Above: Fashionable maternity clothes from Mia Tango
As one of the early employees at KAYAK, I had the opportunity to build the finance and accounting department from the ground up and took away great training for becoming an entrepreneur,” says former CFO Melissa Birge. The Westporter put those skills into practice when she founded MIA TANGO, an online shop for new and “pre-loved” maternity clothes.
Going from CFO to entrepreneur, Birge embraced a life change. Actually, she gave it a big, confident bear hug. “It’s a lot of risk—financial risk, failure risk—but I truly believe in this business.”
As the mother of three boys, she spied the market for stylish maternity clothes from a mile away. “When I first started showing with my twins, I bought a lot of expensive, conservative dresses, tops and pants,” she says. “It would have been great to trade those back in.”
That’s where Mia Tango steps in to help. “I seek out design houses that are run by moms, because they really understand how a woman’s body transitions and are designing pieces that are also good for that awkward period after pregnancy.” The company relies on Westporters’ good taste. “We have real pregnant women try on everything we sell so that we can see how things fit women of all heights and stages of pregnancy,” says Birge. “I’ve met so many lovely Westport moms-to-be who are willing to help and give us feedback.”
Shoppers can create a stylish wardrobe and, by buying and trading in pre-owned items, also earn CFO’s thumbs-up, budget-wise. More at myshopify.com