Gillian is truly a business success story. She took her business from start to international recognition in only a period of 5 years. Her business also puts emphasis on teaching mothers about baby wearing and the benefits that come from it. She wants to help aid parents with the transition into parenthood using her great products.

We also owe her a big thank you. With today’s interview we will be offering up two products as a giveaway. The first is the shawl on the left in the photo from the Simone Layne collection. The second item is an organic Moby Wrap which is pictured to the right in the photo above.

If you’d like the chance to win one of these great items then leave a comment on the original post telling me which one you’d like to be entered to win. Comment with “Wrap” for the organic Moby Wrap or “Shawl” for the Simone Layne shawl. The contest starts now and ends on May 15th at 11:59pm. I’ll choose the winners on May 16th. The item ships within the USA.

What is the ‘Moby Wrap’?

The Moby Wrap is a long piece of 100% breathable cotton fabric, that can be utilized in carrying babies up to 35 lbs. in a variety of positions. The Moby is an ergonomically supportive baby carrier, that distributes the weight of the baby over the wearer’s back, shoulders and waist. The Moby, is used in hospitals for Kangaroo care, recommended by lactation consultants, enjoyed by nature lovers for hiking and can even carry twins. The uniqueness of the Moby fabric lends support and comfort to both the baby and wearer, making the experience of baby wearing enjoyable for long periods of time. The Moby aids in the development of the newly forming parent-baby relationship, allowing the baby and the parent to feel connected, close and communicate. It’s a wonderful parenting tool!

What was your inspiration behind the name?

Moby comes from Mother and Baby - it was that ulimate feeling of having my baby so close to me that led me to the name.

Click here for the rest of the interview.

Babies like to feel secure and safe. If they don’t feel that way, they don’t sleep as well as they could have. Catherine and Georgia are two moms that knew that, and they knew their had to be something that could be done.

Their Snug & Tug was designed to give babies a longer night’s sleep which in turn gives the parents a longer night’s sleep as well. With the close feel and a proven design to help keep babies from wiggling out, their invention does what it does best. Give the gift of sleep.

Their ultimate goal is to continue growing their website to include other products made by moms for moms. It’s a goal I think they’ll have no problem meeting.

Michelle Morton and Debbie Swartz are bullish about the economy — so much so the mother and daughter team from Rock Hill recently bought a coffee shop. Their first day open was May 1.

The pair liked the location — Ayrsley, is a residential development near N.C. 49 and I-485 that has shops, a movie theater and a YMCA. Some of the development is still being built. They aren’t too worried about reports of falling consumer confidence.

“I think the economy’s going to turn around,” Morton said. “People don’t seem like they’re worried about it.”

Their store, Dessert Plus Coffee House & Bakery, sits among a strip of storefronts designed to evoke the feel of King Street in Charleston. Many of the storefronts are empty, but the women believe that will change in time. In addition to coffee drinks, the store sells pastries, desserts and homemade iced tea.

Mom and daughter are building a Web site and are planning a grand opening. To gain customers, they’re handing out fliers and hope to entice movie-goers and Ayrsley residents, once they move in.

Image from Stock.xchng.

When Robin Dennis was ready to get back into the business world after working as a stay-at-home mother to five children for 22 years, she did what all of the job search experts advise. She thought about what she does well and went from there. While raising her children, she spent many years sewing Halloween costumes and working on other needlework. The most logical step for her was to start a business using her seamstress skills, which led her to embroidery.

After working on a tabletop machine for four years, Dennis took the plunge, and with her business partner, Missy Houghton, she purchased a two-head Tajima in February to open Miss Robin’s Embroidery and More LLC in Madison, Ala. The pair currently works out of Dennis’ home.

According to Dennis, Houghton is a teacher and finishing up the school year. After school is over, she will work solely on the embroidery endeavor, primarily selling and helping Dennis with the stitching as needed. Right now she works with Dennis when she’s available.

Dennis currently embroiders about five hours per day and does simple digitizing at night. “I have to send out the more complicated digitizing right now,” she says. “We’ll attend a training a training class after Missy is finished with school. One of our goals is to do all of the digitizing in-house.”

It started out with an online store for Stephanie. She wanted to create a more professional looking store to help increase her sales. In the process she taught herself all those necessary things needed to create the best websites possible. From there it turned into her business, Toribella Web Design. She may be self-taught, but she’s also a very driven woman and gives it her all.

She is commited to all aspects of web design and the development. She offers website support with each website design project as well.

What some people just can’t figure out has been proven by Stephanie it is possible. All it takes is the right determination and a strong passion for what you’re doing.

At Bows2Cute, a mom-owned business, they sell many different kinds of bows for little girls that will stay in hair that is “fine, thin, or barely there.”

The problem started when Jamie had her daughter. Headbands didn’t fit her right and she couldn’t find any clips that would work either. After many tries she ended up making her own clips for her daughter. She decided to market them, and sell them at a price lower than what she had found online so other parents can afford to get these cute accessories for their little ones as well.

Jamie doesn’t work strictly from home like many of the wahm businesses I generally profile here, she is also a Preschool Special Education teacher, and proud of it. All the same she handles her business the best she can around being a mom, teacher and business owner. She’s definitely the picture of a busy woman, and doing very well at it.

When former art director Ellen Diamant had a baby in 2000, there were few diaper bags on the market that were both utilitarian and good-looking. So she designed one and built a business around it.

“The selection left much to be desired,” recalls Diamant, who runs New York-based Skip Hop with her husband Michael and a team of 22 employees. “I thought the bags were horrendous. They didn’t do anything. None hung on the stroller.”

Today the company pulls in some $10 million in yearly revenue, offers products ranging from crib bedding to bottle dryers, and recently had a new line of its colorful diaper bags in Target stores.

Throughout the country, “mompreneurs” are tapping similar gaps in the market for products for babies and parenting. They are redesigning everything from toys to car seats and clothing, in response to heightened awareness about product safety issues and mothers’ demands for fuller and more fashionable lifestyles.

“Their personal experiences help them to form business decisions,” says Stephanie Azzarone, who runs Child’s Play Communications, a New York-based public relations agency that represents products and services targeted to moms and kids, including toys, apparel, home furnishings and food.

A work-at-home mom, Lotta sells her vintage styled jewelry and other items through her Mom O Matic’s Automat Etsy shop. All her items are very unique and easy to love. Such as the necklace shown here.

Lotta has been kind enough to donate thie stylish necklace to be given away to one of our readers. If you’d like a chance to win this necklace just leave a comment on the original post. The giveaway starts now and ends May 14th at 11:59pm. The winner will be chosen on May 15th by me and contacted through email.

What is ‘Mom O Matic’s Automat’?

Automats were coin operated vending machines that served up treats like hot coffee, sandwiches and cake back in the 1900s. What was so great about the Automat was that even though it was a vending machine there were actual people sitting behind the glass; making the goodies and handing them through the slots. Mom O Matic’s Automat is based on this cool concept. I’m sitting behind the machine that is Etsy, making goodies that use vintage materials for anyone willing to toss in a few nickels. I hope people feel that they have received a treat when they get my packages.

How long have you been selling your jewelry at Etsy?

I had my first sale on January 9, 2008 - the same day I opened the shop! So the shop is just about 5 months old. I can’t imagine not having it now so it’s hard to believe it’s only been 5 months!

Click here for the rest of the interview.

Carrie offers a wide variety of products which can be personalized for the needs of the customer. Anywhere from a note card to letters from Santa. She has many different areas covered in what she sells.

Here is another mom who has taken something that she previously knew and enjoyed to turn it into something she could work from home with. It is those simple talents that you don’t think about which might be able to turn into a business.

Some of the other things that can be purchased from Note Card Girl also include personalized note pads, chore charts, gifts, boxed stationery and more

To find more time for all of us, I just finished reading the 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris. At first, the concept seemed so unbelievable that I almost discounted it. But then my curiosity drew me back. Maybe he was on to something: He chooses a modified work week so he can “live the life,” whereas I need a shorter work week so I can spend more time being a mom. To do this, Ferros talks about everything from outsourcing to mini-retirements as well as these tips that apply to mom entrepreneurs:

1. Go on a diet–a low information diet. We’re bombarded with so much information every day that we’re constantly swimming to get through it all. So cut it back–way back. Toss catalogues and junk mail without feeling the need to read through them.

2. Batch your work. Most of us juggle motherhood, e-mail, phone calls, mail, filing, etc. all at the same time. The 4-Hour Work Week teaches you to batch your work for better efficiency. Choose certain times for e-mail, certain times for phone calls, etc. Instead of trying to write an email while entertaining your toddler at your side, play with your child. Give him or her your full attention. Then, when he goes to sleep or daddy gets home, you can write that e-mail in two minutes vs. the 20 minutes it would have taken you during the baby juggle.

3. Stop Interruptions. This is a biggie. Your work time is particularly precious because you probably don’t work traditional hours as a mom entrepreneur. Don’t let personal phone calls, small talk from the nanny or the ding of your laundry machine throw you off course. Sit down to work and be totally focused. Teach others around you how to respect your work time.

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Image from Stock.xchng.