The Tuesday Ten: Honest Baby's Jill Besnoy

I love me an honest woman. And I definitely love me a snappy comeback for the plethora of unsolicited advice that the world seems to think we all want to listen to as moms.

So when I learned about Honest Baby, I fell in love. Here's a little refresher with my review. Jill Besnoy and her witty little baby/toddler/kid T-shirts are now a favorite of mine (and I really must find that "Not Sleeping Through the Night" T-shirt Buttercup must have shoved in her toy box!)

But before I get to the interview, Jill asked me to announce a discount code for my readers as a way of saying "thank you" for the great response we had to her product line. Just plug in code "berrie" for 20 percent off at checkout!

Read on to learn more about a berrie sweet mom-pranuer!

Q.: So tell me a little about your company or product and the inspiration behind it.
A.: honestbaby.com celebrates imperfect parenting with informative articles, a panel of bloggers and no judgments. Our companion children’s t-shirt line has sassy slogans that poke fun at parenting stress.
When I was a new mother looking for support I found a lot of sites where parents criticized each other’s choices. When moms would share their stories they were made to fell like they were doing things “wrong”. I was looking for moms like me. Moms who made mistakes and found humor in the daily disasters. Not super moms spawning super children. I wanted to fill that gap, so I launched honestbaby.com. My goal was a website that would provide humor, community and most importantly, embrace imperfect parenting.

Q.: What sets your product apart from the rest? What's your "It" factor?
A.: I think we are in the midst of an anti-perfect parent moment. Most mothers are tired of the myth of the super mom and tired of being judged. honestbaby lets you leave those pressures behind and have a more realistic, fun approach to parenting.

Q.: What's the nitty-gritty on you!?? Come on! I want age, rank, and serial number!
A.: I’m just your basic mom living in the suburbs with her patient husband and two energetic boys (4 and 6) trying to run her own business. 37 years old. Live 10 minutes from where I grew up (I know, very daring). I was formerly in the glamorous industry of film and television. Gave it up for the world of parenting. I love travel, tennis, sailing, going to the movies and mostly just hanging with the family doing nothing.

Q.: What's your funniest mommyhood memory to date?
A.: When I was dropping off my kindergartner at school, the bell rang and all the kids ran in. I looked around and my 3 year old who was just playing on the playground was gone. A group of parents and some teachers began to assist me in my search after hearing me yell his name for 5 minutes (seemed like an hour). The principal of the school happened to be outside and began looking too. As we ran towards the front of the school, she suggested maybe we should call the police. It was then that we found my son going number two on the base of the school’s flagpole. Needless to say, the principal was already aware of our family from my older son, this did not help matters.

Q.: Five words. Describe yourself. Go!
A.: Brilliant, gorgeous, daring, elegant, fascinating… Is this the imaginary portion of the interview?

Q.: Secrets to success? Tips for making it through to tomorrow with our sanity intact? (read: how did you do it?)
A.: Persistence. Just keep going. Even if you doubt yourself (which I did) work through it. Don’t give up. And surround yourself with a good support system, which should include positive people and reliable babysitting.

Q.: Why do you think your products hit home with moms amd families??
A.: Parents are tired of being told how to parent. There is no “right” way to raise a child. And the sooner we let go of that parenting stress the better. Everyone is just doing the best they can. It’s time to bring parenting back to where it belongs, humorous, enjoyable and most importantly realistic. Imperfect parenting is a concept that was long overdue.

Q.: What press have you received since you started? what's the coolest, berrie sweetest press you have gotten to date? (answer carefully....*wink wink*!)
A.: Well of course it was the great review on berrie sweet picks that really put us over the edge! Recently honestbaby was written up in Ad Age as leading the “anti-perfect mom brigade” and shortly after I was on FOX NEWS as a guest talking about the myth of perfect parenting. That was cool.

Q.: If you could have one mommy superpower, what would it be?
A.: Easy question, the ability to stop time! I dream about it. First I would catch up on all my television shows, then organize all the closets, finally put my kids’ pictures into photo albums, then catch up on all my honestbaby work! Did I mention sleep for a week straight?

Q.: Sneaky chef or eat-those-veggies-now! What's your parenting style?
A.: Definitely sneaky chef…I find it so much easier to trick my children then to win an argument. Actually my older one eats pretty well. It’s still a battle with my 4 year-old. Yesterday he refused to eat anything until about 1:00 in the afternoon! As they say, he’ll eat when he’s hungry.

Q.: Where can my readers find you online?
A.: www.honestbaby.com Come join our community!