Spotlight on Mommy --- Erin Kelly, Creator of the Hulabye Happy Changer

This week's Spotlight on Mommy is Erin Kelly, the creator of the Hulabye Happy Changer.  What an amazing product this is. I have been using it with both of my daughters during changing, and it has helped immensely.  In regards to my 1 month old, it helps keep her warm while changing, preventing peeing accidents.  And, with Savannah, now that she is squirmy, it helps to keep her laying flat on the changing table.  Prior to receiving this product to review, I had reverted to start changing Savannah on my bed or the floor.  With the floor, she was able to move and crawl away while in the changing process, and when on the bed, I had to make sure she didn't roll off or accidentally pee on the bed.  But, now, I simply attached the Hulabye Happy Changer to my changing pad station and changing is made so much easy.  What mom doesn't want an easier way to handle changing your little ones?  Stay tuned on Friday, where I will provide more information on this great product invented by a mom, as well as offer a giveaway to one lucky reader.

But, in the meantime, please enjoy my interview with Erin.

Name: Erin Kelly   

Company Name/Product/Service:  Hulabye Happy Changer   

Company Location:  Los Angeles, CA   

Company Website: www.hulabye.com

Facebook URL:  www.facebook.com/hulabye

Twitter Handle: @hulabye

Age of Company: 6 months

Favorite Book:  The Alchemist-- "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."

Tell us a little bit about yourself.  How many children do you have?  What are their ages? Your hobbies? Etc.

I have two amazing daughters, ages 5 and 7, who keep me laughing, learning and sometimes yelling, but make everything worthwhile.  I’m also lucky to have an amazing husband who I adore even more now than when I married him 10 years ago.  Through the winding road of grad schools and jobs, we’ve planted ourselves 400 miles away from our families, in a place I NEVER thought I’d have wanted to live.  Now, I love our life in L.A., except for the lack of family, so we spend a lot of our free time traveling to visit them.  I love to cook and eat, but unfortunately my family is not too adventurous when it comes to eating; they think anything besides meat and bread is “gross” (at least I don’t worry about anyone being anemic!).

Briefly explain your business.  How did it come about?

The story of how Hulabye came to be is very similar to many “mompreneur” stories—I had a problem and couldn’t find an available solution.  My problem was that my younger daughter had become a wild-child on the changing table. When she was about 6 months old, diaper changes became a battle of wills.  As soon as I’d lay her down, she would immediately flip over, try to escape, and the struggle would go on until I got a clean diaper on her or I gave up. Sometimes she’d wait until I was in mid-diaper change, which was very inconvenient…and messy!  All I needed was an extra set of hands to hold the top end while I took care of the bottom end, and my 2 year old wasn’t much help.  So, I searched and searched for a product that could just keep the wiggly baby on the changing table and prevent her from rolling over.  I couldn’t find a single product on the market yet I came across countless and similar complaints and pleas for help from other frustrated parents.  

Out of pure necessity (and to save my sanity—it really was that frustrating) I sewed something that I thought would work…and it did! Fabulously! I knew from the start that I had a great product, and when I shared the original Happy Changer to two more families who couldn’t imagine how to change a wiggly baby without it, I was convinced I had to take it to market.  When my second daughter finally started preschool I decided it was time to make the idea a reality.

What is a typical work day like?

We’re generally up at 6:30a.m., have a mad rush to get everyone fed and dressed, lunches made, teeth brushed, sunscreen on and out the door by 7:20a.m.  Most days I’m lucky to have my husband take the girls to school so I can start my workday by 7:30a.m.  Two days a week my girls stay for extended-day programs at school so I’m usually at my desk (often in pajamas—I love working at home!) ALL day until it’s time to pick them up at 4:00p.m. (and even then I’m always trying to squeeze in one more task before I’m out the door).  The other 3 days of the week I try to juggle work and mom responsibilities in the morning until I pick up my 5 year old at 1:00p.m.  Once the kids are home, I try not to work and focus my attention on them and on just being a mom, but that’s not always easy.  I’m a bit obsessive about my work (because I love it), so I’m known to sneak in an email or call here and there. Once they’re in bed, I’m usually back to work for a few hours (and often into the wee hours).

What has been a struggle while starting up your company? 

Every new stage of starting up this business has presented its challenges.  At each step I feel like I’m facing an unknown.  I have no background in business so I’m learning as I go.  It’s often daunting, but once I get going (whether it’s figuring out patent issues, doing web design, planning for a trade show, learning to embrace social media, or tackling marketing) I discover new competencies I didn’t know I had.   

What did you do in your past work life?

I was actually a doctor in my former work life.  Being a doctor was my plan from the time I was a little girl.  I love medicine, but after medical school and a year and a half of residency, I realized I was giving up so much to do something that wasn’t making me happy. I still love medicine and do sometimes miss practicing, I miss delivering babies most of all, but it’s a very difficult lifestyle that doesn’t fit with what I want for my family.  It was probably the hardest decision I’ve ever made--leaving something I had worked so hard for and that had defined me for so long--but I’ve never regretted it.  I’ve been redefined by motherhood and now as an entrepreneur, although I haven’t fully embraced that title yet.  I still struggle a little to figure out what that makes me now—I used to be a doctor? Am I now a retired (36 year old) doctor?  My daughters still consider me a doctor. They think it’s very cool that I can look in their ears to see if they have an ear infection or listen to their lungs when they have a bad cough.  So, I guess being Dr. Mom works for me.

 

What have been some of your major successes?

I consider it a success just sticking with this venture and launching the product.  It has been a lot of work getting this business off the ground and it gives meaning to the saying “If it was easy, everyone would do it.”  Even if I never sell another Happy Changer, I feel like I’ve accomplished a tremendous amount thus far.

What have been some of your major challenges?

Right now marketing is a major challenge for me.  I’ve enjoyed sitting at my desk, working away and doing things my way, on my schedule up until now.  Marketing involves reaching out to other people, which is a little more of a stretch for me.  I’m a bit of an introvert, so promoting myself and my product is not natural to me.  I would like to think that if people like what I have, they’ll come to me, but I’m well aware that it doesn’t work that way!  I’m slowly stretching myself, and like any other phase, I’m learning to embrace this new challenge.

On those impossible days, what motivates you to keep going?

I am always motivated by my faith in this product.  I truly believe in the Happy Changer because it’s not a gimmick.  I didn’t set out to design the next big baby product.  I had a very real, very frustrating challenge that wasn’t being addressed by anything on the market.  Since diaper changing is as necessary as eating and sleeping, and all babies learn to roll over, I know there are other moms and dads out there struggling with the same frustration.  Parenting is a tough job, and I sincerely want to help other parents by making one of our many tasks a LOT easier.  

What is your balancing secret in managing a business and family?

I’m not sure I’ve discovered that secret yet! I had been a full-time stay at home mom since my first daughter was born, so working on something other than being a mom is very novel. It’s very exciting for me and, like I said earlier, I’m a little obsessive, so I constantly feel a pull toward work. On the other hand, I’ve been so accustomed to putting my kids and family first, that I sometimes need to remember to keep my work time sacred.  It’s very easy to take advantage of my autonomy and flexibility and forgo work in order to volunteer for this or that at school, have the difficult to schedule play-date, or go to Disneyland because the family is visiting. But with the inevitable sick kid, doctor appointments and school holidays, all of those wonderful things can very quickly eat up a lot of work time.  My strategy is to plan work time and family time and keep those times separate and sacred.  When I manage to actually do that, I have a good balance.  

The amount of time that each requires, however, is different for everyone.  I think you have to figure out what’s right for YOU and base it on what works for YOUR family.  

What is next for your business?

We are really just getting started and we need to make people aware that there is a solution for frustrating, wiggly diaper changes—the Happy Changer.  This is a product that people aren’t necessarily out there looking for, so our job is to spread the word.  In other words: marketing, marketing, marketing.

Do you have any advice for other mom entrepreneurs that are starting out and struggling, or are on the fence about starting a business?

What I’ve learned from this experience so far is that my lack of business experience is an obstacle, but not an insurmountable one.  I’ve had to learn SO MUCH in order to get this business off the ground, and luckily there are infinite resources out there to help.  So, my advice is: never let the fact that you don’t know how to do something stop you from trying to do it—don’t be afraid to learn new skills.  Trying to work only within your current skill set can be very limiting.  If you’re willing to learn how to do something new, you open up a world of possibilities.