Every mom of little girls–and little guys– should jump and down for joy! Now there’s an awesome local company, Playpants, where you can order bloomers for your little ones in great fabrics like organic cotton and recycled hemp. Hot, hot, hot!
I love these things! My gals played rough and tumble, and with bloomers under their dresses, I would have had no worries!
There are three of you. Who are you?
We’re Rachel Boguski, Anna Day and Zoe Flower – three mothers,
longtime friends and, now, entrepreneurs. We are also fans of
soft-rock ballads and theme parties.
How did you come to start Playpants?
We each have daughters and as friends and mothers, we share a lot of
information. Where is a good playground for a one-year-old? What kind
of baby shampoo do you use? Can I buy pack of baby bloomers? And when
the answer to the latter was no, we knew we were onto something. We
all dressed our daughters in bloomers, and we all had the same
problems with inconsistent sizing, quality and design – yet they were
wardrobe essentials. As quickly as we could finish our playdate we had
conceived a line of affordable modern baby bloomers for girls and boys
(we have sons too!) to fit infants and toddlers.
Tell us about the company’s name.
We can’t lie about this one. Rachel’s husband came up with it. He’d
make a good dadpreneur. Is that a word? If not, we came up with it.
When did you get the business up and running?
Within a few days after the idea was born, we worked hard to create
our business plan, learn about manufacturing, find suppliers and
develop our product. The concept was born in September 2009 and we
launched our product in April 2010.
What is the response?
We hear a lot of the word cute! We were fortunate to have a lot of
support from friends, family and media to help spread the word about
Playpants very early on, so we have surprised ourselves with how much
we’ve achieved in such a short time. What makes us happiest is seeing
babies and toddlers wearing our bloomers and the feedback we’ve
received from mothers – as it turns out, we weren’t the only ones
wondering where to buy bloomers!
Where do you sell your bloomers?
Playpants are available at 14 retailers (and counting!) in BC,
Alberta, Quebec and online.
Things you’d like the public to know about Playpants…
Playpants came to be because we were tired of looking at our
children’s diapers and we wanted to bring the bloomer back! There are
so many ways to wear Playpants year round – over tights, under a
dress, on their own – and they make great cloth and swim diaper
covers. What we love is seeing the way they’re being worn in photos we
receive from moms (keep them coming!).
How many children do you have between you, and what ages?
Zoe’s has the oldest and the youngest in daughters V (3.5) and
H (3 months). Anna has a daughter C (3.5) and son D
who just turned 2. Rachel has a son G (also 3.5!) and a daughter
T (1). All have certainly been great models for us, and we’re
looking forward to our toddler line so we can get our older girls back
into them!
How do you find wrangling parenting and small business ownership?
We are mothers first, business owners second. It can be challenging at
times, like when you have no choice but to bring your child (or
children) to meetings or when you’re on the phone with a screaming
child within earshot – but it can be done. Most importantly, we know
we’re not alone – in fact we wouldn’t be where we are today if we
were.
Do you have any tips for other new moms thinking of beginning small businesses?
Don’t just think about it, do it! Take advantage of your friends and
family who are there to support you. And know it’s not going to be
easy, but it will be the most important job you have (well, second
most important).
Where do you see the business going over the next five years?
We’re going to continue to grow our brand awareness and build our
retail base. We’re excited to be expanding our distribution to the US
in January 2011 – a big step for us! We like to keep things fresh, so
we will be introducing new styles for spring as well as toddler sizing
to fit up to age 6.
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