Name: Vanessa Blake
Age: 39
Family members: Vanessa, Stephen (husband), Lucas (4) & Daisy (2)
Previous Career: I spent many years working as a senior manager in a number of corporate companies, including working as a Managing Director of a Marketing Agency.
What is the name and nature of your business?
At dreamgenii® we sell a range of products to make women’s pregnancies, births and children more comfortable, including the unique, award winning dreamgenii® pregnancy support & feeding pillow. We focus on products that genuinely work to make parents’ and children’s lives easier, delivering products that are born out of genuine need – that genuinely work.
What inspired you to start it?
I was six months pregnant with my son and after weeks of tossing and turning at night I’d had enough. I tried every pregnancy pillow on the market and none of them actually worked. All of them woke me up in the night when I wanted to move as I had to roll over with them to reposition myself and they usually ended up strewn on the floor by morning!
I was also conscious of lying in the best position for my baby, so I did a bit of research and spoke to my midwife. She advised me that lying on my left hand side encouraged maximum blood flow from me to my baby. But lying on my left wasn’t really as natural position for me, so I needed a pillow that would encourage me to stay on my left during the night. I wanted something that supported my back, bump and knees – all the parts that were aching! I also wanted to be able to use my pillow post birth as a feeding support (as many of my friends had shared their tales of back strain after using traditional pillows with no back support).
I bought a sewing machine and made a prototype pillow, but it was pretty basic. I showed it to my midwife at my antenatal class and everyone raved about it! They suggested I should look into selling it to other women so I took it to a manufacturer and asked them to make up some proper samples. It seemed unbelievable that no one had thought of doing something like this before. I showed the samples to various midwives, healthcare organisations as well as many pregnant friends and volunteers. The pillow was universally welcomed as a huge help for pregnant women, and we went on to launch it.
How does it fit in with family life?
My husband and I both work on the business. Some days I am at home being a full time mum to my children when my husband Stephen goes in to the office. Other days I drop the children off at school & nursery and then head into the office myself. We try not to sacrifice family life for the business – but to make the business fit around our family. Even if it does mean some late nights working from home sometimes once the children are in bed!
Biggest learning curve so far?
It was hard work in the beginning, trying to get a business up and running with a new baby. Most women in the nursery industry are mothers too, so everyone is incredibly understanding and flexible. I even took Lucas along to most of my business meetings with me at the start, and nobody minded.
Most positive experience?
There have been so many! I think winning Practical Parenting’s Award for Pregnancy Product of the year in 2007 was a fantastic milestone for us. The Practical Parenting awards are tested by real mums and so it gave us real validation that our product was of great quality, easy to use and valued by mums. It was such an accolade as a pregnancy pillow had never won that award before. We were so proud! Also every time we receive a positive review or testimonial from a mum is a really positive experience. You know we really are helping to make a difference to pregnant women around the world.
Where would you like to be in five years time?
I’d think we will be helping to deliver a magical night’s sleep to millions of pregnant women around the world. Our range of products will serve to make women’s pregnancies, births & children more comfortable. In particular we are working on a new product for the children’s sleep market which I am really excited about. After many sleepless nights with my daughter I thought I must be able to create something that worked to get us all a better night’s sleep!
What advice would you give to other mothers hoping to combine motherhood with a new business idea?
I think to have the courage of your convictions, and to stick with it. Trying to get something off the ground can be stressful, and I could never have done it without the support of my husband Stephen and all of our family. I firmly believe if you can get through those first few months it’s well worth the effort!