featured mom: Sarah Lopez of babibu

Meet Sarah Lopez, mom of one adorable boy, and owner and designer of Toronto-based babibu , an eco-friendly line of bamboo baby basics. All babibu  products are proudly designed and handmade in Canada using high quality bamboo fabric to ensure the ultimate comfort and safety for your baby and our planet!

Sarah uses her experience as a mom to guide her designs in regard to the quality, colour, shape, size and style of each piece in her collection. She has done a significant amount of research to ensure that her clothing is made with the best quality bamboo fabrics, in the trendiest colours and styles, that fit the average sized baby to perfection!

Learn how Sarah’s transition into motherhood encouraged her to leave her teaching career behind, put her creative talents to work, and how her ideas shared amongst friends are now being sold nationwide!

Enter to win a babibu prize pack valued at $100! 

We hope you find Sarah as creatively cool as we do!

1. Tell us a little about yourself, your family, and/or your business.
Oh, how life changes when you have a baby!  If you asked me this question a year ago I would have had a very different answer!  The days of sleeping in until noon, strutting your stuff in a sexy bikini and shopping for the highest heals you can find, are sadly over.  But, I have quickly learned that these losses have been replaced with first smiles, adorable little giggles and morning snuggles from my little one, which make it all worthwhile!

Being a new mom is full of life changes.  Good changes.  For me, becoming a mom meant a change of lifestyle and routines; a change of interests and hobbies; and a change in opportunities and career goals.  I have spent the past decade of my life teaching grade 8, and loving it!  However, it was time for a change. While on maternity leave, I discovered a whole new side to myself that I didn’t even know existed and began designing baby clothing for my son.  Although I loved many of the trendy new baby products that were out there, I found it nearly impossible to buy baby clothing that was eco-friendly, comfortable and trendy.  I quickly realized that I wasn’t the only mom who yearned for better babywear and that a union of quality, fashion and the environment was in high demand!  In September 2009, I was ready to share my passion and ideas with the world and opened my own bamboo baby loungewear company with my talented seamstress mother-in-law, Beatriz.  And just like that, babibu was born.

2. If you had to describe your business in less than 15 words, how would you do it?
I’ll do it in 3 – Beautiful. Bamboo. Babywear.

3. What is your inspiration for your business?  Your products?
My son is my muse.  Without him, babibu would simply not exist.
 

4. What is the most rewarding thing about being a mom? A mom-preneur?
The list of rewarding things about being a mom goes on and on.  If I had to pick, I would say watching my baby learn and grow.  He actually took his first steps just this week.  What an accomplishment!  I just want to bottle those moments up and keep them forever!

Aside from being able to work from home and spend more time with my son, the absolute BEST thing about being a mom-preneur is seeing the clothing I once sketched on a cocktail napkin hanging in a store window, dancing across the pages of someone’s blog, or sighting babibu apparel in the streets.  I feel like shouting out – “HEY!  I DESIGNED THAT!”…but I just giggle to myself instead.

5. What advice would you give to someone considering becoming a mom-preneur?
Go for it!  I know the thought of starting your own business can be overwhelming and intimidating, but believe me, it is easier and much more feasible than you think.  For years I dreamed of opening my own business, but never had the guts to do it.  Becoming a mom gave me the confidence and courage I never knew I had. Less than 6 months ago, babibu was nothing but an idea shared with friends over a bottle of wine (or two)!  Today, babibu is being sold across the nation!  I can’t believe how quickly everything has happened and how much my business partner and I have accomplished in such a short period of time.  I’m not going to lie – owning your own business is a lot of work, but it is also a lot of fun!  If you are truly passionate about a business idea I highly recommend that you take the plunge and go for it!  Turn your dream into a reality.  Life is way too short.

6. What keeps you motivated?
My passion keeps me motivated.  I love our collection and truly believe in our product.  I want others to enjoy it as much as my son and I have and that is what keeps me motivated.

7. What is your next big goal?
We are currently preparing for our big bamboo baby-bedding launch that will take place this spring.  We’ve had a lot of requests for bamboo bedding and I am so excited to give our customers what they want!  This is the softest bedding I have ever felt in my life!  I am very proud of this line and I can’t wait for people to feel how luxuriously soft it really is.

8. What is your guilty pleasure?
Chocolate.   Hands down.

9. Name a product that you can’t live without for you or your baby?
As a busy mom on the go I completely depend on my Blackberry to keep me organized and connected.  If my son could talk, he’d tell you that he absolutely could not live without his Fisher Price Learning Farm!  Oh, to be one again.

10. What is the most valuable lesson you have learned as a mom {so far} ?
The most valuable lesson I have learned as a mom is to go with your gut.  I have read a ton of baby books, I am a member of ever on-line baby site and I follow a plethora of mommy bloggers daily.  Although I think it’s important to seek baby advice at times, I think that deep down moms know what to do and how to do it if they use their instincts.  Sometimes we get so focused on following “the rules” that we lose sight of what our babies really need.   As soon as I stopped trying to “follow the rules” I became a much better mom.

Tagged as: featured mom