Celebrating Pride with the Gee-Robinson Family
June is recognized as Pride Month around the globe, focusing on bringing awareness to and celebrating LGBTQIA+ individuals and their experiences. In honor of Pride Month, we at Agent sat down with our friends within the LGBTQIA+ community to hear their perspective on Pride, health, wellness, and how they live a fulfilling life.
We spoke with Jena’s dear friend and co-founder of Gee Beauty, Natalie Gee, to learn about raising a family and building a healthy, well-rounded family life. Natalie and her wife Rachel Robinson, a master trainer at Barry’s Bootcamp Miami, are mothers to three children, entrepreneurs, parenting gurus, and Agent lovers. We asked Natalie for some of her best tips for building a strong family life and a strong personal life.
Tell us about yourself and your wife?
Hi Everyone! Firstly, we are so honored to be asked by Jena and the Agent Nateur Team to talk about our family in celebration of Pride Month. I am Natalie Gee, Co-Founder, Gee Beauty (and proud Agent Nateur retailer), and my wife is Rachel Robinson, Founder of Rachel Fitness, an online streaming fitness platform and program.
How did you and your wife meet? how did you know she was the one?
Rachel and I met at Barry's Bootcamp where Rachel is an instructor. We would exchange friendly hellos after classes, but I liked her! One Sunday in June 2014 after chatting a little more than usual after class, Rachel asked me to watch the World Cup, and by the following Thursday we were in Love. It was cliche in every way, BUT I knew without a doubt she was the one. Dating her felt incredibly natural, and not only did we have a strong physical connection, but I could also see myself really growing and becoming exactly who I wanted to be with Rachel (and vice versa of course!).
With Rachel anything is possible, and I knew then and now that this is forever energy.
How did you and your wife decide to become parents?
Rachel was very upfront on our first date about wanting to become a parent, and she knew exactly how she wanted to make it happen. I was absolutely on board and had always wanted to be a mother as well. We had decided early on in our relationship that we both wanted to experience pregnancy.
How do you balance your family lives with your professional commitments?
We have 3 kids under 5, so finding a balance between family and work has only started to become a reality in the last year. Rachel and I are dedicated parents, and we chose to make our family a priority for the last few years. For both of our careers, 2020 was a year of phenomenal professional growth, and we are both incredibly supportive of one another. We balance each other in many ways, so when opportunities arise for career, we are each other's biggest supporter, and motivator. (When one of us travels for business, we call in family to help with the daily responsibilities of the kids, plus we have our greatest Nanny, it truly takes a village!).
What is the biggest surprise about being a parent? biggest struggle you did not anticipate?
I think the biggest surprise about being a parent is that every day is a surprise;). I think for us, it's certainly believing that we are in control of everything, but open to being flexible in life's curveballs, especially raising 3 humans. For me, postpartum was extremely difficult, I struggled in so many ways with my weight and hormones. I work on my spiritual mental and physical health daily. (I learn so much daily from the generosity Jena shares on the Agent Blog + social media)
Do you have any parenting role models? What about them inspires you?
I can confidently say, both Rachel and I look up to, and have the greatest role models in our mothers. While we had unique upbringing to one another, our core values and morals, the foundations of which we taught were very similar. When I met Rachel, I respected her close relationship with her mother because mine was so similar. I think for us, the love and unwavering support from them to us has given us incredible strength as a couple over the years. Miriam (Gee), and Jamie (Robinson) are two of the most generous from the heart, loving and strong, courageous, and brave women we know.
What is yours and your wife's top parenting advice to new or aspiring parents?
Advice can be a funny thing sometimes, and I don't think for a second, we have the answers, or the right way of doing anything. With this said, I think we try to lead by example, so for us it's about strong and solid communication between one another, and alignment. If we are off, the system goes off, so this is something we work on daily. It's nice to know perfection does not exist and you cannot compare yourself to anyone else.
What are some wellness and health practices you incorporate into your home life for your family?
If you count FUN as a wellness practice, then sign the Gee-Robinson family up! While Rachel and I have several wellness practices that we do daily, when it comes to the way we raise our family, we put fun first. Rachel shows us daily how healthy and happy fitness is, and daily movement is really medicine. Between the kids watching Rachel film Rachel Fitness Videos in our home, to them getting in a push up or two, the kids are learning and practicing health and wellness just by having fun.
What does Pride mean to you and your family?
Pride for us is a way of life really. It's our commitment to our family, to our children, to our friends and family. We recognize how fortunate we are to be accepted and loved for exactly who we are, and we realize that not every LGBTQIA has this surrounding them. We take our relationship and commitment to each other very seriously because of this, and Rachel especially uses her voice to be a constant support and ally of her community.