How pinterest inspired a stay at home mum to start a business

Written by Adrianna Coleman – Mocked

Pinterest – Organised Chaos

I still remember the night I decided that I would start my OWN business that focused on my passion for design, shoes and my brand new baby boy!

As I sat in the nursery at 2am breastfeeding my 2 month old son, my mind was going through all the things I had to do the next day – the washing, the ironing, the groceries, organise my son's Christening invitations, design and make my son's Christening outfit…….. The usual things that go through a mummas mind as she sits up late at night or early in the morning feeding her precious bundle of joy.

A creative outlet

I am a high school design teacher and I am used to being in control and working to a list everyday as I go about my lesson preps, teaching and marking. Becoming a mum was the best thing ever and I had no regrets finishing up work and being a full time mum. However work for me was a creative outlet, a place I could design and make and inspire others to design and make. As I sat feeding my precious little boy Jack, I couldn't help but feel like a piece of the puzzle was missing – as a stay at home mum to a new baby I had nowhere to express my creativity or unleash my flair for design. Most days were spent going through the same routine of sleeping, feeding, bathing and tummy time. The nursery was complete, the playroom designed thanks to multiple pins I'd pinned on Pinterest (how great is that app – I have folders for every part of my life – organised design chaos). There was nothing else I could think of where I could unleash my creativity – my husband was getting a little tired of me redesigning every room in the house and coming up with elaborate design features for our home because I ‘saw it on Pinterest and it looked easy enough to do!'

Shoes yes Shoes

Jack's Christening was coming up and as a textiles teacher I HAD to make his outfit! Again, as I searched through Pinterest, I pinned multiple Christening outfits for boys and began narrowing down what I wanted and how I was going to make it. Days later and Jack's three piece, white linen suit, was made but something was missing – shoes yes shoes! As a shoeaholic myself, Jack HAD to have a dapper pair of kicks for his Christening Day.

So again to Pinterest and this time I was looking for leather moccasin patterns – shoes that stayed on Jacks feet for longer than 2 minutes. From birth Jack was a very energetic little boy, he loved being independent and hated being restricted so when it came time for shoes nothing stayed on his feet. He was forever kicking them off.

The moment it happened

Over the next couple of days the sewing machine took pride and place on our dining table. It was part of the furniture. We ate around it. I cleaned around it and every spare moment I got, when Jack was asleep, I would experiment making a different type of leather moccasin. Every time I would try a new pattern I would have to wait for Jack to wake up to try them on and test them out. After the fourth attempt I struck gold – it was THE moccasin.

The Christening came and went and whilst I enjoyed decorating and baking for the 50 family and friends who came back to our home after the ceremony, the part I loved the most was making a beautiful pair of white leather fringe moccasins for my little boy to wear and have as a keepsake of his special day.

A business was born

I started on Facebook, progressed to Instagram and grew my brand through love, dedication and attending any markets I could get into. I was so amazed at how the business took off that pretty soon I was sourcing manufacturers to help manufacture my moccasins to keep up with the demand.

Jack is 15 months old now and still is wearing my leather moccasins – his shoe collection is a lot like his mothers! And still to this day, as Jack learnt to crawl, stand, furniture surf, then walk – his moccasins have NEVER fallen off! The secret is in the 3 piece pattern and elastic placement around the ankle.

Looking back

My advice for anyone wanting to turn their passion into a business is as cliche as it sounds, ‘go for it!'

I'm not going to lie, it's not easy and it takes a lot of hard work, dedication, late nights and weekend work but once you establish a business and brand for yourself things run pretty smoothly.

I wanted to make something of MOCKED so I could be a stay home mum for as long as I could and spend everyday with my gorgeous little boy.

I believe that you can do it too.

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