2020 Earnie Awards Winner – Nursing Products: Milky Mama

Nursing Products

Milky Mama

Est. 2016

Krystal Duhaney

RN, IBCLC and CEO

First paying job: Team member at Dairy Queen

Greatest fear: Being stranded in the middle of the ocean

Dream hire: Michelle Obama

Hobbies: Baking, yoga and spending time with loved ones

Best advice you’ve ever received: Protect your peace, and don’t allow anyone to steal your joy.

Go-to quarantine snack: Avocado toast

Last book you read: Becoming by Michelle Obama

Last movie you watched: The Witches

One fact few people know about you: I’m an expert Tetris player!

Pet peeve: Dreaming about a dessert I’ve been saving, only to find one of my children eating the last bite!

Giving Back This year, we really focused on engaging more with our community and building a strong system of support for parents everywhere. In addition to delicious and effective products, we also offer unparalleled support via online course, virtual lactation consultations, an online support group, and more. This year, we launched the Milky Mama Lactation Consultant Scholarship Fund. We received hundreds of applications and were able to fund the certifications of 30 Black aspiring lactation consultants.

Helping from Home We’ve really focused on digital marketing and virtual support in light of the pandemic. We offered free lactation consultations for several months because we understood that many parents would not have access to in-person support. We also enlisted brand ambassadors to help spread the word about our business. The response has been phenomenal.

Sweet Support for Staff COVID-19 forced us to close our breastfeeding support center and transition to a work-from-home environment. We provide support to our employees by allowing them flexibility to manage virtual schooling with their children while they work. We will continue to allow them to work from home for as long as they feel is necessary.

Speaking Up As a black-owned business, the racial tensions experienced this year have really hit home. We found it necessary to speak out against racism and raise awareness of the racial disparities experienced by black birthing parents and black breastfeeding parents. Upon speaking out, we were slammed with negative comments, but we persisted. Because of this, our community has rallied behind us in support of a common goal: racial equality.

A Better Tomorrow Next year, we will offer our products in retail stores, continue to expand our virtual support services and grow our scholarship foundation. As breastfeeding rates and support for breastfeeding parents continues to improve,  it is my hope that every parent will soon have the support they need to feed their child the way they choose.