*By Madison Alworth*
After a janitor walked in on new mother Stephanie Conduff while she was breastfeeding, she felt violated. But Conduff, a lawyer, decided not to litigate; she created her own company.
"There was an opportunity for us to innovate and create a scalable solution so other mothers wouldn't have that problem," said Conduff, the CEO and founder of Leche Lounge.
Launched in 2015, Leche Lounge constructs breastfeeding and pumping suites for mothers returning to work. As of 2010, The Affordable Care Act requires that offices with more than 50 employees provide a safe, clean space where new mothers can pump. But very few workplaces actually follow that directive.
Not only is this an inconvenience, Conduff told Cheddar on Tuesday, it can be a major impediment for women in the workplace. A 2016 study [found](http://time.com/4337671/breastfeeding-lawsuits-employee-discrimination/) that breastfeeding-related discrimination lawsuits have risen a staggering 800 percent over the last decade.
Conduff, a member of the Cherokee Nation, is determined to support her community. Her company is 100 percent Native American-owned and operated, and each suite is built by Native American craftsmen. The rooms all include a hospital-grade breast pump, large seats, fan, and even outlets for charging smartphones. The company is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
This year, Leche Lounge won Rent the Runway's Project Entrepreneur Venture Competition. It was one of five companies in a pool 500 of applicants to receive direct support and tutelage from the venture program, which has been a catalyst for growth, said Conduff.
"It was an opportunity to elevate Leche Lounge."
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/leche-lounge-a-safe-place-for-new-moms)
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
