Human Milk was founded in 2014
by artist and producer Claire Tchaikowski, in Bristol, UK.
After 2 decades in the music and modelling industries, and freshly relocated in a new city where she didn't know anyone but her partner, motherhood hit her like a ton of bricks as she became one of a vast number of women struggling to get the help they need at that pivotal time of life.
In an effort to find community and information about breastfeeding in particular, she stumbled across a few bits of science - about her own body - that blew her mind.
Dumbfounded that she had never come across this information before, she resolved to make a short film to share the knowledge with as many fellow humans as possible.
That film went viral, and over 3 years were then spent replying to calls from around the world, asking for collaborations. Those calls are still coming in.
Over the last 10 years, this passion has turned into an international effort to promote the science of breastmilk and breastfeeding as far and wide as possible, to reset life expectancy and health outcomes for both children and women.
As we redefine our perception of the value of breastfeeding, our very first human food, of motherhood, and of women's bodies, we also realign our relationship with nature; our own nature, and our Earth's eco-system.
We're also redefining business, putting sustainability and human connection centre stage, as we honour both parents and the planet we leave to our tiny humans and the generations after them.
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Claire Tchaikowski, Founder & CEO
Entrepreneur and Artist with a colourful history in the music, film, modelling and business sectors. I grew up in Switzerland, Ireland, France and Italy, and am Irish, Polish, British and Swiss.
I'm passionate about creativity solving the world's big problems, nature, music, psychology, story telling, art, sustainable things and film making. I long for women to be able to walk the world in safety and dignity, all over the world, all of the time, and I long to leave a clean and healthy planet to my son and his generation.
As a musician and composer, I've delivered vocal arrangements and performances on film and TV scores for Sony/BMG, Universal, Disney, BBC, Apple TV, Sky, Amazon Prime and Microsoft and more.
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Charlotte Gouyette, Community & Events Director
Based in Lisbon, Portugal, Charlotte is a coach with a specialism in music and entertainment professionals, as well as women entering motherhood. From supporting us in-house, to creating programmes that assist women through personal and cultural/social changes, Charlotte leads our online Community Calls and embodies the shift that Human Milk hopes to bring to the lives of millions.
"I help people create an intentional and aligned experience of their relationships, their work & their lives. I also work with pregnant women to apply the same thinking to their pregnancy-to-parenthood experience. I work with different types of clients, but they all share one thing in common; they have chosen to build their own life. They are changing the rules for themselves."
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Emma Bottomley, Retail Director
Emma specialises in design development and sourcing sustainable, circular, regenerative materials, using ethical manufacturers and Artisan partners, with expertise in Fashion, Interior & Lifestyle.
She is passionate about everyone benefiting from what we do, moving away from the concept of invisible "suppliers" to the concept of respected partners, in particular working with female-led Artisan Textile social enterprises around the world.
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Lisa Ravenscroft, Design Director
Lisa brings all our brand visuals together. She designs our education resources and all our printed materials.
"I’m a creative professional with a wide variety of graphic design and branding experience, working with the largest international companies to business start-ups. I relish the challenge of taking complex information and data, and translating this into a clear visual that delivers the message beautifully."
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Neil Davidge, Creative non-exec Director
Award winning Film/TV Composer & Producer and sonic pioneer of Bristol's legendary band Massive Attack, Neil has birthed some of the most arresting and innovative sounds on the record.
Neil brings decades of experience in the communication of emotions and concepts through the audio-visual Arts, and the running of an iconic brand and thriving creative business.
He has been a vital part of the team since the very beginning as both Claire's partner in crime and in life and the father of their son, who arguably started this whole movement.
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Dr Alok Ranjan, Advisor
Alok is a medical doctor with decades of experience in maternal and child health and nutrition, early childhood development, food systems and social protection; while working in organisations like WHO, UNICEF, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The Power of Nutrition.
He advises us in a personal capacity to ensure that we have a global perspective on the medical, social, ethical, nutritional and personal challenges faced by mothers, fathers and infants.
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Professor Amy Brown, Advisor
Amy is a professor of maternal and child public health at Swansea University, Wales, based in the department of public health, policy and social sciences, where is the director of their research centre 'LIFT' Lactation, Infant Feeding and Translation. She also leads their MSc in Child Public Health.
Amy is also the author of Let's Talk About The First Year Of Parenting, Why Breastfeeding Grief & Trauma Matter, The Positive Breastfeeding Book, 'Breastfeeding Uncovered: Who really decides how we feed our babies?', Informed is Best, Covid Babies and more, and has been advising the Human Milk project and team since 2016.
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Tim Radley, Retail & Brand Advisor
I love working with retail people, from boardrooms to stockrooms. When Claire and I met, we immediately found a common language, talking about retailing, sustainability, ethics and of course Human Milk. I understood the dream that she had for the brand, and could see what the reality could be.
Personally, I understand Human Milk’s focus, and the importance of breastfeeding. I have been married to a midwifery sister for nearly 30 years, and through bringing 3 children into this world, I fully see the health, the ethical and the emotional benefits of breast milk.
I am in awe of what Human Milk has already achieved and am fully on board to take it further.
Professionally, I’ve been employed as a retail consultant by Primark, Walgreens, Boots, Adidas, AllSaints, Ferrari, Ray-Ban, Nespresso, Bata, Halfords, Max&Co, Camper, Jack Jones, Marks & Spencer, Cortefiel, Sonae, Otto Versand, World Duty Free, La Caixa, National Geographic, Real Madrid, KappAhl, Gruppo Vestebene, Alessi, Gruppo Coin, Portaventura, Clarks, Benetton, Imaginarium, and Dublin City Council amongst others.
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Luca Peruzzi, Retail & Finance Advisor
Luca has 20 years of experience in Retail Business Consulting, working for business owners and top management. He specialises in
- Retail Strategy; market position, new retail formats, business models, assortment strategy, financials, omnichannel strategy, brand portfolio, start up of new retail formats and channel strategy.
- Retail Best Practices; retail planning, assortment planning algorithm, financial planning, store grading, in-season management, business intelligence; organisation evolution, change management.
- Retail Experience; supervising new store concept development, visual communication, store windows, visual merchandising, store design development and implementation
- Start up/evolution of new retail formats including for Gruppo Miroglio, Bialetti and Nespresso.
His clients include Adidas, Armani, Emporio Armani, Bata, Bialetti, Ferrari, Bottega Verde, Brunello, Cucinelli, Cortefiel, DBA/Sun Pacific, Geox Spa, Gruppo Coin, Inditex (owners of Zara, Massimo Dutti, Pull&Bear etc), Nespresso, Optissimo, OVS and more.
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Jennifer Grace, Photography & Community
Jennie is a photographer, an ante-natal teacher, a doula, a breastfeeding counsellor, mother of 4 and the author of ‘Mother’, a collection of her photographs and poems.
All our models for film and photos are real women with their families from our communities. Jennifer works come rain, wind or shine to reflect their personalities in the photos we use on our website and shop. She is also at our Bristol Meet-ups to greet and support the mothers who join us, as we build the local and global villages we all need in order to thrive in motherhood.
