Never a Dull Moment...
Monday, June 7th, 2010
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Well, the road to PumpEase Organic has been a bumpy one to say the least. From figuring out what an organic PumpEase should actually look like to sourcing fabric, then having said fabric delayed by fires and volcanic ash (no joke!) to a flooded photo studio, you might have thought we'd give up! However, if you know me, you understand that I rarely step down from a challenge (read: I'm incredibly stubborn) and actually experience great pleasure from overcoming adversity. Remember the old adage, "Nothing worth having is ever easy". And just like childbirth, I've forgotten all (or most) of the pain and am now gushing over my "new baby"!
It was actually Madeleine Shaw of LunaPads that first put the bug in our ear about producing an organic version of PumpEase. Honestly, I wasn't that jazzed about the idea at first. For starters, I knew printing organically on a knit was a long shot. And we are all about the fashion here at Snugabell, right?
And then Madeleine mentioned it to me again - expressing how well-received she thought an organic PumpEase would be by moms. I agreed the "green" trend was very prevalent in our industry and was likely going to continue. I voiced my concerns about the prints and we discussed the options. I considered producing organically dyed solids - picturing a soft green and a lavender (green and purple being my favourite colours, so no surprise there). We also discussed doing "natural" or unbleached cotton, but I was worried it would look "dirty" next to our white hook & eye. Something just wasn't sitting right in my gut (and I REALLY listen to my gut!).
But I continued to move forward... I worked with my wonderful fabric supplier, ordering several strike-offs before the custom-milled organic knit was perfect. Our final pick had a wonderful weight and hand - so incredibly soft! And then we sampled it, and something happened...
I had this incredible vision of an unbleached organic cotton PumpEase - the beauty being the simplicity of it all. And in the next moment, I remembered what my design teacher always told me, "KISS - Keep It Simple Somehow" - aaaah, affirmation. It saw it and it was beeee-autiful!
In the meantime, we were also designing the new packaging with the help of Sally of Whitespace Design. All of our current boxes are recyclable, but after consulting with our packaging manufacturer, they helped us choose a stock for the box that was more eco-friendly.
Things moved along swimmingly for awhile until it was time to schedule the photo shoot and I got stuck again - really stuck! I wasn't sure how we could communicate "organic" while maintaining our signature cheeky marketing style!? Then one sunny afternoon, I was driving home from my fabric supplier, (I do all my best thinking when I'm driving) not even consciously thinking about the look for the shoot and it came to me - Mother Nature. The model would depict MOTHER NATURE! I was STOKED! As soon as I got home, I went online and two hours later I had the whole look finalized. It just goes to show that you can't force inspiration! :-)
Everything pretty much fell into place from there (even despite the delays). I got to play stylist and source the model's ensemble - borrowing an incredible corset from Melanie Talkington of 
Lace Embrace (we went to design school together) and enlisting my talented friend Dawn to help me make the headpiece. Add a ballet skirt and white leggings and we were set!
The day of the marketing shoot was incredible! As always, Claire Reid was behind the lens and thanks to my husband Mike's suggestion, Talysia Ayala was in front - she depicted "the look" so perfectly that the images barely needed editing!
A couple of weeks later, we did our product shoot at the beach, which was equally fabulous as you can see from the image above. OK, I'm gushing again now... you better go check out PumpEase Organic and tell us what you think before I become "that parent" and pull ALL the pics out of my wallet.
Tags: organic, 'hands-free pumping bra', 'organic nursing bra'
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Sunday, May 23rd, 2010
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So you know we're all about the fashion here at Snugabell, right? Our goal is to help new moms refind their mojo - to help them feel pretty when they are often healing and hormonal, haven't showered "lately" (let alone done their hair and make-up) and are sleep-deprived. If you've had a baby recently, or not (my youngest was three in January and I still remember what it was like), I'm sure you'll relate.
Even though it is all about the fashion, it isn't ALL about the fashion! Yes, that's right - the bold colours and prints of PumpEase are better for your baby too! According to Dr William Sears...
"The best way you as a parent can stimulate baby's vision is using black and white stripes or light and dark contrasting colors. So what about those nice soft pastels that used to be so popular in baby toys and nurseries? While these may look pretty to you, they do nothing visually for your baby. Research has proven that black and white contrasts register powerfully on baby's retina and send the strongest visual signals to baby's brain. Stronger signals mean more brain growth and faster visual development. Surround a baby with soft pastel colors, and you might as well be blindfolding him. Surround your baby with black and white or light and dark pictures, and watch your baby's eyes light up.
While baby's vision may be one of the least developed senses at birth, 
visual input during the early months may have the most profound effect on baby's developing nervous system. What exactly does this mean? Why is visual stimulation so important for a baby? How can you as a parent or caregiver best stimulate your newborn's visual senses?
How a newborn's eyes detect light.
At birth, a baby's retina is not fully developed. The retina is the back layer of the eye that detects light. An adult retina can distinguish many different shades of light and color, but a newborn retina can only detect large contrasts between light and dark, or black and white. So while an adult can appreciate various shades of pastel colors on the wall of baby's nursery, a newborn may only see them as one shade all blurred together. Why is this important?
How visual stimulation makes baby's brain develop.
At birth, the nerve cells in baby's brain are disorganized and not well connected. While baby grows, the brain receives input from all five senses. This input causes nerve cells to multiply and form a multitude of connections with other nerve cells. This is why visual stimulation is so crucial. For example, if a baby is kept blindfolded the visual center in his brain would never develop, the optic nerve would shrivel up, and baby would never develop vision. On the other hand, if you provide continuous visual input into baby's eyes, the retina thrives, the optic nerve grows, and the visual part of baby's brain thrives and develops by leaps and bounds."
So if you're planning on pumping on one side and nursing on the other (yes you can do this with your PumpEase!), choose Snowy Leopard or Galaxie Black to best stimulate baby's vision. And if you've never considered pumping on one side and nursing on the other, you might want to. Here's why...
1. When you nurse your baby, your body releases the hormone oxytocin which causes
your milk to "let down". So while you're suckling your baby on one breast, your other
breast will often leak (usually into a nursing pad that you throw away or wash).
Although it varies, some moms leak a LOT of milk. Regardless, I'm sure you'll agree
that any milk saved is a good thing!
2. The more frequently both breasts are emptied the better it is for your milk
supply/production.
3. This is the ultimate in multi-tasking (and we, as women, were made to multi-task
right?)
So there you have it - look HAWT, stimulate your baby's vision to promote brain development and make more milk - ALL with PumpEase!
I have to add that I find it über interesting that if you were to blindfold your baby from birth the optic nerve would shrivel up and your baby would actually end up blind. I know that newborn babies don't see much more than shadows and I know that black and white patterns are good for baby's vision, but had no idea the extent of the consequences if baby's vision wasn't stimulated fully. How about you? Tell us about it below.
Tags: 'baby brain growth', 'visual stimulation', 'PumpEase prints'
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Thursday, April 29th, 2010
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I don't understand why companies do it. They have a great product, build a great brand following and then they change something. From the consumer's standpoint, it is usually a change for the worse; for the manufacturer, however, it almost always means higher profits. All that work of building their reputation and brand and they throw it all out the window. I.don't.get.it.
Take for example Old Navy infant and toddler socks. You know the ones I'm talking about? The triple-roll socks that have rubberized writing on the soles stating the size (so handy when you have two little ones that are close in age). The ones that were/are $1.75/pair or six pairs for $10.00 (it's been a while since I've bought them, so I may be a bit off on the price). Well a few years back when my now five year old was a baby, we bought them by the bucket-full. Every colour under the sun and two each of the neutrals. And then my younger daughter wore them and then I passed them on to my sister and her daughter wore them. And they are STILL in good condition! I think I've thrown out maybe two or three pairs after 5-1/2 years and three kids!
They were all cotton with a bit of spandex. They faded a bit over time and even shrunk a teensy bit (such is the nature of cotton), but they LASTED and LASTED and LASTED. I recommended them to everyone I met that had kids.
Then I bought a couple of new pairs for the girls last fall as we were having family pictures done and we were all wearing black. I needed new inky black socks.
So I went to our local mall and bought two pairs - one for each of my daughters. They felt a bit silkier than before but looked the same. I noticed that they were now made with 81% cotton/17% polyester/2% spandex. Hmmm...
Six months later, I threw both pairs in the garbage because they had LARGE gaping holes on the balls of the feet - not even on the heel. I was choked! SIX MONTHS! I guess they added the polyester to prevent the fading or the minimal shrinking or perhaps because polyester is cheaper? Or maybe because they didn't have enough repeat customers due to the fact that their old socks lasted too long... ???
I will never buy them again. Ever.
I'm on a roll with the socks, so I will continue. I bought a couple of pairs of Calvin Klein ladies' black dress socks for myself eons ago (honestly, they're older than my kids). They are just now starting to wear thin, no holes yet, just wearing thin. Did I mention that I've had these socks for years? I think it is going on ten years. Seriously.
So seeing that they were starting to wear thin, I decided to go the The Bay (where I had bought them) and buy more. Of course, they didn't have exactly the same ones ten years later, but I bought what I thought were comparable socks. Two pairs each of two different styles - footies and anklets. Calvin Klein. After two months, they had holes in them. All eight of the socks had holes in them. And not on the heel or where the balls of your feet sit either. The holes were in random spots around the ankle where the knitting machine did the full-fashioning (shaping) to make the sock "bend" to go around your ankle. Random holes on my new socks. My background in the apparel industry tells me they are simply poor quality and/or they no longer do product testing and/or they have lowered their quality control standards. A lot.
Every time I'm folding laundry and start pairing-up the socks and see the HOLES, I get annoyed. AND then I see my 10 year old socks in the pile that are still in one piece!
What the heck is with the crappy socks???
Needless to say, I am choked. Again. And I need some answers! Where oh where can I buy decent socks? I just spent a good 10 minutes searching online for "cotton socks" and nothing really comes up!?! Update: I think I found the answer to my dreams (literally): Sock Dreams! Check them out!
But WHY do companies do this? As a business owner, I understand the desire to increase your bottom line, but are you not shooting yourself in the foot (pun most definitely intended) if your product becomes sub-standard and you lose customers?
I.just.don't.get.it.
I remember about a year ago, we received a bad batch of production from our factory. It was either 600 pieces and we sent back 400 or 800 pieces and we sent back 600. Yes it cost us twice as much in quality control to check every PumpEase two times. Yes it delayed our orders. Yes it was frustrating!!! However there was no question in my mind that they all get sent back to the factory. I couldn't even fathom sending out a sub-standard product and "hoping for the best". No way. Not even an option.
In my mind, my product, my company and my reputation are all very intricately woven together. If my company starts producing shoddy goods, that reflects on me personally. It's just not going to happen. I give you my word. And I am super-duper proud of the high quality that is reflected in our products. :-)
So, tell us... have you ever experienced a particular brand's quality decreasing over time? What did you do about it - just accept it or switch brands? Do you expect, as I do, consistency in quality when you are loyal to a particular brand? Please leave your thoughts below.
Tags: 'quality control', socks, 'sock holes', 'calvin klein'
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Wednesday, April 21st, 2010
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I love meeting new people. My motto is "the more the merrier" at gatherings. I believe that everyone you meet in your life is "on purpose" and that there is a definite reason behind the connection - whether life-changing or somewhat less significant. It's amazing to me that I am typing this now as when I was a child, I was so painfully shy that I would hide in the back bedroom closet when people came over to visit. Even uncles and aunts that I knew put me in hiding and no amount of coaxing from my mother would convince me to show my face. The epitome of this behaviour (and one which I will NEVER live down) is when my mom's sister, Aunty Tecia, requested that I be her flowergirl. I absolutely REFUSED to pose for the pictures. You see, I didn't like the photographer (good reason right? I certainly thought so in my three-year-old stubborness). Alas, there is only ONE picture that I appear in and I am clearly bawling my eyes out. Today, I am "over it" and thoroughly enjoy meeting new people as often as possible.
So I am very happy to have met our very first "official" Snugabell Gal to whom you are about to be introduced. Rebakah came into my life via very unrelated circumstances. I had been wanting and needing an assistant for quite some time and then *poof* there she was...
Hello! My name is Rebekah and I'm Wendy's new creative assistant extraordinaire! We've been working together now for a few weeks and I have already learned so much from her. Let me give you a little background on myself...
I graduated last April from Capilano University's Illustration & Design progam (IDEA). Since then I've embarked on a new path filled with illustrating children's books and creating colourful, whimsical paintings. My business is Rebekah Joy Plett Illustration. If you would like to learn more, you can Fan me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter and/or visit my blog.
I derive a lot of my inspiration from old fairytales and nursery rhymes. On the left is one of my favourite paintings inspired by the rhyme, "Sing a Song of Sixpence". 
I've also had the privilege to work with several children's book authors in the last year. BlueBeary, written by Kathleen McMillan, was my first published illustrated work and remains a pride and joy of mine.
In the Fall of 2009 I launched my first line of greeting cards called The Cavorting Hippo. They have been a delightful success and I look forward to donating 10% of the profits to the Canucks For Kids Foundation once they have all sold.
Last September I entered the Roller Derby Fresh Meat Bootcamp to begin training. I hardly knew my right foot from my left when I started but I managed to remain upright on my rollerskates and made it past all the tests and cuts. In February I was drafted onto the Faster Pussycats team (as seen to the right - that giant purple thing in the front is my butt). On April 10th we had our season opener 'bout and we won! (Not without any bumps, bruises, or elbows in the face of course). Watch for me at about 2:42 in the vid link above - I'm Xanadoozy. Roller Derby has been a real challenge in my life but it has brought a balance to it as well. The girls look tough, but they are also very sweet and kind.
In December of 2009 I became engaged to my lovely fiancé Darren (pictured here with me in Pender Harbour last summer). We are getting married in June (I've always wanted a Spring wedding) and I can't tell you how excited I am to have all our families come together to celebrate and eat cupcakes! (Not to mention a delectable brunch... Mmmm... waffles!)
I met Wendy in February and we hit it off immediately. She has a wonderful family and I love seeing her girls when I'm at work. They always greet me with a big, warm smile and an enthusiastic, "Hi!". I look forward to working with Wendy and learning even more about (someday) becoming a Mom and of course about PumpEase and running a business.
Thanks Rebekah! Soooooo... have you ever met anyone who plays Roller Derby? I hadn't until now! And not only do I think it is super cool, but Mike and the girls and I are going to check out Rebekah next time she is derby-ing closer to home. What a hoot!
Rebekah is not only talented and dynamic, but I have found in these last few weeks, that she is a hard-worker, very open-minded, patient and truly a positive person all around. We are blessed to have her as part of the Snugabell team.
Won't you all welcome her with some comment love?
Tags: illustration, 'kids books', artist, 'roller derby', 'hippo cards'
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Sunday, March 14th, 2010
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Have you been wondering where we've been hiding since the end of January? We do apologize... we've been JUST a tad busy!
What with the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and the pending launch of our new product on May 1st, we admit we have fallen quite behind!
Let's start with the Olympics. I have to be honest with you - I wasn't that jazzed about the Olympics coming to town. I'm a bit of a control freak (shhhh!) and the thought that our city was going to be "invaded" (for lack of a better word) by essentially the world, well... disturbed me. I was checking my calendar and planning any trips into the city BEFORE and AFTER the games. It was the unknown. How crazy would it be? I didn't want to know. And I don't think anyone really DID know.
And then of course there is the money that we have spent for the last SEVEN YEARS getting ready for this world-class event. There has never been an Olympic Games, from what I understand, that broke even, let alone made a profit... so obviously as a taxpayer, I was concerned about that as well.
BUT (and this is a big "but") then there were those Opening Ceremonies. I actually missed the better part of them as I was out to dinner with my girls, my mom and my sister's family for my niece's 7th birthday (DH was working afternoon shift). Afterwards, EVERYONE was talking about how fantastic they were. Twitter and Facebook were all a-buzz. No matter where you were, you heard about them. AND.I.MISSED.THEM.AND.I.WAS.STRESSING.ABOUT.IT. Ya, I know, I'm a geek. For the record, I bought both the opening and closing ceremonies on iTunes a few days back so now I have them for all prosperity. So there! But I digress... They were touting our Opening Ceremonies as one of the best in the history of the Olympic Games and Canadian pride swelled in everyone's hearts - I didn't have a chance - I was HOOKED! You see, I am a pretty proud Canadian anyways. I have a big Canadian flag on my house 24/7/365. When I travel, I wear a Canadian pin on my person. And now I have not one, but TWO Canadian flags on my car. And although I would like to experience living in another country at some point in my life, I would always, ALWAYS come back to Canada... Vancouver, Canada - my home!
So we decided, after swearing up and down that we were going nowhere near downtown Vancouver between February 12th and 28th, that we would check it out. Mike and the girls and I ventured downtown on Sunday, February 21st with my sister and her family. We caught the Skytrain as we had NO IDEA what the parking would be like (turns out that because so many people were scared of the parking situation and thus took transit, there WAS actually parking throughout (most of) the Olympics! Who Knew?). We headed to see the cauldron first. There were wall-to-wall people so we didn't wait in line for the viewing platform. And despite the gorgeous sunshine, it was COLD and WINDY down at the waterfront, and in general, that day... BRRRRR!
Then up Burrard to Robson Street. We window-shopped and people-watched. We saw the zip line and its 6+ hour line-up. We cruised past the flower-bedecked Vancouver Art Gallery (aka The BC Pavillion). We met up with my good friend Vici and her dog Max... We saw street performers and tons of people, people, people! And it was SO COOL to see the "sea of red" - almost everyone was wearing red for Canada! After a quick lunch we walked some more, checking out the amazing transformation of the beautiful city that we call home. The Residences on Georgia (corner of Georgia and Howe Streets) were wrapped in a HUGE Canadian flag. I wonder how many millions of people took this pic?
We then went to the Olympic Store at The Bay. I had to eat my words 
because I had already told my sister that I was NOT going downtown to go "shopping". But we were both SO JONESING for the zip-up hoodies with "CANADA" emblazoned across the front that we totally went tourist. First we went inside only to find out that the only way into the Olympic Store was via an outside entrance. And yes, there was a line-up. Keep in mind that you don't get anywhere "quickly" on a weekend during 
the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, let alone with eight people including three kids under 8 and a 14-month old. So off we went to go back outside. The line-up looked L-O-N-G (over a block and 4-5 people deep) but was only about a 20 minute wait. Did we get our hoodies? NOPE. We found out later that they were sold out pretty much everywhere. I even asked my cousin who lives in Regina, Saskatchewan to check there and in Saskatoon where she just happened to be the following weekend - NADA! BUT they're on Craig's List for $300+ if you REALLY want one. I REALLY want one, but not "$300 want". We did get a couple more things for the girls though and they were pretty stoked about that!
It was a good day - and I hope the girls will both remember "the day they went to the Olympics". Here we are on the Skytrain home. As you can see, the girls are pretty tired and so is Mom and Dad.
But Mama wanted to check out the Olympics "adult-style" so off my friend Vici and I went the following Thursday, February 25th! It was the evening of the day that the Canadian Women's Hockey Team had won the Gold Medal (for the third straight time by the way... ahem). We didn't have a clue how "nuts" it was going to be downtown, so we started out in Yaletown and after kyboshing waiting in line to go into LiveCity Yaletown, we decided to check out some of the False Creek pavillions. There were line-ups everywhere, but most of them moved fairly quickly. Many of the pavillions had free admission and I had "heard" which ones were especially good and which ones were sleepers - but I soon found out it just depended on the night and who (athletes, celebs, media) were inside. The Saskatchewan Pavillion* was our first stop ... meh. Had a drink and got our pics taken 
with two RCMP officers decked out in their red serge. Off to Ontario House. Again, not quite the "party" we were looking for (yes, we was lookin' for a PAR-TAY). Had a drink and off we went. We went by Molson Canadian Hockey House and tried to get in there. Ahem... private event - $900 to get in (no joke). Well, I guess that's where the women's hockey team was hangin'! They obviously had no idea who we were. I mean, look at my boots! How could they NOT let me in in those boots!
We then headed back to Yaletown and went to the Yaletown Brewing Company. They had a rockin' live band and the place was packed! SCORE! We miraculously found a couple of seats and started chatting with our neighbours. EVERYONE was in a great mood! We met some lovely people from all over the world including Kimmy and Hannu from Finland (I had never met a Finn before - too cool!). That's Kimmy with Vici and I below. I was having fun "discussing" (read bragging) about how Canada was going to "whoop their @SSES" in Men's Hockey. Hannu and I texted each other over the next few days - teasing each other to the max - after Finland's loss to the USA (I have to apologize to all my American friends as I was rooting for Finland. After that initial Canada-USA game, I'll admit I was trying to avoid you!) and right up to THAT NAIL-BITER GOLD MEDAL GAME! My goodness, Mike and I were GLUED to the TV that day - I nearly had a heart attack! I think Mike's poor thigh was bruised from me hitting it everytime we scored! Now please look the other way while I gloat... CANADA RULES HOCKEY! Not to mention the records that we broke: Canada won more gold medals than any host nation in Winter Olympic history AND it also marked the most gold medals Canada has won at any Olympics — winter or summer. Finally, Canadian WOMEN were first in GOLD overall! LOVE IT!
But I must say, meeting people from all over the world and listening to them "gush" about our city was right up there with all the medals and the broken records. Their words acted as a MIRROR, so as to remind us, when we are "too close" to all this fantasticness (is that a word?) and taking for granted where we live, that we really DO have the pleasure of living in one of the greatest cities in the world! Needless to say, I was feeling pretty proud to be Canadian that night too!
We danced, we drank, we got home at 3:30 am... groan! I was soooo dragging my butt the next day (but it was worth it!). Then two days later, I did it all again - this time with my hubby Mike. We walked Granville Street, checking out the cool art installations, we hooked-up with friends and we ate pizza-by-the-slice at the wee hours of the morn' after leaving Doolin's Irish Pub - part of Irish House. Guess what time we got home... yup 3:30 am. Thank goodness Grandma had the girls overnight and we could sleep-in a teensy bit past their normal wake-up time of 8 am. Twice in one week and I was thinking, "I'm too old for this". Then I came to my senses and realized that I'm just out of practice. Yup, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!
And here it is the middle of March already, a full 2 weeks after the closing ceremonies, and I am just getting to this blog post. So yes, we are still behind, however, the good news is, we've FINALLY hired an office assistant (official trés cool title TBA) so we hope to be back to posting a little more regularly going forward. Her name is Rebekah and we're counting down the days until she starts (this Friday, March 19th - T minus 5 days and counting woot!), so please watch for our blog post introducing her - she is quite an interesting gal!
And we promise to really try not to go MIA ever again...
I almost forgot! If you want to hear more about the other reason that we are so far behind - our fantabulous new product, ETA May 1st - you will simply need to keep coming back here to check. But I WILL tell you this... you are going to love it!
So what did you do during the Olympics? Were you lucky enough to go to any actual events? Any victory ceremonies? The opening or closing ceremonies? Tell us about it below!
*I am linking to pages that were live during the Olympics as well as at the time of posting, however there is no guarantee how long they will stay "live". I apologize in advance for any dead links.
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Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
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I recently had the opportunity to interview Richard and Janette Cassidy, owners of Pumps 4 Mums - the exclusive retailer of PumpEase in the UK. I have to admit, I kinda liked writing the interview questions, so this may become a regular feature on our blog (I'm just nosy is all). Please read on to find out more about this amazing couple running this amazing company. I was wow-ed (and I don't wow easily).
Wendy: How long have you been in business selling breast pumps?
Richard: We are into our 3rd year of selling breastpumps.
Wendy: Have you always been in the same location?
Richard: We've always been located in 'The Midlands'. Currently, we live in Aldridge - a town on the edge of England's 'Black Country'.
Wendy: How did you come about being in this business?
Richard: By accident! Jeanette's first experience of pumping was with our daughter Alexandra. Alexandra had been born 8 weeks early due to mum's pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome, and spent a long time in special care. She was unable to feed normally, therefore Jeanette expressed in hospital but later managed to establish breastfeeding. On returning to work, Jeanette expressed at home. She was already an experienced NHS nurse, but her experiences in hospital motivated her to train for an additional Health Visitor qualification where her practice was more 'baby' orientated. More recently, Jeanette retired from her role within the NHS for health reasons. Having recently given birth to our 2nd daughter, Jeanette suffered quite badly with PND. I had already formed the company and was buying and selling bankrupt stock. We first became an Ameda agent for no reason other than so that Jeanette had something to do.
Wendy: What is your company mission/vision?
Richard: To be the best at what we do. We don't mis-sell, we try to establish exactly what it is that the mum is trying to achieve by owning a pump. When a customer calls us with a problem, I reassure them that I'm glad they bought their product from us because we will help them. If it's physiological, Jeanette will take charge, if it's mechanical I'll get it sorted - fast.
Wendy: How is the breastfeeding culture in the UK? Is breastfeeding encouraged? What about breastfeeding in public?
Richard: At present in England, mothers do not yet have an absolute legal right to breastfeed in public. However, a mother who is nursing a baby of 6 months or less cannot be asked to leave an establishment. New laws (The Equalities Bill) are making their way through parliament and should come into force in October this year.
"Discriminating against a woman breastfeeding in public has been unlawful (under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975) for more than 30 years, however, this Bill makes it explicit that it is unlawful to force breastfeeding mothers and their babies out of places like cafes, shops and public transport." Source: babyfriendly.org
Jeanette thinks that breastfeeding culture is changing for the better, with more shops and public places offering breastfeeding areas, as opposed to directing mums towards the nearest toilet!
Wendy: What are the breastfeeding initiation rates in the UK? Are they increasing?
Richard: There are more breast feeding clinics, supoort groups, helplines and breastfeeding counsellors/infant feeding coordinators than there have ever been, however, it remains that a majority of UK mums have given up by the time the baby is 8 weeks old.
Wendy: What does Pumps4Mums do to promote breastfeeding?
Richard: Most mothers who call us have already made their decision to use a pump to help them continue to breastfeed.
Wendy: How long do moms get for maternity leave in the UK?
Richard: Statutory entitlement to maternity pay is 39 weeks. The earliest one can claim is 11 weeks before due date, although many mums choose to start their maternity leave much later.
Wendy: What is the best part of what you do?
Richard: Probably when we've helped a mum whose milk had stopped to re-establish a supply.
Wendy: Tell me about your family. How old are your child(ren) and if older, do they help out with the business?
Richard: Our children are 13 (sometimes helps with the packing) and 4 (she answers the phone occasionally and she knows she's not supposed to)!
Wendy: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Richard: Yes - I'm really sorry to have taken so long to do this!
Richard, your answers were definitely worth waiting for and I can honestly tell you that I am very proud to have you and Janette representing PumpEase "across the pond". The way in which you conduct your business aligns perfectly with Snugabell Mom & Baby Gear's corporate vision.
Did you enjoy hearing about one of our retailers? Would you like to see more interviews in the future? Leave a comment below and tell us about it!
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Friday, December 18th, 2009
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Have you heard? We want YOU to help us design our new door hanger! If you haven't seen our current door hangers, grab a look as the new one will have the same die cut and will most likely also have the Breastmilk Storage Guidelines on the reverse side.
Just leave a comment on the wall of our Facebook Fan Page with your slogan and/or design idea and you will automatically be entered into the contest.
To get your creative juices flowing, here are some of the slogans that we've come up with in the past. Note that we've never used any of them... this is just to give you a "feel" for things. In other words, we need your help as we're not too jazzed about any of them. We know you can do better!
There's a really good reason NOT to knock right now!
Please Do Not Disturb - I'm Expressing in Style!
Please Do Not Disturb - Mammaries at Work!
Please Do Not Disturb - Pumping Zone!
Please Do Not Disturb - I'm in a Milky Way!
Please Do Not Disturb - I'm Pumping for the Cause!
So submit a sassy idea for our new door hanger and if we choose yours, you win!
What will you win if we pick your entry? A PumpEase Sampler Pack featuring a PumpEase in your choice of size and print, a Breastmilk Storage Guidelines fridge magnet, one of our Do Not Disturb door hangers, one of the NEW door hangers that YOU designed and a Nursing Mother Goddess Necklace (coming soon to our site)! Retail value $75.00!
Contest closes January 15, 2010.
We can't wait to hear all your ideas!
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Thursday, November 5th, 2009
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I've been home from Las Vegas for about 5 weeks now (yes, I've been trying to get to this post for a while). And I must say, I'm not big on tourist traps... AT ALL. If I end up in a touristy area incidentally - like when I travel to destinations off the beaten track but have to fly in to a touristy area - I'm gone the very next day. Why? You simply don't experience the real city/country in the touristy areas! And I want to experience the real culture. Examples: New York City's Times Square, resort towns in Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican... and well, Vegas is pretty much the King (or should I say Ace) of all tourist traps. Just soooo commercial (yuck)! BUT.I.HAD.A.FANTASTIC.TIME! Las Vegas Rule #1 - Keep an open mind.
Why were we in Sin City? Well, PumpEase made its official debut at the premier tradeshow of the juvenile products industry - The ABC Kids Expo! (woot, woot!) We were at the show with our Distributor - Sandy of Le Duck Distributors. Sandy represents PumpEase and our colleague Diane Sam's product MoBoleez. Together we are the Le Duck Team (see below, L to R: Sandy, Darlene, Diane and myself). And don't we look brilliant in our flora & fauna tops? Pauline Siu, a hot, new Vancouver designer, created these amazing tops for us to wear at the show. Visit her site to check out the rest of her locally, ethically and sustainably-made Eco-Fashion label!
Not only was the show fantastic (read: we wrote lots of orders, made many great contacts and are following-up with more potential retail partners), but the networking was phenomenal!
Now, on to the show itself - we were in a great location and had great neighbours! Milkies was on one side, LilyBugs was across the aisle and My Brest Friend was kitty corner to us. We also cruised the show and chatted with Francie Pants, Simple Wishes and Four Peas among many others! And it was fantastic to finally put a face to a name as we met some of our retail partners for the very first time - like Britt Pegan of Milkface and Jill Broussard of BreastPumps.com and BreastPumpsDirect.com!
Although this was a business trip, all work and no play makes Wendy a dull girl, right? Enter Darlene, my BFF who flew down from Kelowna, BC (about 4 hours from where I live) for a visit and to help work our booth.
The first day in Vegas, 2 days before we had to set-up the show, we decided to go for a walk - you know, scout things out a bit. Las Vegas Rule #2 - just because you can "see" your destination, doesn't mean you should "walk" to your destination. I think we walked for 9 hours that first day! Our poor feet! I have to admit, I was a bit worried about working a 4-day, 1,000,000 square foot tradeshow after that first day, but my feet persevered! (yay).
I have to backtrack now to a couple of weeks before we left. Dar emailed me and asked me if I "wanted to get my nose pierced with her" while we were down in Vegas. Um. No. Not really. Who knew that my closest friend of 24 years wanted to get her nose pierced? Anyways, after several taxi rides, a wild goose chase and a 16 year old "piercer" who told Darlene she looked like a teacher (lol), our mission was accomplished (and in lieu of getting my nose pierced, I held her hand and took the pics)! That's her to the right - under the knife, er, I mean needle. Las Vegas Rule #3: If they look 25, they are 16. And yes, we are old.
Darlene and I also bought tickets to see La Rêve after chatting to a very nice lady at a discount ticket outlet outside of Circus Circus where they had $2 Strawberry Margaritas with quite the kick (the real reason we stopped). The discount ticket lady told us the story of Steve Wynn and how, after owning 3 of the majors in Vegas (Treasure Island, The Bellagio and The Mirage) and then being ousted in a hostile takeover by MGM, he persevered to build the Wynn and Encore Hotels. Further, he created his own Cirque show and designed a ROUND theatre to showcase it in, so that there was NOT ONE bad seat in the house. We paid just under $100 each for our tickets - fantastic seats - AMAZING show! (The pic to the left is the finale - those flowers were probably 20 ft in diameter). The seats with "partially obstructed views" at the Bellagio for "O" were OVER $100 each (umm... who would pay over $100 for a partially obstructed view?) AND I confirmed "discount ticket lady's" story on Wikipedia. Las Vegas Rule #4 - You don't always get what you pay for.
One of the highlights of the trip was our breakfast meeting with Bettina Forbes and Danielle Rigg, founders of the Best for Babes Foundation, of which we are a corporate sponsor. Until that morning, we had only chatted on the phone and via email, Twitter and Facebook. The energy in the room was palpable as I also got to meet other BfB corporate sponsors like Sheri & Melinda of Earth Mama Angel Baby, the ladies of My Brest Friend, Line of GlamourMom, Shari & Joe Criso of My Baby Experts and The Birth Boutique (one of our new retail partners - stoked about that!), Leslie of NutraBella and the lovely ladies of Hygeia!
Another fantastic morning was spent taking the Zappos tour! I was absolutely inspired by every moment that we spent at their head office in Henderson, Nevada (just outside of Vegas) - WOW! And that's what it's all about at Zappos - making their customers say "WOW!" You can find out a bunch of super interesting information about the Zappos culture here - which is at the core of everything they do. Here are some points that really stuck with me (in no particular order)...
- they had a nicely appointed "Mother's Room" for employees that are breastfeeding and/or pumping - and moms can pump when they need to. Do you hear that Totes-Isotoner?
- if you're tired while you're at work, you can take.a.nap.on.company.time
- all the departments are decorated in a unique and fun theme ---> there's the mullet of Zappos Recruiting - and they had mullet wigs for everyone to wear!
- 2 weeks into your training, they offer you $2000 to QUIT if you don't feel you are absolutely passionate about being a part of the Zappos team (this saves them money in the long run - smart)
- the company lunchroom is stocked with food (for free) and the vending machines don't take money
- their customer service department is empowered to do "whatever it takes" to make the customer happy - they recounted a story of a customer that had recently lost her mother and the Zappos employee had flowers sent to her - WOW!
- they ship free (in the USA) BOTH ways - yes, that means even for returns! Why would you shop anywhere else?
- they have no call "stats" to meet in their call centre (as a former call centre employee, this is UNHEARD of)
- Tony Hsieh's desk (he's the CEO in case you didn't know) is in a cubicle, just like everyone else, amongst employees (there's Diane sitting in Tony's chair)
- at the end of the tour we were invited to peruse a "library" of Tony Hsieh's favourite books and take as many as we desired (no joke!)
I could go on and on - truly a great place to work. And has the company sufferred by empowering their employees, bending over backwards for their customers and making Zappos a fun place to work? I hardly think so. Zappos.com has been around for just over 10 years and now does $2-3 million PER DAY in online sales. They broke $10 billion annually in 2008. Absolutely mind-blowing! Las Vegas Rule #5: Think Big!
We also enjoyed a great dinner with Madeleine Shaw of LunaPads (my friend, colleague and informal mentor) and her BFF Ann. AND we were smart enough to get off the strip to where the food was less expensive and of MUCH higher quality (see tourist trap rant above). We had an amazing Indian dinner at Gandhi. Mmmmm! And we had a very cheeky and funny waiter to round out the evening!
If I havent mentioned LunaPads to you before, I must tell you a short story. I met Madeleine at a Fashion Industry meeting in the late 90's. At that time she was just bringing LunaPads to market and was struggling with the packaging design. Madeleine also owned a women's clothing store that had a small factory in the back and had done a small run of production for me (this was when I was designing and manufacturing a women's sportswear line). Madeleine gave me a LunaPad. I was kinda grossed out by the whole idea of reusable menstural products but graciously accepted the gift. I never used the pad. I put it in my bathroom cupboard. I looked at it from time to time. I moved 5 times. I never threw it out. ---> Fast forward to 2008. I had reconnected with Madeleine as I was struggling with the packaging for PumpEase and a colleague suggested I speak to her as our products both shared a "non-mainstream" vein. I went to her website. I read the testimonials. I was intrigued. I placed an order. I gave away my Costco-size box of tampons to a friend. I have never looked back. I'm more aware of my body. I'm doing something good for me. I'm doing something good for the environment. I'm doing something good for my daughters. My bathroom garbage doesn't overflow with garbage every 4 weeks. Check out LunaPads. Really.
Two more dinners, one at Mon Ami Gabi (yum) and the other at the Cheesecake Factory (double yum) were spent with Dawnn Whittaker and her husband Marc of Cheeky Chops. Dawnn is a former Nanny turned Baby Contentment and Child Sleep Consultant. Dawnn was a client of my other company, Moda de Vida Design and then I became a client of hers and I can tell you that she walks on water! My girls, aged almost 5 and almost 3 sleep 12+ hours/night and my almost 3 years old still naps 45 min in the afternoon. If you're having a problem with children and sleep, contact Dawnn. It is never too late to give your children the lifelong gift of good sleeping habits!
We also went on the rides at the top of the Stratosphere (that's the view of the strip from the top). You may not know this about me, but I am a bit of a thrill seeker - I LOVE things that scare me. I will go on ANY rollercoaster that they build. I have bungee jumped, I'm a certified scuba diver and I am planning on trying skydiving very soon (a tandem jump so I can experience freefall). I also want to get my motorcyle license, a plan that was kyboshed when I found out I was pregnant with my first daughter.
If you are not familiar with the rides at the top of the Stratosphere, they are 1149 feet above the Las Vegas strip (just sayin'). We went on the Insanity and the X-Scream. Oddly, I.HATED.BOTH.OF.THEM. I REALLY hated both of them. So weird. I'm glad I did it though (just so I can say that I did). Then we went down one level to Fat Tuesdays and each got a 26 oz margarita for the road. Something tells me we did that in the wrong order. Las Vegas Rule #6 - Booze first, white-knuckle rides second.
So off to Fremont Street we went - that's the old (original) strip in case you didn't know - and except for my 3-day whirlwind trip to Vegas last year for the ABC Show (when I worked Diane's booth to get my feet wet for this year), I hadn't been to Vegas since the old strip WAS the strip (see paragraph #1 re: tourist traps). So I figured out it had been about 28 years since I had been on Fremont Street and the last time I was there was with my Dad. And then I got all melancholy - I still miss him so much! So I shed a few tears for Dad and then we continued to have a blast because Darlene and I always, always, ALWAYS have fun together (and that's what my Dad would have wanted).
So are you wondering why I haven't mentioned any gambling yet? I WAS in Vegas after all. Well gambling really doesn't interest me. Last year, the first time I had been in Vegas since I was "of age", I sat down at a slot machine, put in $10 and it was gone in 5 minutes. B-O-R-I-N-G! This year I figured I had to try it again considering I was there with my BFF that I ALWAYS have fun with! So I started with $2. I chose a penny slot, but a "real" one - with the actual wheels that spin and a handle to pull (what's the point of playing a slot machine that is all computerized???) - and it took me 45 minutes to lose the 8 bits. It was fun... a little. I staked a claim on that machine and walked away.
The night we went to Fremont Street, I won't lie to you, I was a bit tipsy! When we got back to our hotel, I found "my" slot machine and thank goodness no one was sitting on the stool as I may just have booted them off! I put in $20 this time (I guess I thought I was a high roller fueled-up with margaritas and all). I played and lost and won and lost and won again. And I started using the button instead of pulling the arm (too funny!) In the end, during my entire 7 day stay in Vegas, I lost a whole $19 and enjoyed it enough to try it again next year (not the losing part, the gambling part). Pretty.cheap.entertainment.
Well there you have it. I finally learned (albeit temporarily) how to balance my business with downtime and had to go all the way to Las Vegas to do it! I made some new friends, reconnected with some old ones and enjoyed some new experiences. Now I'm counting down to the show in 2010 where I will hopefully meet Deidrea Haysel of Hot Mama Gowns and Katie O'Neill of KT Steppers, just two of the many fabulous Mompreneurs that I have met on Twitter and Facebook over the past year or so.
Have you been to the ABC Show? Are you familiar with any of the great companies and products that I mentioned? How about 26 oz margaritas from Fat Tuesdays? Leave a comment below and tell us about it!
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Saturday, June 20th, 2009
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I was reading the Motherwear Breastfeeding blog the other day, as you know I so often do, when I followed a link in one of Tanya's posts and ended up on this site. I have to say that I thought I'd died and gone to heaven! The concept behind Best for Babes has lived in my head for some time now. I always thought that I would find the time to start something like this (I know my friends and family are rolling on the floor laughing right now). Having said that I am absolutely thrilled that it has already been brought to fruition!
The attitude, the approach, the images, the sass and their slogan - "Giving Breastfeeding a Makeover" totally resonated with me. I immediately emailed the founders, Bettina and Danielle, and we scheduled a conference call to discuss how I could get involved!
To start we are proud to announce that $1 from the online sale of every PumpEase™ will be donated to the Best for Babes Foundation to help moms achieve their personal breastfeeding goals.
Here is a glimpse of the Best for Babes Mission Statement...
To give breastfeeding a makeover - to market, brand and mainstream it, acting as a catalyst to elevate this cause on par with Komen, Juvenile Diabetes, (Red)™ and others.
To shift the focus and pressure off moms and onto the “booby traps” - the cultural and institutional barriers to breastfeeding successfully - and to helping to remove those barriers through positive social pressure.
To harness the power of celebrities, corporations, foundations, fashion, advertising, the medical community and the media to bring about a cultural change that embraces, celebrates and supports breastfeeding moms.
I encourage you to visit their site and find out how you can get involved. Donate, follow them on Twitter, join their Facebook Group and tell everyone you know about them! Anything and everything you do will help. It is an especially vital time with the recent introduction of the Breastfeeding Promotion Act in both houses of Congress as well as the Breastfeeding Petition to President Obama to make breastfeeding a high priority in his adminstration - to promote it as preventative care to save lives, reduce disease and save the US Health Care system billions if not trillions of dollars.
"Hey!" you say, "Are you not Canadian?" Yes I am, born and raised. However, it has to start somewhere and like it or lump it, we all look to the US for direction sometimes. The situation in the US is critical with the skyrocketing Caesarian rates, the plummeting breastfeeding rates after moms and their babes leave the hospital and the lack of education and support for the breastfeeding mom.
Besides, I love my US customers and Best for Babes will help women worldwide, not just in the good ole USA.
So please visit the Best for Babes site and then come back here and tell me what you think!
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Thursday, May 28th, 2009
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I don't have a lot of patience: I'll wait 20 minutes maximum for a table at a restaurant; I don't do the "get up at 4 am and line-up at the Electronics Store" Boxing Day thing; and heaven help you if you keep me waiting more than 15 minutes for an appointment! (I am now ducking from all the people that I've kept waiting since I've had my kids and have become one of those "perpetually late" people).
I thought having children would help me have more patience - uh... nope. It just makes ME late now (see above).
Therefore I am pretty stoked to finally be revealing our new Classic Collection!
It has pretty much been KILLING ME waiting to share this with you! We started choosing fabrics about 7 months ago. We chose our "classic" woman 4 months ago. We brainstormed on marketing ideas 3 months ago. We did the photo shoot in March (after being snowed-out the first time we scheduled it). And finally, finally, finally Verry Cherry, Snowy Leopard, Forget me Not and TUXEDO <----- the "secret" print, are here! And you are going to LOVE them! I still can't pick a fave - I love them all!
I would like to talk a bit about my beloved Audrey Hepburn and why we chose her to be our "classic" woman. Aside from the fact that she was stunningly beautiful to her dying day, Audrey was the epitome of grace, sophistication, style and absolute modesty. Soon after Hepburn's final film role, she was appointed a goodwill ambassador to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). She then dedicated the remainder of her life to helping impoverished children in the poorest nations of the world.
I have to admit that I've always loved Audrey Hepburn (and I'm not one of those people that swoons over celebrities). One of my favourite movies of all time is Robin & Marian, which was Audrey's first film after taking nine years off to raise her children. She stars with Sean Connery (slurp, drool - OK, maybe I swoon a bit here and there - how can you resist that accent?) and if you haven't seen it, you absolutely must rent it this weekend!
Audrey was a muse for the designer Givenchy, an award-winning actress, a dedicated humanitarian and yes, a breastfeeding mother!
Therefore it was pretty much a "no brainer" to mirror our Classic Collection marketing around one of her most famous movies - Breakfast at Tiffany's - and for which she received an Oscar nod for Best Actress.
Tell me what you think - I la-la-la-love feedback! The Classic Collection prints? The marketing image? Everything! Drop me a comment below.
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Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
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I have had a few queries and comments here and there as to why we've chosen to use hook & eye over Velcro® for the PumpEase™ closure. Let's talk about that shall we?
While I believe that Velcro® is a fantastic product, it definitely has its "issues" (that's right... Velcro® needs therapy). Let me explain... my husband likes to wear these cargo-type pants with a gazillion pockets on them. They also have a gazillion pieces of Velcro on them to close said pockets. When it comes time to do the wash, they drive my C-R-A-Z-Y!
Before I put my hubby's pants in the washing machine, I must make sure that each and every piece of Velcro® is perfectly lined-up with its partner so as to minimize the chance of the hook side of the Velcro® catching on and snagging other garments - usually knits - in the wash (look at those evil hooks in the picture to the right!) Then I have to turn the pants inside-out because there is always a chance of one of those gazillion pieces of Velcro® coming undone during the wash, especially after the garment has been around for a while and that dreaded hook side is all caught-up with fuzz, dust, loose threads and hair (yuck), and as a result doesn't grab the loop side quite as well, but somehow is still quite capable of snagging other garments and completely ruining them! This is, of course, extremely time consuming when I have two little ones running around; I barely find the time to fold the clothes and put them away, let alone all the work actually getting the wash INTO the machine in the first place!
More often than I would like, even with all my preventative action, I pull the clothing out of the washing machine and a lowly piece of Velcro® has completely mutilated yet another garment - and it is uncanny how many times that garment belongs to YOURS TRULY!
Why don't I wash my husband's pants separately you ask? Well, we have a front-loader so as to reduce the number of loads of laundry we do for both economic and environmental reasons, therefore that kind-of defeats the purpose doesn't it? There are sometimes only one, maybe two pairs of these pants in the laundry at a time.
Why don't I get a new husband? Uh... NO. My husband is a keeper!
Why don't I get my husband a wardrobe consultant? Well, I have tried to convince my... umm, er, sigh!
But I digress, Velcro® is especially "attracted" to knits because they too have "loops" as part of their construction (see the diagram to the left). And guess what? PumpEase™ are made from a knit. Are you starting to understand why we chose NOT to use Velcro®?
Now some of you may counter that hook & eye will "catch" on things in the wash too. Yes, that is certainly true, however when you remove the hook & eye that is caught on another garment, you unhook it and that's it. To avoid this altogether, we recommend either simply hand-washing your PumpEase™ or washing it in a lingerie bag and hanging it to dry. Basically, care for your PumpEase™ in the same way that you care for your better intimates. On the other hand, there is no way to remove Velcro® from the "victim" garment without damaging it in the process.
Another aspect that we considered when making our decision, is that Velcro® is extremely noisy when detaching and if your baby is sleeping nearby, this could potentially wake the little monkey. Apparently the US Army had the Velcro® company develop a "silent version" that reduced the noise by 95% so as not to betray soldiers' positions (it is used profusely on their uniforms), but it is a military secret (no joke).
Finally, we figured that most women are pretty darn familiar with hook & eye considering that has been the primary closure on foundation garments for over 100 years. What better closure to deal with, bearing in mind that you will likely be bleary-eyed, sleep-deprived and donning and doffing your PumpEase™ in the dark? Women are used to hook & eye - we have been fastening and unfastening it "blindly behind our backs" for years!
Tell us what you think - agree? disagree? have another closure idea? Drop a comment below.
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Sunday, January 18th, 2009
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Well it's official! The fabrics are on order and we are SOOOO excited! The Classic Collection II is due to arrive this Spring and we can hardly wait! We are currently booking our model and sourcing accessories to style the photo shoot which is inspired by a famous movie. We had waaaay too much fun on the Fabulous 50's shoot - breast pumps and all - and can't wait to work with Claire Reid again.
Forget Me Not Snowy Leopard Verry Cherry
Oh and by the way, we haven't given away the store here. There is a 4th print that you will just have to WAIT to see. And it is absolutely going to be our Best Seller!
Tell us what you think...
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Saturday, November 8th, 2008
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I was raised by my Mom and Dad - two people with very 'discerning' taste (read perfectionists and totally anal). I now see some of the same tendencies in myself and my two sisters (we were doubly cursed and didn't have a chance!) We poke fun at each other citing, "You sound just like Mom!" or, "That's something Dad would have done!"
But that's good news for you! Every PumpEase™ that leaves our house for yours is checked several times by different members of my "very particular" family.
After we receive our production from George, Elaine and Lana at our wonderful factory, the PumpEase™ head over to Mom's. She snips threads and checks that everything is 'as it should be' with regards to construction. I keep telling her that I'm going to get her some 
Quality Control stickers. Not because we need to track her work (she is our only inspector at this point), but rather to tell the world that "Mom" is checking your PumpEase™ and who could possibly be better suited for the job? Honestly, I think she LIKES rejecting the PumpEase™ that aren't up-to-snuff! 
Funny, the other day she was complaining about 'this job she has that she doesn't get paid for'. Hmm... next there will be rumblings of a union starting - IIBMU (International Inspected By Mom Union Local 500).
Then my (currently very pregnant) sister Denise visually checks the PumpEase™ again, fastens the hook & eye closure, neatly folds them and inserts them into our packaging (which she has previously assembled). She then adds our bar code label to the back and our size label to the front.
Finally, our shipping department (that's currently yours truly) makes another visual check before placing the PumpEase™ package in our crisp white bubble mailer with our pretty Snugabell™ shipping label on the front. Then it is off to the Post Office to see Colleen!
So as you can see, we work hard to make sure the product you receive is in pristine condition. If you EVER receive a shipment from us that does not meet your expectations, please let us know. Our customers' happiness is very important to us. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below.
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Friday, April 25th, 2008
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Here at Snugabell™ we have just gone through the onerous task of re-branding our product. We thought we had the perfect name: Mike & Toni’s hands-free pumping supports. Then we started to get feedback from people indicating that they were confused by the masculine-sounding names for a product that was targeted primarily to women. Moms of boys also didn’t like the pink colour on the packaging. I was selling to women, so I thought pink would work. Apparently I was wrong…. I had girls….. so shoot me!
For the record, Mike and Toni are our two darling daughters, Michaela and Antonia, 1 and 3 years old respectively.
Because our whole approach is one of lighthearted humour, we wanted a lighthearted name. As I’ve mentioned before, we feel people are WAY too serious about the most natural thing we can do for our babies - feed them as nature intended.
We tried to have a focus group to brainstorm a new name, however it was a scheduling nightmare. Most of the members of my target market were too busy (with their families) to attend. I thought a Facebook Group would work……but not much happened there - people joined, but didn’t really discuss…hmmmm. So we turned to our old friend Survey Monkey. We LOVE Survey Monkey yes-indeedy-do! We got a fantastic response to our
itty-bitty survey. Thank you so much to everyone that participated!
I would like to share some of the suggestions we got for naming the pumping support. I’ve never laughed so hard! I was once again reminded that I know some wonderfully creative people! And for the record, I REALLY wanted to use Boob Tube - thank you Kim!
Here are some of my faves: Titty Taps, Deliver-Eze, Meloneez (too bad my name wasn’t Melanie), Juggies, Plug ’n’ Play, Milk-a-Matic, Mammy Milker, Num Nums, Nummies, Pump’ems, Suckies…..you get the idea.
And I know you can’t make everyone happy. There is ALWAYS going to be someone who doesn’t like the name. And there is ALWAYS going to be someone that you offend. Oh well, it’s good for press!
Stay tuned for the unveiling......
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