Forces To Be Reckoned With
This one’s for mom
They truly do it all.
Discover rad moms Melissa Gustafson, Lauren Bietel, and Jamie O’neal as they share with us a day in the life of motherhood, wearing their favorite Roark Women’s pieces.
Celebrate mother’s day this year by honoring the strength, resilience, and pure talent of these women who freelance, create, inspire, and raise the generation of tomorrow.
Melissa Gustafson
My lifestyle now is ever evolving with two little kids under six living in the Sierra Nevada Foothills trying to figure out how to raise these girls in a way that has meaning. I hope to teach them a passion for life and nature in a way that can't be removed. I have really found a deeper joy in photographing our wild life out here as we try to learn and teach our kids the skills lost on living a more connected or fast paced life. So what do I do? I feed chickens, change diapers, sow seeds, take pictures, tell stories, plant plants, cook, clean, travel and try to be outside with my kids as much as humanly possible!
Nature enthusiast. Planter. Bee Keeper. Mother.
“My favorite quote always and forever is ‘Wherever you are.. be all there.’ I live by that.”
Lauren Bietel
By trade I am primarily a freelance photographer specializing in lifestyle photography for brands that I truly believe in and support. Living in Costa Mesa we are surrounded by an uprising of creatives and I find myself organically connecting and collaborating with brands originating in my community. Having children is a beautiful chaos. It's all so wild in the best and worst ways, things almost never go the way you plan them, loops being thrown like frisbees but to me that is what is so great about it. In the end all of those crazy moments make up a big, full, life full of love and adventure.
Photographer. Creative. Mother
“I discovered when my son was very young that the ocean is a special place for kiddos. It is naturally calming, there are so many ways to play but also it is limited in a cool way so it keeps them at bay and not over-stimulated.”
Jamie O’neal
When my son Lincoln was 3 months old I posted a video to tiktok in desperation for mom friends. It was a simple ask, join me for a coffee and a walk. Almost a year later The Mom Walk Collective is now over 180+ cities across the world. We gather moms together to get a safe place to simplify motherhood, find community, and share resources to raise the next generation. As a solo mom, I’ve learned that in order for my son to thrive, he must first be shown what thriving looks like. I really invest into becoming a better version of myself so my son is shown what health and happiness looks like.
“Motherhood. It’s one of the most growing but beautiful experiences of your life. You don’t get it till you get it.”
