Gymboree Mumpreneurs: Sini's Satsuma Sweethearts

This post is the first in what will be a series about some of our fabulous Gymboree mumpreneurs. I've noticed increasingly over the last couple of years that more of our mums are starting up fabulous new businesses alongside their family life and I want to showcase them all to show my support and get the word out there about what they're doing.

My first mummy is the lovely Sini, creator of Sini's Satsuma Sweethearts. Satsuma Sweethearts is an online children's clothing store and I asked Sini to tell me where the idea had come from and how she's developed the business from selling the Naartjie brand to now selling her own beautiful designs.

"I have been running the children's clothing web shop since 2007 selling Naartjie clothing, which is colourful and different - and it has been my dream to design my own clothing for quite a long time. I just saw these cute Naartjie pieces and kept thinking that this would be perfect, if they would just change this and that in this dress etc.

With 3 and now 4 children at home, I didn't really expect that I would be able to start designing and selling my own pieces at the moment, but I met this amazingly talented Finnish lady who is very good at sewing - I asked her whether she would like to start sewing clothing for me if I gave her designs and that's how it all started.

For me it was something positive to think about and do because of Emma's horrible reflux [Sini's youngest daughter born October 2012]. After spending time in hospital with her and being too scared to sleep at night thinking that she would start choking when we were sleeping, and thinking about all the numerous medicines we had to keep giving her all the time…the clothing became my escape from reality. Emma is with me all the time and sleeping on top of my tummy or next to me when I'm working, so she is there but I am not thinking about the reflux.

So this is my dream come true - I have been dreaming about it for a while, but the decision to do it was very quick.

The dresses are all quite princessy - the kind of dresses you want to have when you are a little girl! I've always loved buying cute dresses and clothes for Matilda and now of course Juliet and Emma, so the interest in clothing has always been there. I have tried to cover quite a wide age group - there is a huge demand for older girls clothing in Finland especially.
 
The 'Emma' tunic and shorts "came to me" when I took Matilda and Ben to Karate and was waiting for them. I was bored having nothing to do for an hour so I started drawing.

I think being a mumpreneur is awesome! Especially when you make cute clothing and you have 3 girls at home - you have your own testers at home and the older ones can give you feedback too. The good thing is that I can work whenever I want or have time to. I can work from home and be with my children too (not at the same time though). I absolutely love what I am doing at the moment and it really does not seem like work at all. I work several hours a day but it is all so much fun! It's also so rewarding when people like your own pieces.

Also having 4 children of my own, I know what works and what not, what is practical etc. This added to the knowledge of what people want to buy for their children (after running the web shop for years) means you can say that I have quite a lot of experience of baby and children's clothing!"

So if you're inspired by Sini's story and have an business idea you've been thinking about - do it! If you're already a mumpreneur and would like me to write about you then please get in touch. Our next feature coming soon!

To browse and shop Sini's beautiful designs:

www.satsumasweethearts.com
www.facebook.com/SatsumaSweethearts
https://twitter.com/SinisSatsuma