written by Team Liberty Road

"You know a single mom."

You can feel the conviction behind Marla Aaron's words when she said this on Instagram. Her reasons are anchored in the collective and deeply personal. 

First, the collective: The United States has the highest number of children raised by a single parent, with nearly 11 million single-parent households. Of those, single mothers make up 80 percent. So, as Marla points out, we all know a single mom. Perhaps you are one. 

That brings us to the personal: Before she became the revered jewelry designer she is today, Marla was a divorced single mother raising her baby son on her own. She was working in advertising at the time and was struggling "in every respect," as she tells us. The "bittersweetness" of Mother's Day when her son was little still echoes. "Everyone is celebrating moms and it felt wonderful, but it was lonely," she recalls, adding that when you're alone as a single parent to little ones, no one is there to celebrate you. 

In the two decades since, Marla remarried, became a stepmom, and founded her eponymous and wildly popular jewelry collection. But she never forgot about the loneliness and struggle she experienced while raising her son on her own. "I always felt like I wanted to do something special for [single moms] in some small way," she says. 

She did this—and the impact has been anything but small. In 2015, Marla and her team started giving away sterling silver Heartlocks to single mothers leading up to Mother's Day. The gesture, which they call #lockyourmom, was mighty. It was to say, you are seen. Marla described it to us as a way to uplift some of the hardest working women out there. "It's about bringing what we do to people who may not have room for any luxuries like jewelry at a complicated time in their lives."

This year, the #lockyourmom effort is in full force. Anyone can go to the Marla Aaron collection site and nominate a single mom (or yourself!) to receive a silver signature lock emblazoned with an exclamation point for the powerful, words-cannot-describe, incredible feeling that motherhood brings. 

Marla and her team have given away "thousands" of locks to date. The response has been tremendous. But Marla says it's "never enough," and she and her team won't stop. 

When we asked Marla the secret behind a successful giveback program like #unlockyourmom, she brought it home.

"If it's not personal,” she says, “it's not possible.”

To learn more, visit marlaaron.com and follow #lockyourmom on IG. The team ships the locks up until Mother’s Day.

You can learn more about Marla by listening to her conversation with Nada on ‘The Liberty Road Podcast.’

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