Resilience as a Working Mom with Austin Baby Co. Founder, Kelly Buller
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Working a full time job, while being away from your children can cause moms to feel so torn.
Kelly Buller is a wife, mom and the proud owner of Austin Baby Co, who felt that same way and took the desire she had to stay home with her son, to then build a successful business.
The Drive Behind it All
Not only was Kelly a new mom, but she was a new mom to a baby boy that came 5 weeks early! Aside from just adjusting to mom life, where you’re learning how to go without sleep, breast-feed, work and just be human - Kelly’s son Hudson also had some extra medical needs of his own.
Kelly knew that she needed and wanted to be with Hudson more than her full-time job was allowing her to. She knew she wanted to start her own business so began doing some research - specifically on baby products.
She quickly realized there were not a lot of silicone baby brands that were aesthetically pleasing, especially ones that were cost-friendly. Kelly decided to make that happen for modern day moms, all while being able to stay home with her baby boy.
Manufacturing a Product During a Pandemic
Starting a company is hard enough, but let’s throw the pandemic on top of that for Kelly! She shares in today’s episode all that goes into the design and manufacturing of the products carried at Austin Baby Co.
From tracing sandwiches on a piece of paper to waiting eight months for products due to supply chain issues, there’s been a lot of growth and challenges in her business.
The pandemic brought price increases, labor shortages and other new challenges - aside from all of the traditional challenges that come with developing a new product. Yet, Kelly was still able to show resilience. She had a baby, designed a product, found a manufacturer and was selling on the shelves of Target in less than two years.
Finding Balance as a Working Mom
She works longer, harder and more than ever with Austin Baby Co., however, the difference is that Kelly now gets to make her schedule.
While she doesn’t know if there is such thing as “balance”, Kelly carves out specific time for work and her son. Allowing her to trust her gut and follow her “mom intuition”. If she knows it is a day where her son needs her, she takes it - no questions asked.
That right there, is worth it all!
One way that Kelly pushes through difficulties, like the battle of work vs. baby, is managing her expectations. It’s easy to compare ourselves to others, but Kelly says stop comparing and give some grace. We know when our business needs us and when our baby does. At the end of the day mom knows best!
As Kelly says, “everyday is a new day with new challenges, and you just have to keep going”.
More from Kelly
Kelly is such an inspiration to other moms and business owners. To learn more about Kelly and her line, visit her on Instagram @austinbabyco and online austinbabyco.com.
Be sure to listen to today’s full episode on The BrandWell Podcast to hear how Kelly’s story shows so much resilience and brings inspiration.
KEEP BRANDING WELL,
Victoria
