What to do when you’re newborn won’t stay swaddled and ends up crying and with a blanket covering her face? Out of frustration, Karen Barski, got out her sewing machine and created a stretchy sack that zipped up and gave the baby some room to move, but kept her snuggled. She called it a “Woombie” because the idea was to simulate the womb that the newborn was missing. And it worked – her baby Bella, who was five weeks premature, slept through the night and she and her husband were able to get some much needed rest.
With a restless baby that startled easily, she had tried everything she could find at the baby stores and on line but nothing worked like her self-made swaddler. Karen says, “Bella wanted to sleep at night, and boy did my husband and I want that too…but she unraveled herself within 15 minutes…ALL NIGHT LONG. Time and time again, I found her red and sweaty with the swaddle wrap up and over her face. Scary….” Talking with other new moms, they were having the same issues, so she began to offer her new invention as a baby gift. A full time nurse, Karen was in the care business, so creating a product that calmed and soothed, came naturally. Other companies have tried to copy the Woombie swaddle, but Karen’s design is ergonomically shaped like a peanut to better fit with a baby’s body.
Bella was not her first child, she has two older children who are now 16 and 9 and then she had twin boys who are now three. “The twins loved the Woombie,” and Karen began to sew other items to go with it. By chance, a friend knew someone in the manufacturing business and they reached out. Self funding their first order of 1000 Woombies was scary, but selling only on line, the stock was gone in a matter of months.
The e-commerce site went live in 2007. Karen used Google’s Adwords Pay Per Click Campaigns and keywords to help people find her. Imagine a mom with a crying newborn, on-line at 3am searching “newborn, swaddle, and sleep” – she would find the Woombie and was sold. And they sold – each consecutive order of inventory doubled. New moms would ask for the innovative product at their local stores and the stores’ buyers called Karen. In just four years the Woombie is sold in over 200 stores nationwide.
Setting up a warehouse in her home state of Connecticut, Karen has several on staff to pack and ship orders. But she still works from home and sets her own hours around her five kids’ schedules. “My twins go to preschool this fall so I’ll have at least three free hours a day to work.” All profits go into designing and offering additional products, and now KB Designs has a whole line of baby sleep items.
Going part time with her nursing job to focus on her growing business, Karen says, “I fell into this, if not for Bella, I never would have created the first Woombie.” She enjoys the creative aspect of the business the most, “seeing a product go from an idea to something that can help new parents is so rewarding.” Her first trip to China was this year to oversee the production of several large orders. “I took my 16 year old daughter with me and she loved it. It was great to show her the entrepreneurial side of what I do and I think she’s inspired to have her own business one day too.” Karen told her daughter that having your own business takes a lot of work and a huge effort, but it’s worth it.
Contact: Karen Barski, 203-660-4440, sales@woombie.com, www.woombie.com
VentureMom Tip
If you create something that clearly fills a need, go for it.
