The Margin of Meaning

Intro (optional for Mom Bomb site):
At Mom Bomb, we don’t just sell bath products—we’re rebuilding what business can feel like. In a world driven by margin, we’ve chosen meaning. This essay by our founder, Heather Roberts, is a powerful look at what it means to grow with purpose, not pressure.

There’s a quiet kind of power in seeing the truth before others do.
Not in a smug, I-told-you-so kind of way—but in the deep, steady knowing that what you’re building is real.
Even when the systems around you don’t recognize it yet.

Years ago, I applied to an accelerator. A well-known one—slick, selective, and filled with so-called thought leaders.
I didn’t even make it past the first round.

Later, I learned why:
The judges couldn’t figure out how they’d make money by taking a piece of my company—because we give 100% of our profits to help mothers in crisis.

They never asked about the model. Never gave me a chance to explain.
Just crossed me off the list.

The irony?
That’s exactly what makes the company so valuable.
The moat they couldn’t monetize is the mission that builds trust, loyalty, and momentum.

If that wasn’t a glaring red flag that we were a mismatch, I don’t know what was.
But now, I see it as a gift.

Because if the gatekeepers of innovation don’t understand what you’re doing, maybe that’s a good sign.
Maybe you’re building something new.

I don’t want a partner who’s looking to extract value.
I want alignment.
I want resonance.
I want to build with people who understand that meaning is the multiplier.

They weren’t partners. They were gatekeepers.
And gatekeepers don’t open doors for business models they can’t comprehend—especially ones that prioritize meaning over margin.

We give 100% of our profits to help mothers in crisis.
That’s not a gimmick. That’s the moat. That’s the heartbeat.

The product—Epsom salts, bath bombs, moments of care—is the vehicle.
The business model is a full-circle act of healing.

That should be the future of commerce.
But to people trained to extract rather than serve, it looks like a risk.

And that’s the real problem.
We’re not just dealing with a business issue.
We’re facing a worldview issue.

The current system rewards speed, cost-cutting, and quick exits.
It calls itself smart—but it can’t see beyond the spreadsheet.

Take Little Gym, for example. A beloved community-first brand, bought by private equity, stripped for margin.
Tiffany Cianci, a franchisee, has been fighting to protect its soul—because some things are too sacred to be optimized.

In the 1980s, I grew up in a world where service wasn’t a strategy—it was a standard.

I still remember reading Be Our Guest from the Disney Institute and handing it to my AutoTrader.com sales team.
Not because it was trendy, but because it reminded us that good business is about emotional value.

We gave such great service to our auto dealers that once—after we messed up a billing issue—a client actually sent me flowers to apologize.
That’s how deep the trust went.

Today, we’ve flipped that script.
Companies are no longer judged by what they give, but by what they can get away with keeping.

In that world, models like mine don’t compute.
Not because they don’t work—but because they can’t be controlled.

That’s when it clicked:
Maybe I haven’t been rejected.
Maybe I’ve just been misaligned.

The reality is, no one from inside the institution is going to be able to help me—because no one from inside the institution can even conceive of how I’m solving systemic root business issues.

But the true builders of the new world?
They’ll find each other.
They’ll recognize the signal.
They’ll build adjacently, not extractively.
Supportively, not suspiciously.

And when that alignment happens?
The old systems won’t stand a chance.

Because the future doesn’t belong to the fastest flippers.
It belongs to the deepest builders.

When you build with meaning first, you don’t give up the right to exit.
You gain the freedom to choose any exit you want.

You draw in aligned capital.
Loyal customers.
Lifelong advocates.

You grow on your own terms.
With integrity.
With resonance.
With the freedom to say no to deals that don’t align—and yes to the ones that serve the mission.

The most powerful business model isn’t built on margin. It’s built on meaning.

And when you build from meaning, you hold the power—not just to grow, but to grow with purpose.
To grow with heart.
To grow for the right reasons.

Not because you’re chasing headlines.
But because you’re building something that matters.

And in doing so, you leave behind more than numbers—
you leave an energetic imprint on this world.

One that outlasts the exit.
Outlasts the applause.
And maybe, just maybe, becomes the blueprint for what business was always meant to be.

Also in Heather's Signals