Like everyone else, the start of a new year naturally makes me pause and reflect. I'm an achiever and usually I love nothing more than looking back and tallying my accomplishments, but this year looked different. Instead of counting wins and measuring myself against benchmarks, I tried to focus on noticing how I've changed and evolved, and by extension, how Solly has too.
2025 was a year of growth for both my family and Solly. I welcomed my second baby, and we experienced our most successful year yet as a company. Those two things don’t exist in separate lanes for me. They’re woven together in ways I’m still learning how to name. The way I experience motherhood directly shapes how I show up as a CEO, and my role as a CEO inevitably impacts the way I show up as a mom. It’s the real, messy, in-the-trenches experience that allows me to think intentionally about our products, our content, and the way we care for the parents who invite Solly into their lives.
This year reminded me that growth—whether in a family or a company—is rarely loud or linear. More often, it’s quiet. Internal. Unflashy. For me, growth looked like learning how to carry more by first figuring out what I needed to set down: loosening my grip on control (a myth anyway), welcoming support (we have the best mother’s helper), and choosing presence over perfection (because time with my girls will always matter more than folded laundry).
At Solly Baby, we grew in visible ways: expanding our product offerings (including our most exciting launch to date), welcoming new team members, and reaching more families than ever before. But the growth I’m most proud of happened behind the scenes. It showed up in our willingness to slow down and ask better questions—about what parents truly need, not just functionally, but emotionally. Personally, it also meant learning to trust my incredible team more deeply, empowering them to lead with ownership and creativity, and seeing firsthand that the best work happens when trust and support flow both ways.
After navigating the transition from one to two—and facing health complications while leading a fast-growing company—I felt, in a very real way, just how heavy motherhood can be. Heavy with responsibility and love. Heavy with expectations. Heavy in ways that touch every part of you: physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.
As I looked ahead to the year to come, one question kept resurfacing:
How do we want moms to feel after engaging with Solly?
Whether that’s after using one of our products, reading a post, or spending even a small moment with our brand.
The answer came back loud and clear: uplifted.
This word has lived in our internal conversations as a team for a long time, but it feels especially meaningful for right now. Motherhood will never be effortless—it’s a massive, beautiful role that asks so much of you. But our vision for Solly is to help make that weight feel a little lighter.
By designing products that work intuitively and seamlessly, so they simplify your day instead of complicating it. By sharing content that meets you where you are, that’s authentic and created by real moms, not AI bots. And by showing up in small ways with great love (a value we’ve had since the very beginning, courtesy of our incredible founder), remembering that behind every order is a real parent carrying so much.
As we move into this new year, our focus is simple and steady: to help you feel uplifted in the invaluable role you play. Whether you’re welcoming a newborn, navigating the wild joy of toddlerhood, or at some other point in your motherhood journey, may this be a year where you feel carried, too.
With love,
Nicole
Solly Baby CEO
