Meet Jillian Rothe

Today we’re excited to be connecting with Jillian Rothe again. If you haven’t already, we suggest you check out our prior conversation with them here.

Jillian, always such a pleasure connecting with you and thank you for sharing your stories, insights and inspiring messages with our community. We’re looking forward to getting the download and what you have been up to since our last interview, but first can you briefly introduce yourself to folks who might have missed the prior conversation.
Hi – of course! I’m Jillian Rothe – the mom, engineer, and lactivist behind MilkWorx. I’ve been on a wild ride building a business that supports parents in the trenches of early childhood. My brand focuses on designing breast pumping products that make life easier for moms and their partners, whether it’s helping them store breastmilk more efficiently or creating tools to spark better communication (because let’s be honest, sleep-deprived conversations are rough), I love it all.

What sets us apart isn’t just our innovative and now PATENTED products but also the realness we bring to this space. As a mom of three myself, I know what it’s like to juggle the chaos and try to find solutions that actually work. That authenticity, paired with my engineering background, means we create practical, thoughtful solutions designed with parents’ real needs in mind.

This journey started while we were living in Singapore just solving our own problem and has since landed us in Colorado, where we manufacture locally, and have recently rebranded from MAMMaway to MilkWorx after counterfeits tried to take us out.

I’m still learning, still growing, and still laughing (mostly at myself). It’s been a wild journey, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Welcome to our story!

Great, so let’s jump into an update on what you have been up to since we last spoke. What can you share with us?
The journey since we last connected has been a mix of grit, growth, and gratitude.

From starting on accident in 2015 just solving our own problem to growing a 6-figure brand in just a few short years, I thought I was on top of the world rolling into 2023! Then in September 2023, I found out our flagship product had been knocked off by overseas counterfeiters and brought the whole thing to the ground.

No literally… we had $111 in revenue in December 2023. It was devastating. I thought we were done.

But instead of throwing in the towel, I took a deep breath (okay, a few), rebranded to MilkWorx (which I actually LOVE more!), and rebuilt the company from scratch in 2024, finishing the year squeaking just back over that key milestone of 100k in revenue. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, on the side of 3 kids and a day job, but it taught me some serious resilience and forced me to get crystal clear on what –and who– our brand stands for.

Now, I’m proud to say that we’re not just surviving; we’re thriving. I topped off 2024 with being voted the 2024 Product Of The Year from Baby Maternity Magazine (3 years in a row) and we were issued our Trademark from the USPTO for MilkWorx. I’m so energized rolling into 2025!

These days, we’re laser-focused on launching new products that make a real difference in parents’ lives. I’m especially excited about a few big releases we have planned for 2025 that I think will truly level up how parents navigate the day-to-day. Beyond the products, I’m going all in on this business –on ME– and there’s something so exciting and terrifying all at once about committing fully to what you believe in.

Of course, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Balancing the demands of entrepreneurship and motherhood is a constant challenge. But I’ve learned to embrace the messiness of the journey; of not knowing the answer and all of the steps. The moments that feel the most overwhelming and the most unsure are often the same ones that remind me why I started this in the first place; to support parents that feel exactly like that with a newborn to feed.

The fun part? Seeing the impact of our work in real time. Hearing from moms who say, “This product is a game-changer!” or “I feel and supported” is the fuel that keeps me going. It’s been an incredible ride, and I’m just getting started on the next chapter.

2025 is shaping up to be a big year, and I can’t wait to share what’s next!

Alright, so let’s do something a bit more fast-paced and lighthearted. We call this our lightning round and we’ll ask you a few quick questions.

Favorite Movie: Watching the MCU Saga in timeline order

Favorite Book: Anything by Mike Michalowicz

Favorite TV Show: Schitts Creek

Favorite Band or Artist: Carl Wockner (he played at our wedding!)

Sweet or Savory: Sweet – dark chocolate with salted caramel

Mountains or Beach: yes please.

Favorite Sport (to watch): Football – Go Pack!

Favorite Sport (to play): Futbol (Soccer for the gringos)

Did you play sports growing up (if so which ones): Soccer, Wrestling, Track (distance runner), and Basketball

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up: The Tooth Fairy

French Fries or Onion Rings: Chik-Fil-A Wafflecut

Chuck Rhodes or Bobby Axelrod: Who? (clearly i don’t watch much tv)

Favorite Cartoon growing up: Whatever was on Saturday mornings…

Favorite Childhood movie: I don’t actually remember… ? (we were sent outside to play with sticks and rocks)

Favorite Breakfast Food: blueberry bagel w/cream cheese or avo toast

Life is often about tough choices – can you talk to us about your thought process, strategy or philosophy when it comes to making difficult choices or tradeoffs.
I’ve recently learned two exercises that have helped guide my choices and I’ve yet to be disappointed when I follow this.

1) The Values Exercise: (you can google it) you basically whittle a list of 150+ values down to 3-5 top ones. Mine are currently Joy – Health – Freedom – Calmness – Growth. Do the things I am choosing bring me these? Whether its a person to spend time with or trip to go on or meeting to take or way to spend a Saturday… Does this person or task or thing I’m choosing to spend my energy on fit into my values? If not – is this the right thing for me? Or would I be better off saying pass.

2) Asking myself what would I regret more? This principal being simple and generally when there’s two things and I can only choose one – If I could only do one, which would I regret more to NOT do? it’s also a great way to prioritize a list; to pit them against each other. This or that. And you only get ONE.

I’m also a manifesting generator by human design and I have a lot of gut/spleen in my decision making, so have to always listen to my intuition and first thought/best thought.

Website: http://MilkWorx.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mymilkworx/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillianrothe/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjjXZFV9UYizuSoLuTGVqbQ

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/mymilkworx

Image Credits
Kim Wnuk Morgan, KW Designs Photography
Ramon Balderrama, Henery Agency
Nat Caron, Natcaron Photography