Having spent over 15 years as a clinical nurse working in a Neonatal ICU, Tamara Webber spent many long hours surrounded by new mums, and understands that growing into your new role can take some adjusting. Establishing your maternity wardrobe can play a major role in redefining your sense of self as a mother, without compromising your style, and it can be important to find the right clothes for your pregnancy and beyond. She launched Bump Love Maternity to provide women with quality, stylish pieces that are on trend and fit your lifestyle and your budget. Here, she talks to The Natural Parent Magazine about the inspiration behind her business, the challenges she has overcome along the way, and her hopes and dreams for the future.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
Not long after getting married, my husband and I were thinking of starting a family. At the time, there were not very many maternity clothes that appealed to me and my sense of style. Having worked as a clinical nurse in a Neonatal ICU, I was exposed to breastfeeding mums every day and started observing more and more what they were wearing and how I could adapt it to my style. I slowly started doing more research and started on the path of designing and manufacturing small batches of maternity and breastfeeding clothing. Over the next few years and many rounds of fertility treatments, my husband and I came to the realisation that kids would not be in our future. I had to make the decision to continue with my maternity fashion business or close the door and leave it behind, but by this stage I was so passionate about it, there was no way I could give it up. In a sense, it became my baby.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
Having no experience in anything business related, I thought you get your products, start an Instagram account, have a launch party and boom, all your beautiful customers will find you lol.
So it’s been a very interesting journey, learning all the business fundamentals and just figuring things out along the way, sometimes the hard way, all while still working full time in the hospital. December will be my fourth year in business and I still don’t feel like I know what I’m doing, but I’m having fun and can finally start reducing my shifts in the hospital thanks to my lovely customers that have supported me along the way.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
The biggest breakthrough was getting Bump Love onto The Iconic market place. I started Bump Love with no experience in the fashion industry so when The Iconic reached out to enquire if I would be interested in selling my products on their market place, I was over the moon and did a little happy dance because it meant that my designs would be up there with some major brands. This was validation that the designs that I was putting out into the world were just as good as some of the best out there.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
For me it’s easy – family comes first so there’s no work after dinner and no work on the weekend. Unless it’s an expo or something, in which case I drag my husband along to help me with all the set up.
