, and now we have a house in Sagaponack so go out there quite often. Spending time at the beach and in the country and visiting all the farm animals is one of our favorite things to do together.

That’s so sweet, but I definitely don’t spend much time getting ready. I’m usually throwing something together in less than five minutes. Every day I wear mascara and a little bronzer–because a slight tan goes a long way. My hair is usually pretty natural and beachy–the key is to not wash it too often!

Mama Mio products are the best!

I wore Free People all the time–they have the best free-flowing bohemian pieces that aren’t expensive.

Bonpoint, Yoya, ABC Baby, and Smallables online.

Harbour Island was the best. Soho House Miami is always easy and amazing. And the South of France is our absolute favorite–it’s heaven!

Of course we always love being out East in the Hamptons though, the beach there is the best beach in the world. We couldn’t ask for anything more, and we are true beach bums.

I relax in the sun. Or I dance!

Everything. It’s the most incredible experience in the world. The bond you create with this little baby that you gave birth to is so unbelievably special. And then watching Scarlett grow into a little girl is just incredible. I think you also learn so much about yourself as a person as well. It’s quite humbling actually. Who you become when you are a mom is different then who you were before you were a mom, and it helps you mature in a different way. But it’s important to not lose perspective and still be the same fun person you were before you had a baby! It’s amazing to form these new relationships and friendships, and, ultimately, you start seeing the world differently. I think you really learn to take advantage of every little precious moment you have with your child. And spending these incredible adventures together is really the most special thing.

I love that my husband and I have been together for so long (almost 13 years and married for 5) so we had this lifetime of traveling the world together and having fun–just the two of us. When Scarlett was born it became the three of us, and the dynamic of our relationship definitely changed, but in a good way. Now we travel the world together with our daughter, and expose her to all the things that we love to do. It’s so much fun having this little family, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. And the more kids that are around, the better. It’s incredible to find friends with similar interests who live in a similar way that you do–who want to have fun and not take themselves or their children too seriously. It’s important to not lose sight of who you are and what you love to do, and to incorporate your children into this world with you. That’s what makes it so special. You live, love, and experience the world together.

I’m very excited for more adventures to come–with more friends, and more kids!

Photos by Skye Parrott

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