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Hi all
I had a very nice tweet from Alli about my recent appearance in Prima and keep meaning to pop by and say hello. It's great to see so many people here that I recognise from other networking areas.
I think these online forums are invaluable to us mums who decide to go ahead and start a business whilst bringing up small ones. It's hard sometimes for those around us to understand fully the pressures being a mum and business woman can bring to bear.
I never thought I would be where I am currently to be honest, my previous career has spanned nearly (gulp) 20 years in the media environment - PR, marketing, TV production, events management - and now motherhood has given me a new role of inventor.
I started on this rather rollercoaster ride of a journey in mid 2008 when my daughter (who is now a lovely two year old) started to become more alert when we were out and about. Whereas before she would nod off easily in the pram she started being a whole lot nosier and so I did the usual thing that you see many people do - draped blankets and coats over the pram - to encourage her to get the sleep she needed. After several instances of the various items either falling or being pulled off I started to look around for a product that could specifically help a baby sleep in the pram or pushchair and although there were plenty of sunshades around, baby could usually see out (which defeated the objective) or they were so cumbersome that they took up all the room in the buggy basket so got left behind when they were needed.
To cut a long story short, as I couldn't find something suitable I invented a product called SnoozeShade and after about a year of testing I took a fairly basic prototype (which had elements sewn on by me) to the Baby Products Association Show in October 2009. I primarily chose that show as I thought it would potentially be less embarrassing than going on Dragon's Den and being told my idea was no good on national television.
Fortunately, the response we got (my mum was on hand to help me for the three day show while hubby looked after DD) was very positive and we had several orders placed on the spot which gave me the confidence to carry on.
So, since October it's been a whirlwind of designing packaging, safety testing, marketing and promotion and we launch next week with JoJo Maman Bebe, Kiddicare, Mothercare and a variety of lovely independent retailers.
I think this site looks amazing and a very valuable resource. I am always happy to share my experience (both current and from my former career) with other mums so please feel free to get in touch.
I look forward to meeting you at networking events in the future.
Best wishes
Cara
www.snoozeshade.com
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