RP Female Founder Series: Nicole Reilly, Dear Hayden Founder
1. What was your biggest inspiration to start your business?
I fell in love with baby clothes and outfitting babies and kids when I had my daughter. When I was dressing my second child, my son, I found that there were highly functional pieces like zipper footy pajamas and beautiful, stylish pieces like a knit romper or overalls but I found that the beautiful pieces lacked functionality. I felt that there was a need for clothes for babies and kids that were equally elevated and functional.
2. What does your design process look like when you are preparing for a new collection?
I am so lucky to work with an amazing designer who is based in Spain and has expertise in childrenswear. Together we brainstorm ideas and put together a mood board. We narrow in on a theme and color palette for the collection. Once that is cemented, we decide on the silhouettes and pull inspiration images for each style. We make tweaks until we are satisfied with the design. I then talk to the factories about fabrics and they send me swatches so I can see and feel them and decide on my favorites. The factory sends me lab dips or samples of the solid colors in the color palette for approval as well as strike-offs or small samples of the all-over prints. We make adjustments as needed and then they sent me prototypes of the garments we designed. We test the garments on a fit model (usually my son or a friend's baby) and then the factory makes changes based on our feedback. We repeat the prototype and fit process as many times as needed until we are completely satisfied with the finished product. Once we have a product we are happy with, the factory gets the go-ahead for production.
3. What is your favorite part of owning Dear Hayden?
It allows me the flexibility to be more present in my kids' day-to-day lives. Because I set my own schedule, I can choose to take my 2-year-old to a class and drive my daughter to school each day. Things that would be impossible if I was still a classroom teacher. I also love that I am constantly learning from email marketing to merchandising to navigating wholesale to sizing garments and on and on.
4. What are some of the biggest challenges you face as a business owner? How did/do you handle these challenges?
When you are starting a business it is basically an endless road of challenge after challenge but I don't see these challenges as a negative thing but rather learning opportunities. When I reach a challenge I think about who I can talk to who might know more about this than I do who can help me navigate the challenge. I also seek out resources like an app, podcast, book, etc. My husband also helps out with the business so it is nice to be able to talk through things with him and hear his ideas.
5. What advice would you give to other female business owners just starting out?
I was told by another founder that the beginning is really hard and before her business started taking off there was a period where she thought she was going to have to pull the plug and just give up but instead she kept going and taking small actions every day to move the business forward. She encouraged me to have patience and not expect the business to be a success over night. My advice would be that if you have an idea that you feel extremely passionate about and you have done the research and feel confident there is a need for the thing you are going to offer, you should go for it! Go for it fully and completely and don't look back.
6. How do you handle your work/life balance?
I wouldn't say that I have it handled but I try my best. First thing in the morning is spent with my kids and then I dedicate the bulk of the day to getting work done. I take a break to do a quick at-home workout most days of the week but will attend a pilates class from time to time as well. The evenings are dedicated to spending time together going for a walk and then eating dinner together. If I need to continue working I will do so after the kids go to bed. On the weekends, I try to get work done while the kids nap as much as possible.
RP RAPID FIRE QUESTIONS:
1. Do you prefer staying in or going out?
Both (I need a balance of the two)
2. What’s your guilty pleasure snack?
The kids' leftover Halloween candy
3. Early bird or night owl?
Night owl
4. What superpower would you choose for yourself?
Ability to freeze time
5. If you weren’t in this line of work, what career would you want to pursue?
It would be fun to be a buyer for a kid's clothing store-I just love baby and kids' clothes
6. Ideal vacation - Mountains or Beach?
Beach
7. What was your last impulse purchase?
I just got an iPad for reading books and workouts when I travel
8. Favorite business tool/tech/app?
Really enjoy Planoly, but Omnisend is great as well
9. Name another female founder we should know.
My sister-in-law Courtney Reilly-co-founder of Skillsline, a tech platform teaching career readiness and human skills