Mother Stories
Mama & Photographer Zo’e Cole Tries Out The New Juno Bassinet
Written by Katie Hintz-Zambrano
Photography by Photographed by Zo'e Cole
Oct 6, 2021
If you’re a “new” mom—for the first time or after having another baby—we suggest you head over to Zo’e Cole’s Instagram feed immediately for a good laugh. The mother and photographer (or “mamatog” as she dubs herself) is currently juggling the care of her 2-year-old daughter, Bodie, and 2-month-old son, Bostyn, as well as her photography business, which focuses on capturing the many stages of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. With a clear passion for documenting motherhood in a realistic, laid-back style, Zo’e’s latest Reels about raising a newborn and a toddler will have you chuckling in agreement.
Another passion of the San Clemente-based mama is green living, which made her the perfect candidate to take the brand-new Juno bassinet for a test-drive. The award-winning product is inspired by the Finnish Baby Box of the 1920’s that provided a safe and healthy environment for the first 4-5 months of baby’s life. Juno’s modern design—ideal for newborns up to 4 months old—includes an elevated sleeping surface, renewable and non-toxic materials, a breathable interior, and an organic sleeping pad. The lightweight, infinitely portable pop-up sleeper takes only 30 seconds or less to set-up and can be moved from room-to-room with ease—making it extra-simple for sleep-deprived parents.
Check out the safe, sustainable, and affordable product and get to know Zo’e and her cute kiddos in our slideshow below!
This post is brought to you by Mother + Juno.
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Let the unboxing begin! Zo'e holds Juno's signature travel box that enables the pop-up design to go anywhere with ease—from the trunk of the car to under the couch.
Made from premium-grade, sustainably sourced paperboard, the Juno bassinet folds flat in no time at all, making travel and storage simple.
The Juno Bassinet, $148, Juno.
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Juno's unique pop-up design takes only 30 seconds or less to setup. And once it's been used over and over again, it can be placed into the recycling bin to be turned into something new again.
The Juno Bassinet, $148, Juno.
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"I grew up in a multi-ethnic American home. I think that’s the best way to describe it. My mom is Filipino and my dad is a mix of Caucasian ethnic backgrounds. I have one older brother."
"We always had a recycler, but beyond that, sustainability was a rare topic of conversation. Much of my education on sustainability have come from pursuing the knowledge as an adult."
The Juno Bassinet, $148, Juno.
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Thanks to smart engineering and paperboard construction, Juno's fully recyclable bassinet is lightweight (11 lbs out of the box, 13 lbs in the box) but extremely sturdy.
A definite upgrade from the Finnish Baby Box of the '20s, Juno's new-and-improved minimalist design allows for better visibility and easy access for parents. And its sleeping surface is perforated for better air flow.
It has a non-toxic protective coating that allows the bassinet to maintain its strength despite drips, spills, and “accidents.”
The Juno Bassinet, $148, Juno.
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Juno's sleeping pad, made exclusively by Bundle of Dreams, is water repellent, hypoallergenic, and VOC-free. It is crafted out of 100% breathable Bundlefiber and includes a removable, 100% organic cotton cover.
All together, it's Oeko-Tex Standard 100 and GREENGUARD Gold certified!
The Juno Bassinet, $148, Juno.
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"I want to take the best parts of mine and my husband’s upbringing and leave the rest in the past (don’t we all). We raise our kids to love Jesus first and treat all others and the Earth kindly. It’s not always second nature to be kind or thoughtful, but the older my kids get, the more I realize my own areas of growth, so I can model kindness for them. I am absolutely not perfect, but I hope we make more sustainable choices as a family so it doesn’t feel like an effort for my kids."
The Juno Bassinet, $148, Juno.
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"I did! I love mothers and have gravitated to serving mothers in my photography business, even before I got married and had my own kids. I think mothers are everything to our world. They’re gentle warriors. They bear the heaviness—quite literally—with the miracle that is creating new life. They’re the glue and backbone of the household. They’re the healing back rubs and tender tickles. Mothers are everything. Being a mother is the most challenging, stretching, sweetest, funniest blessing I’ve ever received."
The Juno Bassinet, $148, Juno.
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"No. That was recent. I wanted my kids to be ride or die best friends. Two under 2-years-old is a little crazy in the beginning, but I’m already seeing how sweet these two are together and it makes it all worth it."
The Juno Bassinet, $148, Juno.
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Juno was created after its founder, Herman Chan, was searching for a sleeping solution for his newborn son that was safe, sustainable, and affordable. Nothing existed that met his needs—either as a designer or a parent.
Together with his former colleague Thomas Duester, the pair set out to fill that void with what would become the Juno Bassinet, the world’s first Pop-up Bassinet, which has already won the prestigious iF Design Award before its launch!
The Juno Bassinet, $148, Juno.
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"Learning that I can’t do it all. You’d think I’d learn that on the first one, but two small children have humbled me to lean on my husband, my mom, my friends, and most of all, God, in a way I never did with my first. Almost 3 months in, I am now delighting in the moments of slowness and pause."
"There will always be dishes, laundry, work to-do's—but the fleeting moments with my little family are gone in an instant. I’d rather have chaos around me and witness those moments."
The Juno Bassinet, $148, Juno.
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"She was pretty standoffish before, but now I catch her 'talking' to him in her funny toddler babble, giving him knuckles, and 'helping' him with tummy time."
"Bodie is a pretty wild, rough-and-tumble girl. She’s toughening her little brother up for the wild ride ahead."
The Juno Bassinet, $148, Juno.
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"Oh boy—book your newborn photographer before you give birth!"
"But actually, sleep and rest with your eyes closed as much as you can."
"Trust yourself for labor, birth, dividing your love between two little ones. You have everything you need. They don’t call it mother’s intuition for nothing—you know what you need."
"And stock your freezer with nourishing postpartum meals, so you don’t miss any meals in those first few weeks."
The Juno Bassinet, $148, Juno.
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"The Juno has been so amazing in our small space. We live in a condo, so anyway we can create more space is a gift," says Zo'e. "It’s also so easy to move, my husband has taken it out into the living room a couple times when I’ve needed to catch up on some uninterrupted sleep."
"I also love that it’s made out of recyclable and sustainable materials. So much baby stuff is used for so short a time and then you’re done with it."
The Juno Bassinet, $148, Juno.
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Zo'e sets up the Juno next to her workstation for some mama-photographer multi-tasking.
The Juno Bassinet, $148, Juno.
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"I studied drawing, photography, and video at UC Irvine. I did a lot of jobs that I didn’t end up liking (commercial modeling, teaching yoga, photographing for a trendy corporate design agency), but they all taught me something vital that I apply to my business and work ethic today."
"I believe in trying anything and everything. Find out what you don’t like, so when you keep gravitating to what you’re truly passionate about, you will have no question."
"I have no doubts I was put on this Earth to make other moms feel celebrated, seen, heard, and valued. Each mother’s story is a window into her hurts and triumphs. Just think if we could eliminate that invisible mother trope that is all too common in our society."
The Juno Bassinet, $148, Juno.
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"Warm, sandy, joy-filled, and sun-soaked."
The Juno Bassinet, $148, Juno.
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"Celebrating moms is super important to me. What I’ve realized now as a mother with my own wounds is that we have the power to change our narrative of it all—motherhood, birth, parenting, body images—through our evolving roles as carrier and nourisher of life. A lot of those big moments are approached with fear, anxiety, or shame based on our upbringing, what we see in movies, and comparing on social media."
"I had one photo of my mom pregnant and we heard the same stressful story about birth a couple times growing up. That was it. Now, I get to show my kids photos of our life when they lived in my belly. I get to show them photos of their journeys Earthside. We can talk about all of it—the sweetness, the marathon, the discomforts, the surrender, the victory. I get to help form a narrative based on authenticity and empowerment, rather than fear and shame. I think that’s pretty powerful when you think about it."
The Juno Bassinet, $148, Juno.
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"Certainly. I’ll never know what it is to truly not 'work,' because I love my work too much. I have learned to take breaks and am always learning how to balance motherhood work with my actual motherhood."
The Juno Bassinet, $148, Juno.
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"Ha! Isn’t it the time when we’re supposed to be resting that we have floods of creative ideas that we have to wait to execute? I think it has a great deal to do with healthy hormones—they’re important for creativity and productivity, not just bearing children. I also think it has to do with the pause in work. I get burned out, just like anyone. When I stop shooting and editing, shooting and editing, posting and marketing and networking….odds are I’ve got some ideas rattling around that finally have a chance to take shape."
The Juno Bassinet, $148, Juno.
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"Oh my goodness—I have the same question. I think protecting your physical health and mental well-being is important. If you feel something or someone weighing on you so much that you’re distracted from being creative, maybe a healthy boundary is what is best for juggling motherhood and running your business."
The Juno Bassinet, $148, Juno.
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"That I get to remind my children they are loved, wanted, and chosen. I reach deep for what the child in me needs most and that’s what I’m excited to give my children."
The Juno Bassinet, $148, Juno.
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"Not getting enough sleep. This is so embarrassing, but I’m a monster when I’m sleep deprived. Sadly, motherhood hasn’t made me more resilient to this."
The Juno Bassinet, $148, Juno.
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"We’ve got to love each other and learn how to respect each other. It’s so sad to me how divided much of the world is. It’s a battle within me to love people I don’t fundamentally agree with, but if I don’t learn how, what am I teaching my children? I want my kids to assume the best in people first, rather than assuming the 'other' is an enemy. "
The Juno Bassinet, $148, Juno.
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Keep following along with Zo'e and her family at @thealohamamatog and @aloha.zozocole on Instagram and her website, thealohamamatog.com.
Find out more about the Juno bassinet and try it out for yourself at hellojuno.com.
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