When you are expecting a baby everyone has an opinion, from the clerk at Lowe’s to the cousin of your sister-in-law’s best friend’s brother. It can be tough to sift through what you’ll need and what you should really just forget as soon as it passes the lips of the stranger lecturing you. Despite all of the advice, warnings and “Oh, I remember when’s…” there are countless things that come up that no one ever thought to clue you in about -
How often kids really get sick,
The guilt of working or not working,
Sometimes being a good parent means doing things that feel awful.
I’ll tell you something, whether you have kids or not, despite the white-knuckle impulse these situations elicit as you experience them, when you emerge from them there is a euphoria and sense of accomplishment that will leave you feeling nearly invincible.
Managing a company has many similarities to parenting, with lots of outside opinions and many unexpected scenarios. Recently SaraBear completed a process that at first would have best been described as unchartered territory. After three years we decided to create new fabrics, and not just “new” to SaraBear diaper caddies, but “new” period. Custom textiles.
What we knew:
We wanted the textiles to be unique.
We wanted the patterns to work throughout the house.
We wanted to create something that would excite parents and children.
Deciding what the patterns should be was something that we spent a great deal of time deliberating. We knew that many of the people buying the caddies were holding on to them for years. One woman wrote saying that she hoped to use hers as a place to hold her daughter’s favorite mementos as she got older. Others shared that they planned to use it in another area of their house - guest room toiletries, living room catch all, the list went on. As we considered the different uses it made sense to create two price points, allowing people to invest in the look and feel of their caddy.
We realize that moms tend to be the buyers of the caddies, whether for themselves, or friends, but we wanted the patterns to appeal to men as well. It was important to us that our team of designers represent our audience, so we gathered a group that included one dad of two (almost 3) daughters in diapers, a father of two elementary school-age kids, a writer, one textile devotee, a mom, an aunt, and our caddy inventor.
And so we began. Would we use animals? Pictures? Pastels? Jewel tones? How would we differentiate the lines? There was much laughter and furrowing of brows as we each explained why something didn’t work or why another combination made our hearts soar. The entire process took about two months, with many weeks of waiting and perfecting. Samples have arrived each week and we have sat, staring and touching the bright pinks, rich blues and lush greens making notes, sending revisions and waiting on pins and needles until the changes were returned to us.
This July we will finally be able to share our finished product, much like a newborn, after months of loving and nurturing within us, and then finally holding the masterpiece in our hands and laying it with pride in the arms of friends.
For now, there is this, easier to read than an ultrasound, a sample of our babies.
