(00:00:00) Chelsey: Brown Babee really represents my journey to becoming a mom. It was a ten year journey that included, you know, and ovarian cancer diagnosis. It included, you know, a stage four endometriosis diagnosis. It included, you know, many failed rounds of IVF. It included, you know, my neighbor. And so it has been, you know, approaching my husband and I and saying, you know, let us carry for you.
(00:00:26) Courtney: Hi. My name is Courtney. And welcome to you. How they scaled it. We’re scaling is done with both sides of the brain. Today I’m bringing on Chelsey Hayes. Chelsey is the co-founder and CEO of Brown Babee Co, a brand born from a deeply personal mission to provide clean, plant based personal care products for infants and children, particularly those with eczema prone skin.
(00:00:48) Courtney: After facing her own health challenges and struggling to find safe, nontoxic products for her daughter, Chelsey took matters into her own hands and built a company that stands at the intersection of wellness advocacy and community. Today, we’re unpacking her journey from the spark of an idea to scaling the company with a mission that truly matters. Chelsey. Welcome to how they scaled it.
(00:01:09) Chelsey: Thank you, and thank you for that gracious and kind introduction. I really appreciate it.
(00:01:14) Courtney: Of course, let’s jump right into it, because I know you have a really cool story. Did you always know that you wanted to start a business, or was this something that kind of evolved out of necessity?
(00:01:27) Chelsey: You know, so I have known, like since I was seven years old, that I wanted to start a business. I can vividly remember, like, being outside with my friends. And, you know, I don’t know if I imagined that, like, all seven year olds probably do this, and maybe they don’t. But, we were saying, like, telling each other what we wanted to do, you know, when we grew up.
(00:01:46) Chelsey: And I remember my answer being that I was going to be a businesswoman and, that is unfolding. I think for me, though, especially like at that early age, I didn’t know exactly what that looked like, but I knew, looking back, that the desire was there from a very young age because I did pursue, an undergraduate degree in business.
(00:02:10) Chelsey: And then I got my masters in business. And then here I am now, starting many, many years later, building my own business. I think the other thing for me, too, was that I didn’t know this at a very early age, but I picked this up later on. Was that, if I was going to start or build a business that it would have to have a strong.
(00:02:33) Chelsey: So decided that I couldn’t just, you know, create a business or start something just to make money. And I’m seeing that unfold as well.
(00:02:42) Courtney: Yeah. So how did you get from just knowing you wanted to start a business at seven years old and kind of going through the process of saying, I know I’m going to do this. I know somehow, somewhere it’s going to present itself to me. But like going through college, getting the degree and everything. How did you land on Brown Babee Co and that, and that product is eczema prone skin.
(00:03:04) Courtney: Products.
(00:03:05) Chelsey: Yeah. So I think that that desire, that inner knowing found me. I don’t think I necessarily found it. Because after college I did, you know, work in the federal government for many years. But looking back, there were skills that I needed to learn. So primarily, in my background, I’ve been a, contract negotiator, negotiating contracts on behalf of the federal government.
(00:03:33) Chelsey: And, also a program manager. So building billion dollar programs on the on the behalf of the federal government. But all of that experience was necessary in order to be able to build Brown Babee Company, because I’m using all of the the foundational knowledge that I learned over those many years to, to build it. And so I think, that really it found me so my daughter was born, with eczema.
(00:04:05) Chelsey: So she was actually diagnosed at the age of four months. And at that time, you know, I’m still in my federal government position, and I’m not thinking at that time that I’m going to start a business. The desire is still there that, you know, I would at some point in my journey. But when she was diagnosed with eczema, at the age of four months old, I just knew that I could not put her on a prescription cream.
(00:04:31) Chelsey: So her pediatrician said, you know, I can offer you a prescription. And I. Because I spent the last two years of my life, trying to have a child. And my focus had really changed from, not really change, but the desire was still there. But my focus really was, becoming a mom, and I’d put everything into becoming a mom for those last ten years that way.
(00:04:55) Chelsey: And her pediatrician told me that she had eczema. I just felt this deep responsibility to make sure that I provided her with the best care possible. And so for me, that was not putting her on a prescription, cream that contained steroids. It just feel right to me. So I started to explore healthier, more natural solutions for my baby skin.
(00:05:18) Chelsey: And then that’s what actually inspired me to create Brown Babee Company. So I feel that that that purpose in that finding me through my life journey of becoming a mom and having this child who was diagnosed with Excel at the age of almost.
(00:05:36) Courtney: Yeah. That’s amazing. I think that also, did you kind of have this moment of this? Is it like it this is the thing. Like what? What was like that moment where you’re like, I can make this into a business.
(00:05:48) Chelsey: To be honest, so I did have that moment. So it was other people telling me. So the way it kind of worked out for me was I didn’t know how to formulate. So I watched, formulators on YouTube and finally got the nerve up to reach out to one to work with me to formulate after I did my own research, I, what I wanted to create just for my own baby.
(00:06:12) Chelsey: And so I worked with her over the course of several months. To create the, original product that I used on my daughter. And I still wasn’t thinking that it could be a business, but I do remember after finishing like that, that internship, with that young lady with her to tell me to keep going. And so it would be along the way, like people would tell me to keep going, to keep moving in it.
(00:06:40) Chelsey: And it probably was maybe like two years after that, that I really realized that I could make it into a business. But I had to. Something had to happen first. I had to sit down and really understand my why. Because for a long time, I thought that, the why was about my daughter’s eczema, right? And not realizing that that was not a strong enough why, but sitting down for a year and allowing myself to just be a mom and enjoy, the role of being a mother, because as I had so many years to become a mom is how I discovered my why.
(00:07:21) Chelsey: And the why really is for me to build something collectively, with other people. That is much, much bigger than ourselves. And so it was what’s the why I really collected is when I said, now I can go forth and really pursue this.
(00:07:39) Courtney: Yeah, I love that hustle. The beginning of saying, okay, I don’t want to put my child on this prescription, but I don’t really there’s no real solution here. So just going to YouTube and watching Formulators, it’s like not many people do that. I think a lot of people have that problem, but then they kind of stop and they just test a lot of different things, different existing products.
(00:08:02) Courtney: But I love that you did your homework and then you reached out to somebody and then all of a sudden people telling you, like, keep going, keep going. You have something like that doesn’t happen very often. So I’m glad that you listened to them again.
(00:08:16) Chelsey: And glad that I listened as well, that they were moments, though, that I would doubt myself, but I would push forward and then there would be another person at the right time that would tell me to keep going.
(00:08:29) Courtney: Yeah, that’s one thing that when we’ve had previous conversations that I really appreciate about you, were you kind of are looking at, different people in your life who show up at the right time and, you know, present the solution or present a little bit more, more of a push. And identifying those people and listening to them, I think, is really hard for, for most people, most founders, too, because they’re getting so much noise all the time.
(00:08:56) Courtney: But how have you kind of been able to identify this is someone I need to listen to. I need to keep pushing.
(00:09:04) Chelsey: So I think, my life journey and some of the things that I’ve experienced, in my life over the last probably 15 years, have really forced me to stop and listen and really listen from a deeper place and not from, like the external, like you’re talking about when you mentioned the noise, because that’s exactly what it is.
(00:09:28) Chelsey: Right. And and we still get it. Like, I still get, you know, people telling me, oh, you should do this and you should do that. And having to really center myself and focus on what is coming from within you, because those answers are already there, and it’s typically someone just coming to confirm what you already know. And so, to answer your question, I think what really has helped to shape that is, just like circumstance is, being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2015.
(00:10:00) Chelsey: I think that anyone who has had a cancer diagnosis, it changes you, because you’re immediately forced, in that moment, to really understand that there is nothing, that can save you at this point, you know, how much money, no matter how much money you have, like, your money’s not going to save you, how much education you have.
(00:10:25) Chelsey: Your education is not going to save you. Your family can’t save you. And you have to turn for me. I had to turn to something, that was bigger than me. And for me, I had already had that faith. Like, I had already had faith because I had grown up with it. But really having it up to that point, I didn’t have it at the same level.
(00:10:48) Chelsey: And so for me, it was surrendering. Surrendering to, that the higher power, within me, and saying, you know, this is bigger than me. And, I need you to show up for me. You know, you’re you’re kind and you’re loving, and this is the moment where I really need you to show up. And I saw, you know, God show up for me.
(00:11:11) Chelsey: And through people, through the love that other people, you know, had the through prayer through all of that. And I, I know it was, that particular circumstance that helped shape my inner knowing and and learning to listen and be still and listen and then some other things after that, like going through, IVF and and not being able to, you know, have a child over those ten years and then my labor, you know, stepping in to say, heard her husband to say, let us carry for you, though all of those, things that happened were shaped by being still and listening to, to what’s happening on the
(00:11:56) Chelsey: inside of you. And I still do that. I do that in my business journey as well.
(00:12:00) Courtney: Yeah, well, I’m sure that all of that has given you, like, an incredible perspective on the business because being a founder, you go through so many trials and tribulations and these incredible challenges, but being able to kind of zoom out and look at like, what’s really important. And through everything you’ve been through, I’m sure that that’s giving you kind of like a really strong suit of armor, walking into this with like a community behind you.
(00:12:26) Chelsey: Absolutely.
(00:12:27) Courtney: Yeah, yeah. When you think about kind of in the early days, I know you’re a little bit in the early days still, but, as you were formulating and just getting the business off the ground, what were the biggest hurdles that you were facing? Kind of at the beginning?
(00:12:44) Chelsey: So that is a really good question. So in the beginning, I think, the biggest hurdle was I was being naive. I think being naive, the funding and what it was going to take to really get the business off the ground, and timing, like everything, timing is everything. And sometimes, you, I know, like, in business, they tell you like I, I’ve been told you have to move, you have to move, and you have to be, you know, creating something.
(00:13:22) Chelsey: But I actually don’t, I guess agree with that necessarily anymore. There are times to be still in business. And there are times to move, but I would say funding, and timing were the biggest hurdles. For me, when it comes to funding, it was being naive about, oh, this is a great idea, and I’m just going to be able to pitch this to investors and, you know, they’re going to fund this.
(00:13:49) Chelsey: And, you know, it was after several no’s, that I realized that, okay, I need to rely on, you know, what it is that I’ve learned. And that’s to be still. And so when I allowed myself to be still, then the answers around funding, you know, came. And it was that stop looking outside of yourself for what you already have within you.
(00:14:17) Chelsey: And so that led me to look at, you know, my own savings and my own, you know, personal investments and move things around to see where what I could actually invest in myself. And so doing that, I was able to, to, to look and say, okay, so I have $30,000 of my own, you know, money that I can put into Brown Babee and launch this.
(00:14:43) Chelsey: And so I told my co-founders, because I’m a team of three, so it’s me and two other co-founders. And so during a team meeting, I told my co-founders, I’m ready to bet on myself. Like, let’s just bet on us. And I have 30,000. And while we have three SKUs and not, you know, once you, I don’t know if we can do it with or with, with the three SKUs we have, but I know we could do it with one skill.
(00:15:09) Chelsey: And, but just opening up and allowing myself to be vulnerable and let them know what would I do have and putting that out there. Then one of my other co-founders said, I have 30,000 as well. I can contribute 30,000 to this. And then, meeting with our business advisor, we let her know, that we were willing to bet on ourselves.
(00:15:31) Chelsey: We were ready and we had, you know, 60,000 that we were going to invest in ourselves. And she said, I’m going to match you. And so it was that, wow, that was a holding while and was a hurdle. I learned something through that process. And what I learned is that believing in myself is really crucial on this journey.
(00:15:54) Chelsey: That we as founders, a lot of times we’ll look outside of ourselves when we already have the answers, you know, within us and, that that’s something that, that I’m learning. I’m also learning that, the people that have, you know, come to join me on this journey are there for a reason. And so what I, I share what it is that we may be struggling with.
(00:16:23) Chelsey: That’s why they’re there. They’re smarter than me. They have resources. But, you know, I necessarily don’t have. And that’s why they’re on the journey to help support the unfolding of the vision of Brand Baby.
(00:16:36) Courtney: Yeah, I oh, sorry. It’s like a weird noise. Anyways, so I will cut that. That. No, that’s a that’s an amazing kind of journey to get to funding, because I think that while those investors said no, which was probably felt like a really big step back, like it felt like, what am I doing? Like, am I in the right place?
(00:16:59) Courtney: What I I’m sorry. Is it like.
(00:17:02) Chelsey: Yes. Oh, I’m like, oh my, oh my. That my my MacBook. And so my text messages are out and so what am I, co-founders? My business partner is texting me. Oh, the text message comes through.
(00:17:18) Courtney: It’s right here. Is there a way to turn the sound notification off on it?
(00:17:24) Chelsey: I going to see if I can do that. It’s. You know what? I’m going to shut it down. Let’s do.
(00:17:32) Courtney: That. Okay. Cool. Sorry. I know it’s.
(00:17:36) Chelsey: Going to have to put some things out, but if we need to record longer, we can have it.
(00:17:40) Courtney: Yeah. Okay. Perfect. Okay. Cool. So, All right. Cool. No, that’s that’s a really amazing to see that you’ve kind of went through this process with founders or with investors and to get to gets to say no a lot and get that answer now must have been really challenging. But to have like the wherewithal to turn to like, okay, what do I what do I have?
(00:18:05) Courtney: Like I do believe in myself still. Like, I think these guys are wrong. What’s great about funding yourself while it’s so much scarier and it’s it takes a lot more gumption to do it. You retain all your power, you know, and you don’t have to rely on these investors, and then you don’t have to give parts of your business away when you’re still kind of figuring out exactly what that business is.
(00:18:28) Courtney: So I think that’s going to end up being a much better thing for you in the long run. And maybe we’ll have investors later. But then you’ll have much more power and much more control from your business. So I, I think that the fact that you spent so much time building your community and like, listening to the right people, being really mindful about that kind of put you in the best position possible, even through those initial struggles.
(00:18:54) Chelsey: Yeah. And so I’ll, I want to add on to that too. I would also say even before the funding, one of the other challenges, that or hurdles that I had to overcome was, that the setbacks are as equally important to the journey as the yeses, like, the nodes are equally as important right. As we. Yes.
(00:19:18) Chelsey: And those wins. And because I had another very early on, I guess, experience that happened that looked like as if, the journey was not going to happen. So I had a co-founder very early on. And, we she was happened to be connected to investors as well. And, but after we pitched those investors, she realized that the, the building of this business was going to take more than she was able to give, because of certain personal circumstances that were happening in her life.
(00:19:58) Chelsey: I’m having two children, becoming a single mom, you know, that’s a lot. And she came to me and she said, Chelsey, I’m not going to be able to continue this journey with you, but you have to keep going. And that felt like a setback. Like, you know, like, no, you have to you have to do with me. And she’s like, no, I’m not going to be able to.
(00:20:20) Chelsey: And then so after, it took another about another year before my actual co-founders came and showed up. But the lesson in that was that she was there at that exact time, and she wasn’t supposed to go to go the journey. She was just there to help me see that the idea was a good idea, and it was an idea that could go forth and so, that was another, another hurdle, that I over overcame, in order to open that door for the people.
(00:20:56) Chelsey: That we’re going to be able to support it and continue the journey with me to whenever the next time that, you know, they may have to, you know, I guess, be released themselves or go off or do something else. But everyone shows up when they’re supposed to show up for however long they’re supposed to be there.
(00:21:14) Courtney: Yeah, yeah, it’s almost like you have kind of like hurdles, but in hindsight, they’re more like steps rather than hurdles or like I had to. I needed this in order to get to the next, the next place. Which is a really excellent mindset to have as a founder.
(00:21:29) Chelsey: Absolutely.
(00:21:32) Courtney: You are like you kind of mentioned you needed a Y for this business. Like that was super important for you. And a lot of founders really struggle with balancing the purpose of their business with profitability, which is kind of equally as important in some ways. How do you ensure that Brown Babee Co is staying true to the mission while also building something that is really scalable?
(00:21:54) Chelsey: Oh, that is a great question. I think it’s a great question because of the stage that we’re in. And being a very early stage company, we haven’t launched. We actually, don’t plan to launch until October 2025, but we are going to be doing a pre launch in August. But I think balancing the purpose, and profitability of the business really starts with our Y and our mission.
(00:22:25) Chelsey: And then the core values, as well. So knowing that we’re committed to providing safe, and effective solutions for, for children that are, natural or plant based, is what guides every decision that we make. Right. But then also making sure that we’re building a scalable business, while maintaining that mission and that purpose, for us, looks like at this stage of the business, making sure that we have strategic partnerships.
(00:23:02) Chelsey: That makes sense, right? Yeah. So, we just, decided on a developer and manufacturer, that develops clean beauty. We had initially, interviewed several prior to. But as we’re getting closer to, going to develop this product, we’re like, okay, does that still make sense for us knowing what we know now at this stage in the journey, does it still make sense to partner with one of the previous, developers and manufacturers that we interviewed with and or interviewed?
(00:23:34) Chelsey: And we realized no, we needed a, strategic partner that could offer this, this, this, you know, all of these things. And so we went back out to look again and, in doing that, we were able to find a, a strategic partner that not only does the product development and the manufacturing, but also does like the three PL shipping and also, everything.
(00:24:02) Chelsey: And this particular partner also started as a brand, just like us in growing a business and scaling a business, and, and going through those pitfalls and those hurdles. And now they’re setting up the, the manufacturing arm. Right. And so we realized that we need to be partnering with someone with the with the, partner who understands what it takes to go from, you know, an idea to, growth, to scaling and to in investing, you know, investors receiving, investment as well.
(00:24:42) Chelsey: And so I think for us and I would say for any founder, barely very early on, it’s about strategic partnerships. Just you have to get very comfortable about talking about your business, because you never know who you’re going to meet and you never know, how the, the people that come, and join you on the journey, how those partners are going to strategically help you, build your business.
(00:25:10) Chelsey: So for us, building that scalability means strategic partnerships. It also means making sure that, the focusing on the, integrity of our product, making sure that we create and prioritize creating a high quality product very early on. Not saying that we’re putting a perfect product out into the market, right. We want it to be, you know, pretty much solid before we go out to market, because you only get one chance to make a good impression.
(00:25:41) Chelsey: Right. And then those reviews, you don’t want terrible reviews when you take your product out there. To market. So it’s really prioritizing, the integrity of the product that we’re creating. And then making sure that that that solution works for our customers, so that we can, increase our, our trust in our loyalty, among those, customers for long term success.
(00:26:07) Chelsey: And then also, I think for us, it it that scalability, what that looks like for us is making sure that we engage those customers, that those early customers that, you know, that connect with our product, that use our product and getting, actively listening to them and what their feedback is and closing that feedback loop and then refining the product, you know, based on their feedback, is really going to be, important to, to us as it comes as it relates to, balancing the purpose with the profit profitability in the early.
(00:26:44) Chelsey: So, yeah.
(00:26:45) Courtney: Well, and that kind of goes back to what you were saying around, like a lot of times people in business are like, you got to move fast. You gotta keep moving. You gotta put stuff out there. And in the tech world, it’s you know, move fast and break things. And I’ve found with consumer products that is not true.
(00:27:00) Courtney: Like you need a good product before you go out there. You need the right strategic partnerships that, you know, you can deliver on what you’re promising. And so it feels like you’ve been very mindful at every step. Like what is the right strategic partnership? Changing your mind on it? That’s huge, being even though you put all this time into developing one relationship, realizing, you know, this doesn’t actually cover what we need, let’s find something else.
(00:27:24) Courtney: I think all of that stuff is going to really add up and kind of like compound into when you do launch, it’s going to be a lot faster to get to, you know, the success.
(00:27:35) Chelsey: Yeah, absolutely. And then it goes back to what you said too, about, all of the noise, because we have been in some, accelerators where we’ve had mentors who told us, you know, September, it’s too long, it’s too far away to launch. Let’s see if we can cut that in half. And so I, you know, I hear it.
(00:27:55) Chelsey: But that inner knowing would still tell me. No, but it’s telling me no for a reason. And learning to trust that, that knowing of why you’re doing what you’re doing, becomes really important because you’re going to get people to tell you you should do it this way, or you should do it that way. But you but not rushing allows you to make better and more informed decisions.
(00:28:20) Chelsey: At the point, you know, at different points in time so that you can say, you know what, maybe this isn’t the best partnership for us. We need to have we need to to look at this again and make a different choice. So that is something that I, that I have come to learn on this journey. Is different from, you know, a SaaS company.
(00:28:40) Chelsey: And, and going out there quickly and breaking things is to really make sure we have that validation, the product and the partnerships.
(00:28:48) Courtney: Yeah. Another big element of your brand is especially for early consumer product brands, like like yours is the branding and the storytelling. How have you developed? Because it’s probably the most fun part is coming up with the brand and and your name and your logo and all that stuff. How has that process been for you?
(00:29:06) Chelsey: I would say that that process has been very much intuitive. Just like the it just like the the journey has felt very intuitive. The name has felt very intuitive as well. Very early on, that name, came to me very, very early on. And so I’ve stuck with that name. And I have heard, you know, people have told me like that we should change the name, but trusting that that is the right name for the right reason and then seeing everything unfold from that, even the, the product packaging that we’ve developed, the story, it all has been very intuitive.
(00:29:52) Chelsey: I will say, because we’re still very much early in this process that one of the things that I have really stuck to is leading with the story, and what I have found is that leading with the story, and it has to be compelling. So you do you do have to have a compelling story, but leading with that has you can’t go wrong, you can’t go wrong.
(00:30:20) Chelsey: And you need with your story.
(00:30:22) Courtney: Yeah, yeah. And I think that you have a very good story, which is good for you. And the, the brand itself, I think also it came out of necessity and from its purpose, which is all great things, but also sticking to your guns with, with the name brand Baby Cow. I think that a lot of founders would kind of get scared off by it.
(00:30:46) Courtney: Because the reason that they wanted you to change your name was just because they didn’t want to exclude any, anyone. Right? They didn’t want to say, oh, this is only for brown babies. Like, because really, Brown Babee Co supports all ethnicities, right? All skin tones. Right.
(00:31:01) Chelsey: That’s absolutely yes. So awesome. And I would say that some people have when they do hear the name they, they do believe that it resonates with only, you know, for children of color. But then there have been a large majority of people when they hear the name, that’s not the first thing that comes to the mind for them.
(00:31:21) Chelsey: But Brown Babee really represents my journey to becoming, it’s a ten year journey that included, you know, and ovarian cancer diagnosis. It included, you know, a stage for endometriosis diagnosis. It included, you know, many failed rounds of IVF. It included, you know, my neighbor and so has been, you know, approaching my husband and I and saying, you know, let us carry for you.
(00:31:48) Chelsey: So, Brown Babee really represents my journey to becoming a mom and having the child, you know, that I have, or that I have, but, I and I think to by by leading with the story, the people that are meant to understand it, the people that are going to support it, they understand it from, from from that perspective.
(00:32:14) Chelsey: Right. Because the reality is, is that everyone is not going to buy your product. No, not everyone buys any businesses, right? Your product is for, for the community that that, you know, that uses and believes in the brand. And so I believe that the community, of moms and dads, that use the product will believe in the brand and they understand that it’s for all children.
(00:32:41) Courtney: Yeah. And with good enough marketing, you can explain that to people.
(00:32:46) Chelsey: Absolutely.
(00:32:49) Courtney: So you have had some early recognition, which is really cool. You were a recognized as a Black Ambition Prize semifinalist, so congratulations on that. With that recognition, how is that kind of helped navigate the journey or what has what impact has that made? With Brown Babee how.
(00:33:08) Chelsey: Are you doing. So we and we three four we were recognized as Black Ambition prize semifinalist. And then we also participated in the New Voices Foundation, madam C.J. Walker Institute, Peace Boot camp. And we just finished that up. That was a 13 week program. We just finished that up as well. But I think that what both of these programs, have provided for us is a solid foundation to be able to launch and execute our business effectively.
(00:33:35) Chelsey: So the timing of even being in those programs was, it was it was necessary and it was needed. I think the reason that we applied to those programs was, to see, you know, what we what we had was that was that good enough? And that helped us to say to realize like, oh, we do have something and we should continue to move forward.
(00:34:03) Chelsey: But, even beyond that, like both of those programs really helped give us the tools, and the resources that we need to avoid some of the, mistakes that, new founders face and then the mentorship and then the networking opportunities that we gained from, you know, being a part of these programs, is invaluable. It they also these programs have helped us to, to learn from other, experienced founders and then industry experts as well.
(00:34:35) Chelsey: And then it boosted our confidence, you know, and it helped us to refine some of our strategies, for when we do launch and when we do. Well, when we do scale. And then, we have a community. So we have a community of, of of, other founders and mentors that we can reach out to and access very quickly if we need to ask their different questions.
(00:34:59) Chelsey: And so I think that being a part of, of, both programs has really led to us building a strong foundation to be able to support, the growth, the future growth of Brown Babee. And in the future scaling of grandbaby.
(00:35:16) Courtney: Yeah. I think that’s such a good, it’s like, but you call out that you have kind of this, like, community of other founders and mentors. So I think a lot of founders just feel so lonely and isolated. And, you know, one of the reasons that we started this podcast was because all founders feel like they have these very unique problems that they really don’t like.
(00:35:35) Courtney: Everybody’s kind of going through the same stuff. Right. And so to have kind of someone at your fingertips that you can, like, tap on their shoulder and be like, oh, I’m dealing with this crazy thing. I don’t know how to deal with it. Is really powerful. And I think it’s probably pretty good advice to tell other founders to go find those, bootcamps and those accelerators and things like that, and find those little pockets of community where you can, because it sounds like it made a pretty big difference for, for you guys.
(00:36:02) Chelsey: Absolutely. And then I think you get to see too, where you are in the process. I know in the New Voices Foundation bootcamp, we were the only company that was still pre-launch that hadn’t, you know, launched, their business yet. And you get to see, where you are in the process and you get to see that even, you know, these later stage founders, they’re still dealing with like the, you know, a lot of the same issues that you’re going to deal with.
(00:36:33) Chelsey: And then they’re like you said, they’re all dealing with them as well together collectively. But that those a lot of those problems never go away. It’s part of the process of being in business.
(00:36:46) Courtney: Yeah. I always talk about being like a business owner or a founder. CEO is like you’re constantly solving a Rubik’s Cube, and every time you like do the last turn, it turns into a larger Rubik’s Cube and there’s like a whole nother thing you have to solve and you’re just like, problem solving is the job. And so as long as you can accept that, then, then you’ll find success.
(00:37:09) Chelsey: Yeah, that’s a great way to describe it.
(00:37:11) Courtney: I like so looking ahead over the next five years, what is your vision for Brown Babee Co.
(00:37:19) Chelsey: Oh wow. This is a great question. So I think because I don’t I don’t like to tie it to anything tangible. So I’m going to keep it really. I’m just going to take it back to my wife. And that is to my vision is to collectively build with other people. Something that’s bigger than ourselves.
(00:37:47) Chelsey: And I see, I see us doing that already, and I can see us continuing, to build a brand baby, into that, into that entity, into it that is much bigger than just us and the community that we serve.
(00:38:03) Courtney: Yeah. Well, so that kind of really nicely leads into my next question around beyond the product itself. So beyond just like the creams or, you know, your SKUs, how are you starting to foster that community, with parents or kind of with, you know, people who have babies with eczema, on like a deeper level. How are you starting to foster that community?
(00:38:28) Chelsey: That’s a that’s a good question. I think so, because we’re still very early stage, and I keep saying that I sound like a broken record, but we are currently building out our, like our, customer experience roadmap and the roadmap to, to launch. Right. And so we are refining, exactly like our strategies for being able to connect with parents on a deeper level, like what that’s going to look like.
(00:38:54) Chelsey: But I think at this very early stage, what that looks like is, it looks like me being here and sharing the story of, of Brown Babee, sharing the story of, you know, my journey and what led me to build, the company, is part of fostering that community. So that people can really get behind it and support it.
(00:39:22) Chelsey: But when it comes to more of, like, the strategic, or the strategy of, you know, what, we’re how we’re going to execute that, that is something that we’re still, laying, laying down. But yeah. So like the story sharing history and.
(00:39:35) Courtney: Yeah, yeah, focusing on that mission and I think again, like those things will start presenting themselves to you. Just like this podcast kind of presented itself to you. And just taking those opportunities where you can find them.
(00:39:48) Chelsey: Absolutely.
(00:39:51) Courtney: So one question that I ask everybody is if you could give yourself a piece of advice when you were just starting Brown, maybe go, what would that advice be?
(00:40:03) Chelsey: I would say I would tell myself. That you are worthy. Yeah. Because there was in the very beginning, I didn’t believe that I was worthy. If you had told me back then that I would be here at this point having, you know, two co-founders, as you know, investing in ourselves and me being on a podcast with you to share, I would not have believed it.
(00:40:37) Chelsey: And because I did not believe that I was worthy, I didn’t believe that I could, that I could do it. And but now I believe I believe that I’m worthy. I believe that we are all worthy. I believe that there’s enough room for all of us, to, you know, to build our dreams, to be supportive, in building our dreams.
(00:41:05) Chelsey: So I would tell myself that to believe that you’re worthy.
(00:41:10) Courtney: Yeah, I love that. And I, I think that so obviously, like, imposter syndrome is kind of like what you’re, you’re touching on here and it’s when you think about yourself when you were seven years old and you’re saying, I’m going to start a business, you definitely knew you were worthy then. And then all these things happened in your life and you get all this doubt and stuff.
(00:41:30) Courtney: And so just like, cut through that and remember what that seven year old was thinking. And get in that mindset, I think is kind of a beautiful thing. And to layer that with all of your experiences, I think you’re definitely worthy of Brown Babee Girl. And I think Brown Babee Go is definitely worthy. Of the success that I know is coming for it.
(00:41:48) Chelsey: Thank you. Oh.
(00:41:52) Courtney: Well, so to kind of wrap up, can you tell us where people can find you online?
(00:41:56) Chelsey: Yeah. So you can find us online at W dot Brown Babee.com. And so it’s spelled b r o w n b a b e. And then you can find us on Instagram at Brown Babee Co. And you can find us on Facebook at Brown Babee Cool. And our social media handles actually at Brown Babee Code.
(00:42:17) Courtney: Amazing. Great. And we’ll tag you. So people can can click and find you. But I’m very excited. Thank you so much for for being on the show. Chelsey, this has been a really lovely conversation.
(00:42:27) Chelsey: Thank you. And thank you so much for for reaching out and for, for believing in me, because I know when we first talked, I was like, I haven’t scaled anything yet. But thank you.
(00:42:40) Courtney: Yeah. This will be a great benchmark that you can look back on in a couple of years and be like, well, like, look at how far we’ve come and.
(00:42:48) Chelsey: The.
(00:42:50) Courtney: Amazing. And thank you to everyone listening. On the go. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please make sure to subscribe, share with a friend, leave us a review. And if there’s anything that you’d like to hear, please just let us know. For more insights, please follow us on LinkedIn or visit right Left agency.com and we’ll be back next time with more stories of success, innovation and marketing strategies to help you grow.
(00:43:13) Courtney: Thank you so much.
