From tiny baby hands and feet to the paws of a much-loved pet, some of life’s most precious moments deserve to be remembered forever. For mother-and-daughter duo Kealie and Fi, this idea was the inspiration behind Little Miracles Casting, a business dedicated to helping families and pet owners create beautiful, lasting keepsakes. Combining their love of creativity with a shared appreciation for life’s meaningful relationships, they have created casting kits that bring people together while preserving special memories in a tangible way. Here, they talk to The Natural Parent Magazine about the inspiration behind their business, the joy of working together, balancing business and family life, and their hopes and dreams for the future.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
For Keals and Fi, the business started as a mother-and-daughter passion project.
Little Miracles Casting ticked many boxes. Kealie’s passion for meaningful creativity, coupled with her background in early learning and speech pathology, has led her to use craft activities and play while working with children. She uses creativity as a tool for understanding and communicating the fragility of life, while teaching the importance of celebrating and commemorating life’s most precious moments with something tangible you can hold onto. Those things combined meant this particular business was a perfect fit.
Fi’s background in marketing small business ownership, along with enthusiasm for the joy of creative endeavours, made this business the perfect combination of work and fun. Working with her daughter has been an added bonus. As a mum, she recognises the significance and value of finding ways to honour small, everyday moments, knowing just how quickly that tiny hand that once held onto your finger grows through all the stages and into adulthood, right before your very eyes.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
Great question for both of us! Kealie was making handprints in clay as Christmas gifts for the parents of the children she cares for at the childcare centre. At the time, she was holding the hand of one of the babies when she realised how precious a full hand mould would be. And that was the initial thought bubble that sparked an idea.
At around the same time, I had been having conversations with friends about the passing of time, about how your babies grow up so quickly that you often forget just how tiny their little fingers and toes once were. I was also hearing something similar from pet owners about the bonds they share with their dogs and cats, from the absolute joy they feel when they first cuddle their new pet to the grief they feel when a pet is nearing end of life.
Those experiences were the catalyst for us chatting about the kind of business we could run together. We knew it would have to bring something positive and heartwarming to people’s lives. We both wanted to make a small difference in a way that honours and commemorates the most important relationships in people’s lives. And tadaa! Little Miracles Casting took shape.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
Our biggest breakthrough was realising just how many possibilities there are – how many different types of significant relationships are worth honouring and celebrating: parents and children, pet owners and their pets, romantic partners, grandparents, friends and groups.
That was the point where things got really quite exciting, because that’s when we realised we could help bring some joyful, celebratory moments and tangible memories to so many people. The bonding experience of creating the castings is often just as important as the finished sculpture itself. We’re both big believers in the notion that it’s the experiences in life that bring the most joy and create those precious, unrepeatable moments in time. And we love the fact that, at Little Miracles Casting, our kits can help facilitate those fun, bonding experiences that create beautiful memories, while also resulting in a tangible memento you can hold.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
Setting clear boundaries is key, and of course, the balance is much easier to achieve when the work you do is aligned with your values. Having good time management skills and knowing the difference between busyness and productivity are all key elements. There’s always a lot to do, and it’s easy to get caught up in that, so it’s essential to make conscious plans and decisions that help us build our business while also prioritising family as much as possible.
We have learned the value of having clear-cut agendas and strategies to work on to keep the business moving forward and to leave work at work when we are having family time.
The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
Prioritising self-care and stillness when the list of things to do is constantly growing can be a challenge, but we both stay conscious of the importance of self-care – physically, mentally and spiritually.
There will always be circumstances beyond our control that impact the business and that can be a little frustrating. Shipping costs, compliance requirements and ingredient availability can change. These depend on a range of factors beyond our control. It’s something we have to manage by being aware of what can happen, staying one step ahead and having backup plans in place.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
The main pros are flexibility, creativity and the fact that we can choose which direction to take the business in. It’s important to keep things evolving and to listen to what our customers want. We can follow our own excitement, though, and align with our own values, knowing that our efforts will be appreciated by others.
Something that sits in both the pro and con columns is that you really do get back what you put in. It means we see the outcome of the time, energy and effort we put into the business reflected back to us.
The cons are all the usual things for anyone in business. It’s the constant juggling, the pressure of responsibility, managing every element from finances to stock to delivery, and some of those circumstances I mentioned that are beyond our control.
Hopes and dreams: What next?
We would love to expand the business creatively, to see how far we can take the products and just how creative we can get. One of the things we absolutely love about these products is the fact that there are so many options for creating. What can be made with our casting moulds is limited only by imagination, and that’s a wonderful thing to be involved with – facilitating creativity.
Visit the Little Miracles Casting website to find out more, and connect with them on Facebook and Instagram.
