Hello lovely ladies.  Can I just say, this past week has been CRAZY.  Between baby Emery, running Free Babes, hosting family from out of town and trying to remember to get dressed, I’ve been all over the place!

But when I remember that so many of you Mamas are in the same boat as me, it’s so encouraging!  One of my favorite parts of my week are my weekly interviews.  It’s so encouraging to take some time out, talk business and really focus on achieving the ultimate goals of our creative businesses.  I SO enjoyed meeting Meredith for our virtual coffee date, and I hope you love her just as much I did!

Meet Meredith!

“My name is Meredith. I’m the boss of childHOODS Clothing, LLC and my two little girls (ages 1 & 3).  Well, of childHOODS at least 🙂  Really though, one of my high school employees has me in his phone as ‘da boss’.  I run a tight ship. (laughs) I am totally nervous to be interviewed, and haven’t done anything like this before.  But it will be fun!  I’m honored to be here. – Meredith”

We also made a SKYPE interview, so grab a cup of coffee (or wine!) and bundle up on the sofa and learn more about Meredith’s business journey HERE.

What did you do before childHOODS, and how did you decide to start your own business?  How did you discover your passion?

Before childHOODS, I was in high school. Ha, almost. I did a three year stint in college, where I got married and then earned a degree in clothing construction and a minor in visual arts. I was pregnant with my first and started making baby patterns. I opened an etsy shop 2 weeks before she was born. (I have great timing) becoming a mom was total inspiration.

Can you give us a brief history of childHOODS?  How long have you been in business?  What has your growth looked like?

So, childHOODS started small.  I’ve never really done marketing (aside from instagram, but this was before I used IG) and do not like to be pushy.  In the early days, I don’t think many people outside my husband even knew i had a shop.  I didn’t like to talk about it for some reason. I guess because it is hard to put yourself out there? I can’t even remember why I felt the way I did.  Over the last 3 years, we have grown organically.  The past 12 months have been pretty crazy, growth wise.

What’s your WHY?  Why are you in business?  What is your ultimate lifestyle goal?

I guess the WHY that fuels me is potential.  I like what I’m doing now, but I can’t wait till we can get to where I hope to go…where orders can be going out without me sewing 100+ items a week, where I can design all the new products that are swirling around in my mind, where I can watch TV at night with my husband without tying hang tags 🙂

Where did you find your mentors, or resources to help learn about entrepreneurship and running a successful business?

Honestly, I mostly do my own thing. For the first two years, I did every little step on my own.  This past year, Andrew (husband) has had to step in a ton.  So I guess you could say I acquired a business partner in my own backyard.  Together, we learn as we go. We are definitely still learning…  boots on the ground type of thing.  But I think I should add, I have been so lucky to have a friend in Amy Richardson (of Little Hip Squeaks) and could be considered a mentor to me.

Can you tell a story of a specific failure you encountered while building childHOODS?  What did you learn from it?

Gosh, there are so many to choose from.  In the early days, I wanted to sell handmade screen printed tees.  I ordered 300 screen printed adult tees and then sewed them into kids’ shirts.  It was ridiculous and time consuming and I only listed like 15 of them before I hated doing it. It was a flop.

What would you consider are your strengths as a business owner?

I am one of those typical creative people…making stuff with chaos around me.  My house is usually a mess. But it works for me—I have lots of ideas and I work really hard.

Do you currently have help or do you do everything?

As of 2015, we have help.  We are working with local production for sewing many of my items now.  We have two high school kids who help with shipping and odd jobs after school. And if you’ve ever sent me an email, there’s a good chance you’d say that I need to bring someone on to do customer service/personal assistant stuff, haha.

My advice: Start small, reinvest your earnings, and hire help earlier than I did 🙂

Piecework is great. Paying teenagers to help out is great.   I was frustrated looking for help because there is not a clear path or checklist that gets you connected with the people you need… so just be persistent and pursue a lot of different options.

How many hours a week do you work?  How do you balance work and home?

hmm… It changes from week to week.  On average, maybe 30? But I’m at home with my kids all day.  Some weeks I get babysitting help, and probably work 40-50+.  In the fall my girls will both go to preschool so I will be able to put a few more hours in.

I definitely don’t have a secret to balance.  Like most of us, I assume, I have a hard time with it!  In general, I want to be home with my kids (and we still want more) but truthfully—and i feel guilty saying it—some days, I would rather be doing business than motherhood.  Giving my best to both is difficult.  Andrew comes to the rescue most nights and weekends.  We try to preserve time to be together as a family as well, but don’t have a specific formula.  Just trying to do what feels right, day by day.   It is something that keeps us up at night and something we are working hard to improve.

What type of lifestyle does your business afford you?

Haha I’m not really sure!  We reinvest a lot of our revenue.  I know our spending has looked a little different since business picked up, but nothing specific…I guess it affords us to be a little bit  looser here and there. I usually order a soda instead of water when we go out to dinner!

Even though running this business makes me crazy, I would go crazier without it.

What has been the #1 most effective way you have marketed childHOODS?

I fear I would be nothing without instagram!  haha. I actually suck at marketing, since we can’t seem to keep up with demand at the moment, I have little incentive to market…yet. hope that changes soon 🙂

What has been hour biggest business “win” or success so far?

To see that the more of ‘me’ I put into my business, the more success we see.  Specifically I’m talking about in early 2014 when I finally made a giant fabric order and was more or less able to choose exactly what fabrics I wanted to use.  Before then, I had been at the mercy of whatever fabrics I could find from online fabric shops, and business started booming. It seems the more I am able to truly control and design my products, the better we do.  That feels good.

What is your ultimate vision for your business in the coming year?   Where do you see childHOODS in 5 years?

This year is all about getting our infrastructure up to par…sourcing and production.  it would be nice if I could finally keep my shop stocked!  That would mean less frustrated customers and more consistency.  It will open up a lot of doors.

I hope we are a well-oiled machine in 5 years! I don’t have specific dreams about being ‘big’ necessarily…just want to do what I love (design and see products come to life and be successful) and be less involved in the parts of the business I don’t love 🙂

I guess my one specific 5 year goal is for childhoods to fund a service trip…i’d love to build houses in Mexico or go to Africa.  I’d love to do some good with an organization in the name of childHOODS and to turn into a yearly thing that I can do with my kids as they grow up.

What’s holding you back from where you are now and your end game?

As I mentioned, I started out as a hobbyist and the business side seemed to find me.  Since we never approached it from a business standpoint, we have had some major growing pains.  I think we are on the brink of getting past some of these constraints.  We are working to get supply to meet demand.  Everyone tells me “that’s a good problem to have!”  But they don’t know what that kind of stress feels like 🙂 But, we are grateful to be where we are now.

What is it that you need help with right now, and if you could get free advice that would solve your problem right now, what would it be?

Something that gets me down are copycats… not just copying one of my items, but my entire line/business concept.  I really did design and come up with my products and feel they are honest and original.  I feel so violated. I’d love advice from someone who knows how i feel, how to deal with them/ignore them.

If you could sit down with any entrepreneur for a 2 hour lunch and pick their brain, who would it be and why?

I mentioned that we are big Amy (Little Hip Squeaks) fans.  She has kind of been a champion for me, is an awesome business mind, and she’s just a fun person.  She is such a supporter of other shops and is so selfless—steers business to tons of other shops when she doesn’t have to. I’d love to meet her for lunch and thank her for all her advice and support!

What advice would you give your “just starting a business” self knowing everything you know now?

Take more risks and go for it!

Do you have a morning ritual or routine that helps you get the most out of your day?

Gosh.  I love the idea of being a routined person, but I’m just not.  I almost always wake up between 3-5am and work till the kids wake up.  But after that, every day is different.

If you could do anything in the world, with no possibility of failure, what would it be?

My best, biggest goal is to raise 5 or 6 kids. When they are all in school, I’d love to get into real estate/renovating houses! On top of childHOODS of course 🙂

What’s been the best business book you’ve read?

So far, I haven’t read any! I should though.

What’s your favorite success quote?

“Action is the foundational key to all success.” – Pablo Picasso

Closing thoughts or advice to other business owners out there?

Stay true to yourself—don’t try to do what someone else is doing.  Find your passion.

You guys, go check out childHOODS.  Meredith’s website is like a visual gem.  Her stuff is SOOO cute and Addie transforms into a cool little teenager when she wears her striped hoodie.  What awesome advice from someone who started small, and has had to adjust to rapid growth quickly and efficiently!

Stay connected to Meredith:

childHOODS website // connect on instagram

Stay tuned next week for our interview with Robyn, owner of Giddy Up and Grow!

Be Brave, Hillary