Conscious Family Giveaway #7

As you now know, this month is dedicated to the Conscious Family. And, as such, we are having some great giveaways during April.

Jamie, of Pat-A-Cake Baby, is our seventh business owner in our Conscious Family series giveaways.

In addition to the donation they have given, Jamie is offering a 15% discount code to you, the reader! Simply go to their website and enter the discount code of: GRAND

Have fun getting to know her and take a look at their business offerings.

THE INTERVIEW

Can you tell me a little about you, as a person, and then a little about how you, the business owner, came to create your store?

I am a busy mom of two girls, Sophia, 3.5 and Scarlett, 13 months. I’m a bit of a type-A personality when it comes to keeping my house clean and organized…this has been one of my hardest obstacles to overcome, as this just isn’t much of a possibility anymore with two littles, a busy business and a husband who works 60 hours a week! I live in North Idaho and love to be outdoors in the Spring, Summer and Fall. I pretty much hibernate in the winter, especially when it is -18, like today. I am a past teacher of bilingual education and English as a second language, but I didn’t teach for long, as I wanted to be home with my children.

I started the Pat-a-Cake Baby during my hubby’s second semester of law school in 2008. He was up all night studying and I don’t do well going to sleep by myself, so I just taught myself to sew. I put my designs on Etsy and started learning about designer fabrics. A few months later and we had our first wholesale order and I just couldn’t keep up (plus I am not a very good seamstress!). I hired my first local seamstress in May and built a website. By November, I hired a second seamstress and the following year I hired another as backup and I also have a full time packager/snap applier, etc. Although I’ve been contacted by numerous factories overseas, I like to keep my business model of local, handmade products. The attention to detail is far superior and our products are always triple checked. First by the seamstress, second by the packager and third, by me. Of course, this makes for higher prices, but people who want heirloom quality baby products that aren’t factory made are happy to pay a higher price.  

The Pat-a-Cake has grown so much with minimal marketing, just word of mouth by all the awesome parents out there. It is now in the hands of celebrities from Tori Spelling, Ali Landry and John Travolta. I got to meet my childhood idol, Jodie Sweetin (Stephanie from Full House) at a gifting event in L.A. (see our “Press” page on our website for pics) and have our products listed in my favorite pregnancy magazine, the one I used to read way before I started Pat-a-Cake. Never in my wildest dreams did I think this would happen! It’s been a fun ride and I love being able to make an income while being home with my girls…it is the best of both worlds, although extremely stressful at times. For the last 3 years, I’ve had all my emails directed to my Blackberry. 

It took that long for me to figure out that that was wrong. Just last week, I disabled it for good and I think my blood pressure has gone way down J While, I don’t have set office hours, I am not at the beck and call of anyone, but my children. I don’t feel as much pressure to respond to an email immediately. What a liberated feeling! Although, I am still trying to break the habit of checking my phone.

What were you like as a child?
I was very independent, creative and super busy outside. I didn’t watch much TV and still could live without it, if someone took our TV away (although, I might miss NBC’s Thursday lineup!). We didn’t have a lot of money, so we spent vacations camping in the great outdoors, which beats Disneyland any day! I was a very good student and always gave 100% to my school work. I’ve had a job since I was 14 and worked 20-30 hours all through high school and college. The work ethic of a lot of teenagers these days makes me sad. I’m glad I worked hard for everything I have ever owned, from my first car to my first house. And although, my own children will grow up a bit differently, they will always work for and earn the things they desire.

If you had to pinpoint one turning point in your life/career, what would you consider that defining moment/event?
Definitely becoming a mother and forever wearing my heart on my sleeve! My political viewpoints have changed greatly and my “mother bear” instincts are always at the forefront. I think I would be a completely different teacher, now that I’m a mother, perhaps a little less energetic (children do that to you), but more compassionate than I already was. I mean the children in my class were somebody’s babies, someone’s lifeblood and livelihood. I don’t think that that can be completely understood until you have children.

You offer go green cloth wipes, very cool - obviously you see the need for some more eco-conscious options, so tell me why these things are important to you both personally and professionally.
Well professionally, they make business sense, as they use up our scraps :) Personally, I cloth diapered and loved being able to reuse the diapers and wipes we had. Our wet bags were also developed during my cloth diapering days. Cloth wipes work much better than disposables anyway and you don’t end up using as many. I have to be honest though, with my second child, I haven’t been as good at cloth diapering. I just don’t have enough hours in the day to do that type of laundry anymore…if I only could have a nanny.

What do you hope your clients get from your products?
I hope that they enjoy going out in public and stealing the attention from other mom’s because their littles have quality made products that are top of the line in design, practicality, and trendiness. They can be happy that they are supporting a mom-owned business that still keeps products made in the U.S.!

Anything else you want to share with my readers?

We also have a newsletter and send out about 6 letters a year with news and discounts.

THE GIVEAWAY

They are offering a $25.00 gift certificate to their store, very cool! This way, you are sure to find something applicable to your stage of parenting!

Again, don't forget the rules. So, read below CAREFULLY for the rules to enter!

RULES FOR ENTERING:
To enter, you MUST complete #1 on the list. After that, feel free to enter as many additional times as you would like (#2-#5) and in any particular order you so choose. You must leave an additional comment for each entry for it to be valid. Please don't forget to leave me some way to get in contact with you if you are the winner.

1. Like Pat A Cake's Facebook page, leave a comment on their wall saying that I sent you, and come back/comment here to let me know you did. :)
   
2. Like my Facebook Page, then come back and let me know you have. If you are already a liker, let me know. :)
   
3. Share this giveaway on your own blog, then come back here and comment, sharing the link to that post in the body of your comment.
4. Share this giveaway on your own Facebook wall, tagging my or Pat A Cake's FB pages, then come back here and comment, letting me know you did. 
   
5. Go to their main website and browse around, come back here and let me know what item you like the most.
    

Entries must be received by May 3rd at midnight. Drawing will occur in that first week of May. Good luck!!!