Life After FuzziBunz

Some people have been wondering what in the world happened to me. "Did you fall off the face of the Earth?" I have been asked. Well the answer is kind of. In 2013 I made the decision to let go of the FuzziBunz brand and move back to my home town of New Orleans Louisiana, which is kind of another world in and of itself. After 14 years of working 14 hour days, many times 7 days a week I was ready for a little bit of R&R.

I have spent the last  year enjoying my life to the fullest, learning new things, meeting new people and making new friends and enjoying my children. It took me a while to "detox" from working everyday, as the stress of running a business and balancing work and family was the norm for so very long. I will admit to at times feeling guilty for enjoying life a little bit too much and not working but my plan was to take a year off (while still consulting for the new owners of FuzziBunz of course) and then pursue my other aspirations that I have for myself both professionally and personally.

Being an inventor I have often been presented with the following question "I have a great idea....but I

don't know what to do with it....can you give me some advice?" I have wanted to give that advice for so long, and had so much information to share but just never had the time to do it. Last year prior to exiting FuzziBunz I started writing my e-book "The Make it Happen Workshop" for would be entrepreneurs and inventors. It truly is inventor focused as it starts with a "lightbulb moment" and takes someone all the way through the licensing process. I finished the book, recently launched the website and my role with that program has taken a whole different turn.

It seems my calling in my professional career is as a mentor and advocate for startup businesses. I don't think it is any secret that my tenure with FuzziBunz was full of drama. From patent wars to divorce wars it was never an easy journey. It WAS however an incredibly rewarding one and much knowledge was gained. I have learned the best things TO do and definitely what NOT to do. My greatest lessons I have learned in business have been from the mistakes I have made and my failures so they were certainly not in vain.  Any first time entrepreneur, through their "virgin" entrepreneurial effort, will tell you it is froth with learning experiences, pain, exhilaration, success, heartache and MANY MANY lessons learned.

When I was just starting out in business at the age of 28 I wish I would have had a good mentor. I wish I would have had someone warn me of what was to come and advise me as to what should and should not be done. I wish I would have had someone to pick up the phone and talk things through with. What is more I would have died to have had someone connect me with the right people for what I needed at the time. THAT is what I am doing for startups today and THAT is what I am most passionate about.

So were my last 14 years spent learning, experiencing, growing, fighting, working till exhaustion and letting go worth it? Your damn skippy they were. But what is most exciting to me is when I meet someone as I did at a recent entrepreneurial networking event in New Orleans (pictured) and I tell them what I have done in my past professional career and they still hug me to death because THEY LOVE FUZZIBUNZ!  Being thanked by loyal FuzziBunz fans never gets old and I am reminded of my contributions I have made to the cloth diaper industry, parents and babies and our planet and how rewarding that indeed is. I was never comfortable with the term "Mother of the Modern Cloth Diaper" as even I, someone with a fairly healthy Ego ;-) felt that was a bit too lofty. But it will always be a part of my past, part of my story and part of what I feel very good about in my life after FuzziBunz.

Now its on to making other people memorable for what THEIR passions are!

Cloth Diapers Going Mainstream....Problem?

I have to say, I was very impressed with a blog post that I read today from the Cloth Diaper Guru on FuzziBunz being on Shark Tank.    It has been the consensus over the years throughout the cloth diaper industry (both users, retailers and manufacturers) that going big time was bad, that going mainstream was a sell out and many would wish to keep the modern cloth diaper movement under wraps (no pun intended).  But I have never understood that concept.  Why?

Is it not every parent's right to be exposed to such a solutions product like this?   There are so many people on this planet that hate using disposables, hate throwing them in the landfills, have babies that are suffering from chemical burns and diaper rash, are hurting financially but do not know that a good modern alternative exists to DISPOSABLE DIAPERS! They deserve to know about Modern Cloth Diapers TOO!  And exposure is how it's done no matter what form it comes in.  The more readily available they are, the more baby's bottoms will be in cloth instead of a disposable.  Isn't that the bigger picture here? 


Lets face it, Modern Cloth Diapers ARE going mainstream and it is a very good thing!  I can understand retailers of cloth diapers that have been mainly internet based, who helped grow this industry to what it is today fearing that having FuzziBunz or another big brand in a major Big Box store chain would kill their sales....I disagree.  If modern cloth diapering has gained enough interest and enough momentum to even be IN those stores - it just means even MORE exposure and enough business to go around.

And one more note to ponder to put some minds at ease - a product that is going to get into a Walmart will likely be a less expensive, lesser quality mainstream no bells and whistles product to appeal to the mass consumer - is this your customer?  At $20 its not the FuzziBunz consumer either.  Further, they will likely only carry one brand, one style and limited colors.  That leaves plenty of room for the specialty stores and boutiques to carry the higher end products with more style and flair and features that can be sold at a higher price.  If someone gets hooked on the concept by something they buy or saw at Walmart and then goes searching for bigger and better or more stylish then there will be stores that will be able to meet that need as well. 

Yes, we do have a lot up our sleeves over at FuzziBunz - great things - but one thing people can count on regardless of what direction is taken after Shark Tank is that we will always keep our values, always know where we started and always strive to be a company and a product that people respect.

You can read the Cloth Diaper Guru's blog here
http://clothdiaperguru.wordpress.com/2012/09/26/fuzzibunz-to-appear-on-abcs-shark-tank/#comment-945