Schnooky Pie was launched in Nov 2014 by Jaclyn Holmes, born from an inspiration to make her little girl stunning outfits that she couldn’t find in stores and motivated by friends and family, Jaclyn started her momtrepreneur business on facebook and soon after designed and launched her website.
Her story is close to my heart as it is similiar to my dream for Oh!Boy
Schnooky Pie is a unique range of handmade baby and children’s clothing and accessories. The range includes gorgeous clothing for boys and girls, ranging from 0m-5yrs, as well as a wide range of personalised items such as Birthday outfits, burp cloths, birth announcement pillows and much more.
Jaclyn says “My clients are a part of the creative process, I work with them in crafting their little ones perfect birthday outfit but to my clients, I think the most exciting part is that the chances of someone else having the exact same outfit as their little one is slim.”
She also identified that there was a gap in the market for unique, functional yet comfortable boys clothing and some of these outfits along with some of her girls range are now stocked at Born Local in Windermere centre in Durban, at Mio Designs at Oxford Centre in Hillcrest and at Miggieboud in the Western Cape, to name a few.
Jaclyn believes that anything is possible if you have the passion and the drive to achieve it, and says that she is just an ordinary mom, giving entrepreneurship a try!
1.tell us about your family:
I am married to my awesome Husband, Tyron and we have a little girl, Mia. She is 14 months old and the absolute joy of our day. We thought life would change having a child, but simply did not realise how much – and honestly for the better. It is like she has grounded us both while at the same time made us even more excited and passionate to succeed in life. Hubby is a big gamer and is very sporty, although now it is more difficult for him to enjoy his sports as he then misses time with Mia. I am the structured typical mommy type but I LOVE cooking – I find ways to have an excuse to cook. Mia is a little cracker. She is very busy and full of energy and life. She absolutely loves being outside and wondering around the garden, playing with our cats and dogs etc – she doesn’t like being indoors more than she needs to be.
2.what is a day in your life like:
well i think it starts like every other mom… waking up to feed Mia. Hubby starts work at 6am, so he has left by 5.15/5.30 every morning, so Mia and i get some girly time. I used to work at a big corporate, and only recently left to pursue Schnooky Pie full time – so when i was in corporate Mia had to go to creche (long story but our nanny left suddenly and i simply couldn’t cope with a job, a business and trying to find a new nanny that i trusted, so i felt my only option was to send her to creche). Now that i have left my corporate, i have kept her in creche for full day, but i take her in late and collect her early (anytime from around 2) so that I do have some time to focus on my business and growing it because at the end of the day we need to eat 🙂 plus, i also have a passion to succeed not only as a mom but as a business woman as well. Back to our normal day, after our morning session together, i drop Mia off at creche at 8am. I return home to check out what has happened on my facebook page during the night (as many moms are active in the early hours of the morning) and to respond to emails etc. Most of my morning is spent responding to email order requests, posting of facebook and other admin tasks. Then i often go out to suppliers to get materials, source new fabrics, etc etc (i am also working on a new range that i will be launching end Nov – so I am often at the new factory that will be making my new range or out sourcing new fabrics, printers etc)… then i pick up Mia early afternoon. i have a seamstress who now makes the items for me, so 2 days a week i am also meeting her to collect my orders and to then pack the orders. (this is often done at night time so that i have the afternoon with Mia). In the afternoons, i like to play outside with Mia, – i try to focus on work when i need to do work, and then to focus on Mia when she is home. I don’t want her seeing me at the computer, on my cell phone, packing orders etc while we have “our” time. (that is why i like her to go to creche in the morning, so i have that time to focus on my business and then i have time with her in the afternoon) Once my husband gets home around 5/6pm, he has his time with Mia and i organise her bath, bottle and our dinner. Once Mia is asleep, hubby and I have dinner, and then a little us time, and then at 8pm i am back online, packing orders, responding to emails etc while hubby is studying for his masters… our week days are hectic like this but weekends, we have fun. we take Mia to parks, to play areas, to friends, to the beach and we just enjoy our time together.
3.how did you become a wahm:
I started making dresses with my mom and then friend encouraged me to start selling them on facebook. I did this while i was on maternity leave. After maternity leave i returned to my normal job, but after a few months, i wasn’t happy with the situation and the lack of time and flexibility that my job allowed me to have with my family. So i took the big plunge to resign from my work and to focus on Schnooky Pie full time and to have more time and flexibility with my family.
4. what is most rewarding part of being a wahm:
For me to the most rewarding part is that i now have a lot more time with my daughter and i have the flexibility to do more things with her – such as take her to ballet, or if business is slow or if i am wanting to spend more time with her, I can simply “take the day off” and spend the entire day with her doing what ever we want – and then i make up for the lost work time at night when she is asleep. i also feel that i have less stress – if she is sick, then she is with me during the day, and i manage work and her at the same time and often my clients are understanding if i say that i will be delayed in responses for a few days – however, when i was in corporate, it almost felt like your child was not allowed to get sick – or if they did get sick that you still need to manage your normal work load and be contactable and online all day to respond to any and all emails.
5.what is most unexpected part of being wahm:
i think one of the most unexpected parts is that of running your own business. It is a much bigger and more daunting task than i had expected – you have to be on top of your game, a jack of all trades – you are jiggling a dozen things at one time, while still trying to make money and spend time with your family. I also think that i have to be even more strict now because if you are not careful, you can easily land up working all of the time (an always on culture) – and not spending that quality time with your child. there is always someone who needs a last minute order, some crisis that has happened, etc… but you need to put your family first and not answer that email and start an email conversation at 1am, because the clients that understand that, are the clients that will continue to support you and help you grow as a business and as a person.
