Best known for her Bravo reality show, Pregnant in Heels and founder of Rosie Pope Maternity and Rosie Pope Baby stores in Santa Monica and NYC, sitting down with Rosie Pope means that you don’t actually sit, but catch her when you can. The somewhat new Ridgewood resident is the quintessential Mom on a Mission – juggling a photo shoot for her maternity line, multiple conference calls, getting her two adorable girls to nap, our interview… so when we did get an opportunity to pin down this talented and beautiful Bergen Mama of four—James (7), Wellington (4), Vivenne (3), and Bridget (18 months)—we couldn’t help but be inspired by everything she manages to do, with aplomb (and a baby monitor in hand). Editor and fellow Ridgewood Mama Carla Sullivan sat down with Rosie to get the scoop on it all.
Q.Suburbs vs NYC? Tell us something great you didn’t expect about living in the burbs and something you miss about NYC.
A. The backyard and the basement. It has taken me more than a year to figure out the basement is the place all the toys ago instead of having them thrown around every room of the house as we did in our New York City apartment. I can’t tell you what an amazing discovery it has been!! Plus, just opening the doors to the backyard is a million times easier than packing all the kids up and heading to Central Park! However, I do miss the convenience of New York City. It’s really hard being a worrying mom and commuting because it makes it almost impossible to just nip back for things you would really like to be part of e.g afternoon play dates, school events or volunteering. When we lived in the city I could run out of the office and be back before any one noticed so I felt much more connected with the school/mom community.
Q. What’s your favorite place to visit in Bergen County with the kids and favorite date spot with your husband?
A. The kids would say Chuck E Cheese but I’m going to be honest, the place freaks me out and I am always enormously paranoid with the large quantity of people in there, trying to keep track of all my kids. I would say the Kidville in Ridgewood. It’s a great place to go, especially in the winter and have all the kids entertained by the gym whether they are doing the zip line or Ninja Warrior training! Also, its right next store to Planet Swirl so that’s always a treat!
As for Date Night, it’s still grilling out back in our garden with a bottle of champagne. It just never seems to get old after having lived in London and then New York City my whole life — with not a BBQ in site!
Q. You always look like you have everything pulled together - what’s a step in your beauty routine you couldn’t leave the house without?
A. That’s ridiculously nice of you and I guess I must be really good at faking it! Every morning I have to exfoliate my face. It just makes me feel refreshed and awake no matter how little sleep I have had or how hard it was to find all the kids shoes and backpacks in the morning!
Q. What’s the single most often asked question you get from new moms on childrearing?
A. Actually this is kind of tricky as it really depends on the phase they are at and how old their baby/child is. For early childhood most of the questions stem around anxiety with things parents think they should be doing or already should have done, for example, Breastfeeding, Sleep training or Potty Training. These things cause an enormous amount of anxiety until you’ve been threw them and know what to expect. Plus, they are the type of thing that just doesn’t really translate that well in a book so it really helps to have another mom to talk to.
Q. What advice would you give a Mother going from one child to two…or 4?
A. Every child is different, so don’t expect what worked for one to work for another — be flexible with your parenting strategies. Also, make sure you allow them their own individuality and not always have to follow in their older sibling’s footsteps. I think it incredibly hard for younger kids to understand that they are not as good at something as an older sibling because of age and its important to give them a sense of confidence in their abilities early. Finding one on one time is also really important although often difficult. You have to make sure you do it, even if it’s just to go to the supermarket.
Q. Any advice on balancing motherhood, marriage and work?
A. See life in phases. Right now, with young kids, a business I think of in many ways still as a start up and a husband that is also my business partner, things are just crazy. Now that I have surrendered to this being the crazy phase it’s easier to handle. If I thought it would always be this nuts, I don’t think I could hack it, but I know it wont and no doubt I’ll end up missing the busy days.
Q. What is your favorite tradition with your children?
A. The Christmas trail! We always do a Christmas trail of little gifts from their bedrooms to the Christmas tree. I had it when I was a kid and watching them get more and more excited with each step as they head to the tree is really the best.
Q. Tell us about your Gap collection? Stride Rite?
A. The GAPXRosiePope collaboration was such an honor. We collaborated with maternity clothes and also baby shower themed events on the east and west coast.
The Stride Rite relationship is really a fun one. In short, I have sort of hacked Stride Rite HQ in order to make some really great content highlighting how amazing their team of real parents are and how much goes into making their shoes. I am also involved in building out their content online and in store to share tips with our moms on Back to School and other seasonal events. Rosie Pope Baby Shoes will launch in January 2016.
Q. What does the future hold for Rosie Pope?
A. We are excited to be launching Rosie Pope Nursing to add to our existing maternity collection, nationwide from October. In addition Rosie Pope Baby continues to grow and has been so well received. We will launch nursery bedding and accessories later this year as well as a Rosie Pope/Aden+Anais exclusive collaboration that hits all Buy Buy Baby locations in September. Rosie Pope Baby shoes will launch in January and we are starting to turn out sites globally as well as within the United States.
Most of the Rosie Pope products can be found in department stores across the US as well as Buy Buy Baby, amazon.com, nordstrom.com, shopbop.com as well as many others…..or of course www.rosiepope.com.
