Editorial Policy | Rocking Chair Collective

Rocking Chair Collective was created to help mothers discover, support, and connect with businesses built by other mothers while creating meaningful visibility for the women behind them.

We thoughtfully review businesses and creators that apply to participate in the Collective and aim to create a space that feels trustworthy, genuine, useful, and supportive.

This Editorial Policy explains who may participate, how applications are reviewed, how business listings, editorial features, and creator partnerships work, and the standards that apply to content published through Rocking Chair Collective.

Who Can Apply as a Business

Rocking Chair Collective is intended for legitimate businesses owned or co-owned by mothers who remain actively involved in the business.

For purposes of Rocking Chair Collective, motherhood may include motherhood through birth, adoption, or foster parenting.

To be eligible, an applicant should:

Currently own or co-own the business.
Remain actively involved in operating, managing, creating for, or otherwise meaningfully participating in the business.
Have authority to represent the business and submit its information and materials to Rocking Chair Collective.
Operate a legitimate and active business offering a genuine product or service.
Comply with the laws, registrations, licenses, professional requirements, and other obligations that apply to the business in the jurisdiction where it operates.

Having employees, contractors, business partners, fulfillment assistance, family support, or other help does not make a business ineligible.

Businesses may operate from a home, studio, online storefront, shared workspace, physical storefront, office, mobile setting, or other legitimate business environment.

Rocking Chair Collective welcomes businesses at different stages of growth.

A business does not need to have a large social media following, a physical storefront, a particular amount of revenue, a certain number of customers, or a minimum number of years in business to apply.

What We Consider a Legitimate Business

A qualifying business should generally have:

A distinct business name or recognizable business identity.
A genuine product or service currently available or actively offered.
A legitimate way for customers or clients to purchase, order, book, inquire about, or otherwise obtain its products or services.
An active website, online storefront, business social media presence, or another reasonable public presence that represents the business.
Enough information for Rocking Chair Collective to reasonably understand what the business offers and determine that it is actively operating.
Any licenses, registrations, permits, professional credentials, or other authorizations required for that business and its location.

There is no minimum requirement for followers, revenue, sales, customers, reviews, business size, or length of time in business unless a particular opportunity expressly states otherwise.

Having a social media account alone does not automatically establish eligibility. The account should genuinely represent an active business and provide enough information for Rocking Chair Collective to reasonably understand what is being offered.

An undeveloped business idea that has not yet launched, an inactive business, an affiliate-only account, participation in a multi-level marketing business, casual resale activity, or an account primarily reselling third-party products without an independently operated business offering may not qualify.

Rocking Chair Collective may evaluate individual circumstances when determining eligibility.

Geographic Eligibility

Rocking Chair Collective is operated from the United States but may accept businesses located outside the United States.

Eligible countries, regions, or services may change as the Collective grows and develops its international reach.

Each participating business is responsible for understanding and complying with the laws, registrations, licenses, tax obligations, shipping requirements, professional requirements, consumer-protection rules, and other obligations applicable to its own business and location.

Rocking Chair Collective does not provide legal, tax, customs, licensing, or regulatory approval for participating businesses.

Business Location, Shipping & Service Areas

Because businesses may serve customers in different geographic areas, Rocking Chair Collective may display information such as:

The country, state, province, region, or general location where a business is based.
Whether a business operates online, in person, or both.
Countries or regions to which a business ships.
Geographic areas in which a service-based business works with clients.
Whether products or services are available internationally.
Other information that helps visitors understand whether a business is accessible from their location.

Businesses are responsible for providing accurate information about their location, shipping availability, service area, and geographic restrictions.

Businesses should notify Rocking Chair Collective if that information materially changes.

Shipping, availability, customs, delivery, and service-area information may also change independently of Rocking Chair Collective. Visitors should confirm current availability directly with the featured business before making a purchase or booking a service.

Verification

Rocking Chair Collective reserves the right to request reasonable information or documentation when necessary to verify matters such as:

Business ownership.
The applicant's relationship to the business.
That the business is actively operating.
The applicant's identity or authority to represent the business.
Applicable licenses, permits, registrations, or professional credentials when relevant.
Business location.
Ownership of or permission to use photographs, logos, graphics, trademarks, written material, or other submitted content.

Applicants are not automatically required to provide sensitive business documents, tax identification numbers, or similar information with their initial application unless Rocking Chair Collective determines that particular information is reasonably necessary.

Rocking Chair Collective aims to collect only information reasonably necessary for its application, verification, publishing, administrative, and legal purposes.

Failure or refusal to provide reasonably requested verification may result in an application being declined or an existing listing, feature, or profile being suspended or removed.

Application & Selection

Applying to Rocking Chair Collective is free.

Submitting an application does not create an obligation to purchase anything and does not guarantee acceptance.

Businesses may indicate the opportunity they are interested in during the application process. Selecting an opportunity does not guarantee approval for that opportunity.

Applications are reviewed before businesses are approved to move forward.

Among other considerations, Rocking Chair Collective may consider:

Whether the business meets applicable eligibility requirements.
The legitimacy and presentation of the business.
Whether the business and its offerings are appropriate for the Rocking Chair Collective audience.
The information provided in the application.
Alignment with the purpose and standards of the Collective.
Whether sufficient information is available to confidently publish the business.
Whether the business can reasonably be represented accurately through the applicable listing or feature.

Rocking Chair Collective maintains editorial discretion when determining which businesses are accepted.

Applicants who are not approved are not charged.

Paid, complimentary, promotional, or launch-period participation does not waive applicable eligibility, verification, editorial, accuracy, intellectual-property, or conduct standards.

Personally Invited or Pre-Selected Businesses

Rocking Chair Collective may occasionally invite or pre-select a business for participation.

An invited business may still be asked to complete the standard business application, interview, or other intake forms so Rocking Chair Collective can collect the information, permissions, links, images, and other materials needed to create the applicable listing or feature.

When Rocking Chair Collective has expressly informed a business that it has already been selected or approved, the ordinary approval step may be considered satisfied.

Invited businesses remain subject to applicable eligibility, accuracy, intellectual-property, content, conduct, and participation standards.

An invitation may be paid, complimentary, promotional, or subject to other terms communicated directly to the business.

After Approval

Approved applicants will receive communication explaining the next steps for the opportunity for which they were approved.

Approval does not automatically create a charge or require the applicant to continue.

The approval communication may include applicable pricing, promotional terms, payment instructions, interview or onboarding information, deadlines, and other steps needed to prepare the business for publication.

If an approved applicant chooses not to proceed, the applicant may notify Rocking Chair Collective.

Collective Listing

The standard Collective Listing is currently offered for $59 per year.

Businesses approved as part of an eligible launch promotion may receive their first year of the Collective Listing complimentary.

Unless otherwise expressly stated, a complimentary first year does not make future years complimentary.

After the complimentary or included first year ends, continued participation in the active business directory requires renewal at the annual price then in effect.

A business is not required to renew.

Rocking Chair Collective may also offer other promotional, discounted, complimentary, or invited arrangements from time to time. Those offers are subject to the terms communicated with the applicable offer.

A Collective Listing is intended to introduce visitors to a business rather than reproduce the business's entire website, inventory, product catalog, menu, or service offering.

A listing may include:

A dedicated business profile.
Placement within the Rocking Chair Collective directory.
Business category information.
Business location.
Shipping or service-area information.
A business description.
Selected products or a primary service.
Website and social media links.
Other relevant information submitted or approved for publication.
The ability to request reasonable updates.

Visitors who want complete information about a business's products, services, prices, availability, shipping, booking policies, return policies, or other terms should visit the business's own website or contact the business directly.

Meet the Mothers Feature

Meet the Mothers is a deeper editorial and promotional feature designed to introduce the mother behind an approved business and share the story of what she has built.

Unless Rocking Chair Collective expressly offers the feature on a complimentary or promotional basis, Meet the Mothers is offered as a one-time paid feature.

The feature currently includes:

One year of the Collective Listing.
A dedicated Meet the Mothers editorial feature.
A founder or owner interview.
A professionally written editorial story.
Seven consecutive days of featured homepage placement.
One guaranteed newsletter inclusion.
One guaranteed Rocking Chair Collective social media post.
Editorial development in collaboration with the featured mother.

The Meet the Mothers payment is a one-time feature purchase and does not itself renew annually.

The included Collective Listing lasts for one year. Continued inclusion in the active business directory after that year requires renewal of the Collective Listing at the annual price then in effect.

The Meet the Mothers editorial story is not recreated annually.

Published Meet the Mothers stories are intended to remain part of the Rocking Chair Collective editorial archive after the original promotional period ends. Permanent or indefinite publication, however, is not guaranteed.

Seven-Day Homepage Placement

Meet the Mothers currently includes featured placement on the Rocking Chair Collective homepage for seven consecutive days during the feature's promotional period.

Rocking Chair Collective determines the scheduling, layout, location, design, and presentation of homepage features.

Homepage placement does not guarantee a particular position on every device, a particular number of impressions, website visits, clicks, inquiries, customers, sales, or other results.

After the seven-day featured period ends, the business's Meet the Mothers editorial feature may remain accessible elsewhere on the Rocking Chair Collective website even though the business is no longer receiving featured homepage placement.

Newsletter inclusion and social media promotion are also components of the original promotional feature and are not permanent or recurring placements unless Rocking Chair Collective separately agrees otherwise.

Meet the Mothers Interview

Businesses participating in Meet the Mothers will be asked to complete an additional interview before the editorial feature is prepared.

The business application and Meet the Mothers interview serve different purposes.

The business application provides information about the business, its eligibility, offerings, links, location, materials, and other information needed for the Collective.

The Meet the Mothers interview provides the deeper story, experiences, perspective, and personal information used to prepare the editorial feature.

Rocking Chair Collective may select, organize, shorten, edit, and format interview responses when preparing the final feature while making reasonable efforts to preserve the participant's intended meaning.

Rocking Chair Circle Creator Partnerships

Rocking Chair Circle is a free, application-based creator partnership opportunity intended to help approved motherhood creators gain visibility, connect with the Rocking Chair Collective community, and become more discoverable to businesses that may be interested in collaborations.

Rocking Chair Circle creator partners do not need to own a business.

Unless Rocking Chair Collective expressly states otherwise for a particular opportunity, approved creator partnerships are provided without a membership or participation fee.

Creator applicants should generally:

Be mothers or create content substantially related to motherhood, parenting, family life, or another niche appropriate for the Rocking Chair Collective audience.
Maintain a public and active social media account.
Meet any follower or audience requirement stated on the current application.
Provide accurate information concerning their account, niche, audience, links, and collaboration interests.
Have authority to provide the photographs, profile information, content, and links submitted to Rocking Chair Collective.
Maintain content and conduct reasonably consistent with Rocking Chair Collective standards.

Approved creator partners are required to publish introductory promotional content before their creator profile is published, publish at least one dedicated promotional piece monthly, and participate in eligibility and participation reviews every 90 days. Platform-specific content formats are explained in the creator application.

Rocking Chair Collective may publish an approved creator profile containing information such as:

Creator name or public-facing name.
Profile photograph.
Social media handle.
Niche or content focus.
Biography or creator description.
Social and website links.
Collaboration interests.
Other information voluntarily submitted for public display.

Creator participation is not employment.

Rocking Chair Circle does not guarantee paid collaborations, sponsorships, gifted opportunities, brand deals, referrals, income, audience growth, followers, engagement, or any particular result.

A creator profile does not obligate Rocking Chair Collective to arrange collaborations on the creator's behalf.

Rocking Chair Collective may occasionally highlight, refer, introduce, or otherwise promote creator partners at its discretion.

Any such additional promotion by Rocking Chair Collective is separate from the creator's participation requirements.

Editorial Editing

Authenticity matters to Rocking Chair Collective.

Information submitted directly by a business owner, founder, or creator may be edited for:

Spelling.
Grammar.
Punctuation.
Clarity.
Length.
Formatting.
Organization.
Readability.
Consistency with Rocking Chair Collective's editorial style.

Rocking Chair Collective will make reasonable efforts not to materially change the intended meaning of statements attributed to a participant.

Content written by Rocking Chair Collective—including introductions, descriptions, headlines, summaries, category labels, editorial commentary, promotional language, and other original copy—remains subject to Rocking Chair Collective's editorial judgment and voice.

Purchasing or receiving a listing or feature does not give a participant the right to dictate Rocking Chair Collective's independent editorial wording or presentation.

Submitted Photos, Logos & Other Materials

Applicants and participants are responsible for ensuring that they have the right to submit all materials provided to Rocking Chair Collective.

This may include:

Photographs.
Profile photographs.
Product images.
Logos.
Graphics.
Artwork.
Written content.
Business names.
Trademarks.
Testimonials.
Social media content.
Other third-party materials.

By submitting these materials, the participant represents that they own the materials or have obtained the rights and permissions necessary to provide them to Rocking Chair Collective.

The participant grants Rocking Chair Collective permission to use, reproduce, crop, resize, format, edit for presentation, display, and publish submitted materials as reasonably necessary to create, maintain, and promote the participant's listing, feature, creator profile, or participation in the Collective.

This permission may include use on:

The Rocking Chair Collective website.
Rocking Chair Collective social media.
Newsletters.
Email communications.
Promotional materials.
Other Rocking Chair Collective channels reasonably related to the participant's feature, listing, profile, or promotion.

Ownership of original materials remains with their respective owner.

Accuracy & Updates

Businesses and creators are responsible for providing accurate and truthful information.

Participants should notify Rocking Chair Collective of material changes that affect the accuracy or appropriateness of their published information.

For businesses, examples may include:

Business closure.
Change in ownership.
Significant change in the nature of the business.
Website or primary social account becoming unavailable.
Material changes to location, shipping regions, or service areas.
Loss of a license, registration, professional credential, or other authorization required for the business.
Other changes that make published information materially inaccurate.

For creators, examples may include:

A username or primary account change.
An account becoming private, inactive, or unavailable.
A significant change in niche.
Materially inaccurate follower or profile information.
A change in collaboration availability.

Rocking Chair Collective is not intended to maintain a complete or real-time catalog of every participant's products, services, inventory, followers, pricing, shipping availability, or other frequently changing information.

Paid, Complimentary & Promotional Participation

Rocking Chair Collective opportunities may be paid, complimentary, discounted, promotional, launch-based, or personally invited.

Payment does not purchase approval.

Where approval is required, Rocking Chair Collective determines eligibility before inviting an applicant to complete payment.

Complimentary or promotional participants remain subject to applicable eligibility, editorial, accuracy, intellectual-property, content, and conduct standards.

When a business pays Rocking Chair Collective for promotional services, Rocking Chair Collective may identify or disclose the commercial nature of that content where appropriate.

No Guarantee of Results

Rocking Chair Collective provides promotional, editorial, community, discovery, and connection opportunities.

Participation does not guarantee:

Website traffic.
Social media growth.
Followers.
Engagement.
Leads.
Customers.
Collaborations.
Sponsorships.
Sales.
Revenue.
Search-engine ranking.
Media attention.
Any particular business or creator result.

Results vary and depend on factors outside Rocking Chair Collective's control.

No Endorsement or Guarantee of Featured Businesses

Rocking Chair Collective reviews applicants before approving or featuring them, but inclusion in the Collective does not constitute a guarantee, certification, warranty, or endorsement of any business, creator, product, service, professional qualification, claim, transaction, shipping practice, customer experience, or collaboration.

Rocking Chair Collective generally does not manufacture, fulfill, ship, warrant, or provide products or services offered by featured businesses unless expressly stated otherwise.

Transactions between visitors and featured businesses take place independently of Rocking Chair Collective.

Likewise, collaborations or communications between businesses and creator partners are independent relationships unless Rocking Chair Collective expressly agrees otherwise.

Visitors, businesses, and creators should use their own judgment and conduct any additional research they consider appropriate before purchasing, hiring, collaborating, or entering into an agreement with another party.

Standards & Prohibited Content

Rocking Chair Collective aims to maintain a safe, trustworthy, useful, and welcoming platform.

Rocking Chair Collective may decline, suspend, remove, or decline to publish businesses, creators, profiles, or content involving matters such as:

False or materially misleading information.
Fraudulent or deceptive practices.
Illegal products, services, or activity.
Counterfeit or stolen goods.
Intellectual-property infringement.
Unauthorized use of photographs, logos, graphics, trademarks, or other content.
Content or conduct promoting hatred, harassment, discrimination, threats, or violence.
Explicit sexual content or services inappropriate for the Rocking Chair Collective audience.
Products, services, or practices presenting unreasonable safety concerns.
Misrepresentation of ownership, creator identity, qualifications, location, or eligibility.
Falsified application or verification information.
Material violations of Rocking Chair Collective policies.
Conduct Rocking Chair Collective reasonably determines could undermine the trust, safety, integrity, usefulness, or reputation of the Collective.

This list is illustrative and does not cover every possible circumstance.

Removal, Suspension & Editorial Discretion

Rocking Chair Collective maintains editorial discretion over content appearing on its platform.

A listing, editorial feature, creator profile, or other content may be edited, suspended, declined, unpublished, or removed when reasonably necessary to maintain accuracy, eligibility, safety, legal compliance, editorial standards, community trust, or the integrity of the Collective.

When appropriate, Rocking Chair Collective may notify the participant by email and provide a general explanation.

Removal resulting from falsified information, loss of eligibility, intellectual-property infringement, prohibited conduct, policy violations, or similar circumstances does not ordinarily entitle a participant to a refund.

Businesses and creators may also request removal of their own active profile, listing, or feature, subject to applicable payment and archival terms.

Cancellations & Refunds

Applications are free, and applicants who are not approved are not charged for applying.

For paid Rocking Chair Collective opportunities, a business may request a full refund within 48 hours of purchase, provided the purchased listing or feature has not already been published or materially prepared.

After the applicable cancellation period, or once the purchased service has been published or materially performed, payments are generally non-refundable.

A participant who voluntarily requests removal after that period generally will not receive a refund.

Participants removed because of falsified information, eligibility issues, prohibited conduct, intellectual-property violations, policy violations, or similar circumstances are not entitled to a refund.

If Rocking Chair Collective makes a material error that substantially affects a purchased service, Rocking Chair Collective may determine an appropriate remedy based on the circumstances, which may include correction, replacement service, credit, partial refund, full refund, or another reasonable remedy.

Complimentary or promotional services that were not purchased do not have a cash refund value.

Renewal of Collective Listings

Collective Listings operate on an annual basis.

Launch-approved businesses receiving a complimentary first year may remain in the directory during that complimentary period without paying the standard annual listing price.

At the end of that period, continued inclusion in the active directory requires the business to choose whether to renew at the annual price then in effect.

The current standard annual price is $59 per year.

A complimentary listing does not create an obligation to renew.

Meet the Mothers includes one year of the Collective Listing. After that included year, continued participation in the active directory requires renewal of the Collective Listing at the annual price then in effect.

Applicable renewal terms will be communicated before a business agrees to renewal.

Rocking Chair Collective will not represent a charge as a one-time purchase if it is actually an automatically recurring charge.

Changes to This Policy

Rocking Chair Collective may update this Editorial Policy as the Collective grows, its programs change, its geographic reach expands, or its editorial standards evolve.

The current version will be posted on the Rocking Chair Collective website with its most recent update date.

Material changes affecting an existing paid service will be addressed reasonably and in accordance with applicable obligations.

Questions

Questions about this Editorial Policy, an application, a business listing, Meet the Mothers, a Rocking Chair Circle creator partnership, or another Rocking Chair Collective opportunity may be submitted through the Contact page or by email at:

hello@shelastudio.co

Rocking Chair Collective
Operated by Shela Studio

Rocking Chair Collective Editorial Policy