We’re Wooten & Adam Schmitz, owners and operators of The Milky Way in Charlotte, NC since 2003.  We are very fortunate to be partners in love, life, family and business.

The Milky Way was born out of the sheer panic and bewilderment we wrestled with after the birth of our first child, Zeke.   During his first few weeks, we stumbled through “Nursing Boot Camp,” “Inept Diaper Change 101” and the best crash-course of all – “The Fussy Baby Primer: Learning to Sleep While Standing Up.”  We here and there and everywhere in between picking up this nursing pillow, that nursing bra, this baby bottle and nipple, that child-care book, this swaddling blanket, that anti-colic formula. Then one day, it hit us like a ton of bricks – this would be so much easier if all these items were attainable in one location, especially during this most chaotic chapter in our lives! So we set to work developing The Milky Way, first a bricks-and-mortar store in Charlotte, NC eight years ago and now… HERE ONLINE!

We wanted to get our store and this website up and running because we are dedicated to helping new families discover the joys of breastfeeding while helping them overcome some of the challenges nursing presents. 
 
We nursed our first child Zeke (born July 13th, 2002) for 19 months but needed lots and lots of support in those first few trying weeks.  That support was readily available to us in Los Angeles, but in talking to friends elsewhere, we soon came to realize that many other families were not so fortunate.  From our experience with the birth of Zeke, the idea of The Milky Way was born.
 
We moved from L.A. to Charlotte and opened our store on East Blvd. in September 2003.  Since then, we've had another child, Josephine (born April 3, 2004).  She was a breast milk junkie for well over two years.  We all have our vices.  Hers was what they call liquid gold.  She has now moved on to nursing her own children -- baby dolls Jimmy Rose and Rosie Crackle. (We need to get the girl a Twin Nursing Pillow!)
 
And through it all, we feel we’ve found great success, success that cannot be measured by a count of the till’s receipts but by the amount of new families we’ve been fortunate enough to help.  We are very lucky to be able to be with folks during the greatest time in their lives and to offer support and guidance to those who struggle through premature or complicated births.

 

Since the birth of our two children, we have added a new member to our Milky Way family - Sarah "The Bomb" Baum.  Sarah is the mechanic that services the many key parts to the engine that's under the hood of The Milky Way roadster and keeps it purring like a kitten.  Not at the wheel as much as Wooten, we'd certainly get far off course without Sarah. though.  She keeps the website updated, keeps the store looking nice, keeps us all organized, goes through the mail, handles much of the bookkeeping, keeps our products correctly counted and priced and on and on.  And if you need to hear it straight, go ask Sarah.  She provides some of the most insightful, honest and helpful advice around.  Just don't ask her if you're having a bad hair day because she calls it like she sees it.  You might hear you have a bird's nest on top of your head.  But then she'll whip out a comb, untangle the "situation" and tell you you look great. 

Thank you for sharing the great miracle of life with us!!!