When Sian Hodges became a mum, her world changed in ways she could never have imagined. Following the premature arrival of her son and his unexpected Down Syndrome diagnosis, she found strength in the support of an amazing community and inspiration to create something meaningful. Today, she’s the founder of Beau & Bloom, a thoughtful boutique baby brand creating beautiful organic cotton nappy caddies and baby hampers, while giving back to the Down Syndrome community. Beau & Bloom is a small, mother-led brand built on the belief that even in the busiest seasons of motherhood, you don’t have to compromise on beauty or practicality. In this interview, Sian shares the story behind her business, the realities of balancing work and motherhood, and her hopes and dreams for the future.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
I’ve always loved the idea of having a business of some sort, but I never really knew what that would look like. Before having children, I worked in quite a demanding corporate role and there never seemed to be the time or headspace to explore any of the ideas I had.
Then life took a very unexpected turn. My husband and I had been moving around a lot, living separately in different countries and generally living quite a chaotic, unsettled life. The pandemic brought us back to England, and for the first time, we decided to stop, properly put down roots and start a family.
Luckily, I fell pregnant with our son quite quickly, and honestly, it was the most dreamy pregnancy. I spent months daydreaming about life as a new mum, getting his little wardrobe ready and imagining what life would look like when he arrived.
Then he decided to do things his own way and arrived a month early.
When he was born, we also received a surprise diagnosis of Down Syndrome. He was quite poorly and spent a long time in hospital, so suddenly I found myself navigating a world I never expected to be part of. It was a huge adjustment. I was learning how to be a mum, caring for a premature baby and trying to get my head around a lot of medical information all at the same time.
But alongside all of that, we were welcomed into the most incredible community. We met wonderful families, charities and organisations who offered so much support during those early days. I was completely infatuated with my son and always knew I wanted to find a way to give something back to a community that had given so much to us.
I saw lots of amazing people taking on fundraising challenges, marathons and triathlons, but I knew that wasn’t going to be my path. I’m not sporty, and I don’t think anyone needs to suffer through watching me train for a marathon!
As we settled into family life, I found myself surrounded by baby products. Like many new parents, I think I fell into the trap of believing that more stuff would somehow make life easier. One of those items was a nappy caddy. It was incredibly useful, but it was a fairly uninspiring grey felt one. I wasn’t especially comfortable with the materials it was made from either. Having my son sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole when it came to learning what things were made of and paying more attention to what I was bringing into our home.
I found an organic cotton nappy caddy that I loved the look of and ordered it straight away. When it arrived, though, it was tiny. It looked beautiful, but it didn’t actually fit everything I needed.
I still had nappies and baby bits overflowing out of drawers and disappearing down the side of the changing table, and that was when I had my lightbulb moment.
I remember thinking, surely I can’t be the only person looking for something that’s beautiful, made from organic cotton and actually big enough to be useful.
That was the beginning of Beau & Bloom.
I wanted to create a nappy caddy that looked lovely in the home, made life easier for parents and allowed me to give something back at the same time. The idea that a percentage of profits could support the Down Syndrome UK charity felt like a wonderful way to combine all of those things.
I went into it quite blindly, and if I’d known exactly what was involved in designing a product, finding manufacturers and launching a business, I probably would never have started. In hindsight, being slightly naive was probably a blessing, and I’m so glad I took the leap.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
Very slowly!
From the first idea to actually launching took almost two years. At the beginning, I naively thought I’d come up with a design, find someone to make it and launch a few months later. The reality was very different!
I worked with a wonderful designer to bring my ideas to life, and I loved that part of the process. Designing the prints, colours and little details was exciting because I could finally see the vision I’d had in my head starting to become real.
Finding the right manufacturing partner took much longer than I expected, and once we did, every little change meant a new sample, another round of tweaks and another wait for it to arrive. I quickly realised that creating a product from scratch requires a lot of patience. Every detail seemed to take far longer than I thought it would.
At the same time, life didn’t exactly slow down. I was raising my son, renovating our home and, somewhere along the way, having my daughter too! Looking back, I’m not entirely sure how it all got done.
When launch day finally arrived, it was incredibly exciting, but also slightly terrifying. I’d spent so long focused on creating the product that I hadn’t really thought about what came next. I assumed that once we launched, people would somehow find us, and nappy caddies would start flying off the metaphorical shelves!
The reality couldn’t have been further from this. It took weeks before I sold my first nappy caddy. It turns out launching a business doesn’t automatically come with customers, which was a slightly sobering lesson! It soon became clear that launching wasn’t the finish line at all – it was actually the starting line.
Since then, it’s been a gradual process of helping people discover Beau & Bloom, sharing our story and explaining what we’re all about. It’s definitely been a slower journey than I expected, but I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built so far.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
I don’t think there was one big lightbulb moment or overnight breakthrough. If I’m honest, the biggest breakthrough was probably finding the confidence to talk about what I was doing.
For quite a long time, I kept Beau & Bloom fairly quiet. I’d invested so much time, energy and money into it, and it felt very personal. I think part of me was worried that if I told everyone about it and they didn’t like the product, or it didn’t work out, I’d look really silly and like a failure! So I spent a lot of time quietly working away on it in the background.
When I eventually started talking about it and sharing my ideas with friends and other parents, I was surprised by how many people understood exactly what I was trying to create. I know I’m quite particular about things like natural materials and supporting ethical companies, and I wasn’t sure whether anyone else cared about those things as much as I did. It turned out I wasn’t the only one.
Once I started having those conversations, I realised just how many parents felt the same way. They cared about supporting small businesses, buying from other mums, choosing natural materials where they could and being more thoughtful about what they brought into their homes.
That was probably the biggest breakthrough for me. It gave me the confidence to trust my instincts and keep going. It showed me that Beau & Bloom wasn’t just solving a problem for me; it resonated with other families too.
Even now, I still get a little boost every time a customer leaves a lovely review or sends a kind message. It reminds me that there are other people out there who care about the same things I do, and it gives me the confidence to keep going.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
Honestly, I’m not sure I’ve figured it out yet!
I’ve always wanted to be a stay-at-home mum, and I love the little life we’ve created together. We moved around a lot, but we’ve finally settled into a place that feels like home. I love nothing more than pottering around the garden with the children or spending slow days baking together.
I have a tendency to be 100mph and flit from one task to the next, so I make a conscious effort to slow down and be present with the children. On the flip side, I love having a creative project and working on something that’s just for me. I’ve always been quite driven, and having a little business to nurture alongside being a mum gives me a real sense of purpose. Sometimes those two things pull me in different directions, and finding the right balance can be challenging.
When I first started Beau & Bloom, all of my work happened in the evenings once the children were in bed. I’d often work late into the night, and for a while that worked well.
Now I’m pregnant with our third child, those late evenings have become much harder. By the time dinner is cooked, everyone is in bed and the house is tidy, I’m ready to flop into bed!
These days, I tend to fit work into smaller pockets of time. My children are now two and four, and while there are certainly plenty of disagreements between them, they’re also at an age where they’ll happily play together for a while. I’ll use those little windows to reply to emails, pack orders or work through my to-do list.
I’m also incredibly lucky to have a very supportive husband. I don’t think he fully realised what he was signing up for when I started Beau & Bloom! Somewhere along the way, he’s become Chief Everything Else – box carrier, order packer, delivery driver, photographer, videographer and emergency office supplies buyer. He gets roped into far more of the business than either of us ever expected.
There isn’t really a perfect system or a set routine – we make it work as we go along. Some weeks the children have a ‘Daddy Day’, which they think is the greatest thing ever. Other weeks he’s helping me pack orders or cutting the calico to wrap our hampers in.
What I’ve realised is that balance doesn’t always look the way you expect it to. Most weeks I wish I could give the business more of my attention, but I also know that the season of life I’m in right now won’t last forever. Instead, I try to celebrate the small steps forward rather than expect perfection.
The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
There have been so many challenges! Finding the right manufacturing partner turned out to be a lot harder than I expected. I was determined to use organic cotton, even though it would have been much easier and cheaper not to. There were lots of moments where things became so complicated that I felt completely out of my depth! At times it felt like a huge gamble, investing our family savings into an idea when I had no experience of running a business.
Eventually, though, we had a lovely full circle moment. I’m half Indian, and tailoring runs through my dad’s side of the family. As it turned out, we still have a family member in India working in textiles. Being able to partner with him has been really special. It feels like a connection to my family’s heritage, and it gives me a huge amount of confidence in how our products are made.
One of the biggest challenges, though, has been trying to juggle being a mum to a child with complex health needs while also running a business.
Unfortunately, my son is often quite poorly, which means we’ve spent far more time in hospital than I ever imagined we would as a family. Trying to be fully present for him while also making sure I’m not letting customers down can be a difficult balance to strike.
I’m the sort of person who cares deeply about giving customers the best experience I can. When someone places an order with Beau & Bloom, it means a lot to me. They’ve trusted me with a gift for a new baby or a special moment in somebody’s life, and I really appreciate that they’ve chosen to support my little family business when they could have shopped anywhere.
Because of that, I always feel a responsibility to make sure orders arrive on time, beautifully packaged and feeling special from the moment they arrive.
Sometimes balancing those two worlds can be challenging. There have been times when I’ve been responding to customers from a hospital bedside, coordinating orders with my husband over text messages or making a quick trip home to get parcels sent out before heading straight back to the ward.
I think that’s one of the reasons supporting the Down Syndrome community remains such an important part of Beau & Bloom. Knowing that a percentage of profits goes back to the Down Syndrome UK gives the business a deeper purpose and reminds me why I started it in the first place.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
The biggest pro for me is knowing that there’s a real person behind every purchase. Because Beau & Bloom is still such a small business, every sale feels special. I still get excited every time my phone pings, and I never take it for granted that someone has chosen to support us.
One of my favourite parts is packing orders and writing the handwritten notes that go into each one. There’s something really lovely about knowing that a product you’ve worked so hard on is making its way to another family. When someone takes the time to leave a review or send a kind message, it honestly makes my day.
The biggest con is probably having to wear so many different hats. When I started Beau & Bloom, I imagined spending my time designing products and coming up with lovely ideas. In reality, running a business means being the photographer, marketer, accountant, customer service team and social media manager all at the same time.
I’ve also discovered that I’m definitely not a natural tech person! Building and running a website has been a much steeper learning curve than I ever expected. There always seems to be something that needs updating, fixing or figuring out.
If I’m being completely honest, I find the social media side difficult too. I’m naturally quite a private person, and sometimes it feels a bit strange putting yourself out there. I’d be much happier quietly packing orders or working on a new product than filming myself for Instagram! That said, it’s pushed me well outside my comfort zone, and I’ve connected with some wonderful people because of it.
Ultimately, though, the pros far outweigh the cons. There is something really special about taking an idea that only existed in your head and slowly watching it become something real. It’s not always easy, but it’s incredibly rewarding.
Hopes and dreams: What next?
We’re still a very young business and only properly launched last winter, so in many ways it still feels like we’re just getting started. But we’ve already been working on some exciting new things.
We began with our organic cotton nappy caddies in two colourways, and we’ve recently expanded into baby gift hampers. I’ve really enjoyed putting the hampers together. I wanted every item in them to feel like it belonged there. I wanted each product to be something you’d pick up and think, “Oh, that’s lovely”, rather than just filling a hamper for the sake of it. One of my favourite things about the hampers is that they also allow me to support other small family-run businesses whose products I genuinely admire. The feedback from customers has been lovely, and we’re already working on a larger hamper with even more beautiful products for mum and baby.
My biggest dream, though, is something a little different. One day, I’d love to create a special edition Beau & Bloom collection for World Down Syndrome Day featuring artwork designed by talented artists with Down Syndrome. My dream would be for every penny of profit from that collection to go directly back into supporting the Down Syndrome community.
It’s still very much a future ambition, and there’s a lot of work to do before we get there, but I love the idea of creating something that celebrates the incredible creativity within the Down Syndrome community while raising money for a cause that’s very close to my heart.
Outside of the business, we’re also preparing to welcome our third baby, which I’m sure is going to make life even busier! My son and daughter are the best of friends, and one of the things I’m most excited about is watching them meet and welcome their new sibling. Watching their relationship grow has been one of the greatest joys of being a parent, and I can’t wait to see our family of four become a family of five.
Visit the Beau & Bloom website to find out more and shop their gorgeous products. You can also connect with them on Instagram.
