Isossy Children meets Bisi Osundeko, Founder of Joy and Joe Baby Wraps

Isossy Children loves inspirational stories, particularly when it comes to products for babies and children. Joy and Joe baby wraps has a wonderfully inspirational story that starts with cuddles. Everyone deserves cuddles. Read this lovely interview with Bisi Osundeko and be inspired! We think our Isossy Babies would love these! 

What inspired you to start your business? My experience with my children inspired me to start my business. I observed how cuddles and carrying helped my children to recuperate faster when they were unwell as babies after birth. During the early stages of business, some of the lovely emails I received from mothers who had used my wraps was very encouraging and I wanted to do more to positively impact families all around the world. Also, I particularly wanted to be 100% involved in bringing my children up so the model of a strict 9-5 job didn’t appeal to me, I naturally deflected to entrepreneurship after graduating from the university based on these reasons.

What have been your favourite client experiences? I’ve been very privileged to have lots of lovely experiences with my customer but one particularly one stands out. I was at one of the baby shows exhibiting my wraps and there was a chance for mothers to try our wraps on. One of the mums who tried our wrap on was apparently a new mum and she had never used our wraps before. So when she carried her baby in our wrap, she was so surprised as to how comfortable it felt that she started crying and we were initially worried as to why she was crying. She then explained to us that it was tears of joy and that since the day she brought her baby home from the hospital, she struggled to get hands free and hold her baby at the same time. She told that the difference was so clear in terms of how comfortable she felt in our wrap. We usually sell our wraps via our website so we rarely see our customers face to face, it felt so nice for us to see firsthand how mothers new to wrapping receive our products.

What advice would you give to someone starting up in your industry? My advice for anyone starting up in the babywearing industry will be that you should approach your business with a desire to help parents (customers) first and foremost before the desire to make money because only will success follow. Also, there has been an influx of counterfeit carriers recently on the market so it is very important for you to ensure that a high standard of due diligence is adhered to in order to set you apart from the others. Such standards are your insurance, laboratory testing and customer testing where you send sample of your product around for real parents to use and give you their feedback.

What are your long term goals? Our long term goals are to hopefully make our products more mainstream by entering into the high street market. We will love to have shops where our customers can come in to try our wraps before the buy. Most of the high street carriers are quiet uncomfortable for parents because of their structured construction and some parents have expressed the desire to see natural products like ours in Mothercare shops to widen the range of options available for them. Our products are not mass produced right now so the mothercare model isn’t feasible for us but we are hoping to widen our production here in the UK to cater for that in future.

Isossy Children celebrates diversity through global clothing for children. Why do you think diversity matters for every generation? Today’s world around us is dynamic mix of different cultures, ages, races, lifestyles, genders and more. Diversity matters for every generation because it is about how receptive people are to new ideas whilst acknowledging similarities and differences which subsequently enables people to unlock their potential so they achieve their aspirations


What words of wisdom do you think every child should grow up knowing?

I think every child should grow up knowing that they are capable of achieving whatever they set their minds to do. Also that whatever they are very passionate about as they grow up could be a calling rather than something random. Talents can be anything even outside academics. So even if a child doesn’t fit the mould of a bright child, there will be something this child is particularly passionate about. Those strengths in a child should be well nurtured to ensure that that child achieve his/her potentials in life.

 

Contact Details

Adebisi Osundeko

Joy and Joe ltd, UK

http://joyandjoebaby.co.uk/

Email: info@joyandjoebaby.co.uk

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joyandjoebabywrapcarrier

twitter: @joyandjoebaby

Isossy Children meets Grace's Favours

Isossy Children loves to meet interesting and fun new products and services for children around the world. In this blog profile we meet Simmi Duffin, founder of Grace's Favours, a wonderful range of fun felt fabrications for kids!

What inspired you to start your business?

I started my business in Autumn 2011 when my second child, my son Patrick, had just turned 1. I was suffering with Post Natal Depression and whilst some of it was improving, my anxiety wasn’t getting better, so my very supportive GP suggested I try occupying myself with something creative. I love sewing and my daughter was nearly 3 and was just starting to learn her alphabet. I made her a set of felt letters, which were a big hit with her and her friends. After a number of her nursery friends’ parents had asked me to make their children a set each, I put a picture on Facebook and friends started requesting things with the letters sewn on, like Christmas Stockings and I quickly realised I could keep doing something that made me happy and cover my costs (and not end up with a house full of felty fripperies!)

What have been your favourite client experiences?

I was asked by a customer who lives locally to make a custom 3D soft sculpture of a Subaru Impreza for her son for Christmas. It was one of my biggest challenges, but I was really pleased with how it turned out and what was absolutely wonderful, was that unlike most of my creations, which get delivered by post, she came to collect the car and the look on her face was worth everything to me. She was SO pleased and then she even sent me a card telling me how delighted her son was too.

What advice would you give to someone starting up in your industry?

Be true to yourself. I’ve seen too many people look at what others are having success with and trying to replicate that, but because it’s not something they have their heart and soul in, it doesn’t prove to be the great seller they imagined. You need to find your own style. Whilst it’s fine, in fact, great, to see what others are doing and to use their style to inspire you, once you find your own ‘voice’ it all falls into place and creating pieces you love will be so well received by your customers.

What are your long term goals?

I’m developing a range of patterns that customers can instantly download from my shop, which will teach them how to make some of the pieces that I sell. I’d still like to make the more complicated pieces, but there’s a limit to the capacity I have, as one person and I don’t really want to create an empire, I just want to carry on doing what I love, which is designing and creating fun pieces, full of colour and interest.

Isossy Children celebrates diversity through global clothing for children. Why do you think diversity matters for every generation?

We are now so much more able to travel and our nationalities are not as separated as they used to be, but that does mean that a lot of the cultural differences and the interesting things about different nationalities are getting lost, so I think it’s really important to teach our children and their children about diversity, how it came about, why it matters to us and how to embrace those differences. My children are an interesting mix of English, Irish & Indian and despite living in the very ‘English’ countryside; we celebrate the Irish & Indian traditions in the same way our grandparents did, so as to keep that heritage known to them.

What words of wisdom do you think every child should grow up knowing?

It’s better to try and fail, than not to try at all – if you believe in your dreams, you are far more likely to achieve them. 

Contact Details

Name - Simmi Duffin

Email - simmi@gracesfavours.co.uk

Website - www.gracesfavour.co.uk

Phone - 07739 568086

Twitter – www.twitter.com/gracesfavours

Facebook – www.fb.com/gracesfavours

Blog – www.gracesfavours.blogspot.co.uk

Isossy Children Profiles iTaggy

This week Isossy Children meets Clare Argent, The Mumpreneur behind the adorable iTaggy Brand - unqique handmade baby comforters and blankets.

What inspired you to start your business?

My children were my initial inspiration.  I started making items for them.  My partner David was the driving force behind me starting a business, he suggested it over a glass of wine on a New Year’s eve and we started working on it that night.

What have been your favourite client experiences?

A lot of my business is mail order, so it is not often I get to meet a client, but when I do it is so lovely, especially seeing Children so in love with one of my items, it brings such joy!  I recently had a Mum contact me in despair, they had lost her daughters iTaggy comforter on holiday; she took it everywhere and never went to bed without her snug.  We set to making an identical one immediately and dispatched it the same day, now they can all get some sleep!  

What advice would you give to someone starting up in your industry?

You need to love what you do, believe in your product or service and believe in yourself.  Ensure that you have a unique selling point, or you won’t stand out from the crowd!  Most important of all, is ensuring that you preform and keep the customer happy and updated at all times.

What are your long term goals?

To continue making and to develop new products and designs, I am happy to go wherever the iTaggy journey takes me.

Isossy Children celebrates diversity through global clothing for children. Why do you think diversity matters for every generation?

This is so important, new generations need to be educated in understanding diverse cultures, religions, disabilities, the list is endless,  to ensure that we grow to respect one another for who and what we are and not to judge unfairly or discriminate or to judge at all.#

What words of wisdom do you think every child should grow up knowing?

To live, to love, to laugh and to enjoy.

Smile each day, life is too short not to.

Contact Details 

Clare Argent

www.Itaggy.com / info@itaggy.com

@itaggy