Entrepreneurship, Motherhood, and the Journey of Bonobo Baby

If you are starting a business, you should absolutely be
utilizing this freespace that lets you actually test if you have a customer
without spending money.Welcome to the Know Your Ship podcast presented by
E-Hub. I’m your host, Frank Dolce.How angry are you going to be if we start
talking about Taylor Swift? Oh, I may never be angry. So conflictedspeaking
about Taylor Swift. Should we go? This is Laura Palmer. Hi.And she’s
fantastic. You’re really going to like her. And if you need a goodlaugh or
entertainment, tell us about your Instagram. I mean, it’s it goes for my
business,right, Bonobo Baby. But I really wanted to build a brand um with
relatable parenting content. So, I post reels onwhat I know, what my life
experiences are with my children, with my husband, and then I’ll weave into
there some, youknow, sales videos of my product, but a lot of it is I just
want people to feel connected to real parenting situations.Oh, did you just
come up with that? How many times have you said that? Lots. Lots. That’s why
it flowed sonaturally just there. We did the like little pause, too, like to
make sure you got it.situations. It was really good. I I worry about that
regularly. I’m always concerned abouttiming. Oh. When you say something
because the timing makes all it does all the difference.Timing is important.
And your videos are great. Okay. Tell us tell us your company. My company is
a really simple way toclean baby poop. Right. And the name of it is Bonobo
Baby. So the product is Yeah. Wecall it a baby videt. I say we, it’s me. But
we makes you sound like you’re a more credible business.You and your team. Me
and my team of me professional. Yes. And my husband, you know, interim CFO. I
haven’t hired him yet.He is. He’s the CFO of working in it. No, I mean he he
helps me with the partlike the finance and stuff because I just don’t love
that aspect of business to be honest.So he’s way better at the data and all
that kind of stuff. But yeah, he handles a lot more of that where I’m
thecreative. Well, he’s very clever in the Instagram post. Yeah, he’s so good
at He’s such a goodsport and he he’s like you said, timing. He has great
timing with things. So,yeah, it’s been fun to do together. Okay. And I cut
you right off. Okay. So, tell us about Bonobo.So, it is a essentially it’s a
baby wipes accessory, right? It’s a spraybottle of water that fits around any
brand of baby wipes that you’re using so that you can reduce irritation
andgive your baby a better clean. It’s actually recommended from pediatricians
to use a spray bottle of water before wiping because you reduce wiping and
youreally do make your wipes work better, but there’s never been a product
for parents that just makes it a part of theroutine. And so I needed that for
myself with both my kids. And you got to thepoint in my life where I was
like, “Okay, no one else is going to freaking do this. I better do
this.” Yeah. And it it kind of it sat aroundfor a while. Like you had an
experience. It sat around for a while and then youhad this like Yeah. I would
say that the baby bedet even that name the baby bedet has beenin my brain in
the works for 5 years before I had or four years,however old my son was when
I launched it. But it was right when my son was born, probably when he was 4
months old,that the idea kind of started to grow just from experience
cleaning poop andbaby wipes not cleaning the areas that really need to be
cleaned. So spreading stuff around.Yeah, water’s great. Water is so good at
cleaning poop. Well, water is the universal acid. Didyou know that? No, but
that’s a great Yeah. asset. You can use it.Thank you. I will take it. If I
don’t see it in a real coming up soon, I’ll find a way. You’ll find a
way.It’s true. And And it’s You said we were talking about this earlier. You
were like, “It’s sosimple.” Yeah. But it’s like so effective. It’s
kind of crazy that people haven’t thought aboutit before. Or maybe people
have, but it’s just so inconvenient to carry a big spray bottle around
wherever you go andtry to attach it to your wipes or whatever else you have.
And you can’t, right? Like I guess youcould scrunchie, but how many times are
you just like tossing your wipes around and it’s justYeah. And I will tell
you that when I had learned like had fallen upon thespray bottle hack, right?
And just thought, “Yes, I figured it out. How come moms haven’t told me
about this?” Like, “Jake, you got to try a spraybottle.” We’re
like, “This is so easy.” You only think about the spray bottle when
you open the diaper and there’s thecrap, right? And then you’re like, you
remembered your wipes and your diaper and you’re just yelling at each other,
where’s the spray bottle? Like it’s thiswhole mess because once you use the
spray bottle, you don’t want to go back. So, it was like a constant thought
ofmine that if it just was a part of my baby wipes, I would use it every
singletime. And that’s kind of I would think about that, but then I was like,
I’m not a I’m not there was nofire or drive for me to need to make this at
the time, right? I was living inparadise. I had my dream job. I was the
happiest mom you could ever be. So, there was nothing that was like,
“Oh, Ishould start a business.” It was just kind of like, “I’m
content. I’m happy.” Yeah. I don’t need to do this.Okay. Well, that gets
to the I think that starts to tell the interesting part of this story. Uh,
and do you do youwant to talk about that? You’ve been I can talk about
anything. I’m an open book. You can ask me anything. It’s a problem I
haveactually. No, that’s I’m too open. No, that’s perfect for know yourship
ship. We’re talking about different ship, but I know this is perfect for Wow.
It allthe univer sometimes the universe aligns. Okay, so uh you you had this
experience.Now I I think it’s really interesting. Lots of people know about
your business now. You’ve done a fantastic job ofmarketing your business.
Thank you. If people don’t know about you, then they’re just hiding under a
rock. It’s You’ve done aThat’s really cool of you to say thank you. And
you’ve been around for how long now? A little over a year.Yeah. That’s super
exciting. Yeah. Okay. So, but there was kind of thisinflection point. So, you
had this, which I think is really interesting. You were, you just said you
were thehappiest mom. You were living in paradise. Was paradise. Charleston.
Yes. That’s paradise.Charleston is paradise. Really? Yes. Yeah. I’ve only
spent one day in Charleston in the city.Mhm. Yeah. It wasn’t paradise to you.
Well, no. I thought it was amazing because I was s we were sitting on
thewater at this restaurant and I’m looking out across at this fortand I’m
thinking like, wow, that has to be significant somehow. Yeah.And then I asked
the waiter, “Hey, what is that?” Yeah. He says, “That’s Fort
Sumpter.” I was like,”Wait, that’s right. You can go to it.”
Yeah, I know. But I think it’s a birdsanctuary now. I mean, I’ve I don’t
know, but I have been they do tours. Yeah, because I’ve been there. I’ve
taken the ferry toFort. So, yes. Mhm. Okay. So, you’re living in Paradise in
Charleston. Yes. You’re the happiest mom of all time.Truly. Yeah. Love being
a mom. Love it. But things turned.They Yes, they did. Which is a bummer. Such
a bummer.Yeah. So had my first and I actually was terrified of being a mom.
Like it wasnever something that I really like I had been kind of trained
throughum my childhood that that’s what I was supposed to be, right? But it
was never like oh yeah that’s what I really want.So I didn’t want to have
kids till I felt like I wanted to. Um and I had my little boy and I was just
like I lovethis. Like this is so like he’s perfect. Like everything about him
was like I love him. Like oh it’s the best. So Iwas like, I could have
another one, you know. So when he was two and a half, wegot pregnant with our
little girl. And I was still, you know, pregnancy wasn’t awful for me, but it
wasn’t great, youknow. It was just like meh. Um, still super excited, right?
Um, go into laborand I was I had a nurse and esthetist whopunctured my spine
with the epidural. Um, but it was more severe than thatbecause she tried to
cover up her mistake by placing the needle more intothe puncture she had
already placed. So, it just caused basically my cerebralfluid to all leak
out. It was terrible. And I’m in labor, so I have to then also give birth.
So, and the epidural didn’t work. So, it was a lot of pain andtrauma. I feel
like I I mean I was hospitalized for 5 days, but it justkind of spiraled into
this um depression that I started to just sink into cuz Iwas in constant
pain. My I had migraines all the time. Um it took me 3 weeks to be able to
stand up and walk. Like itwas just a whole thing. And I could not connect
with my baby girl either. I couldn’t see her. The only time I wouldsee her, I
would be in bed and I would feed her and then I’d hand her back off, right?
It was very like mechanical.Um, and people were come. We didn’t have family
that lived near us in Charleston. So, my mom was constantly flying out
tohelp. Um, cuz my husband was back at work. I have these two kids now. And
Ijust was a honestly a robot of a human and just like when you feel that
thatjoy, right? Like that complete joy and then it’s just like gone. Like it
just gone. It’s like, h, well, is it evenpossible to get it back? Do I even
have enough fight in me to get it back? How do I get it back? Like, what am
I? Andit’s just like this constant panic, too, right? Um, and so we decided,
honestly,there were lots of there were points where I was like, I can’t I
mean, I’m done, right? I can’t be alive like this.Like, no one should have to
live like this. My kids shouldn’t have to have a mom like this. My husband
shouldn’t have to be taking care of everyone. And mymom was just so so like
valuable in me being able to allow myself to startfeeling cuz that was a
really hard part of it. And we decided, you know, we’ve got to go actually
move closer to her.She was in Utah. Um and then Jake, my husband’s parents were
in Utah. And I tell you, this was the only way to getme back to Utah. Like I
was not going to move back to Utah. So I’m like looking at it now, I’m like,
“Yeah, okay. Thanks a lot.” Like that’s how I had to getback to
Utah. But that was the plan. Um I we moved back to Utah honestly for meto
recover um because we needed help and it was a fight. It was the the path
torecovery was a daily battle honestly. And but the reason I wanted it so bad
tocome back and not even I don’t even know if I’ve come back to that version
of myself because of so much that’shappened, right? M but to be able to get
to the point of being that mom that just was like I justlove it, right? Like
I love being a and I wanted to be that for my daughter because my son had gotten
thatversion of me but she wasn’t getting that and so it was like you deserve
that like you’re she deserves it and soI would say it was two years of daily
battleum to and it got easier, right? Like the two-year was not as bad as
like day one, right? But to get to that point ofokay, we’re back in motion.
Like the things are going. I can handle things again. I’m I’m at a point
where I’mreally happy to be with my kids. Well, that’s pretty heavy. Yeah.
Sorry. Let’s talk about somethingelse. Taylor Swift. That is also heavy.
Don’t get me started on Taylor Swift. We’re going to gothough. We will. Okay.
We will go there. We’re going to get there. We will go there. And I don’t
know. It may send you back spiraling thequestions that I have regarding I’m
ready to defend at all costs.Okay. Um Okay. So, I am curious about how
howlong ago was that experience? Um three and a half years ago. Okay. So, I’m
curious about I think alot of people probably go through this and don’t talk
about it. So, I’m I’m trying to maybe give an opportunity toYeah. talk about
honestly for people who may be struggling with something. Yeah, for sure.So,
I’m I I guess I’m just curious about your process,the things that you look
back on and say, you know, it wasreally helpful when I did this or I wouldn’t
do that again. Just kind of a lesson learned to work throughthat. Yeah. the I
I go back to when it started happening like when I could feel myselflike I
had never really experienced depression before um or disassociation. I didn’t
know that was a real thingwhere you can actually like your brain to protect
you like removes you from your body in a sense like you’re just arobot um
which is horrifying like it’s terrifying to experience that and starting to
experience it. You know I’mnot very good at being vulnerable in front of
people like anyone. I’m like the kind of person that likes to makepeople
laugh and I don’t want to be vulnerable or um like hug. I’m not likethat kind
of person. And so I I was bottling things up and just keeping itinternal,
right? And I got to the point where I was like you kind of have a choice to
make. And it’s scary when youstart to feel like, oh, like I actually have no
desire to be alive. Like that’s a really scary thought to have in yourhead
and to be like that would kind of be a relief, right? And having those
thoughts start coming into my head, Irealized, okay, I kind of need to ask
for help. And I think that’s like that’s a really hard point to get to. Um,
it’sreally hard. I think it’s hard for anyone to ask for help. I don’t think
anyone wants to be a burden on anyone,but it’s it’s coming to the realization
that you need to find people that love you and you’re not a burden. And
theywould rather you be happy and thriving than suffering. And so, I remember
I hada friend reach out to me. She texted me and was like, “You just had
your baby. Congratulations. Like, if there’sanything I can do to help, like,
let me know.” And I said, “Honestly, if I knew like what I needed
like help with, Iwould ask at this point.” Like, that’s all I said to
her. I was like, “If I knew what I needed, I would ask you, but I don’t
even know how to ask for help.”And she was like, she like, it was like a
code to her. She was like, “Oh my gosh, are you depressed? Like, do you
have postpartum depression? I havepostpart like let’s go on a walk.” It
was like and we started going on like these bridge walks with her and
anotherfriend who had also experienced postpartum depression and that you
know that made me see like okay you’re not alone you’re not isolated in this
rightand it got me to get a little bit I think more courage to ask other
people for help and to be more open with how Iwas feeling um I didn’t want to
put on like a facade when people would see meof like I’m happy I love being
the mom like oh yeah it was cuz guess I I mean, when people hear you went
through atraumatic birthing experience, I would say that the thing they
shouldn’t say that they do say is, “Oh, but it was soworth it, wasn’t
it?” And you’re like, at that moment, I was like, “No.”
Uh,take it all away. None of it was like, right? I didn’t want to have a
facade of being like, “Yeah.” So, I would likewarn people like, I
would give them a heads up. Hey, I’m struggling. If like I’m not a happy
person or I need toleave the room, it is not you. It’s something I’m going
through, right? Um, getting therapy was super helpful. Ididn’t think it would
be, but it was really helpful. So, I Were you Were you reluctant to see a
therapist?I think I was more just like too tired to find one. If I’m being
honest, I hadnever thought that therapy wasn’t beneficial. U, my brother’s a
therapist and he was super helpful to me before Igot my own therapist, right?
But it was more like I just don’t want to go through this process of vetting
someonewho’s actually going to be able to help me, right? It was more like
that. And then when I found um someone to talk to,you know, he the advice he
would give me at first I’d be like that’s so dumb. Like honestly, I’d be like
that’s notgoing to he’d be like you need to breathe. I was like I am
breathing like how am I alive right now? Like thingslike breathing. And he
introduced me. He’s like you got to go to yoga. Like go do yoga. Go get
active. And I was like,this is it was so annoying because it was like simple.
Yeah. And such good advice.So effective, right? So sounds like another
product. I know, right? Simple and effective just likeyoga. Um, so I and I so
I think that like I guess like to summarize that ifyou are dealing with
especially moms dealing with postpartum depression like you are not alone in
that aspect.Unfortunately, it’s a lot more common. Mhm. Um, and there are
people that that wantto help you, right? Because they don’t want you to feel
that way. But you can’t, you also in knowing that you’reasking for help. You
cannot rush healing. It’s not possible. Your body’sgoing to let you work on
healing when it’s ready. And there are some moments where you just have to
sit in it. It’slike o it’s like the ocean, right, with waves. Like you can’t
fight and crash against the waves. Sometimes you justgot to go with the flow.
And I think sometimes you just have to allow yourself to let that emotion
pass andrealize that it’s not a per no feeling or emotion is like a permanent
part. We’re always constantly going throughlike a wave of emotions daily. And
so just let it let it flow. Let itgo through you. And I still have to do that
which has madelike I I have PTSD a struggle from things that happen in the
hospital. Andthere are moments where I will just trigger disassociation and
I’ll be talking to someone and I’m just like, “Oh, I am gone.” But
my body knows howto react. And it used to put me into a panic attack, right,
of like, get back. But now I just know it’s not permanent.Just sit with it.
And so I think we ask for help and we need to be accepting ofthose feelings
we’re feeling in that moment and know it’ll pass. Yeah. Well, I I think the surroundingyourself
with people who are compassionate and havesome some experience with that. One
of the worst things they did thisstudy, one of the worst things that you can
do to a human being is put them in isolation. If you really want to put
punish somebody,you put them in isolation. And that seems to be the most
difficult thing to manage. AndI bet that’s part of what you feel is like
you’re kind of alone and you don’t necessarily want to reach out toanybody.
No, cuz you don’t want them to be burdened, especially if you don’t knowhow
they’re supposed to help, right? You kind of like for me too, I’m just kind
of like, well, I need to dictate thisand like give them like a kind of like
how I get my husband to do reals. I’m like, I have written the whole
scriptfor you and I have given you all your marks and every tone and every
It’s thesame thing. I’m like, I need to give you a script of how to help me.
And when you don’t have that, it’s like,well, now I’m like literally putting
this all on you. Now you’re like ticked off. You’re notreally helping me.
You’re not following. Yeah. I don’t have it. So, just go, you just need to go
for a walk,right? Go do some breathing and yoga. Go do some yoga. Yep. Well,
it’s a really interestingstory. Thanks. I I hate that you had to go through
that, but me, too.Let me ask you this question. Yeah. Do you feel like that
experiencewas at all beneficial in your life? Yes. As like reluctant as I am
to saythat, um I actually was thinking about that a lot this weekend knowing
I was going to come on this podcast. I was like, I feel like they’re going to
asksomething about like what is what shaped you or what’s like a big moment
in your life, right? And I just keep thinkingabout that and going from like
zero to,you know, where I am today. And I’m not saying that I’m at like this
point of like, yeah, I’ve made it, butthere is, I think, a new drive and grit
that that gave me that I didn’t know Iwas capable of. Um, so in tying to
business and starting my business, Idraw back on that experience a lot and I
am grateful for that and I’m grateful to have empathy for that version of
myself,right? Um, it almost feels like a different person um that I just
havelearned to love and be like, “Wow, that was really hard and you did
it. Like, good job. Like we did it, right?” And sothere are moments in
business that get really hard, right? But honestly, nothing has been as
challenging as that. and I climbed out of that hole. And soI’m grateful for
that cuz there are experiences with motherhood right now that I mean my
little boy, he’s six, hehas autism and there’s a lot that we’re dealing with
in that aspect. Um, but justdrawing back from that experience and then being
like, we got this, bud. likeI know I can be that strength for you and I know
that I have experienced a low so that if he ever experiences a lowthere’s an
empathy now that I can have for him or even my daughter that I’m really
grateful for because I did nothave that I can tell you I did not have that
before. I was the kind of person that’s like oh if you’re depressed gofor a
run and like just shake it off. Like I really was I was like get out there
and you’ll be fine. That’s still the advice I give today.Maybe just get out
there. Seriously. Well, here’s the thing. Youwere a competitive athlete. I
was too. Okay. And so that’s kind of your mentality, right? That’s totally
your mentality. Take 200milligrams of suck it up and eat it. That’s exactly
right. Rub some dirt on it. Uh-huh.Yeah. So, I’m grateful to not be thinking
that way anymore. Well, I think that’s really insightfulthat you’ve gained
this empathy because of your experience. You’ve gained this empathy for what
others may be goingthrough and specifically maybe your son who’s Yeah. could
have hard days, right? Yeah.So, yeah. How has your athletics background
helpedyou in your life and career? Oh my gosh. I would say it’s a huge part.
Um, I have always been justdriven, right, for like success in kind of
anything I do. And,um, I would say that that sports are a big part of that.
and beingwith a team and like relying on others and relying on yourself.
That’s a lot ofstuff that goes along in business too. Not that I have a
business team yet, but hopefully when I do someday, I can drawon those
opportunity, those moments in sports where, you know, you have to work
together as a unit in order to be thebest team, right? There’s not an
individual that’s going to like carry you unless you’re Michael Jordan,
butother than that, like you, you’ve got to work together. So, I’m so glad
you said Michael Jordan.There’s a, you know, there’s this running debate
about Michael Jordan versus LeBron James. I know. And it’sMichael Jordan.
Yeah. Like, I don’t think there’s any question. Yeah. I mean, if you got my
husband in here right now, he’d be like just so madthat you even mentioned
the name LeBron James right now. So, well, he and I are Yeah. There you go.
We should probablydo a real I know. Yes. I’ll write the script. Yes.You guys
just participate. Well, I this, you know, you mentioned like this team aspect
to athletics. Iagree that’s one of the most valuable things that you learn is
working with people and working with the team and howmuch better you are. It
drives me crazy when, you know, members of a team call out their own
individual accolades thatthey probably never would have achieved had it not
been part of a team. And when you were going through this kind of darkperiod,
you kind of had this team around you to help pull you out of it. So, I’m
reallyinterested to see how you build a team around your business. Do you
have plansto do that? I mean, I try not to look too far aheadum because I get
overwhelmed. So, I’m a very like what’s the next step? What’sthe next
process? Of course, I like this is so embarrassing, but I will likevisualize
myself as like the CEO, like the, you know, that has like people thatshe can
like motivate and inspire, right? Like so embarrassing like to be in the
mirror and be like, “You can dothis.” It’s like I want them whoever
works for me or works with me, I just want them to be motivated and so
happyand to know how valuable like I feel that they are to me. So it’s more
likewho who do I want? I always want people who are smarter than me, which is
not hard to find, but that’s who I always amthriving to even network with. So
when I do get to that point where I can hire people or I want them to know
more thanI do so that I can trust them with the job that I have given them
and be there if they have you know questions or wanta little bit of an
opinion but other than that like do your thing. Yeah. So what were some of
the best qualities ofyour favorite teammates? You were a two-time
all-American, right? Yes.Two time all-American at Southern Virginia. Uh-huh.
Yeah. Yes. But am I am I having this am Idoing this correctly? Did you finish
at Southern Virginia or did you No, I actually finished at a small business
school at Bryant University inRhode Island. Yeah. Um my favorite teammates,
honestly, I just lovedmy teammates that weren’t individualists. Like they w
That isprobably what everyone loves, right? But like I feel like I played so
I played soccer. It’s a very, you know, it’s apassing sport, right? they’ve
got to pass the ball to get the ball forward and there you have players that
don’thave that mentality and it’s a very individual sport and then you have
the players that are like let’s move forwardas a team. So I would say that
players that were passing the ball, those weremy favorite teammates, right?
Like it was just like I feel like we’re so in it with the same goal in mind
other thanlike our own personal glory. our team is like winning is that
gratification andthat success. Yeah. So, absolutely. Did you ever have the
teammate who was pretty sure that shecould score every time she touched the
ball? I don’t know. And it was like the black hole. Youpassed the ball into
her and it was like, “Okay, we’re never going to get it back.”Yeah,
of course. Um, of course, but I don’t though, right? It was no ifanything I
actually got in trouble for my coaches for I was a forward and playing as a
midfield mentality right ofpassing distribution they were like I was a I had
them shot really it was like stop handing the ball off but I waslike yeah
they have a better shot so I would actually get in trouble more for passing
too much um and needed tohave a little bit more of that individualistic like
get to the goal um behavior there’s a balanceright but I don’t think I ever
played with I don’t think I ever had teammates that were like openlylike
arrogant about how good they were, but when they did get the ball, it’s
almost like it was like tunnel vision, right? So, I I don’t know that it
wasintentional, but you know, there were tunnel vision players for sure. Yes,
absolutely. Well, culture is athing. I think culture is something to really
consider and sometimes it feelslike in business you may have experienced this
the what people who people consider the bestplayer is sometimes culturally
very difficult because it’s like you said this individualisticright kind of
attitude. Yeah. Do you have a favorite? Do you still follow soccer?No, I
didn’t actually really follow it even when I was playing it. I know that
sounds that doesn’t make sense.It sounds really terrible. I know it kind of
does. Um I would say Ted Lasso that soccer show I followthat. Um I love
playing it so much that sometimes it was hard to watch because Ijust wanted
to play. So um I enjoy watching the sport, right? But it kindof makes me just
like sad a little bit cuz I like I really miss it. Like I really want to be
out there playing.Do you not play anymore? I I don’t. I actually tore my ACL
last year um playing indoor andthat was it. Have retired since then. Have
since retired. Did you Did you do the proper retirementceremony? No. What is
that? Uh last game. You leave your boots atmidfield and walk away. Oh man.
I’ll have to go walk into the indoor arena in Pleasant Grove, Lynden,and just
put my shoes out there. You can do you can use that for a real I think we
justcame up with it. There’s another one. I have so much content from this.
Drop back. Yes.And then head to the stand. Change a diaper. On to bigger and
better things.Yes. Well, let’s let’s dive into your business. Okay, let’s do
it. Let’s do this.Yeah, let’s do it. You invited me. Oh my You know what? I
they consider melike the guy with all the puns around here, but I’m not sure
I’m going to be able to keep up today.Not with the poop one, but you know,
other than that, I’ll have to I’m going to have to stretch outside of the
box. Okay. I’mgoing to come up with I’m going to come up with something.
Okay. So, uh yousomething ignited a fire. Yeah. In you to to to start this
company.Yeah. I would say it was two parts. Um the first one when I had my
baby girl umat 5 weeks old, she was hospitalized from a UTI. I didn’t
honestly didn’t know how dangerous poop could be. Um inbabies like they don’t
have the immune systems that we have and if that bacteria gets in the wrong
places, itcan enter their bloodstream. And it’s fast. It moves fast. Um I was
taught like every other parent on the planetthat when you have a baby girl,
you wipe from front to back, right? Yeah. That’s it. That’s all they tell
you. Um,there’s more to it because poop gets in areas that are really hard to
clean and it hides. And she was hospitalized for 5days. She had, and this is
also while I’m as depressed as all can be, right?Um, and I remember after we
got her out of the hospital, I was talking to the pediatrician. I was like,
“What did I dowrong?” Of course, I’m blaming myself. Like, what did
I do wrong? And I showed her like, “This is how I’m cleaning her.”
And she’s like, “Yeah, wipesaren’t great.” I was like, “Oh,
well this, thank you for this news.” She’s like, “You should be
using water. Youshould give your baby a bath every time she poops.” I
was like, “No.”Great. That sounds like a good option if you can.
But I could I was a working mom, too. I had a job. I had a 2 and
1/halfyear-old. Wasn’t going to happen. So, I had remembered using the spray
bottle with my son and brought thatback. Um, amazing. It worked. It was the
best, right? Yeah. So, we my husband and I would just keeplike do a better
job at trying to keep track of it, right? Um it was a pain in the ass.But we
were able to manage it a little bit better. Um then we moved to Utah,been in
Utah for a year and my little boy is diagnosed with autism. And I, youknow,
that’s a financial um task um when your child has special needs to get
themthe help that they need. Um it’s expensive and you know I had gone
frombeing a vette that you know doesn’t I loved my job. You don’t make that
much money. Um and I just thought you knowI’ve got to do I’ve got to figure
out something for my son to help to help my husband. He’s working right. I’ve
got tobe a help too. And you know, I had just kept pitching all these
business ideas, right? I feel like on a daily basis, meand Chat GBT were like
working together to try to like figure out what can I do to like earn some
money. And my son, wehad gotten him into a really good program um that works
with kids with autism. And he was three and a halfyears old, still in
diapers. Um and I remember he had come home from schooland he I he was
crying. He couldn’t really talk yet. He wasn’t verbal. Um,and I go to change
his diaper, his bum’s all red and he has little poop flakes still stuck to
his bum. And I just Iwasn’t even mad. I just was I felt sorry for the
technicians that have to change all these diapers, right, with just
babywipes. And I just thought, “Oh, holy crap. If I were able to
justgive them this product, like develop a way to havethat spritz of water,
right? this wouldn’t have happened.So, I would say that was the moment where
I was like, “All right, you know what? I’m gonna test this. I’m not
justgoing to dive into a business, right? I’m going to see if, you know, if
this is helpful to other moms before I’m justlike, I’m going to go all in,
right?” Mhm. And I started reaching out to moms. I think I surveyed
about 40 different momsthat were willing to let me just send them an email
survey about frustrations with baby wipes. had they ever triedcleaning with
water? Would they ever be open to cleaning with water? Um, what would be the
requirement if they weregoing to continue to do that? And a lot of it aligned
with, wo, I’d never thought about that. That sounds amazing,but it needs to
travel well and I don’t want another thing to think about. So, and I was
like, same. We’re on thesame page. All aligned. We’re all aligned. So, then I
was like, you know what? I listen to how I built this religiouslyalways. I
just love that podcast. Um, and learning about the importance of building a
brand was super, you know, ithas always been an importa