BUSINESS Inspired by her young children, Samantha wanted to create a stylish yet safe flooring solution for young families
The wipe-clean surfaces makes these mats perfect for drooling babies
What inspired you to launch the Toddlekind brand? We’d just moved into our new house when my youngest was born and had opted for wooden floors and tiles, but buying a rug just didn’t seem logical when we had a dribbling baby! That’s when we realised that there really needed to be a wipe-clean flooring solution for babies that was stylish, fitted into a modern home, but also provided protection for little ones. We came up with the idea for the Prettier Playmat, which worked as both a rug replacement and playmat for those early years, with a wipe-clean surface. What are the brand’s values? Our customers and community are at the heart of everything we do, and as a mum creating products for other mums, my goal is to understand what our customers’ value – from design, to the service we offer, and of course the products themselves. We have a thriving online community with whom we interact daily. Aside from that, we strive to deliver on innovation and quality, taking existing products
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INSPIRE
SAMANTHA BRÜCKNER
The founder of Toddlekind talks chic interiors, making time for family and her proudest business moments to date and working to make them even more beautiful and functional. When it comes to sourcing materials and suppliers, we only work with the very best, to ensure production stays ethical and the quality remains second to none. Describe a typical day for you. I work from home, which makes life much easier! At around 8.30am, my husband takes the children to kindergarten (we live in Germany), while I answer emails
from our suppliers, who are based in other time zones. My role involves working on new designs, marketing strategies, logistics and sales. I also try to fit a run in every day, and after collecting the kids at 4pm, I run after them until bedtime. After that, I sometimes go back to my office, watch Netflix, or read before bed.
How do you maintain a good work/life balance? I don’t believe in trying to do everything yourself, Toddlekind’s designs so if something can come in an array of chic be delegated or colours and prints outsourced, it is! By passing over tasks like accounting or customer service, it allows me to focus on strategy and frees up more time to spend with my young family.
What’s been your proudest business moment? Having celebrities and influencers endorse our products, positive feedback, winning awards, and shops all over the world reaching out to work with us. What’s next for Toddlekind? This spring, we’re bringing out a new range of playmats, including The Earth collection, which comes in a gorgeous range of earthy tones. We’re also launching Clean Wean Mats, which is the ultimate splat mat for under the highchair, to protect your floor during mealtimes. They’re multifunctional and can be used under a desk or dressing table, and look like a work of art! We’re launching a stunning range of organic textiles, too, including our Bare Baby Mats, which are made from 100 per cent organic cotton. They have a waterproof centre, so baby can enjoy bare-bottom time without the risk of floors getting damaged. As well as this, we have a new range of storage baskets, tipis, cushions and accessories to match the playmats. toddlekind.co.uk
