Meet the inspiring mum behind the brand Kubaii
Meet Vanessa, the inspiring mum behind the brand Kubaii as she shares her story of juggling corporate work, family life, and entrepreneurship while turning her ideas into impactful products.
OHbaby!: Tell us about yourself Vanessa
I’m a mum juggling working 4 days a week in a corporate job, raising a spirited toddler and working on my business at nights after my daughter is asleep. I lived in Santiago de Chile for a number of years, where I met my husband, and we moved back to NZ in 2016. Yes I speak Spanish! We live in the beautiful BOP in Tauranga, which is where I grew up. It’s been great being back here after the fast paced life of the big city, but it has taken some getting used to. Since moving back, we basically had to start our lives over from scratch. I love yoga and mindful living – not that I get much of a chance to practice at the moment.
OHbaby!: What does your family look like?
Myself, my husband, our 3 year old daughter, and our miniature schnoodle dog.
OHbaby!: What is your business and what does it do/sell?
Kubaii makes products that simplify and save time in busy parents' lives. Our goal is to take care of you, while you're busy looking after everyone else. We care about mental health, practicality and the environment.
Our first product is an innovative sleeved bib. It has a stretchy adjustable dome neckline, the sleeves can be shortened to fit, and the cuffs can also be adjusted to fit different sized wrists. The material is a durable, 100% waterproof OEKO-TEX certified PU, which can be easily wiped clean again and again. It can also be machine washed on 40 degrees C. We have both pocket, and non-pocket varieties. The pocket bib has the pocket at chest-height which makes it work just like a silicone bib, catching the bulk of the mess – with the benefit that it actually keeps the whole outfit clean too. It is double sided and fully waterproof so very easy to clean – that was very important when designing the product. You just need to flip the pocket inside out and you can even rinse it under the tap. Our bibs are also extra-long in length, and cover all the way past the knees. We’re all about functional packaging to minimise our impact on the environment. They are packaged in a cute mini wet-bag with zipper that our customers use to transport their bibs when out and about or to store snacks, wipes or dirty clothes.
OHbaby!: What is the story behind your business?
I’ve wanted to start an online business for the longest time but really struggled to find the right idea to actually get started. After developing the idea and product for nearly a year I finally launched at the end of July. My bibs have been custom designed to solve the pain points I experienced with other bibs on the market. I was short of cash as a new mum, and didn’t want to have to fork out on a bib for each day of the week. I wanted to just be able to wipe it clean and keep using it, then wash with my regular family laundry. I was also so frustrated at the poor fit of the bibs that were on the market at the time – I would need to put another bib underneath the sleeved bib just so I wouldn’t get leaks down the neckline. Not to mention the cuffs, which were too loose and my daughter would end up with her food seeping up her arms. I found that silicone bibs were too large and also had a very poor fit around the neck. It just looked so uncomfortable. I decided on the name Kubaii as I wanted something to represent our care for mothers. Kubai is the Goddess of birth and children in Turkish mythology. Then I added an extra 'I' on the end to make it more of a brand.
OHbaby!: What does a day in the life of you look like?
Wake up, get my daughter ready for daycare, drop her off, go to my corporate job where I work 8:30 to 5pm, pick up my daughter from daycare, play together for an hour, dinner, bathtime, read my daughter stories and put her to bed – I work on social media content while I’m sitting in the dark holding her hand, then when she’s finally asleep I sit down at my computer, pack orders and work on Kubaii for a couple of hours. I’m very lucky that my husband cooks the dinner and cleans up.
OHbaby!: What is your favourite thing about your business?
Although I’m just getting started, my favourite thing so far has been the amazing feedback and reviews I’m getting from mums who have tried my bibs. This is so encouraging as it validates what I set out to achieve, and really spurs me on to get the word out there so more mums can have stress-free mealtime clean ups and less laundry.
OHbaby!: Favourite product?
Our pocket bib. It has been an absolute game changer and I wish I’d designed it sooner when my daughter was starting baby-led weaning, as it would have made my life a lot easier.
OHbaby!: Any fun stories you would like to share?
Every order that goes out my daughter says, “that’s one of MY bibs, mum!”. She’s very proud of her bibs.
OHbaby!: What is one thing you said you wouldn’t do as a parent that you totally do?
Use screen time. We did mostly avoid it for the first 2 years of her life, but now she’s gotten older we have introduced it, and I’ve actually found it to be a really valuable tool in teaching her Spanish. We only put on shows in Spanish. Since we started, her Spanish language skills have exponentially grown.
OHbaby!: Anything else you want to add...
I never used to be much of a social media user, I would use Facebook to see what my friends were up to but I wouldn’t post much. Since starting Kubaii and my business Instagram page (@kubaii_official), I’ve discovered that I actually really enjoy creating content, and I’ve made some wonderful connections with mums in the online space, and discovered so many other amazing small NZ businesses, which has actually been really cool.
