Jujo Baby was born from Julia Stafford’s struggle to swaddle her first child, who didn’t like her arms wrapped tightly. When swaddled, she would fight until her arms were free but by this time, she was so frustrated that settling and sleep were out of the question. Trying to save their sanity, Julia had an idea about how good it would be to be able to pop her daughter’s arms in some sleeves and wrap the rest of her with a blanket section. This is how the idea of a blanket with sleeves, The Shwrap™, was born. Julia had been a knitwear designer for many years and absolutely loved her work and the creativity that came with it – but the travel, plus the long hours involved, along with having no family of their own nearby to help, made it impossible to maintain as their family grew. It was when her son was born that she decided to back herself to start what is now Jujo Baby – working during his naps to create new designs and putting her first samples into production. Here she talks to The Natural Parent Magazine about her business journey so far: her biggest breakthrough, the challenges she has overcome, and her hopes and dreams for the future.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
The first and most important steps I took when starting Jujo Baby were to make up proto samples of my design and rework these until they were perfect. I was lucky that being in the industry, I had the knowledge and contacts around knitwear manufacturing. It was the actual business and marketing side that I would find to be the hardest.
There were many tweaks and resampling. Then there were the testing requirements to make sure they were compliant and labelled correctly. I decided at the beginning I would concentrate on using one yarn, being 100% super soft cotton for its soft, breathable qualities and the kindest on young, delicate skin. Our knitwear is fully fashioned, which means it is knitted to shape and produces beautiful fashioning details around the seams. This not only gives extra comfort with linked flat, neat seams, but is more sustainable as there is minimal yarn or fabric wastage. We have extended this sustainability into our eco packaging. I also wanted to make a product that would last, to be an investment rather than an item that the baby would outgrow in a month or so. By adding deep rib cuffs that can be folded or unfolded, the sleeves can grow with the baby, and we added fastenings to the underarm so as the baby grows and starts to move more, the blanket section can be secured at the underarm. Being one size, our Shwrap™ can be used from newborn to up to 12m+. To complement the Shwrap™, we also designed a very small capsule clothing range.
Once we had the designs and production sorted, the next step was to take it to market, which was probably the most stressful and hardest part of starting the business. I had no idea about websites, social media, branding, etc. I tried to do as much as I could myself, but this was my first lesson: that it is sometimes better and more cost effective in the long run to outsource or learn from the experts – this included my logo and website build.
Direct to customer sales, I started with small local markets and now exhibit at some of the largest baby Expos around Australia. From there, I built on wholesale also and am very happy to be stocked in some beautiful stores.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
It’s actually hard to pinpoint one specific breakthrough. There are so many important milestones: my first sale, first wholesale order, first review, first spotting a baby in Jujo Baby while out and about, doing my first expo and meeting my customers in person, working with mentors and meeting amazing friends through this have all been huge breakthroughs for me.
Receiving my first collection and seeing it professionally photographed was a pivotal moment. The feedback I received from the parents at the photoshoot and over the following weeks was wonderful and gave me the confidence to push forward.
What has transpired too is that the Shwrap™ is more than just a wrap; it makes getting out and about so much easier because it can be used in the pushchair with the safety harness and the blanket section covering the legs. It is hip friendly and for babies with hip dysplasia, it can be worn as a cardigan with the blanket section covering the hip cast. It can be used for discreet breastfeeding, and best of all, you can pick your baby up, comfort and carry them without having to unwrap them as you would with a traditional blanket.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
I’m not sure that I do – ha ha. I have definitely got better at it the longer I’ve been in business, and setting boundaries around work and family time is a must. I went as far as a physical boundary by adding doors to the open plan room I used as an office. Once those doors were closed, I was offline.
My husband John has always been so supportive and there to help me over the hurdles. He is also usually assigned to working out the constant tech issues I seem to create. It does help that my children are older now too. My daughter Eve works with me at the baby Expos and helps pick and pack orders, which we brought back in house so it’s become a real family affair.
