Courtney McIntosh on Letting Life Expand
Courtney McIntosh
Founder & Editor of THE INARRA
Courtney McIntosh has built her business on a belief that sounds simple until you realise how rarely it's honoured: that a woman doesn't stop deserving beautiful things the moment she becomes a mother.
As the founder and editor of THE INARRA, a premium shopping and lifestyle destination for mothers and mothers-to-be, she curates with the kind of discernment most of us wish we had time for — cutting through the noise to find pieces that actually work, for bodies and lives that are constantly changing.
Now in her third pregnancy, raising two young boys and growing a business alongside a baby, Courtney is learning what she describes as intentional slowness. A deliberate softening. The understanding that presence, not performance, is what this season asks of her.
Here, she reflects on what restoration looks like when everything is expanding at once, why evening rituals matter most when no one is watching, and the quiet luxury of choosing to care for yourself, even then - especially then.
Since this conversation, Courtney welcomed her daughter, Annemilia, in January. We couldn't be happier for her and her growing family.
FINDING FULLNESS
Where are we finding you today as you reflect on these questions, and what does this particular season of life demand of you right now?
Right now, you’re finding me in a season that feels very full but very exciting. I’m in my third pregnancy, raising two energetic little boys, and nurturing a growing business all at once. This season demands slowness, honesty, and a lot of self-compassion.
I simply don’t have the bandwidth I used to, and instead of fighting that, I’m trying to surrender to it.
It’s a time that asks me to be intentional with my time and fiercely protective of my energy. I’m learning to understand what’s essential and let the rest fall away.
EVENING EXPRESSIONS
The INARRA is built around helping women look and feel beautiful during pregnancy and motherhood when they're out in the world. But what about when you're home alone - how does that same intention to look and feel good extend to your most private moments?
I’ve always believed that style is an expression of how we care for ourselves, and that doesn’t magically stop once the sun goes down. What I wear to bed doesn’t need to be glamorous, but it does need to feel good...soft, breathable and bonus if it makes you feel beautiful and chic!
For me, sleepwear is less about how I present myself to the world and more about how I soften at the end of the day. I think we all deserve to feel comfortable and cared for, even when no one else sees it!
CURATING CALM
With such a curatorial eye, how do you curate your own moments of rest?
Creating all day means I crave simplicity in my own moments of rest. And because I can very much be an introvert at heart, I genuinely love being in my own company. I love evenings to be calm once the kids are in bed. I’m not trying to impress anyone; I’m trying to exhale. I love nothing more than having a cup of tea and getting into bed.
You've said motherhood brings perspective on one's relationship with time and what’s important. How has this shifted your approach to your mornings and evening routines? What rituals have survived, and what have you released?
Motherhood forces you to strip life back to the essentials. Before children, I loved long, drawn-out routines. Now, my evenings and mornings are built around what’s realistic, not idealistic.
Some rituals have stayed such as skincare, tidying the house before bed, writing tomorrow’s to-dos but others I’ve released.
I don’t hold myself to rigid standards anymore. The biggest shift is understanding that these pockets of time, however small, are opportunities to reset rather than perform.
MOTHER TO MOTHER
THE INARRA features conversations with other mothers on similar journeys. What insights from these women have stayed with you? How have their stories shaped your own approach to balancing it all?
The INARRA has given me access to the most honest, generous conversations with mothers, and the themes that come up again and again are surrender, community, self-trust, and the idea that balance is fluid, never fixed.
Listening to their stories has softened me. It has reminded me that we’re not meant to “do it all”, we’re meant to prioritise what matters and release the guilt around what doesn’t fit.
It’s shaped how I navigate my own juggle between motherhood, business and self. I haven’t perfected that, but I definitely do try!
THE TRANSITION
Running a business while mothering young children carries an intense mental load. In those quiet moments after bedtime when your mind is still racing, how do you transition from founder and mother back to yourself? What helps you move from that constant output into genuine rest?
It’s not always seamless, some nights I feel the mental load buzzing but a shower is often my reset; washing the day off clear my mind. Putting my phone away (still trying to perfect this one!), dimming the lights, and breathing deeply for even a minute or two helps shift me out of “output mode” and into myself again. Most of all I just try to be kind to myself.
THE PALME EDIT
Which PALME pieces have you chosen and what draws you to them? As someone with such a refined aesthetic eye, what qualities do you look for in sleepwear - and beyond?
SO hard to choose! I’m always drawn to pieces that feel effortless, soft and beautifully cut. PALME is absolutely all of these!!
The Gigi set is perfect for the hospital and those early newborn days, especially with breastfeeding. The Filly Pointelle is incredibly breathable for warmer nights and so cute and comfortable to sleep in.
And I’m living in the Elle Pant, which are so great for day and night!
PROTECTING MOMENTS
As you prepare to welcome your third child, what are you most anticipating about this chapter? And what small rituals or moments are you intentionally protecting before everything shifts again?
I’m most looking forward to the emotional expansion ... that feeling when you meet your baby and realise your love didn’t divide, it multiplied.
I can’t wait to see my boys step into their roles as big brothers to this beautiful little baby. Before everything shifts, I’m savouring the small, quiet rituals such as slow mornings with the boys, long cuddles, early nights and the lovely anticipation and excitement that comes with knowing our family is about to change forever.
THE NOTES
What stays with me about Courtney is the generosity at the centre of everything she does. THE INARRA exists because she understood a gap that so many women feel but rarely name. That moment in pregnancy when your former sense of self feels just out of reach, and no one has thought to build a bridge back to it. She did.
Her interviews with other mothers through THE INARRA carry the same quality as this one: honest, warm, and completely free of performance. There is something quietly radical about a woman who has chosen, in one of life's most demanding chapters, to slow down rather than push through, and to build something that gives other women permission to do the same.