Tara Lowe - 2 Little Rascals
OHbaby! chats with 2 Little Rascals founder and director, Tara Lowe about taking care of business, and the kids, from Invercargill.
Tara has twin boys and a baby on the way. She set up 2 Little Rascals wanting to do something from home while her boys were young, and with the possibility to grow and move it away from our home as they got older. Kids clothing was an obvious choice as I couldn't get enough of searching for trendy outfits for my boys!
OB As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
TL I had thought of being a Policewoman but decided on Hairdressing which I ended up loving & doing for 12 years
OB Do you ever feel "mummy guilt" about spending time working instead of with your children? If so, how do you deal with it?
TL Yes definitely. I think its something most working Mums cant help but feel especially when your kids are young and if you work from home. Now that the boys are only having 1 sleep a day I cant get as much done during that time, so am doing more while they're up. I’m still needing to work on finding that good balance between work time and time with them, but we always take advantage of good weather days and make sure we get outside or spend time at the park.
OB What do you do to get "me-time"? At the moment I don't get a lot of “me time” but thats the way I like it. I do make the most of having the odd sleep in or coffee and lunch dates with my friends.
OB What is the smartest thing you have done with your business?
TL Only being a few months in I would have to say updating social media regularly with enticing pictures and posts, it's a great way to get and keep people interested in what you have to offer. Also changing our online shop provider, we quickly outgrew Big Cartel as it was too basic for what we were wanting to offer customers.
OB What is your favourite thing about the business now? What do you most enjoy?
TL Right now I am loving all the new season orders that are arriving and also having new stockists come on board, its so exciting! I love packaging up customers orders as without them I wouldn't have my business, or the flexibility to be home with my boys 24/7.
OB What is the most surprising thing you’ve found in running your own business?
TL That its not all easy and smooth sailing, not that its exactly hard either but theres a lot of things that pop up that I hadn't thought about, which happened right from the get go, this is such a big learning experience for me and I'm loving the challenge. Also how supportive complete strangers can be, especially on social media. I love it, theres nothing better than supporting and lifting people up, there's too much negativity and bringing people down in the social media world.
OB What is your philosophy to child-rearing?
TL Your children are forever changing, growing and evolving so theres no one size fits all. What works for one may not work for the other. You need to be flexible and learn to adapt to the changes. We can learn so much from our children just like they learn so much from us, its ok to get things wrong. Even better if you can admit your mistakes so your children know that its ok to make mistakes too, how else can you grow and be a better you!?
