http://www.freenies.com
Marketmommies: Tell us about your invention.
Jessica: Our invention is a fashionable accessory that gathers and lifts excess fabric from little girls dresses so that their knees do not get caught up when they crawl and play.
Marketmommies: How did you come up with the idea?"
Jessica: My eldest daughter, now 2.5 years old was attempting to crawl and would become extremely frustrated when her dress would get caught up under her knees causing her to fall or adjust her crawl. I sought out the internet for advice and found the only advice was to dress your litte one in pants. I thought this was absurd:). I asked my friend, now my business partner, for suggestions on what to do. What we discovered was that we both had the same problem with no solution. Therefore, we figured we would design the solution ourselves. We had a few different ideas for designs but we wanted it to be safe, fun and pretty... Thus freenies or "free her knees" was born.
Marketmommies: So, once you had the idea - what did you do next?
Jessica: Well, we first talked with our husbands and told them about our new idea for a product and discussed how much time and money this would cost. Being such great husbands, they supported us 100% and encouraged our new adventure. We started drawing the prototype ourselves and found a pliable plastic molding material that allowed our vision to take form. We next sought out a patent and worked on writing its many forms and functions. At that point, we decided that it would also be cool to design dresses that already have the "freenies" concept installed in them to allow easier applications for already very busy moms.
Marketmommies: What was the biggest learning curve in developing your product?
Jessica: I think the biggest learning curve we had was how to market the product. We needed something short and sweet to let other mothers out there know exactly what this product is for and why it is so beneficial. What we found in the beginning was that other mother's and boutique owners didn't understand what "Freenies" was.
Marketmommies: What advice would you have for other Moms looking at inventing a product?
Jessica: We both thought that this would be very time consuming, but I don't think we had any idea how much time this would entail. We're both mother's of now two beautiful little girls, my partner just having her second on July 20. So, you realize as a mother that the kids just do not wait around until you are finished with your work. Time is flying by and juggling kids and a new business, especially while being pregnant and now with a newborn, you really need to have great support and many encouraging people around you.
Marketmommies: What did you do before becoming Mom Inventors?
Jessica: Myself, I am and continue to work in my first love - I'm a marriage and family therapist. I have a small practice that I work at a few days a week. My partner Melissa is a founder and partner for Romero and Levin Wealth Management Co. - a wealth managment firm - where she continues to contribute daily along with her husband and brother.
Marketmommies: Tell us about an average day in your life.
Jessica: Melissa and I are both neighbors and friends. It is truly nice to have someone with similar aged children living close by to discuss business, kids and relationship issues with. We happily live in California where on many days we are at the pool, beach or park having the little ones run around and play. We attempt to get a lot of business done while the kids are asleep. We are lucky that our little ones spare us an hour or sometimes three to get the necessities done. At night, after the children have gone to sleep, we have our weekly "Freenies" meetings. Usually with a nice glass of wine, we get together with our husbands to discuss our next strategy or new marketing campaign. To be honest, with Melissa's newest addition, we are a little behind with our usually regular meetings, but everyday things are getting easier and I know things will resume as usual soon.
Marketmommies: Where do you hope your business will be in one year? In 5 years?
Jessica: Right now, since we are still so new, we are still trying to get the word out about our product. We have spoken with so many moms that share our frustration for no solution to a big problem. However, we still continue to struggle with reaching everyone. In one year we hope that our product is getting national and international exposure and we hope to have more designs, colors and sparkles. We really want to start personalizing them with names, dates of first crawl and birthdays. We have had a lot of mothers comment on how their little ones birthday dresses kept getting caught during their party. We would love to design some for special occasions such as that. We also hope to include our dress line that already has the "freenies" technology installed. In 5 years we hope to continue growing and especially making it a norm that all dresses have this type of technology already installed. We find so many little girls on playgrounds tripping and even falling from their dresses that we want to make it so that no one needs to compromise fashion for safety. We have big dreams, but hey, what can we say... it is all part of our adventure:)
Marketmommies: Tell us about your families.
Jessica: Myself, I have a wonderful and very supportive husband who has just amazed me with his understanding and encouragement - the man really is a saint:) I have two beautiful daughters whom I love more than anything in the world. Eila is 2.5 years old and Addy is 8 months old. I love the fact they were the ones that have inspired me not only with the idea but also the passion and drive to start my own business. I truly would not have been able to do this without their support and ability to take decent naps:)
Jessica: Myself, I have a wonderful and very supportive husband who has just amazed me with his understanding and encouragement - the man really is a saint:) I have two beautiful daughters whom I love more than anything in the world. Eila is 2.5 years old and Addy is 8 months old. I love the fact they were the ones that have inspired me not only with the idea but also the passion and drive to start my own business. I truly would not have been able to do this without their support and ability to take decent naps:)
Melissa's also has two little girls - Mikela (2.5 years old) and Gisela (newborn). She is married to a wonderful man who also supports all of her dreams and desires. Melissa has LOVED babies and children since she was a child herself. Her dream in life was to be married to a wonderful man, have children she adored, and be able to stay at home and raise her children - her dreams have come true.
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