Oct 21, 2009 by BabySwags
There are many untold stories of how businesses and products came to be. Each company has a unique and personal story behind it and we are lucky enough to get to the root of their existence. Baby Swags comes into contact with many mom-entrepreneurs and it is our pleasure to share their stories with you, with the hope that it inspires or ignites that entrepreneurial spark that is in many stay at home moms and reaches out to those who don’t think that they have what it takes to get it all done. We are here to tell you it is possible. If you have a dream, if you believe it, you can achieve it and yes, you can succeed!
Our first Mom-Entrepreneur is Lindsay. She is from Toronto, Canada and the mom of two beautiful daughters, ages 2.5 and 10 months. She had been a stay-at-home mom until she started her company, Glow Baby. Here is her own, personal story of how Glow Baby came to be and how she simply, gets it done.
BS: Hi Lindsay, please start by telling us a little bit about yourself.
LH: I had been a stay-at-home-mom up until recently when I started Glow Baby. Prior to having children I worked in Human Resources for a large Canadian Bank but once having my first daughter when it came time to go back to work I decided to stay at home for a few years. My life is very busy with raising my two girls and starting a company. For fun I love going on family outings. My girls are a wonder to me and I can’t get enough of them. For relaxation, I love to read and have a weakness for reality TV, Twitter and Facebook.
BS: What is the nature of your business?
LH: Glow Baby is dedicated to providing functional and sophisticated products for families. Our first product is “Baby’s First Journal” which is a baby care log book that is essential for parents of newborns.
BS: How did your business come to be?
LH: I decided to start Glow Baby after being frustrated by the lack of savvy organizational products for parents in today’s market. There are so many products out there for babies yet when I tried to find a functional baby care log book I was at a loss. The newborn stage is the most difficult for parents as they are trying to get to know their new baby at the same time sleep deprivation reduces your ability to remember the important details. I found tracking the feeding, sleeping and diapering of both my children to have been instrumental in easing my way into parenthood and feel very strongly that this product needs to be available to all parents.
BS: What are some of your successes? Toot your horn if you will!
LH: I am most proud of being able to get my company up and running while looking after my two daughters with minimal help. My biggest success to date it that “Baby’s First Journal” is now in 30 stores across North America and this has been accomplished in 3 short months. I am proud of myself that I have been able to take a concept and put it into a functional yet beautiful product that will be a wonderful keepsake of their child’s early months. I am also proud of the way this product has been embraced by other moms and the media. One of our stores featured “Baby’s First Journal” on their website and a mom commented that they had been hearing about the journal everywhere and that they thought it would be the “Baby Shower Gift of 2009/10″.
BS: How do you balance mom/work life? What is a typical day like?
LH: My typical day is non-stop start to finish. My first priority is my girls so business is done during nap times and after bed time. My typical day is get up, get the girls dressed after my husband feeds them breakfast (I have a wonderfully supportive husband who I could not do any of this without). Take Ainsley to nursery school then come home and put Juliet down for her nap. Work. Get Juliet up from her nap and give her a snack. I then play with Juliet until it is time to pick Ainsley up from school. Feed the girls lunch, play, put them down for their naps. Work until the girls get up from their nap. Then its snack time and play time until my husband gets home. Make dinner, have dinner, then my husband will play with the girls while I work for a bit. Then its bathtime and bedtime. Then I work again. I am the queen of multi-tasking. I use lists and spreadsheets to keep track of everything I am doing so I don’t forget anything. It also helps that I can type like a madwoman!
BS: How do you organize your time?
LH: I organize my time around what my girls need from me. I then prioritize based on urgency. Customers always come first and then everything else.
BS: What has been the one thing that you wish you could do differently with your business?
LH: I wish I had started my business sooner!!!
BS: What tips can you share with our readers about starting a business?
LH: The most important tip is to reach out to other mompreneurs and ask questions about anything you don’t know or can’t find information about. I have connected with a number of fabulous mompreneurs who have gone through what I am going through or are in the same boat as me and the knowledge sharing has been extremely helpful.
BS: If you have any employees or if you are considering hiring, how do you or how do you think you would handle delegating responsibilities?
LH: I wish I had it in the budget to hire help in things like accounting but right now I am a one woman show.
BS: What is in store for your business for 2010? Any new products launching, expos exhibiting at, etc…?
LH: In the next month I will be launching a medication pad for tracking medication and dosage information. This will allow parents (or anyone) to keep track of the medications they give their children and ensure that they are getting the appropriate amount of doses as prescribed and not miss any doses. I am also adding a shopping list to my line which will help parents plan their meals for the week and will be a great complement to “Baby’s First Foods”.
BS: Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?
LH: I am planning on launching “Baby’s First Foods” in 2010 as well as doing a second print run of “Baby’s First Journal” on eco-friendly papers. “Baby’s First Foods” will allow parents to keep track of what foods they are introducing to their children and if they like the food and whether there is an allergic reaction. It will also include a menu planner and pages to jot down recipes. This book is necessary for making sure that caregivers and both parents are on the same page with regards to what their child can and cannot eat. I will also be focusing on spreading the word about my product and I hope to add additional sales representatives to cover all of North America.
Thank you Lindsay for your time and answering our questions.
If you would like more information on Glow Baby, visit www.glowbaby.ca
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