Occupation: Owner of Chloe & Cate Consignment
Husband: James Clark
Children: Chloe, 5, Cate 2, and John, 1
Hobbies: Thrift shopping and sewing

As a mom to three little ones and owner of Chloe & Cate Consignment, Natalie Clark knows a thing or two about balancing chaos and creativity. Inspired by her own love of secondhand finds and desire to make things easier on parents, Natalie turned her passion for thrift shopping into a thriving online business. When she’s not curating quality kids’ clothing, she’s spending time outdoors with her husband, James, and their three children—Chloe, Cate, and John—embracing the everyday joys of family life in Louisiana.

WHAT WAS YOUR CHILDHOOD LIKE, AND HOW HAS THAT INFLUENCED THE WAY YOU PARENT TODAY?
NATALIE: I had a great childhood. My parents are very understanding people; they never really took things too seriously. They let the small things go, and when there’s a big thing that needs to be addressed, they would definitely take care of it in a timely manner. It was like, if you want to eat breakfast and the only thing we can get you to eat is ice cream, you can just eat it. But, if you get a bad grade on a test, we’re going to talk about it.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT RAISING YOUR FAMILY IN LOUISIANA?
NATALIE: The community here is great. We also love the outdoors aspect of Louisiana. We like to be outdoors with our children and experience all of those types of things.

WHAT’S A TYPICAL DAY IN YOUR HOME LIKE RIGHT NOW?
NATALIE: My oldest is in kindergarten, and my two younger children are in day care. A typical day is waking up, getting everyone breakfast, and [getting them] off to school. Then, I spend time working on my consignment business, either working on social media or on the back end, for instance the website or getting items organized. I also spend one day a week just picking up new consignments from other people.

WHAT’S THE BEST PARENTING ADVICE YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED?
NATALIE: At least for right now, my phase of life I’m in, it’s to know that: They’re only little once. These phases come and go quickly, so enjoy them. Enjoy the time you have. If there’s a day that I’m overwhelmed or stressed out, I just try to remember that it’s going to come and go very quickly. If you’re having a bad day, tomorrow’s going to be excellent compared to that day.

DO YOU HAVE ANY FAMILY TRADITIONS YOU ARE EXCITED TO START OR CONTINUE WITH YOUR CHILDREN?
NATALIE: I would say one family tradition that we have is on Christmas Eve. My father-in-law reads Cajun Night Before Christmas to all of the grandkids, and that is a tradition that he’s been doing, I think, since he had his first grandchild. His oldest grandchild is 18, and the youngest is my baby, who is one. So you have all these ages in between. That’s a tradition that we will keep doing.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO LAUNCH CHLOE & CATE CONSIGNMENT?
NATALIE: Moms have children quickly outgrowing clothes, and oftentimes, they’re nicer pieces they don’t really want to donate. They could stick them in a box in the attic, but that doesn’t really do them any favors either. I felt like there was a need for that. I love shopping secondhand for my own children, and so that’s how it was born. It’s something that is e-commerce based because it just makes it easy. Being a mom myself, I find myself shopping on my phone or on the Internet. That’s where I do the majority of my shopping, so I wanted to put something together for that kind of mom who’s looking for a deal.

WHAT KEEPS YOU MOTIVATED?
NATALIE: I would say the excitement that comes when a new outfit makes it to the person receiving the outfit. They often message me with pictures of their children in the clothes, or they’ll just let me know, like, this was perfect. This is exactly what I was hunting for. I’m excited to get it. I would say their excitement keeps me going and keeps me motivated.

HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHAT ITEMS TO ACCEPT AND FEATURE?
NATALIE: I go through the items. I look for stains, pulls, the quality, and if it meets a particular brand label that I like to carry. I carry over 20 to 30 different brands, but I focus on high quality [items], and I make sure that the pieces still have a decent amount of life left in them.

WHERE DO YOU SEE CHLOE & CATE CONSIGNMENT IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS?
NATALIE: I would love to see more moms dressing their kids in Chloe & Cate finds that they buy with me. I’m really looking to build a community of moms who love to give clothes a secondhand life. I know that there are people out there like me who are interested in the sustainability behind it.

HOW DO YOU BALANCE THE CHAOS AND THE JOY OF EVERYTHING?
NATALIE: I am a person who really thrives on time blocking and scheduling out. I like to give myself windows of time to get things accomplished. For example, if I want to pick up the house because little kids leave things everywhere, I will set a 15 minute timer and just give myself 15 minutes to get it as good as it’s going to get and then leave it. Leave the rest, and move on to the next task. For Chloe & Cate’s Consignment, I have specific days that I do tasks on, so that keeps me on track too.

DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR OTHER PARENTS?
NATALIE: Make sure that you’re enjoying the time with your kids and don’t let things overwhelm you. If things get too overwhelming, figure out a way to simplify it. For me, for example, getting dinner on the table can be really stressful, and that’s very stressful for a lot of parents. So, if there’s a 10 ingredient recipe to cook in 5 different steps, figure out how to make it all in one pot, or cut things out so your job’s a little easier.

Rapid-Fire Questions
Favorite date night…French Market Bistro.
Words that best describe your family…fun loving.
Favorite genre of movie or television shows…mysteries and dramas.
Favorite food…sushi.