How it all began…

Go Home Gorgeous began the crusade to revolutionize postpartum recovery in August of 2008.  The concept was developed by Rachel Swardson Wenham who prior to being a mother to three children was a television producer for the critically acclaimed, nationally televised PBS Series "Health Diary with Siobhan Cleary". Rachel used her years of experience researching medical conditions to delve into the world of postpartum recovery, desperately looking for ways to improve the neglected fourth trimester. Frustrated that there were so many products and services on the market for pregnancy and infant care, and yet very little to help women physically recover after childbirth.

Rachel created the Go Home Gorgeous Postnatal Body Therapy employing the wisdom of the ages, herbs, heat, aromatherapy, and massage to create a spa retreat experience for women while they are still in the hospital after giving birth.  New mothers no longer have to just leave the hospital they can now Go Home Gorgeous.

Here is her story: 

Go Home Gorgeous started as a random aside after the birth of my first child. I muttered to no one in particular “I wish I could have a massage” as I hobbled up out of my hospital bed and headed home feeling beaten and sore.  

Two years later, I was back in the hospital recovering from the birth of my third child. My body was tired, had two toddlers to keep up with, and was achy, veiny, and huge. I went into labor exhausted, and yet was supposed to ‘hop to it” in 48 hours.  I just couldn’t’ fathom going home.  I wanted to go home better than I was when I left. Lying there, I realized that there was no time to waste. The time to relax was NOW. But... something was missing...

Over the rim of my foil-covered apple juice cup I took in the room; the partially legible dry erase board, the hum of the machines, the tray table that was littered with half empty cups and saltine wrappers, and inhaled a deep breathe of sterile hospital smell. I looked at my swollen legs, my dry skin and was startled by how old my bulbous veins made my hands look.  I looked terrible and felt awful.  Additionally, nothing about my environment was very healing in a comforting sense.  I craved hydration, soothing music, aroma, and someone to tell me it would be okay.  I didn't want to just leave the hospital, I wanted to go home gorgeous.

I grabbed the nearest sheet of paper and began drafting what was to become the “Go Home Gorgeous” business plan. I fantasized about having someone tend to me. Aromatherapy, soothing spa music, a foot and scalp massage. I drew from the three very different postpartum experiences I had had and created support and spa packages to help a new mom. Believing that while books are great, at a certain point no one needs another book to tell them what they should do or need to do.  How much better to just have everything that will help them right when they actually need it.  How much better to simply, Go Home Gorgeous.

Through the generous support and shared passion of my best friend Martha Sullivan and brother Nick Swardson Go Home Gorgeous was launched July of 2008 and has been providing support to new mothers in the metro area ever since. 

 Working Mothers

Every mother is a working mother, and we all deserve support, to be recognized and feel gorgeous!  Nearly every nook and cranny of Go Home Gorgeous has been crafted and nurtured by working mothers. From our illustrator and lawyer to our apothecary creator and t-shirt maker, our many vendors and staff, we have supported working women in commerce. Why would we employ a single man in Indonesia when we could hire a working mom from Apple Valley? Being a working mother is very challenging but being a mother who needs to the work and doesn’t have it is something entirely worse. We feel very strongly too about drawing from our local community retailers instead of ordering generic products off the internet. Keeping money in our community strengthens our neighborhoods and communities allowing for better schools, roads and outreach programs. Doing business with local businesses is just a better way of doing business. 

Growing Up Gorgeous…

In addition to feeling good from the fabulous benefits from your service, you can feel good about your actual purchase. Go Home Gorgeous donates 3% of our profits to various organizations that help women less fortunate tackle the demands of their pre and postnatal needs. We hope to drive that number up to 10% within the next 12 months. Our donations are also worked into our compensation package allowing one outstanding therapist/nanny per quarter the honor of picking the worthy cause. To recommend a charity or foundation please email us at outreach@gohomegorgeous.com.

We strive to be a stable force of support for mothers-to-be and new moms within our community, and welcome your suggestions.

The Best Mother in the World….

Our passion and commitment to mothering the mother extends to the biggest, brightest and best mother of all, Mother Earth. Our products are bottled in the lightest, recyclable containers we could find to reduce our carbon footprint. We use the highest quality spray bottle nozzles to ensure that once our product is gone, you will be able to reuse the bottle over and over again.

While our packaging is not yet made from recycled products, we have that set as a corporate milestone and hope to have 100% recycled boxes going forward in 2009. Until that time our presents arrive in sturdy, high quality reusable packages. We have even placed our logo on the inside of the gift boxes to make then easier to reuse.

Also, we can’t stand getting boxes within boxes, so our gift boxes are hand delivered (within the Minneapolis metropolitan area) by one of our personal client concergies. This cuts down on the amount of waste and is much more fuel efficient method of delivery than the standard delivery truck. It is also in line with the personal and cheerful service that you can expect from all aspects of Go Home Gorgeous.

Another corporate goal includes future local deliveries being made by an electric car from Tesla Motors. We have great concern for the devastation of rain forests and farmland being used to grow corn and soybeans for ethanol conversion. In addition to reducing oxygen generating trees, this also drives up the price of corn and soy products making it extra challenging for the average family to put food on the table. While electric cars may not be the absolute most perfect solution they are currently the best solution for Mother Earth and for mothers across the globe that are faced with economic challenges that add financial stress to the already stressful job of parenting.