Motherhood and building a business have one thing in common: no two days ever look the same. Between school runs, laundry piles, meetings, snack requests, and trying to answer emails before someone yells “mamaaa,” life feels beautifully chaotic at times.
This Mother’s Day, we wanted to share a more personal side of life behind House of Mabangó. The real moments, little routines, and lessons Charise learned while building a brand and raising three kids at the same time.
So grab a coffee (while it’s still warm), and welcome into her world for a little bit..
Be honest… are you a “fold laundry immediately” mom or a “that chair is basically a closet now” mom?
In all honesty, I'm a very easy going mom when it comes to their rooms. I don't mind helping every once in a while as far as toys go. But when it comes to laundry, my husband and I both pitch in. He usually does the washing, and I sort and put back the laundry. Our eldest is a fold laundry immediately kinda girl and will (luckily) do it herself, for that reason ha!
What’s one thing motherhood taught you that unexpectedly helped you as a founder of House of Mabangó?
Motherhood taught me how to roll with the punches and adapt quickly, because things rarely go exactly as planned. It also taught me to feel more comfortable with change instead of resisting it. That mindset has helped me so much as a founder.
I’ve also learned that, just like motherhood, building a business isn’t always about chasing a big end goal. Most days actually look pretty normal and repetitive. Packing orders, answering emails, doing laundry, making dinner, doing it all again the next day. You really have to learn to enjoy the everyday parts too, because that’s what life mostly consists of in the end.
With three kids, how do you keep your house (somewhat) calm while running a business? Any survival tricks?
Not really, there's no such thing as balance. Some days Mabangó will be the priority and other days it will be the house. No survival tricks honestly, but between all the responsibilities I would say; keep prioritising yourself too! Sometimes it may seem like there is no room for me-time, but nothing really falls apart if you take an hour to yourself.
What does a realistic Mabangó founder morning look like in your home?
When I wake up, I usually check urgent emails first. I know it's not the best but I can't help myself and I also want to get ahead of the time difference with the factories we work with. I then get the kids ready for school and drop them. Their school is just 5 minutes away so when I get back I have my breakfast in silence and head back to work.
If your kids had to describe what you do for work, what do you think they would say?
Probably something like: “Mama makes laundry detergent and has a shop”. Which honestly is a pretty accurate and simplified version of it all.