Pregnancy can change your body, your business, and your sense of self all at once. Beauty expert Oz gets raw about building a career from the ground up, surviving a devastating pregnancy loss, and learning how motherhood forced her to redefine success on her own terms.

Host Bee Trofort Wilson—photographer, educator, and first-time mom behind Baby Bump and Business—creates a deeply honest conversation for creative moms who are trying to keep their brand alive while their life is changing in real time. If you’ve ever wondered how to keep going when your hands, your heart, and your identity feel different, this episode will hit home.

Oz shares how she went from Detroit to Atlanta with a suitcase and a dream, built Makeup by Oz through hustle and strategy, and turned early client work into a full beauty business with pricing, booking, deposits, and structure. She also breaks down the real work behind growing a teaching brand, including launching classes, building a curriculum, and learning why expertise matters more than hype.

You’ll discover:

- How Oz built her client base with $5 brow arches and a simple business card strategy

- Why competitor analysis and online booking changed the way she ran her business

- What it really takes to create and teach beauty education at scale

- How she navigated a viral gender reveal, pregnancy loss, and the emotional toll of grief

- Why pregnancy carpal tunnel and postpartum brain fog pushed her into a full identity shift

This conversation also goes beyond entrepreneurship into the parts people don’t say out loud—the strain pregnancy can place on relationships, the pressure Black women carry to stay strong, and the permission it takes to slow down, rest, and be human. Oz speaks candidly about grief, healing, and what it means to rebuild after the version of you that once held everything together has to die. If you’re a creative mom, a beauty professional, or an entrepreneur trying to balance ambition with motherhood, this episode offers both wisdom and real comfort. It’s part business strategy, part healing conversation, and fully for anyone who needs to hear that grace is still a growth strategy.

Guest credibility: Oz is one of Atlanta’s premier makeup artists, known for clean natural makeup, lash extensions, microblading, and beauty education. Her work has appeared on Lifetime, Bravo, OWN, BET, and VH1, and she has trained hundreds of students through her beauty classes.

Being a creative mom and an entrepreneur can feel like two full-time identities colliding at once. Photographer Jaimy Ellis shares the raw truth about building a business, becoming a mother, and learning how to stop apologizing for not having the "perfect" maternal experience.

For moms growing a brand while raising kids, this conversation gets honest fast. Jaimy opens up about the pressure to be everything at once, the emotional whiplash of early motherhood, and the moment she realized her business could not keep outranking her family. Her story is proof that you can love your work deeply and still need to rebuild your life around what actually matters.

We break down how Jaimy's path started in Iowa's 4-H community, where public speaking, creativity, and confidence shaped her early love of photography. She shares how she went from photographing everything under the sun to building a portrait business centered on high school seniors, why burnout pushed her to change course, and how she learned to work with her strengths instead of fighting them.

You'll discover:

- How 4-H helped turn a farm kid into a confident photographer and teacher

- Why Jaimy's early brick-and-mortar studio burned her out fast - What it looked like to navigate pregnancy, a breach baby, a difficult C-section, and postpartum guilt

- How she rebuilt her business with strict boundaries, childcare, and early-morning work sessions

- Why ADHD and a fast-moving brain can be a superpower for creative entrepreneurs

- How she handled financial instability, pandemic disruption, and the pressure to keep everything afloat

Jaimy also talks candidly about income, identity, and the myth that moms must naturally be nurturers to be good mothers. If you've ever felt guilty for needing structure, space, or a minute to breathe while building something of your own, this episode will make you feel seen. Essential listening for creative moms, photographers, and entrepreneurs who are trying to grow a business without losing themselves in the process.

Motherhood does not have to kill your creative career. Stephanie Brown shows how she built an art practice, a coaching business, and a healthier relationship with success without burning herself out. If you are a creative mom, entrepreneur, or high-achiever trying to make room for a baby and a brand, this conversation will hit close to home.

Bee welcomes Atlanta-based photographer and interdisciplinary artist Stephanie Brown, whose work spans interactive installation art, education, and creative business coaching. Stephanie opens up about moving beyond traditional photography, designing art people can physically engage with, and using psychology, education theory, and play to create work that sticks. But the conversation goes far deeper than art.

You will hear how Stephanie financed her practice with project management and operations work, why she shifted from “I have to make the sale” to building sustainable revenue through speaking and coaching, and how a fertility check, family loss, and a miscarriage changed the way she thought about timing, planning, and motherhood. She also breaks down the hard truth behind workaholism, the panic attack that forced her to slow down, and the unlearning required when your self-worth has always been tied to productivity.

We break down:

- how Stephanie turned her background in operations into a service arm that funds her art

- why she chose an interdisciplinary path and what interactive installation adds to her work

- the reality of conceiving while juggling remote work, a business, and emotional burnout

- how she redefined planning, downtime, and asking for help

- what it really takes to protect your energy while building a life and business around a child

Stephanie also gets real about parenting a toddler while running a business, navigating childcare costs, and creating a family rhythm that supports both her son and her ambitions. Her perspective is a reminder that the goal is not to do everything perfectly - it is to build a life that can hold your creativity, your family, and your capacity. Essential listening if you are trying to grow a business, protect your peace, and figure out how to become a parent without disappearing in the process. Stephanie Brown is an Atlanta-based photographer and interactive installation artist, as well as the host of In Between Artists, a podcast focused on sustainable creative careers. Her work explores identity, access, and the lived experience of people of African descent, while her coaching helps creatives build strategic, sustainable businesses.

Links to Stephanie:

www.instagram.com/createdbrown

www.instagram.com/stephaniesquared_

www.stephaniebphotos.com

www.stephaniesquared.com