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When we first started Little Spoon, our mission was clear: Make fresh, healthy food accessible at every age and stage of early childhood. But we quickly realized checking the proverbial boxes alone (nutritious: check, convenient: check) wasnt enough. After all, parents are inundated with optionsthe decision fatigue surrounding parenting choices is overwhelming. What makes a brand stand apart isnt utility; its the ability to understand and affirm who your customer is (and hopes to be). Parents want to feel emotionally supported, seen, and confident in their decisions, particularly within the vast excess of parenting advice in 2025: chock full of dated narratives. So for my brand, its critical for us to show, not tell, our customers that were a partner in this complex and dynamic life stage. This lesson isnt specific to parenting brands, either. Look at Olipop, which bucked an influencer-first approach early and sent product PR mailers to their customers rather than to recognizable faces. Or rhode skin, which innovates by simplifying via a streamlined product collection that makes complex skincare nonintimidating. Or Athletic Brewing Company, which sponsors events (runs, meetups) to deepen its ties to their customers, who crave alcohol-free social engagement. Its not about flooding the market; its about creating trust and showingnot tellingcustomers that you understand their acute emotional-need states. BUILD AN INNOVATIVE BRAND Here are four things Ive learned about building a brand with emotional resonance and true product innovation: Design products that acknowledge emotion. Products should not just solve a logical problem, but an emotional one. For Little Spoon, that means removing stress and adding joy, a combination parents desperately crave. Take our Lunchers. They echo the nostalgic ritual of lunch kits from our own childhoods, but with fresh, nutritious ingredients todays parents can feel good about. That stark contrast evokes the fun and familiarity kids want, while eliminating the guilt and decision fatigue parents often feel. It provide a visceral sense of relief. The product doesnt just solve the whats for lunch problem; it affirms parents as the capable, caring, and present people they are. Zoom out beyond your category. Whoever your customer, their life is multi-faceted. At Little Spoon, we know parenting is a key part of a parents identity, but not all of it. Thats why its essential to borrow cues from outside your core category. For me, that means lifestyle, wellness, and home. These days, youre never just selling a product; youre affirming who your customer is and who they want to be. Thats why we lean into collaborations with a variety of brands that matter to the parent, like Dusen Dusen, Rachel Antonoff, Siete, Sauz, and Graza. That cross-brand synergy sparks excitement and reminds parents were part of their lifestyle, not just their grocery list. Prioritize consumer feedback. From onboarding to pricing, packaging, and new product launches, every Little Spoon touchpoint is a chance for us to listen and learn. We dont shy away from feedbackwe lean into it. That transparency and responsiveness not only drive fast iteration, but also show families theyre true cocreators of our brand. In a category long dominated by legacy players, this sense of agency builds trust, loyalty, and lasting community. And perhaps most importantly Build a culture, not just a product. Customers might come for a specific product, but they stay because they feel heard, connected, and part of something bigger. That sense of belonging is what creates loyalty in a crowded market, and what turns a brand into a trusted partner in someones life. We dont think of ourselves as a transactional business; we think of ourselves as an entire ecosystem. When a product goes beyond solving a problem and starts affirming identity, it transcends utility; it becomes indispensable. Thats the opportunity for every founder today: Stop designing only for function, and start designing for feeling. Angela Vranich is cofounder and chief producer officer of Little Spoon.
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E-Commerce
The teaching profession requires a certain degree of patience. Particularly when students discover a new trend to latch onto and repeat at every given opportunity. The latest so-called brain rot phrase to flood the classroom: 6-7. If you dont have any Gen Alphas in your life and have no idea what Im talking about, count yourself lucky. Some teachers have taken to social media to share their exasperation with the trend that has recently overrun classrooms, with schools outright banning it in some instances. “Say ‘6-7’ one more time,” one teacher posted on TikTok, pretending to address a student in her class. “Were gonna call your mom in about 6-7 minutes, let her know how you interrupt my class 6-7 times a day, and then maybe shell take your phone away for 6-7 days.” Teachers are going to extreme lengths to avoid saying the numberson the pages of textbooks or in answers to math equationsfor fear of triggering a commotion in the classroom. Meanwhile, some have adopted an if you cant beat em, join em” approach, turning the trend into a classroom management strategy or a learning tool. Others have taken a simpler line of attack. I choose 6 and 7 and 67 every time I need random numbers right now, which also seems to be killing the joke for the kidsbut I think its very funny, one teacher responded to a Reddit thread on r/Teachers. “I did it with a class earlier this week, and they didnt do it again, another one suggested. Nothing like a teacher doing a trend to make something uncool. Like much of Generation Alpha slang, the 6-7 trend originated on TikTok, spawning over a million related videos, before making its way into schools, basketball courts, and sports interviews. So what does “6-7” actually mean? To many parents, confusion. The numbers can be traced back to a song called Doot Doot, released by hip-hop artist Skrilla in late 2024, in which he raps: 6-7, I just bipped right on the highway (bip, bip). From there, a video of a boy yelling “6-7” into the camera at a basketball game went viral; thus was born a new meme. Its important to note that the “6-7” meme is pronounced “six, seven”not “sixty-seven or “six to seven,” as some may assume, having only seen it in writing. Its often accompanied by the hand gesture you would use to tell someone that youre weighing two options (both palms facing up, hands moving slightly up and down). Searches for Gen Alpha translator have surged 790% in the past year, making it the fastest-growing translator query, Jenny Lee, lead data analyst at Google Trends, told Axios. Meanwhile, 6-7 has emerged as the most popular search for both how to use [slang] and why do middle schools say in 2025.
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E-Commerce
The other day, a friend confessed her new nightly routine: hiding in the bathroom for 10 minutes after putting her kids to bed. The reason wasnt to scroll TikTok, but to breathe. Its either that or cry into the mac and cheese, she laughed. It struck me: parenting in 2025 often looks like quietly triaging our own stress while juggling work deadlines, permission slips, Slack pings, and dinner prep. Headlines scream about the youth mental health crisis, but what rarely makes the front page is the state of the people raising those kids. Working parents are running on fumes. And heres the part we cant gloss over: our kids emotional health is directly tied to ours. As psychiatrist and neuroscientist Dr. Raghu Appasani explained to me, emotional regulation is contagious. Both the calm and the chaos are felt by children. When parents experience chronic stress or burnout, it doesnt just live in their nervous system. It shapes the familys emotional climate, he said. Even babies, before they can speak, sense our tension. Over time, parental stress can erode a childrens sense of safety, making the world feel less predictable than it is. Neuroscience backs it up. A childs developing brain learns to self-regulate by co-regulating with their parents nervous system. In other words, if were running on fumes, so are they. {"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2015\/08\/erikaaslogo.png","headline":"Girl, Listen: A Guide to What Really Matters","description":"Ericka dives into the heat of modern motherhood, challenging the notion that personal identity must be sacrificed at the altar of parenting. ","substackDomain":"https:\/\/erickasouter.substack.com\/","colorTheme":"blue","redirectUrl":""}} The good news is, there are practical ways to flip the script, and we dont need a three-day meditation retreat to do it. A few ideas: Micro-pauses matter. Before you rush from Zoom call to carpool, take 60 seconds in the driveway to breathe. Literally. These moments act like emotional shock absorbers, resetting your nervous system so you show up calmer and more present. Leverage digital tools as check-ins, not crutches. Dr. Raghu, chief medical officer for the child-centered wellness app Ginko, recommends InsightTimer and Calm to help adults regulate stress through guided mindfulness. Other platforms, like Wysa, provide exercises to track mood and offer coping strategies. Hes also a fan of journaling tools like Daylio or Stoic, which offer quick check-ins that can help you notice when you are sliding into burnout. Pair parenting with prevention. If therapy apps like BetterHelp make it easier to fit sessions into a packed schedule, think of it as mental fitness, not just as a crisis hotline. The reality is that self-care isnt indulgence. Its infrastructure. Just like we maintain the Wi-Fi so homework can get done, we need to maintain our mental bandwidth so our kids can feel steady. Shielding them from every stressor isnt possible. But modeling how to downshift, recover, and stay connected? Thats a parenting lesson with lifelong returns. {"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2015\/08\/erikaaslogo.png","headline":"Girl, Listen: A Guide to What Really Matters","description":"Ericka dives into the heat of modern motherhood, challenging the notion that personal identity must be sacrificed at the altar of parenting. ","substackDomain":"https:\/\/erickasouter.substack.com\/","colorTheme":"blue","redirectUrl":""}}
Category:
E-Commerce
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