Hi readers! I am Alicia Lane, local mom and owner of GentleHands Tallahassee LLC. I came to Tallahassee for college at FSU and stayed after graduating to work as a teacher here. I taught math at FAMU DRS for 7 years and devoted my time and love to my amazing students. There I was part of an active and vibrant community of parents and teachers who accepted any and all who were there to help our students. When I had my first child, I knew the difference a community can make and sought to find my mom community. I joined Facebook groups and took birthing classes and did “all the things” to meet other moms but I wasn’t finding a community that involved getting out and really making friends. I joined Postpartum Wellness Tallahassee during my pregnancy because I was experiencing prenatal depression and was fully preparing myself for it to be even worse after birth. There I found moms who were open, and real, and raw and accepted me. I was starting to build my village and make friends. I found myself being pulled from my calling to teach and wanting to work with moms in some way. I became a Certified Lactation Counselor and looked into some other mom related fields, and then one day a huge post happened in a local mom group complaining about how there was not anything to do with infants in Tallahassee. Moms were mentioning magical places in other cities where you can go for play dates, classes, and play. I simply couldn’t get the thought out of my head about how it would work and how I could do it, and how helping build a community and parenting village could be a cornerstone of it and then GentleHands was born. My husband and I talked and planned for months before taking the leap and fully going in to planning and opening our business after the last school year ended. Almost a year since that post we are just a few months from opening and realizing this dream.