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Business: EllieFunDay
Founded: 2013
Sarah Lin was a designer, marketer and creative director in the corporate world for more than a decade before stepping out on her own. She’d long wanted to start a socially-conscious enterprise but never imagined finding inspiration for a business from her beloved baby blanket. In 2013, Sarah founded an organic baby blanket and accessories company that provides a fair-wage and dignified employment to marginalised women around the globe.
What’s the story behind your business?
I'd always dreamed of creating a product that married my love for good design with my desire to support a social need. I knew I had to come up with a product I dearly loved—I couldn’t quit my full-time job for something random.
I kept coming back to my own baby blanket. Whenever my mother washed it and hung it out to dry, I would stand outside by the clothesline holding a corner of my blanket, waiting to reclaim it.
Many people have shared similar stories about their baby blanket or favourite soother. I had the idea to design beautiful baby blankets that could be sewn by marginalised women around the world. I spent 2 years travelling to identify not-for-profit companies I could partner with. Then I developed my first line of products, which I still sell today.
How do you market your business?
We sell our products online through our own website. We also work with 160 global retailers including speciality baby stores and brands.
I think my design background has helped us to be successful in retail. Before we ever sold any products, we’d share prototypes with friends, family and retailers to get their feedback. If people didn’t like our product, we’d ask why. I’m used to iterating quickly, and we could make changes fast.
Early on, we launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for our seed round of funding. We raised more than £14,000 and exceeded our goal within the first 3 days. That funding allowed us to make our first line of blankets.
After our first big marketing push, we started attending trade shows for baby stores and gift vendors. We hustled, followed leads and made a lot of cold calls. Our marketing process is about putting the product out there, often in small batch runs.
Why a socially conscious business?
When I started EllieFunDay, I wanted to provide marginalised women with dignified employment and a fair wage. I wanted to help women create useful products that they felt good about, not trinkets that gather dust on a shelf. I also wanted to create a company that would meet customers’ real needs and highlight the women making these beautiful products.
We currently work with 3 not-for-profit organisations to make our products. One employs women refugees from all over the world to make our candles. The other two are based in India. When we develop a product, we work closely with our partners to make sure we’re using skills the women have already. For example, if the women are familiar with embroidery, we’ll create a blanket with hand-embroidered patterns.
If we need to teach women a new skillset, we try to make sure it’s something that will help them be job-ready in general.
What does a typical day look like for you?
During the prototyping season, I’ll set aside a day or 2 every week just for design. Since I still have a team to manage, I might be in meetings throughout the day and focus on design at night.
When I’m on the road or in India, I meet with our partner companies, travel to other destinations and meet with groups of women to explain my design vision. There are cultural nuances to running this business, and in-person meetings help everyone get a clear understanding of what we’re doing.
What do you want from a small business community?
I’m curious how business owners have used systems to scale and what they’ve done to run more efficiently. I love hearing stories from other small business owners. It can be lonely as an entrepreneur, so networking with other people who work for themselves encourages me. I’m happy to share what I’ve learned from my business too.
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