The Bossticks - The Truth About Baby Products: What Most Parents Don't Know Ft. Coterie CEO Jess Jacobs

Episode Date: September 12, 2025

#885: Join us as we sit down with Jess Jacobs – CEO of Coterie, a brand on a mission to make parents' lives easier with high-quality, safe products that truly perform – from The Diaper that started it all to their wipes, & new skincare line. In this episode, Jess shares how Coterie is redefining baby care with transparency, clean ingredients, & innovation. We dive into the hidden toxins found in other wipes & diapers, why ingredient disclosure matters, & how Coterie built its reputation on safety, performance, & trust. Parents, this is an episode you won't want to miss!   To Watch the Show click HERE   For Detailed Show Notes visit TSCPODCAST.COM   To connect with Coterie click HERE   To connect with Lauryn Bosstick click HERE   To connect with Michael Bosstick click HERE   Read More on The Skinny Confidential HERE   Head to our ShopMy page HERE and LTK page HERE to find all of the products mentioned in each episode.   Get your burning questions featured on the show! Leave the Him & Her Show a voicemail at [phone].   This episode is sponsored by Coterie Visit http://coterie.com and use code SKINNY20 for 20% off your first order.

The following podcast is a dear media production. She's a lifestyle blogger extraordinaire. Fantastic. And he's a serial entrepreneur. A very smart cookie. And now Lauren Everts and Michael Bostic are bringing you alone for the ride. Get ready for some major realness. Welcome to the skinny confidential, him and her.

Do you know how many times the day that we use your products all day long? pretty much all day. My daughter has now resorted to wipe, and I have to say, what's the magic word? So now it's wipe, please. They don't even use, like, napkins anymore. Like, they'll make a huge mess on their eating. They'll just be like, wipe. And I'm like, and then they get the wipe.

But you know it's going to be safe and clean and cleansing and do what it's supposed to do and not break. And that's the trust that you should have in all the products that you're using. It's actually way easier from my perspective and what do I know than the paper towel because you can reuse it over and that. paper towel is flimsy. It gives up on me after one wife. You know what I mean? Right. So these kids, they can just have the wipe the whole time when they're eating. 100%. Well, I have a story about why we switched to your wipes. Tell me. So I went and got my blood tested and it came back super high in triclosin. And the doctor was like, what are you using that has this much triclosin? And so my soap's non-toxic, my body wash is

non-toxic. The toothpaste I use is non-toxic. And that's where triclosin's normally found. Yep. So I went on this whole. whole exploration to figure out where I was getting this triclosin from. Turns out one of the most popular white brands has a derivative of triclosin in it that they don't disclose on the label. Very common in whites and diapers. We couldn't figure it out. And you know, like if you're familiar, if the audience is familiar with the show, but if you're familiar with us, like, we try to live as clean as possible. And so we couldn't, we're like, where could this be coming from? So after I went on a deep dive and found that this brand had triclosin, and

I was using it every day all day long to wipe my babies on their most intimate areas. I was like, I need to find a brand that is what they say they are. So that's when I was introduced to your brand. We switched to your diapers and we're big fans. I'm so happy to hear that. I'm so happy you did. And I wish there was a greater industry standard, honestly, across the board for safety and clean ingredients and also publishing those testing results as well, there isn't. And that's kind of where coterie came from, honestly. Coterie started because we believe that the status quo in the diapering industry wasn't good enough. The diaper industry is not closely regulated, which is really scary and really surprising. It was for me because when you become a mom, you realize

firsthand, that diaper is touching your baby's skin 24-7. Morning, noon, and night, that diaper's on their skin. What's in it? It led us all as a team to really dig into that and think about that and understand also that parents shouldn't need to compromise between potentially harmful ingredients and a high-performing diaper. Why do they have to do they have to? to make that choice. So that led to coterate. And all of our products are hypoallergenic. They are dermatologists tested. They are free from fragrances, paraben, phallates, trichlucin, chlorine bleaching, VOCs, dioxins, BPA. I could go on and on. There's over a thousand plus harmful chemicals that we're free from because we think parents deserve to not have that mental burden.

Is that what is in the other brands? Because sometimes my kids, like if it's a long night, will wear one of these other brands. Yeah. So can a coterie go all night? Yes, a coterie absolutely can go all night. No problem. No problem. The regular one.

Yes. So that's also kind of a misnomer in the industry. I didn't know that. That's why I was going to ask you live on air. If you think about diapers, they've been around for decades, there's been a such a lack of innovation at the core of it. But actually, more and more diapers come out all the time. Different skews, different sort of this shield protection and that's it. What is it actually? What is the differentiation between this is a morning diaper? This is a daytime diaper. This is a

nighttime diaper. This diaper's for travel. This diaper's for this. This diaper's for walking. At the end of the day, the cynic in me looks at it and says, this feels like skew proliferation to take up the shelf space. So what's going on? They all do the same thing. They all. do the same thing. Except for maybe the swim diaper. Right. Correct. Correct. Correct. But what's going on? Why are all these, why are there all these different types of diapers? And we just have one. We wanted to keep it simple. It's the diaper. That's it. Morning and night. You're not wearing like different underwear in the day. You're not like, it's my morning pair. It's my nightcare. It's my evening pair. And why is there a nighttime diaper that essentially, you know, the the crux of a nighttime diaper would be that it absorbs more liquid, right? why isn't that good enough for the daytime too?

So I can rip the band-aid off tonight and throw away all the nighttime diapers and switch to coterie at night. Tonight is the night, Lauren. Night's the night. Well, you know what's going to happen soon? I hate to break it to you. Yes. The diaper gnomes are coming. Do you know what the diaper gnomes are?

No. The diaper gnomes are coming to take my son's diaper. They come at night. But they're not taking the nighttime diaper. so now I can give him coding. But don't worry, she's got a fresh one on the way, so we're just going to go right back into the diapers. But I want to be clear.

Like, we are a brand. We're a team of parents. And our favorite thing is when kids truly become independent and graduate out of diapers. Like, that's what it's all about. We don't want to keep kids in diapers. We want them to gain their independence. Don't worry.

I'm having another one, though, so that'll be right. Yes, yes. But the diaper gnomes aren't taking the nighttime diapers. Just the daytime. I was doing the math, though. Like, with this other one, it's like pretty much like, pretty much like a decade. It's going to be like a decade of me doing diaper changing.

You are power users. I don't think it's that big of a deal. When people are like, they're in diapers and I have to change diapers, I don't find it that overwhelming. Well, now I don't know any different because it's going on five and a half. No, no, I don't. I mean, Alex is normal. You just get your, it would be weird for you not to do it at this point. Yeah, it would be strange.

And I think it also, I hate to do this, but it depends on the products too. Like our wipes, for instance, are really sturdy. really thick. They don't break through like other wipes. They're also 30% larger than other leading wipes on the market. So if you're using like a flimsy wipe and your hand is breaking through and you're getting in that mess, I don't care how much you love your baby. Gross. Gross. Yeah, it's gross. Jess, I don't like flimsy anything. I'm not a flimsy kind of gal. I can tell. No, I don't. I don't. I love that. I can tell. Hence our third child. Yeah, I'm not, I'm not a flimsy kind of gal.

What would people be shocked to hear about the baby and newborn industry that you've found since working with coterie? Great question. I think the biggest shock has to be the lack of regulation and standards. And it's something that I'm passionate about. We're passionate about. We want a rising tide lifts all boats. We want all brands to start to. really take this more seriously because health is at stake at this point. It's, it's, it's pretty

alarming. We were the first brand to publish our third-party testing safety reports that we did with independent labs. Others have followed suit and that's great. That's what we want. But it was important for us not to just be saying, oh, we use incredibly clean materials and nothing is harmful. We wanted to put our money where our mouth is there. So those safety reports are, again, independent labs. We wanted to show every single ingredient, every single component, test what it is, show why we tested it, show the results. Put it all out there. I think to what I've realized, and this is my own thought, all of these daily habits that we all had when we were little, from the windex to the tide to all these endocrine disruptors.

There's got to be something there that adds up. Like, and Allison from Branch Basics was just on, and she just said on our show, all of the things that her mother did that she didn't know were toxic, added up, and by the time she was 22, she had hives all over her body. And she said, Lauren, it wasn't like one thing. It was like the accumulation of all these tiny little things.

that my mom didn't know about that added up. Well, there was a friend of mine, and I'm not going to put him on blasts. He's in the medical space. And we were talking about how someone like my dad or I'll use a strange, Donald Trump or Warren Buffett, they can drink these Coca-Cola and diet Coke's all day long and eat McDonald and all this and not be affected and still actually perform and have high energy and get their work done and live really long time, right? And he was basically saying there's like this generational overload.

that exists where that generation and their parents weren't exposed to as many of the harmful chemicals and ingredients that were exposed to. So when they were born, they don't have that. But then our generation gets exposed to more. So then we can't handle as much load. And now our children get exposed to even more because it's now multiple generations being exposed to these poor ingredients that were largely created after World War II. Right. And then definitely in the 80s and 90s when, you know, when we were all kids, all the stuff and all the ingredients that they're now removing in many cases from our supplies. Yeah. So essentially what they're saying is like our children will have weaker resilience than we had and we have weaker resilience than our parents

had to some of these ingredients because we haven't had this like quote unquote generational overload of this stuff in this toxicity being in our systems. Right. And it's just a lot as a parent to be thinking about, right? It's like there's so much on our shoulders today to be making those right decisions for our families, for our babies, for ourselves. I think Coterie is a good example of being a goal-oriented brand in the sense that we just want to make parents' lives easier. We don't want them to have to stress about, is this clean? Is this going to be effective? Is this going to be high-performing? The more of the mental load we can take off of our customers, the better so that they can focus on other things. Like it's just, it can be too much. It can be so

overwhelming to get mired with all of it. And I think parents just do the best they can. And that's exactly what they should be doing. And every each individual parent, I think, does know best for themselves. I don't think you start caring about it nearly as much until you have children of your own. I think that's right. Right. Like I, you know, I paid attention to some of this stuff. But when I was like, okay, I feel pretty good. That was it for me too. That was it for me too. That changed everything. And when you have kids with everything, you start to the end. And I see some, listen, I know what people, some of the critics of this show say they're skeptical. But if you look at just the data of what's going on, like kids are getting sicker than ever, cancer is rising, obesity's out of control, we have,

we have issues with illnesses that we've never had to deal with. Like this is, all of this stuff is on the rise. And so you don't have to be a genius to say, okay, something we're doing or something we're consuming or something that is in our environment is causing some kind of issue. You don't have like the tin hat and go down the woo-woo, but you start to think about that as a parents are like, okay, well, then what are the things that I should avoid so that I don't potentially put my kid at risk? Right. You know, it's not even really about me anymore. Right, exactly. You frame everything with your kids. So that's exactly what happened to me. I was using one of the other giant diaper brands with my first child. So I have two girls. Quinn is two,

almost two. Penelope is almost five. So with Penelope was using another brand, but I was so careful about everything else. I was thinking about everything around her being so hyper clean. Her clothes, her nursery furniture, everything she was eating, obviously. A pacifier would drop on the floor. I would sterilize it before it would go back in her mouth. I went like into overload for sure. But I never thought about the importance of a diaper. It just, I don't know why. It truly didn't cross my mind. I look back and I'm like, how bizarre. But that was before. Yes. Yes. Yes. It's the pamper's. Yeah. Yeah. Something. I don't know. There's nostalgic. Something.

And that was before joining coterie when I switched to coterie and joined the team. I first was using the diaper and trying it out to get that firsthand experience. And I was blown away by the difference it made in my life, not just for my baby's life, my life as the parent. I was not having to worry about, is she going to get diaper rash? Her diaper rash went away. It didn't come back. I wasn't waking up in the morning and having to change. change her crib sheets that were typically soaking wet from her peeing in the night. I just thought

that was standard. I was like, that's just part of being a mom. You got to wash the sheets every day. Most of all, though, she was finally sleeping through the night. And then guess what? I was sleeping through the night. And my whole family was sleeping through the night. Why was she sleeping through the night? Because she wasn't peeing in the middle of the night? So a lot of people think and believe that when a baby wakes up at night, oh, they're hungry. That's what it is. It's not. It's not. not always the case, especially as they get a little bit older. What's often happening is a baby is peeing in the night and they're getting freezing cold because if you've ever dropped water, when the water hits your skin, your skin's like 98 degrees. When water hits your skin, it's cold.

It's a shot of cold. That's what wakes them up. Our diaper wicks away that liquid from the skin in seconds, mere seconds. It's doing it four times faster than leading brands. That's allowing them to sleep through the night. It's not disrupting their cycle. Huh. Which is going to create a happier, healthier baby and to your point, family. And family. And family. What you set off air was so interesting. Why I have such admiration for your brand is you called it, you called it a niche. What did you call it? A niche? Yeah, like we, we've connected with this niche audience, this parent. It's essentially, myself. Like that's, I think about what I would want, what would be important for me to see and feel

connected to. And that was a large way that we developed this brand. We did it all internally from scratch, but we were so tired of the sea of sameness, like the Google Gaga marketing. Like, who are they talking to? They're talking to babies? Like, what's going on here? And it was just very cliched versions of parenthood. Everything is perfect and joyous. And there's, there are extreme highs, but there are also lows. And we wanted a brand that was parent-centric in the way that it touched on the realities too. Not everything is perfect. Let's talk about mom guilt. Let's talk about all of the things that parents and moms really deal with day to day and do it on an honest level. But why you guys, the brand to me, like from a branding perspective, is so genius. Is it a niche? Is it a niche or a niche? I don't feel like. getting yell that. Okay. I think it's both. Okay. I think it's

a niche. You know what? I switch it up. Today I'm going to say niche. I think it's so genius that it's a niche brand, but it's daily habits that you do all day long and it's on subscription. This is from a business perspective. I just think

it's a smart, savvy situation. I think that you guys have created something that people want, which is a clean brand that you use all day that's on subscription. How do you guys think about that from a business perspective? Well, I'll go back for a second and just talk about my background related to this because I've always been an innovator. I've always been thinking about how things could be better and I've

been obsessed with brands and brand building. My first job was as a copywriter. I'm essentially a glorified copywriter. My team hates it when I say that. But it's true. And I'm so proud of that. It's a great skill. I was like pegy. from Mad Men. That was me. And I worked my way up. I became a creative director and spent a decade plus on the agency side working with these epic, epic brands embedded in their systems, places like Apple and Nike, helping them to craft their most inspiring stories and connect with the finest, finest points of their audiences. And that's really where the magic was unlocked for them and for me. from there I switched to a personal care brand called Lola.

It's feminine care. That's where I start to really understand the importance of ingredients. But then becoming a mom is what transforms my thinking about products. And that was the unlock. And then coming to coterie and it's been just the greatest, greatest joy of my life since, except for being a mom and marrying my husband. I know we always forget the husband. It's like you have to check the box and say the husband.

My sister, everybody. Let's not forget. The husband is the one that makes it possible for you to become a mom. So essentially. He played a very important role and he still does. The truth is, I say this with all sincerity, he does more than I do. It's the truth. It's the truth.

I would say that you do equal to me. You think you do more. No, call it out if you think you do more. There was a look. You help me. My husband helps me as much as being married to a woman would help me. Yeah. He helps, like, I know that sounds kind of weird.

In the way that he gets it. He's never said, like, I'm not going to change that diaper. I'm not going to take them to school. Or like, he's very, very hands on. And I would say, and I'm going to really do an honest percentage. Oh, so you think, you think it's more. No, no, I'm not. It's a question for you.

I'm asking. Right now at the minute where I'm literally crowning, you're doing a little more. Like, I hate to break it to you. But what about when you're not crowning? But physically, what are you doing right now? I'm trying everything. I'm creating life. I'm, yeah, I'm busy.

I'm not saying, I literally was just asking the question. No, but jokes aside. No, I've always felt. Do you think it's 50-50? I think it's at least 50-50 for sure. Okay. All right. I do want to say, though, your dad, Garberer, I think showed you a really good example and role model.

He always took you guys to school. He always showed up for all your stuff. He was very hands-on. He cooked you dinner. Like, he was very comfortable. Listen, like, I always, like, say that entrepreneurs in general, business people, men, women, sometimes ambitious people. Yeah. They lose sight of what the whole reason for doing the whole thing is in the first place.

Like, for me, like, it's very, like, my priorities are straight. Like, my wife and my family above everything else. Right. And then everything else to support my wife and my family. Right. Like, so, like, listen, I love what I do. from a career perspective. I like making income. I like making a living. I like creating big things. Sure. But if those ever become the thing that's taken away from the other thing, then like I'll throw the, I'll throw the business thing away.

Right. What's the why? It's them. Because people sometimes, especially, I think this is why you see a lot of successful people end up in a miserable way because they lose sight of that and they just like, it's just more and more. You can always build another business. You can always make more money. To be honest, this is going to sound, this clip will get pulled out of context. you kind of figure out that skill set, it's not the hardest thing to figure out. I find trying to be a good dad and a good husband and all that is actually much harder to stay good and consistent at. So anyways, I think like I've always had the perspective of that. And so I want to be involved with my children, my wife. I don't want them to be like, oh, this guy was always gone and working all the time. I would say, though, your mistress is. We don't talk about her on the show. Your mistress is crafting business deals and putting business deals together.

I don't know what you're talking about. Like if you had a mistress, your mistress is being creative with deals. Oh, like, oh, like, I, well, no, my thing that I like to do, yeah, obviously, like, I'm an entrepreneur. I like, I, like, I, I have a mechanism. He's cheating on me with, like, the business deal. Fair. Yeah. And I think for every parent, it's like, whatever that time is that you're with your kid, it's like,

you're showing up and you're being present. And I don't care. For me, it's not always a very long time. And I'm sure that, you know, you all can relate to that and feel that way too. How do you deal with that? When I'm there, I'm really trying to be off my phone and be with them. It's hard. And it is. I mean, listen, sometimes some of my friends are like, wouldn't it be nice if one day we go and we live on a ranch somewhere in Illinois? I'm like, listen, nobody. I got to get back to the office and be part of the auction. Right. Like some people like they like that. Exactly. You have to know yourself. You have to know what feeds you.

And if you're not, you know, it's the oxygen mass thing. If you're not putting on your oxygen mask and for you, it's like doing deals and getting stuff done. It's the sport that I think I've personally chosen to play. And imagine if you were into like tennis or golf or whatever the hell of thing. And you're like someone would say you can't do. I have to be able to do the thing. Exactly. But I can't be at the expense of losing the most important thing if that makes sense.

Right. But they sort of interlock with each other in a sense. It's not fun for you. when your wife's in a bad mood. I think you've realized that. I think it's fun for any man when their wife's in a bad mood, right? Or mad. Nobody's like, wow, this is going to be great. Emma Greed said something on our podcast.

I love her. It was so good. She's so fabulous. I was like, I tell my kids, like, I'm sorry, I have to go to work. Like, I'll be back. You know, mom has to work. I don't want to go to work today. Like, but I have to go to work. And she said, no, you should go to your kids and be like, I love my work. my work lights me up. I love going to work. It makes me happy. Yeah, I love that. I think that's right. I think that's right. I think that's right. Because you're showing them that you enjoy everything you do day to night. Yes. I think putting that positive spin on everything is always the answer, truly, to the best that you can for your kids. Internally, you could think whatever you want about it. But I always try to sort of make light of things. and make the most of things and not let it all get so heavy for them, at least. Anytime I'm hopping on a flight, it's like it's going to be so quick. Mommy's going to have fun, you're going to have fun.

I'm going to be back so soon. And guess what? I'm bringing a present when you come back. And then like that's what, oh, yeah, that's what it's all about. So. No, but she said that before essentially like her kids would view it as something she did not like doing or she was unhappy doing it. So they didn't want her to go be unhappy, right?

So as soon as it switched and was like, hey, I'm actually going to go enjoy this. Because I was like, have fun. They like it. What are some micro things you do as a mom to balance out the business and being a mom? Such a good question. I will say we as a team, as a coterie team, we're fully remote, so we work from home. So it blends in a way. And I love that.

And we have a team of a lot of parents. And I'm working in my office. My kids are in the back of the Zoom. And everyone else's kids are in the back of the Zoom. It's not a big deal. Everyone's used to it. We just sort of like roll with it. Again, it's like a team of all parents.

But I also think you guys are like you have diapers and you have wipes. So the kids in the back, it's like the essence. It's the essence as part of it. And if we weren't a company and a business that put our employees first and really prioritized them as parents, how would we be able to show up for our community in a real way? So it's really about making it feel like a cohesive and conducive environment where you can be your most productive self. And also, like, I think parents are unbelievable. I've become so much more productive as a parent, truly.

Because maybe it's because I only have such a short amount of time. It's like, in this hour, I need to get what I would previously get done in two weeks. And it's going to happen. And I'm so focused and I'm going to nail it. I talk about this all the time. We have some women in this company that are pregnant and experience. expecting and I've talked to them and they're nervous like, oh, like, I feel like I'm going to be so wrong.

I'm like, no, you're going to be more productive. You're absolutely right. Something skyrockets. And it's the motivation, right? You know what I is? I look back before we had children, we were lollygagging all the places. But how much time do we waste? Like, there was so much, like, now, like, think about it.

Well, we were, like, traveling and relaxing. We were saying, like, we go to New York and, like, we do a couple meetings, but then we just be fucking around all the time, eating and drinking. Having a lot of fun, yes. Martini's. My husband. I traveled everywhere, and it was like me and my best friend TV. Like, we are just this.

And that was it. And how much time I spent, I look back, I'm like, wow, I didn't even, you didn't even realize it. Like, where did the hours go? And now, right, every hour is regimented. But I'm far more productive now. I'm far more motivated now. Becoming a mom skyrocketed my career.

Yeah, that doesn't surprise me at all. And I also, you have a greater reason now to be more successful because you have more than yourself to consider it. Exactly. What do you think makes a successful team member or employee? You manage a team. Like what are the traits that you look for? So it's a great question. I think there's a lot of things. I honestly think that EQ piece is so important, that emotional intelligence. Great one. You know why? You can't teach it. You can teach everything else on the technical side, truly. But if someone doesn't have that emotional intelligence and that willingness and that curious, you know why? You can't teach everything else on the technical side, truly. But if someone doesn't have that emotional intelligence and that willingness and that curious, to learn and take it on and step outside of their comfort zone, then you're not going to get very far, truly. And that's just something you have or you don't.

So when you're interviewing someone, how do you get that piece out of them? Because if you ask someone if they have EQ, everyone's going to say yes. No, no, no, no, no. It comes through, I think, in the way somebody is talking. about the things they enjoy doing. My favorite interview question actually has nothing to do with the day-to-day work or the job or their background. It's like, what do you do for fun?

I want to see somebody get really passionate. I want to see their eyes light up. I want to see how they pour themselves into something that they care about and what their curiosity looks like. And to me, like, that's it. That's it. How have you guys built your team? Like, what does the team look like behind the scenes?

It's a lot of parents. It's an incredible team. I'm so proud of them. It's, you know, it's diaper scientists. It's true experts. It's brand builders. It's creatives. It's everyone that you can imagine just coming together all across the country.

Everybody's remote. How big is the team? It's about 70 people now. That's amazing. And how long have you guys been around? Like five and a half years. That's really, really cool. So you have a team of 70, so you have all different kinds of facets.

Correct. Correct. But it's still a lean team given, you know, what we're doing and what we're producing. And we like it that way, too. There's a closeness. There's a real culture that we've cultivated. We stay very true to our values. One of our values is changed together. I love that one because it's the, it's kind of like the nod to changing and baby changing tables and changing your baby on the changing table. But also this idea that as a startup, and you guys know, this well. There's going to be pivots. There's going to be like shifts. Like the bus is going to change directions. And as long as we all know where we're going, we're all on the same page and we all have the same North Star in mind, that's great. And we can handle that. Yeah. There's also like what's interesting about running a business is like there's phases in the business as well. Totally. Almost like different seasons. Totally. And I think a real struggle for a lot of startups is when people that are maybe early in the company or even founders like try to hang on to the first phase of the business because they don't want it to feel different. You got to change. You got to change. Everything changes. You got to change. You got to grow. Yeah, we talk about it all the time here. I was just like constantly trying to stay ahead of and just put it on people's radar that like it's going to feel different. It's going to look different. Exactly. Everything. And I think reiterating that point and really leaning on the team to help navigate it together. You know, if you're all moving in the same direction holding hands, like that's all that's what it is.

that's scaling, that's growing. I am doing a nursery at the moment and I'm trying to make it as non-toxic as possible. I'm currently off-gassing the eco-friendly paint as we speak. Good. Great. Yeah. Do you know what that means, Michael? I'm assuming you're letting it sit with the windows open?

Yeah, because you don't want to paint the room or do the wallpaper too close to when the baby's here because then the baby will breathe it in, right? Okay, this is what I've heard. That sounds right. There's a paint brand. Test my home told me to get it. It's called Eco-something. It's a great paint brand. Anyways, how can someone who wants a cleaner nursery use coterie in the nursery? So all of our products are hyperalogenic, dermatologist tested. Which is so important. So important. From a rash standpoint. Yes. Free from fragrances. Parabins, phallates, dioxins, trichlion, chlorine bleaching. You want to look for totally chlorine-free products. The list goes on and on. We're free from over a thousand plus chemicals.

But what I'm really excited about is we are launching skincare. So that little sweet bun bomb sitting in front of you that is coming to market quite soon, the bun bomb. We spent years and years developing the skincare. We only create things that are going to be demonstrally better than what is already out there and raise the start. So quickly, on the stuff that's already out there. What are some of the ingredients that you guys wanted to stay away from that are typical in most of those products? So with this bun bomb, first and foremost, when you think about baby skin care, that's out there right now, the majority of it is about treating issues once they arise, right? Like we've got diaper rash. Let's put on the diaper rash cream. We've got this problem. We've got eczema. Let's put on this cream. Yeah.

No one is thinking about it. Nobody is thinking about it from a preventative lens, right? And the way that like adult skin care, like our regimens, it's all about prevention. So we spent years developing this line that we are so incredibly proud of, the highest safety standards that our customers trust us for already to put out products that are about preventing those issues. And skin health has always been a brand promise for us. That's what our diapers do. They protect that most sensitive skin from diaper rash and from that excess moisture. So the bomb works in harmony with the diaper to do just that. So this bomb, it is a beautiful multi-use ointment for preventing diaper rash that is plant-based and petulum-free. Which is really important. Petrileum-free. That was the hard. not to crack. And that is in a huge brand that everyone uses. I used it. I used it. People are

slugging with it. Do you know what slugging is? What the hell is slugging is when you put it all over your face. Everywhere. People are putting this chemical all over everything. Yep. And they're putting it in their most intimate areas. And it's a huge brand. Yeah. Yeah. So that's why I think this is so innovative. Yes. So it's serving that same purpose. with even cleaner ingredients. And it is so gorgeous. It's such a gorgeous amoliant. You can build it up. You can just do one lather on the bum. And it really locks away that moisture from the skin barrier and protects babies. It can also be used. It's a multi-use. You can use it on dry patches. You can use it on eczema. You can use it anywhere on your baby all over. And I use it everywhere on myself. It's like,

it's my lip balm right now. Like I truly, it's, it is so. clean and special. I'm so excited for this to meet the world, truly. Petroleum. You said it a different way. Am I saying it wrong? No, it's all connected. What is in petroleum that would gross us out? It's an oil and it needs to be refined. And when you're refining something, you're introducing chemicals. And those chemicals can carry on with it or not, but I'll put it this way. This is all EWG verified and safe. Petroleum and petroleum base is marked by the EWG as fair risk. That wasn't good enough for us. That wasn't good enough for us.

Fair risk meaning like they'll give it a pass but there's still an assessment. Meaning question mark, I would say. Meaning question mark. And everything that we created in our skincare line is risk-free. Isn't petroleum also in tires or something? Am I wrong about that? It's petroleum. It's petroleum.

It's everywhere. It's an oil that is, it's in a lot of things and it's refined and treated differently depending on where it shows up. But it comes from the same source. And it's just not something that was tolerable for us. Here's my thought process on that. Like you said, it's in everything. And some of those things are probably suitable and necessary in certain categories. But if something like this gets the exact same job done, it's the same way I think about branch basics or, It's like if it does the exact same thing and has the same effect that I'm looking for, which is basically in this case, healthy skin or to clear up an issue or to prevent an issue, like why would you not use something that doesn't have a risk profile? Exactly. That's how I think about like everything. Exactly. And I think you guys would agree that what we're really finding is that when you're using these cleaner ingredients,

you're getting something that is actually more effective, right? It's able to actually do the job better. We're really excited about that one. There's also a cleansing wash that we're launching called First Wash. It is extremely gentle for the most sensitive newborn skin. It's tear-free cleansing. It leaves the skin so soft and it's so safe. And it's just this magical, magical formulation that we are so excited about.

Maybe I'll use it for my own skin. Yes. It's coming. It's coming. I think people too don't realize that a lot of the cleansers and the shes shower gels are causing the rashes. They can be stripping. That's the issue.

Because when you're cleansing, if you're not protecting that microbiome on our skin, everybody's talking about microbiome and the gut, and it's also our skin. So we did extensive microbiome testing. Again, none of this is required. None of this is regulated. It should be. We did extensive microbiome testing on all of our skincare products to ensure they were microbiome-friendly, meaning that the same healthy good bacteria still remains on the baby's skin after you're using it.

We're not stripping. It makes so much sense. It's wild that there's any pushback on it. I know. I know. And then the third product and the final product in this lineup is our soft cream. It's a beautiful, hydrating, nourishing lotion, perfect for after the bath to replenish that skin. hydration for up to 24 hours, lightweight, gorgeous.

I think there's going to be a lot of parents using these products, too. Honestly, I already am, but we're just incredibly excited about it. What should parents immediately look out for and avoid when they're shopping for baby products? What are the red flags? Or even orange flags or like pale pink flags? There's a lot of great resources out there now to equip parents. I can speak to what I do and it's, I personally as a mom, use really specific brands that I trust and I let them do the heavy lifting. Brands like Branch Basic, brands like Bobby, you know.

Yes, she's been on. She's fabulous. I look for the brands doing the right thing and stick with them. Boy, though, do you have to go through a lot of different hoops to find the right brands? That's what I was talking about with Allison. is it's like, I'm... It shouldn't be so hard. I know.

She's like, I don't want to overwhelm everyone with all these different things, but the thing is, is what's overwhelming is that there's no brand integrity for newborns and babies. That's what's overwhelming to me. It's like, how can you put all these products on the market that have all these things that are endocrine disruptors and hormone disruptors? That's what's overwhelming. Yep. Once you find the brand that you know that has the integrity, it's actually really simple and

there's clarity. By the way, it's not just for kids' brands and parenting brands. It's like everything. Our food. Exactly. Everything. But I think it's on us. It's on the people that care about and prioritize those things. Like once you find those brands, those brands are coming up and they're fighting giants.

They are fighting giants out there. And the more that we can rally behind them and support them and make it so they become the giants, like then we see change, truly. Yeah. It's a whole, there's a whole thing that goes on behind the scenes with a lot of these brands and you just really have to do your own research. You do. But what it is, it's like the reason I like doing this show is it's an information portal. Right? Like, you will come on and you'll tell, like, I tell the audience all the time, like, I get the information the day we record, but I'm learning at the same time.

Yes. And whenever I go and meet people that are maybe not as switched on, it's like, it's typically, it's not because they're dumb. It's not because they're stupid. it's not because they're not well-intentioned. It's because they just don't have access to the information. Correct. But you also, you two are, you have such a curiosity, which is so, like, magical, honestly, to converse with you guys because you're so, you're truly interested and you're open and you bring your own opinions, but you're willing to have your mind changed if the right information comes across your desk. And I think that that's a beautiful way to live. And I, and I, want to be more like that. I also think parents, parents are really smart and they know. And for instance, with a diaper, I was using one of those giant diaper brands. I didn't like it. It felt

synthetic. Synthetic. It felt like harsh textures. It just didn't feel good. And my baby couldn't communicate to me that they weren't uncomfortable. But I wasn't, honestly, I was so overwhelmed at the time with being a new mom that I was like, this is the least of my problems, right? But then you come across something better. You look back and you're like, I knew that that didn't feel as soft and glorious as it should feel. Like our diaper is so soft, so comfortable. Like, it's really what a newborn baby deserves, truly. And when you're using that product, you're feeling the difference yourself as a parent. And it's, it's an aha moment, truly. You know what, though, speaking to some of that curiosity, what happens, and I'm sure you've gone through this in your own life, is you discover one thing like, okay, there's a cleaning supply issue, okay, there's a diaper issue, there's a skincare, like you go through. And then basically what happens is everything you buy in your life now. Like what happens for me now is I just think, okay, I want a product that does this certain thing or delivers this certain thing to me. And then immediately my brain goes like, okay, where is the healthiest best version of that?

And what I think where I think there's such an opportunity for young entrepreneurs or people that want this is like if you're, you know, you were filling a need for yourself, we fill a need for ourselves. Yep. Like there's there's an opportunity now to quote unquote fight these giants with better for you products that an audience is very open to. You got it. There is so much opportunity to do that. And once you start looking at like once you start changing like two or three or four things, then you're like, okay, well, I'm going to do this for every category. So it's actually kind of freeing in a way. Yes.

Because you start to get rid of like a lot of the stuff. Absolutely right. And if you're sitting there looking around saying it's really hard for me to find a better, cleaner version of this, maybe it doesn't exist. And maybe you should go make it. It's like stupid examples. Like, what do you drink for your morning coffee? Once you start realizing, okay, like, what are they doing in that industry? Then you want the cleanest, mold free. And you realize that like the coffee jitters actually aren't a real thing. It's just moldy coffee beans. Wow. Right. There's just weird things like that. Keon. You go down the robin. So people talk all the time.

You won't have the coffee jitters. The best coffee. I'm just giving you a stupid example, but the reason you have the coffee jitters is likely because there's mold on your coffee beans. If you have mold-free coffee beans, you don't have the jitters. That's- You drink five cups. It'll be fine. I do drink five cups. But I get the jitters.

Five cups. But you do that with like, you know, you start doing that with like every category. What did you do when you were pregnant? Be honest. I didn't. You didn't drink any? I, no. I drink a cup a day.

With all three of my kids. For me, it was like if I'm going to drink a cup, it's good. going to be three, four, five. So it was easier for me to just be like, cut it. Were you exhausted? Yes. Woof. Yes. What does it mean to be a flushable wipe? I don't understand that. Okay. So that is a great question. We have our wipes. They're incredible. We have the wipe, 99% water, purified water, five clean, safe ingredients. That's it. It's the wipe. We have the soft wipe has a few more ingredients because it is emolion and hydrating. So it's really replenishing.

That's skin barrier. It's very nourishing. Both substrates are both of the wipes themselves, 30% larger than leading brands out there, 100% plant-based, plastic-free entirely. The flushables are similar, but they are made to be flushed. those other wipes are not. They really should be thrown in the trash. They should not be flushed because they are so thick, so sturdy. So we developed, this took a long time, we developed a version just like those two to be flushed.

So it's perfect for that potty training toddler to help themselves get clean. And it dissolves entirely in 30 minutes. So it is sewer and septic safe. It can be, I mean, the whole family can use it. It's really for everybody. I have like a friend. I'm not going to call him out who like loves using wipes after he goes to the bathroom. And he makes like this huge to do where like we have to like go through it.

But the ones that he's using, I think, are toxic. It's possible. I will also say like people that use adults that use flush wipes when they go to the bathroom, judge adults that don't. So like that's a real thing. It's not the most sexy thing in the world. No, but when you think about it. And when you start using them, you're like, yeah, this is better. This is.

Do we need to have flushable wipes in our bathroom? You do. I have them here. Well, it will be next to the skinny confidential toilet paper because you know that I have the chlorine-free formaldehyde-free. Yep, bamboo. Beautiful. It's the same kind of like essence, though. Exactly.

I don't want to wipe my own butthole with endocrine disruptors and hormone disruptors. Who does? And I also don't want it on my kids. Yep. My biggest revelation out of this whole episode so far has been that you can wear your diaper at night because that's a shift for my whole family. No, of course. I really wish I knew that a long time ago. Me too. This is upsetting to me. Like this, we should have figured this out sooner. I think that like you guys, can you guys, I don't know, do like a whole campaign around how you can wear it at night too? We definitely can. But I think there's something. like off with the idea that again like we've been so like brainwashed in a sense to think like we need

these different diapers for these different situations and it's no if it's a incredible diaper it should serve all purposes except swim i think that's why it's confusing though is that he's been fed the nostalgia the the hug a bear whatever well like you could price gouge and i'm not saying that you would but you could price gouge your customer if you just literally labeled the same thing as nighttime because it does the same. 100%. We could also take up more room on the shelf. We could, there's all of those strategies.

Like that is also the antithesis of what we do and what we're about. And I think parents recognize that and appreciate that. Well, I say it as a compliment you guys because you could do that. And I guarantee you probably at some point someone in the company suggested it, not because they're bad people, because they're doing it because it'll drive more revenue, right? It's been, I will say this team is incredible and so expert. and we are all so clear-eyed on what we're doing here and what it's about. The focus is so intense.

And I think that's also a big difference between us and other baby care brands. We don't have tons of skews all over the place. We're not going into tons of territories. We would only make something truly if our customers are asking for it over and over and over again. And we feel like we can do it better than anyone else is doing it right now. That's it. And if not, I don't want to do it. We, I mean, I'm a huge fan of your brand.

I wanted to pick your brain always. I've always been a fan of this brand. We have a bunch of questions from the audience. They're rapid fire questions. Let's do it. Okay. What's your go-to mantra on parenting? So my mom has all of these good little sayings.

And I pull them out of the hat whenever I need them. The one I've been using this week. has been let go or be dragged. Let go or be dragged. Your choice. I love that. I love that. Because it's so true. Like, just let it go or you're right, be dragged.

I love that. And your mom obviously raised two amazing daughters. You've got a lawyer here. My sister's here. And a CEO of an incredible company. I'm going to say this saying to you, Lauren, I'm going to say, let it go or be dragged. Be dragged.

to actually say it to you, but that's great. We all should say it to each other. Where do you hope that coterie is in 10 years from now? I could get teary-eyed thinking about it. It's like a movement. I'm so proud of the team. I'm so proud of what we do. It's been a dream, truly.

I want in 10 years to see the whole industry getting cleaner, getting better. pushing to the same standards. And I want to see coterie decades and decades and decades to come, just being that amazing legacy brand that endures and continues to connect with parents as, you know, the generations of parents continue to change and, you know, want and need and deserve different things. Love.

Midnight diaper change or 3 a.m. bottle feet. With coterie, I'm not. doing the midnight diaper changes. Ah, there you go. So it's the, it's the feed. And the last question, what is your favorite thing about being a mom? Cuddles. Yeah.

The snuggles. Yeah. It's just the most delicious thing and I crave it all the time. It's a recharge. Oh, that is. That is like my battery's recharging. It used to be a nap and now it's like I need a squeeze. I know.

Sometimes I'm like, oh, they're sick. well, come into mom's bosom. Those are the cuddliest days. I know. I know. It's so true. Okay, we have a code for our audience. These are the wipes and diapers Michael and I use. We were not using them at night, but we are tonight, and I'm getting rid of the rest of the night. I can't wait to hear. You have to text me and tell me. I am very into this brand. It's clean. It's safe. It's high performing. You can visit cotery.com and use code skinny 20. You get 20% off your first order.

I'm just on this subscription situation where it just comes to my house. This is the diaper I'll be using for my newborn. The diaper gnomes will be taking the coterie away from my son soon. Yeah, they're coming. As they do. We've been talking about those gnomes. It's terrified. Do you guys remember the book Gnomes from the 80s?

Does anyone remember this book? No. Oh my God. I was called gnomes? It was like a, it was the most famous book in the 80s. I can't believe none of you guys know this. do remember Nome's being a thing in a moment. Nomes was like, it became like this huge, go Google it.

It was the best selling book for 10 years. You don't mean trolls. No, Nomes in the 80s. Carson, Google it. I'm right. And, Carson, Google, how long it was a bestselling book on the New York Times bestseller. I think it was the longest book. Do you recognize it?

Let's see. Okay, okay. It was the book that's, this book was on the New York Times longer than any other book I think ever. I can't believe you guys don't know about the Where the wild things are? Okay, so this is what the hot tip is for the parents. Good night, moon. That's a classic.

When the diaper gnomes have to come, you buy the book. This one? Yes, how do you not know about gnomes? Look. You guys, oh, yes. See, everyone knows gnomes. Wait, but there's a brown one. I don't remember the plot.

Yeah, the brown ones. This is, come on. Go and buy gnomes. This is gnomes. Okay, no, that's not ringing a bell. I'm disappointed in everyone. It was like she had like the special edition, leather-bound.

I did. I remember the pages, everything. So what I'm doing to my kids, you don't even know this, is I'm reading the book, gnomes to them, and that's the gnome that's coming to take time. I had the leather bound first edition.

You should read it tonight. Brush up. It was literally, it's like the most famous book in the 80s. All right. Cotery.com. Use code skinny 20. Just aged ourselves.

Where can everyone find the brand? on Instagram at Cotery. Thank you.