Motherhood has a way of reshaping everything, and for Danielle Read, it sparked much more than she ever expected. What began as a tearful wish for “just one shower only” became its seed RORY Face Stuff – a beautifully crafted skin care line that saves time for moms in the thick of it. After a demanding birth and the beautiful chaos that followed, she found herself making huge changes with a baby on her hip and hardly any moments to call her own. In this candid interview, she opens up about how those early postpartum days inspired her business, the lessons she learned, and the joy she found in creating something that supports other moms.
The passion: What inspired you to create your business?
I always imagined new motherhood to be like singing by the window. I hug my baby and coo softly. Smiling. A tiny human sleeping in a cot while I was reading a magazine – what a fool I was! Motherhood shook me, both in its beauty and in its cruelty – and in all the things it helped me birth beyond the baby itself.
After a 42 hour labor, an emergency c-section and chaos that is coming home to a home that is yours but now feels completely differentwith this glorious tiny creature that you can’t believe is here. Time for myself became a finite, almost non-existent resource.
So I guess what inspired me to create my business was when I was in the postpartum trenches. Sleep deprivation and leakage. My baby is throwing up in my hair and my shoulders are hurting from the constant feeding. I realized how profoundly life had changed. My husband’s four weeks of leave was over, my mom’s two week stay was over and suddenly, it was just the baby and me. Single. And busy.
All the time I didn’t have before is now doubled. Come evening, when my husband would come home from work, we would hardly manage to get dinner on the table together (now with a 14 month old, I laugh at that – the pressures we put on ourselves as new mothers!). At one point, I had a tearful moment where something like, “Can I just take a shower!?” it spilled out of my mouth and into the air. From the moment my eyes opened until they (momentarily) closed at night, it was back and forth. I’m sure many new mothers can relate to this!!
Until then, I was holding the baby in the shower and the moment my husband got him dressed, I would hear the crying and shoot arrows to calm him down. I kept wondering: How can I make the most of those seconds in the shower?
This question is what finally sparked RORY Face Stuff.
RORY Face Stuff is a three-step, 60-second facial routine designed for postpartum skin and the fast pace of motherhood. It is pregnancy safe, breastfeeding safe, natural, vegan, cruelty free and made in Queensland using wild harvested Australian ingredients. We ship Australia wide!
The launch: How did you get started in the first place?
At around five months, my baby started taking more predictable naps and – wait for it – even in his own crib! Before maternity leave, I ran a copywriting business, Readcity Writing. During those seven or so years as a copywriter, I had seen over a hundred businesses start up – it helped me decide where to spend money, save money, and DIY with this second business venture.
During the nap, I did some research. I interviewed other new moms about their skin. I researched postpartum hormone levels, their effects on the skin, what ingredients might help combat them, and the best types of products to combat common postpartum skin concerns – like melasma (aka pregnancy mask), dark spots, uneven skin tone, breakouts, fine lines… I was shocked to discover that postpartum skin faces aging – mainly from sleeping progesterone and dehydration. Slowly but surely, I landed on the last three products.
I worked with Mon Hope Designs on the branding, built the website myself and took the photos. I registered the start of the business in a 23 part series on Instagram. Suddenly, they were live on Valentine’s Day 2025! Which was great as we went many months without long day naps so I was pleased that the heavy lifting was done by then!
Innovation: What has been the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
Other parent companies have moved into stock RORY Face Stuff!. I’m incredibly grateful for the support of these businesses behind ours (I say ours, as my husband is in charge of packaging!).
You can now find us in a children’s clothing store, a spa and hopefully soon an acupuncture clinic and a pelvic health clinic. All on the Gold Coast so far but hoping to expand Australia wide!
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
I’m no master of balance – I treasure 60 seconds in the shower with RORY, after all!
Because I worked from home before I had my baby, I had already developed some habits that help. I have a dedicated workspace in our home that is separate from our living spaces. I’m closing the door on work and returning to my other roles where I can! I keep my phone in a separate room as much as possible – it’s a good way to not ‘just check’ if an email has arrived. I check for these notifications periodically during my nap!
My husband is with our baby one day a week, which really helps with balance and allows me to get out of the house and zone out at a coffee shop. He also does the bedtime routine, giving me an hour at the desk. I also take my laptop with me wherever possible in case I fall asleep in the car!
Becoming a mother has made me keenly aware of the patriarchal conditions that exist around motherhood, work and the ‘balance’ of the two. I had preconceived notions, though now they are in high definition, even with an active partner. The ideology where you have to work like you’re not a mom, mother like you don’t work, and do both perfectly. I hope to navigate this chapter uncovering new revelations, new ways of being, and new structures within our family to create a more equal, just, and balanced household. I hope to set an example for our son and his views on family dynamics.
