1.  How is your vision for Lulujo today different from what it was when you started?

My vision in the beginning was really about being able to work from home and making enough money so that I didn’t need to work corporate job and I could be home during day for my kids. As the company grew, I learned quickly if I wanted it to succeed it wouldn’t quite look like that. 🙂 My vision today is continued global growth as a recognized brand on shelves in retail stores around the world. 

 2. What part of the success of Lulujo has surprised you the most?

Our international reach. I had no idea that products which we designed for Canadian moms/parents/babies would be equally accepted and bought worldwide. It surprises me how very small the world is when our customers are actually countries now – our distributors – not just individual retail stores.

 3. What are you most proud of?

So many things I am proud of. If I had to pick, I am most proud of the team of people behind Lulujo and of the work we have done together. I am so proud that I get to work with these people every day.  

 4. What is one of the hardest lessons you’ve learned since starting your business?

It doesn’t get easier – you just learn to manage it all better.

  5. Many people are just learning Lulujo is a local brand. What has your experience been running your company in New Brunswick?

I LOVE running a company from New Brunswick. I say this all of the time. I am from Nova Scotia but have lived here 15 years and it just keeps getting better. People are authentic and hard-working and dedicated. We have some of the best and brightest and creative minds right here. We have support from our community, from government, and from other local companies who have had similar challenges. I feel so blessed and grateful and privileged to be living here and have NB as Lulujo’s home. #NBPROUD

  6. Speaking as a woman in business, what are some of the challenges you have faced?

As a person in business we all face the same types of challenges daily. Running a profitable company is difficult. As a woman, I think the additional challenge would be that I am a mom first, then business person second … so I am constantly shifting gears in my brain from mom to business – that is a challenge.

  7. Speaking as a mom in business, what are some of the challenges you have faced?

 Truthfully, I feel it is very difficult to manage all of it. Making sure your daughter’s braid is how she wants it, that your children’s lunches are packed with healthy snacks, that their water bottle isn’t leaking, that you have a matching lid for the container, that you remember to sign their notes and homework, that their teeth are brushed, clothes are clean, tears are wiped, books are read, and cuddles at night time all happen while you also are thinking about profit margins can be overwhelming. I think our biggest issue is having enough support and help so that we can manage it all and not be too overwhelmed.

  8. What can you tell us about your children, and what is their reaction or interest in Lulujo?

I’ve been a single mom for the last 4 years to Emily (Lulu) and Jack (Jo), so my children are my family and they have had no choice but to fully integrate with Lulujo. There is just no other option. And on the flip side, Lulujo didn’t have a choice but to be part of my childrens’ lives. So we are all just one. I work from home a lot, the kids come to my office on snow days, and they will start to travel with me to trade shows soon. Emily often spends evenings drawing patterns for me now while I am working at the table with fabric and designs and new products. Jack is going to help me with creating company videos this spring.

   9. How do you try to integrate work and family?

Lulujo is not my work, it is just part of me. My children, my family, my friends, my co-workers are all intertwined with Lulujo. I never feel like I am “going to work.” There is no hump day or weekend, it’s just my life. Being a working single mom, I’ve learned to multi-task very efficiently!

   10. Describe the perfect day off with your kids.

It would start with them making breakfast in bed for me!  Generally takes an hour for them to get it together and they fight but they do it together and are so proud of themselves. And then they jump in, we watch movies lazily together and later spend a summer afternoon with chips and lemonades by the pool chillin’ and talking.

   11. What do you do for yourself to maintain balance?

I don’t really have any answer to this … life is never quite in balance, its always shifting from one side to the next. I do spend more time with friends and I’ve learned how important your girlfriends are the older I get. They are a wonderful gift.

   12. What have you learned from working with so many mothers around the world who buy and use your products?

We are all the same. Moms from Canada, US, South America, Korea, UK etc., we all want the same things for our children.

  13. After so much growth over the past two years, what projects are you most excited about next?

 We are collaborating with group of young girls at a local school to create the Lulujo Wish Blanket. The girls will each be able to draw or write a block for the blanket. Their design will be what they would wish for any newborn child – happiness, sunshine, love, dreams etc. This blanket will be a collection of their best wishes for the next generation of babies. The Lulujo Wish Blanket will not only be gifted to moms in hospitals across Canada, but 100% profit sales will be given to the IWK.

   14. What goals have you set for 2016?

Travel more with kids. Travel less with Lulujo.

   15. What advice would you give to any mom who wants to start a business or change her career path?

Don’t. HA! Truthfully, my advice is to know that it is not as easy as it looks. Its not glamorous. It takes incredible amount of hard work for a long time with no end in sight most of the time. Its not the passion that is important – it is perseverance. BUT, if it is truly something you want to do and can vision what it looks like, then just go for it. The longer you think about it, the less likely it will happen. Go with your gut.