Friday, May 8, 2009

Little Inspirations, Big Ideas

Thank you Young Parents for choosing to feature us in your May issue feature on "little inspirations, big ideas"! It was so much fun and a great honour to be featured amongst 2 other amazing moms who have also turned their passion in business.
In the course of doing this interview, I was asked how Pupsik Studio came about. Since a few other moms whom I have met through this business have asked me this same question on a few occasions, thought I would take this opportunity to share more about the story behind this little business we run from home on this blog...

Pupsik Studio started out as a blog about 2 years ago. (Pupsik means baby doll in Russian). The blog was mainly started to update family and friends round the world on my first baby girl, Vera, who is half russian. I also used the blog to share interesting products that I found online with other parents. I am not sure how word spread but soon after, people were emailing me to share their own journey as new parents and sending me baby/children's products they had designed to review on my blog. I also began receiving sponsorship requests from organisations such as Martha Stewart's which supported my blog with ad revenue.

Trained as an architect and designer, I have always enjoyed designing and making things with my hands. During my free time over the course of my maternity leave , I experimented with designing and making things using my home sewing machine. My blog became a useful tool for me to share the products I had made and to get feedback on it. One of the items I made early on which became very popular with family and friends was the baby pouch carrier. I spent quite a lot of time in front of the sewing machine during the early days perfecting little details of the carrier which made it more comfortable and easy to use. I also sourced for suitable fabrics and sent the carriers to be tested with a professional body to make sure that it was safe to carry heavier babies. With the popularity of these carriers, I realised that I could actually turn this into a viable business and fulfill my dream of taking care of my babies at home while pursuing my own interests.

As most of you know, I welcomed my second baby girl, Nadya, 7 months ago and decided to turn quit my job as an architect to concentrate on the babies and run Pupsik Studio as a a full time business. While I am now busier than ever running this business, I am really thankful to God and happy to have the opportunity to work on something I am passionate about from home close to my kids each day.
(above) Vera's Oobi Baby reversible dress available where else but Pupsik Studio! =)

2 comments:

Gloria said...

Hey Suling, congratulations on making it to 2 magazine features in a month!

ShutterBug said...

Woo hoo!! :D