My name is Cristina Carlino. Like you, I am the mother of a new little person. In my case, a beautiful daughter. She is my first. This may be your first or fourth. Girl or boy. While I am not the mother of a little boy, I have three delicious nieces and three nephews (half of were adopted) and all of whom were my first dress rehearsals to motherhood. Then there are my dear friends with little boys who I adore. Also, with thirty years in the beauty industry, I had created two very successful cosmetic companies and I was regularly seen on television as the founder of one of these companies. Because of my connection to women, I had the incredible privilege of personally meeting and hearing from literally thousands of mothers of little boys and girls. And I have come to believe that something about my experience as a mother is fairly universal to all mothers – that every day I watch my daughter, Grace grow and change and each day she changes me in ways beyond what I could have ever imagined. This is part of my story in the first years of my daughter’s life. And THE CHANGING ROOM is also for your story. Whether you are the mother of a little girl, a little boy or both!

TO USE THIS APP, simply enter one of the rooms. At the beginning of each room you will see first a different entry of my story you can read, if you like. Following each entry you’ll see questions with spaces to fill in your answers about your own story these questions to help guide you to capture this moment in time when you are the mother of a child experiencing his or her first precious years. Let this app be the place you uncover and express the special feelings and memories of yourself as the mother of a little one who is teaching you to grow, reach higher and go deeper in the changing rooms of your home and heart. You may even want to have your son or daughter enjoy this app with you. There are plenty ofplaces in each room to draw pictures together, add photos, write letters and even record your voices reading from your Journal-or just giggling! Remember, this is your unique story and this app is a one-of-a-kind adventure. Have fun!

Here is a Part of My Story: The first time I entered THE CHANGING ROOM, I was a new mother at the age of forty. I was as unprepared for motherhood as a person could be. Motherhood blew into my life like a hurricane; raising the roof, knocking down walls and rattling my foundation. I’d never planned on having children. I already had everything I needed, or so I thought. With thirty years in the beauty industry, I had created two successful companies. The first was a pioneer cosmeceutical company and my second company became one of the most beloved brands in cosmetic history.

Customers loved it and I loved my work as the CEO and the sense that I had arrived. When I wasn’t working, I was with my long-term partner and soul mate, Steve, who I also loved. My days were a marathon of meetings, brainstorming sessions and client events. It was a fast -paced race from boardroom to bedroom and back again. When I hit thirty- nine and my doctor assured me I’d missed any chance to be a mother, I felt fine about that prognosis. Then, much to my surprise and joy, I got pregnant. Right away, my body seemed to resist the very idea of making this change. I was sick throughout my entire pregnancy. I was frantically busy. I was in the middle of selling my first company to L’Oreal and that involved endless work. It was also a chaotic time in my family.

Underlying all of this activity was my growing sense of fear. My life was about to change radically and I wasn’t ready. I was too set in my ways. I was too old. What more could I want from the world? What more could the world want from me?

A lot, it turned out. And today I am eternally grateful. How about you? What is your story?

Note to readers

After creating this journal Cristina Carlino went on to found her third company Archetypes.

An archetype represents a universal pattern of behaviors that once discovered helps people to better understand themselves and those around them. We are born with certain characteristics that become actual characters that act out our life stories. In my case I was born with a Visionary archetype that lived in a wildly imaginative world few had access too. I was also born with the characteristics consistent with an Artist given my love of music and aesthetics, a Mystic with a need to heal and care for others, and an Intellectual/ Seeker of science and mysticism. But it was my innate ability to be generous, lead and take great risks that helped me embody the archetype of the Queen until she no longer fit or served my highest potential.

An archetypal passage is the transition from one dominant archetype to another. In my late forties I went from an empowered, female chairman to a disempowered aging women sitting on the floor in her closet. It became the defining moment of my midlife crisis.

The archetypal passage of a midlife crisis has a very similar pattern although the actual experience will vary from person to person. In my case I lost my identity when I lost what I thought was my power which was a combination of youth and entitlement for a job well done. For others it can be the loss of a marriage or the devoted wife archetype, the empty nest of motherhood to matron, or the actual change called menopause or “men who pause”. In every case the passage requires going from one dominant archetype to a new dominant archetype. My Executive Chair aka Queen, with the gorgeous corner office, found a harsh passage way back to the Creative Visionary after being held prisoner in a Boardroom that eventually voted me off the team . One phone call on August 7th 2009 informing me I was no longer needed at philosophy became the entry point into the abyss of the Beautiful Beast, the shadow archetype, that tells a women she is old and over.