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Interview with the founders of Jack's Harvest
Have you ever tried baby food that you actually enjoyed yourself and maybe even used in a recipe for adults? No chuckles please, it exists. I recently discovered "Jack's Harvest" - organic baby food that is infused with delicious herbs and spices. There are plenty of organics on the market but I think that the flavor combinations and the audacity to use interesting spices is what makes this brand unique. Heather Schoenrock and Connie Pope created this company looking for healthy and fun eating options for their own kids, so as with any good idea it came out of demand for a better product. These savvy moms have their hands full but they are consistent, true to their organic promise and creative. Read on for their answers on running a successful company.
How long did it take you to get it off the ground?
Heather: We incorporated in December of 2006 and I would say the first order from Whole Foods in August of 2008 was the real turning point for us. It let us know there was not just local demand for our product, but also regional demand. And with the addition of Amazon.com, in January 2009, we were able to meet national demand.
Connie: It took a year from the time we decided to "go for it" to find a kitchen, get our certifications and get our online shopping cart live. And as Heather said, getting into all the Whole Foods in Georgia was a big turning point and then going regional with them six months later showed customer demand and Whole Foods’ commitment to our product category.
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Interview with the founders of Boogie Wipes
The idea to start Boogie Wipes came to Mindee and Julie out of necessity - kids with runny noses. Now it's a prospering enterprise supplying nationwide stores and moms everywhere with saline-infused wipes. Their energy is contagious - meeting with vendors, developing new scents, brainstorming marketing ideas. The office that I saw in the video is more like an office at your family house, and the kids are happily getting involved as budding entrepreneurs. Mindee and Julie are a great example of applying their previous work skills to the new venture of their own. I think you will enjoy their answers to our questions in this interview and learn a lot from these moms of ingenuity.
Who came up with the idea for Boogie Wipes? How much fun did you have with the name?
The idea came from a moment Mindee was having with her daughter to treat her stuffy nose. Trying squirt the saline up her nose and use the "sucker" was not working so she put it on a wipe and it seemed to work pretty well. One thing led to another, the name was born because she had always called her kids boogers "boogies" and Julie loves to say "let's boogie" to get her kids moving from one thing to the next throughout the day. It just fit for us both from day 1, we never even tried to think of another name for it. To this day we have not tapped out all the fun puns and jokes and slogans we can come up with about boogers, boogie and snot. We love it!!
