Motherland Australia Podcast: Amanda Cochran — Founder of GGCo

Back at the beginning of 2020, our Founder, Amanda Cochran, was interviewed by Steph Trethewey for the Motherland Australia podcast. In this emotional conversation, Amanda and Steph chat about the grief that Amanda lives with every day; at just 8 weeks old, Amanda’s beautiful baby girl, Gemma, passed away from SIDS. Read on to learn what it’s like to raise three kids in rural Victoria, all while running a small business and dealing with the grief of losing a child to SIDS.

Sometimes it’s important to do things that are scary, and sometimes showing vulnerability can be both a part of your own healing journey, as well as a part of someone else’s.

Amanda Cochran, Founder of The Grampians Goods Co. is someone who shows up with vulnerability if it means it’ll help another person get through something, process something, or feel less alone.

Raising three kids in rural Victoria, Amanda has experienced both the passing of her daughter, Gemma from SIDS, and the breakdown of her marriage—all the space of a few years.

And while Amanda says it felt right to keep the grieving process private in the beginning, earlier this year Amanda opened up; first to her Instagram family in the lead up to Mother’s Day, and then in a Motherland Australia podcast interview.

Connection Through Vulnerability: Amanda's Instagram Post

“I’ve thought really long & hard about sharing this deeply personal part of my story on here,” she wrote on Instagram.

“But with the intense focus on Mother’s Day amidst the current ‘status isolation’ at the moment, I feel like now more than ever, it might be helpful for some to hear it.”

On Mother’s Day in 2011, Amanda’s second daughter, Gemma, died of SIDS at 8 weeks of age.

Filled with confusion and shock in the aftermath, in the podcast interview Amanda describes the loss of innocence and the impact that Gemma’s passing had on her, as well as the endless darkness of grief that those who have lost a child know well.

In this raw and vulnerable podcast interview, Amanda and Steph discuss this time in Amanda’s life, including the eventual breakdown of her marriage after the heaviness of what had happened.

Listen to the podcast here, and join Amanda over at her Grampians Goods Co Instagram community.

If you know someone who needs to feel less alone with the heaviness of motherhood, or someone who has lost a child, please share the episode with them.