On a busy street lined with historic homes in Defiance, Ohio sits a particular home, one filled with lots of charm. Yes, part of its charm is the special décor: the neutral tones, the intricately tiled flooring, the splashes of color. But the family that lives inside is charming too.
In Lindsey’s Instagram feed, they don adorable knits, trendy accessories, and exude that classic beauty. But…are they really like that in real life? Is everything as rosy and wonderful as it seems over there? Do her kids throw tantrums? Since she became insta-famous, is she a snob? I wondered.

Let me take you back a bit. Lindsey and I met in 2015 at a Beetroot event. In 2018, I got to hear about her passion for clothing when she asked me to coffee to brainstorm ideas for her very own clothing line. In January 2020, Lindsey had her fourth baby, Eleanor June. Eleanor (Nell) struggled with her respiratory health, and was hospitalized four times in the first four months of her life. Many followed their story through Lindsey’s Instagram posts. I watched from a distance, feeling awful for Lindsey having to go through this (and during a pandemic). I told her I wanted to bring her dinner after she got out of the hospital in late April. I learned that she could use some breast milk in order to get Nell off of formula, so I offered to pump milk for her.

I started pumping for Eleanor. I started giving her milk, and I started getting to know this family better. When Eleanor was hospitalized for a fourth time, we realized we would have to go gluten free and dairy free to reduce inflammation. So, I made the changes that day, because I would have done anything in my power to see Eleanor get well. Because Lindsey was thrown into the df/gf diet, I started making her compliant dinners and treats. The months went by, and we got to know each other better and better as we continued this new journey together. I would arrive at their home to drop off milk, and the kids would come to me and say, "What did you bring?" I would often pull out treats for them, sometimes birthday gifts, and sometimes books or games to play with them.

After spending countless hours with this family and visiting their house more than 50 times during the summer, I realized, "They are just as charming as their Instagram feed makes them appear." And it wasn't because their lives were as blemish-free and bright as Lindsey's Instagram feed. She has hard days with the kids, and she has many mundane and tedious tasks to get done. It's not all rosy and it's not all glamorous, but that made their charm even more authentic. They were real, and it was beautiful.

Lindsey started her Instagram account as many do, photographing her kids and having fun with it. After her first son was born in 2013, some small clothing shops sent her articles of clothing to be featured in sponsored posts. And that's where it all began. Her Instagram profile started to gain a following she hadn’t anticipated. When I ran into her in early 2018 and commented on her 20,000 followers, her wide-eyed expression suggested she was as surprised as I was.

As the years continued, the small shops that she started working with began to shift to higher quality and timeless designs- that's the clothing she fell in love with, and that's what fueled her desire to create her own line. There was a need for sustainable, organically made base layers in the small shop world. She also appreciated that buying from these small shops had the advantages of: supporting a family and not a millionaire CEO, high quality fibers (like organic cotton), and the knowledge that everyone involved in producing the product is being treated fairly.

Lindsey received her degree in merchandising with a focus on product development, so it's no surprise she felt inspired to create her own pieces of clothing. She pulled a handful of designs out of her notebook where she kept her clothing ideas, and went to Vegas in fall of 2018 to find her manufacturer. Her company was established, milk + honey clothier, and she started the long process of launching her own brand and first collection. Her perfectionism has driven the process, from the buttons to the packaging.

She chose six pieces to launch this first collection, but has many more designs brewing for future collections. milk + honey isn't just clothing, and it's not just a brand: it's an entrepreneur's dream becoming tangible. When she first showed me her clothing samples, I didn't say much, because it was surreal: seeing these pieces come to life, and knowing how much thought, time, and energy (or blood, sweat, and tears) had gone into it. These clothes made with organic pima cotton and designed with your little ones in mind are sure to make a notable mark on the small-clothing-shop world.

https://milkandhoneyclothier.co/

https://www.facebook.com/milkandhoneyclothier

https://www.instagram.com/milkandhoneyclothier/