From Birth to Business

Sally Grice is the visionary founder of Lacevo, a brand dedicated to transforming the breastfeeding experience for modern mothers. With nearly two decades of product development and manufacturing experience, Sally is a seasoned business owner who faced a significant challenge when she returned to work just two weeks after giving birth to her second child. Frustrated by inadequate pumping options, she was determined to create a solution that truly meets the needs of mothers.In this episode, Sally shares the extensive journey of Lacevo’s development, from finding the right manufacturer to placing women’s voices at the heart of the design process. We discuss the importance of thorough testing and genuine feedback, ensuring that Lacevo products are comfortable and accessible straight out of the box, and the brand’s commitment to offering multiple sizes to cater to all mothers.Sally also highlights Lacevo’s strategic growth, including a sell-out launch at major baby expos in Australia and the US. She shares her exciting and aligned retail partnership with The Memo, and how she's using #gifted to get started with influencer marketing. Discover more about this award-winning product-based business by joining the Lacevo community here and shop their products online.

Samantha Waterhouse's journey as the founder of Hello Samah, a hub for summer essentials, commenced with a longing for the freedom of self-employment. The inspiration for her business struck during lockdown's peak, prompted by her friend's disappointing encounters with inflatable pools. Sam saw an opportunity to create something better – a smaller, sleeker, and higher-quality version. This idea propelled her into product development, supplier sourcing, collection design, and ultimately, taking a leap of faith.In this episode, Sam shares key insights from her business journey, including her hindsight wish to launch with a smaller product due to shipping challenges and a lower minimum order quantity. She discusses the financial impact of using a fulfilment centre, her preference for organic influencer collaborations, and the unexpected success of wholesale partnerships. She also delves into the process of transitioning her website from Wix to Shopify, utilising Klaviyo to nurture her customer base, and simplifying accounting with Xero.Sam's story is a candid portrayal of the multiple roles we juggle as mothers, entrepreneurs, and partners. She emphasises the importance of avoiding self-imposed pressure, steering clear of comparisons, and staying focused on your own journey. Join the Hello Samah community here and explore Sam's latest products online.

Jasmine created her product-based business Buggalugs to solve a problem she was very familiar with, constantly losing her baby's dummy to the unhygienic depths of her nappy bag. After extensive research she failed to find an eco-friendly, sustainable and non toxic universal pacifier case that met her needs—so she created her own. After a long two year development journey, Jasmine successfully launched a beautiful product that is made and manufactured in Australia with the planet and our bubs in mind. In this episode Jasmine shares how she partnered with an engineering group to help her with 3D designs, samples and finding a sustainable manufacturer. How baby and retail expos are a huge part of her marketing strategy and have allowed her to move her first purchase order of 2500 units. We talk about the Buggalugs TikTok content to showcase purposefully designed features, how Shopify integrates with so many useful apps and why Jasmine uses giveaways on Instagram to increase brand awareness. Jasmine's story touches on so many facets of thoughtful development, launch and growth when it comes to starting your own product-based business. You can join the Buggalugs community here, purchase a colourful pacifier case online or via one of Jasmine's 20 stockists!

Renata Cruice founded her bohemian-inspired baby brand, Charlie Helena Collection, based on a solid understanding of her ideal customer and their needs. Committed to creating a product-based business that was not only beautiful and low tox but one that was kind on the wallets of every family. In this episode Renata details how she used market research to inform her first five products, her savvy determination to find a manufacturer with a low minimum order quantity and the value she places on the constant feedback of her customers. Renata reflects on the decisions she made early in her business and how in hindsight she wishes she called on the expertise of others rather than tackling many aspects as a (in her words) rookie. We talk about Shopify and Instagram as her main digital channels, how she opts for lifestyle photography in her product listings and the future of this beloved brand, now also featured in Vogue! The CHC story advocates for finding your own way, ignoring the oversaturated industry remarks of others and doing it all (so incredibly well) with two kids under two. You can join the CHC community here and check out Renata’s timeless products online.

Belinda Appleby has built a wildly successful business off the back of her signature product—an organic infant sleep wrap made from Australian wool. She is the founder of Bundl, a mother of three and a true testament to the power of perseverance. In this episode Belinda shares the exact moment with her firstborn that she discovered a gap in the market and how the product idea swirled in her head for many years before taking any action. We cover the steps she took after her third child to turn her sketches into a real life product she could sell, her first sample disaster and the lessons she learned. Belinda reflects on the long weeks between orders in her first year of business and how that now compares to her outgrowing countless packing spaces, officially leasing her first warehouse, hiring a staff member and securing 30 wholesale clients worldwide.We talk about launching an ecommerce store on Wix and transitioning to Shopify, the benefits of using Seller Dash (an Australia Post MyPost Business app), the super useful flows in Klaviyo and how paying an expensive agency pushed Belinda to learn how to run Facebook ads herself.Belinda's story will both inspire you to finally find the confidence you need to get started and equip you with the practical steps required to grow a successful product based business. You can join the Bundl community here - https://www.instagram.com/bundl.baby - and shop their beautiful organic products online - https://bundlaustralia.com.au/pages/our-story.

Kellee Eriksson is the founder of Little Human® Linens and epitomises the phrase ''a wealth of knowledge'' when it comes to marketing a product based business. In this episode we hear how her story actually begins as an Emergency Nurse for 10 years before starting her ecommerce brand by accident. How she initially sewed and sold her waterproof fitted sheets all over the world via Etsy, tapping into a ridiculous demand but making no money at all. The journey Kellee went on to find a partner to custom make her product overseas and how she navigated her first giant manufacturing stuff up. She shares valuable advice on negotiating minimum order quantities and understanding how business is done in China. We talk a lot about paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram, the untapped potential of Pinterest and the longevity you can see when sharing good quality content. Why Kellee has now allocated some of her budget towards Google Search and how she's seeing huge growth on TikTok by sharing sound bites about solving problems. The importance of investing in email marketing as it's the only audience you truly own and also how Shopify and Klaviyo are the perfect ecommerce partners. There's so much gold that I'm unable to squeeze into this brief episode summary so whether you're already in business or a mum sitting on a product idea, I strongly encourage you to listen to this conversation, take notes and enjoy the incredible learning voyage that Kellee takes us on. You can join the Little Human® Linens community here - https://www.instagram.com/littlehumanlinens/ - and purchase Kellee's market-leading all-in-one waterproof mattress protectors and fitted sheets on her website - https://www.littlehumanlinens.com/

Kate Murray wears many hats. She's a mother of three, practicing naturopath and founder of Mère Botanicals—a destination for all natural and organic birth products. In episode 04 we hear how Kate's second pregnancy led her to create a birth kit prototype that was met with an overwhelming demand from her naturopath community. Completely blown away by the appetite and the realisation she'd discovered a gap in the market, she then spent her maternity leave hashing out the Mère Botanicals brand.We talk about finding packaging suppliers via Alibaba and the importance of sampling every component, no matter the expense. How Kate used Instagram to share sneak peeks during the product development phase to build a highly engaged community and what happened when she handed over the reins (temporarily) to a social media agency. Kate dives into how she's currently using the software #gifted to source user generated content from influencers and the benefits of Klaviyo's advanced targeting parameters to ensure her contacts only receive emails that are applicable to them. Lastly, if you're looking for a story that will put an end to your procrastination and inspire you to go all in on your business idea, then this is the one is for you. Like more than 14,000 others, you can follow Mère Botanicals on Instagram here - https://www.instagram.com/mere.botanicals - and check out Kate's wonderful range of natural birth and postpartum products on her ecommerce store - https://merebotanicals.com.au/

Dana and Hayley are co-founders of Little Myrtle and very dear friends who finish each other's sentences. In this episode we hear about how their beautiful business is a creative outlet amongst the craziness of being a mum. Their desire to create a luxurious, organic, low tox product that really meant something to the both of them. And how they found a gap in the market for high quality scandi-inspired bedding and accessories with an Aussie twist. We cover validating your product idea and navigating the sampling process with relationship building top of mind. Why approaching your pricing strategy with a 'sell more for less attitude' can increase brand awareness and decrease the total cost you need to pass onto your customers. And also how Dana and Hayley built their stunning website themselves using Shopify and have adopted product review platform Judge.me, because verifications are important to them.You can view their gorgeous products here - https://littlemyrtle.com.au/ - and follow the Little Myrtle journey on Instagram -  https://www.instagram.com/littlemyrtle.au/