“I was really emotional when the first orders went out the door. And then I sold out after two months, and the reviews came through and they were so positive, and I was even more emotional. I never in my wildest dreams thought it was going to happen, and I was so overwhelmed with the whole journey”.
The uptake was fantastic and so were the reviews. To date, she’s received 71 glowing reviews, with all but one rating the “Breasties” five stars out of five.
A lactation consultant even labelled them “an essential tool in my pumping journey”.
Another shipment has since sold out, and now MC’s garage is packed with her third batch of breastpumps, carry cases and boxes that she packs and ships herself.
Service
Along the way, MC has not only become an authority on breastpumps; she’s become a trusted advocate for pumping and the journey pumping mothers go through.
She is open about much of her parenting journey, including how she juggles childcare and running a business, and her love of Taylor Swift (of course).
She is driven by her own unhelpful customer service experiences, and goes the extra mile wherever she can. She always replies to messages, packs out orders with freebies from other brands she loves like Second Nature, The Nude Alchemist and Daeli.
Anyone who leaves a review, positive or not, gets replacement parts for free.
The pumps have 12 different sized flanges for all nipple sizes, making Breastfriend the most inclusive pump in New Zealand. More recently, she’s even started throwing in a nipple ruler so users can know exactly what size they should be using, rather than using approximates.
And while her pump performs as well, if not better, than other top pumps, MC keeps her prices low – less than the price of others.
“I started BreastFriend because I wanted to help other mums like me. The reality is I need the business to be profitable in order to do that, but I also really want it to be accessible and available, and not priced out of reach for everyday mums”.
In December, Sienna turned one. All mums go through remarkable change in that first year, and MC has certainly found that out herself.
“I get emotional when I think about everything that’s happened in that time. This business is just me – I’m not trained in this, but I’ve had this experience that opened my eyes into something nobody talks about and I want to make it better.
“So much of it was hard but then I think about where things have got to now, and what it can mean for other people…it’s overwhelming. I get so much joy from what I’m doing with BreastFriend now, even though it’s still a massive job every day. But I know it’s making a difference, and that’s a really cool thing to be able to say”.
Photos by Olga Bhana.
