LOVE A MOTHER Meet Sydney mum and sleepwear/bedding brand Awakind’s founder Vanessa Rowed. Awakind is a social enterprise that donates 100% of all profits of their children’s sleepwear to fund life changing projects helping less fortunate children. Providing more than a roof over their heads, these projects give kids a place to play, grow, sleep and dream. Tell us a bit about the purpose of Awakind and how it came about?
You’re obviously a mum, tell us a bit about your family life.
Awakind was built out of a deep belief that we should all do our bit to build a better world. Even before I became a mum, exposure to homeless kids has always made my heart cry. Then as a mother I had a heightened awareness of the fragility of childhood and I had a burning desire to help more kids who aren’t afforded the same safety and comfort as my own.
I have a wonderfully supportive husband and two beautiful kids, Isaac who is nine and Piper who is five. Both my kids are interested and engaged in the business and it’s been a great thing to focus on as a family. They give me feedback on the designs, the podcast and they are interested in learning more about the children we support. They are a little sick of being my models, but nothing a good chocolate can’t sort out!
As a marketer I had paid close attention to the rise of social enterprises like Thankyou and was always a supporter of these brands. When I was challenged to find sleepwear that I felt matched my family ethos, I started to think about how I could put my design skills and marketing skills to work to solve for an issue that was so close to my heart.
Awakind is not your day job. Where would we find you 9-5 and how you juggle the two? I head up the marketing team of one of Australia’s biggest retailers, BWS, so you will find me doing this 9-5 and all other hours. I love marketing, so I love what I do and spending time after hours, weekends, mornings and nights doing marketing for BWS or for Awakind is always fun and enjoyable. Juggling both can be a challenge, but I’m lucky to have a great team at the office and a small but supportive team for Awakind.
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What’s a standard day in the life of Vanessa look like I’m not a morning person so I tend to drag myself out of bed just in time for a quick shower, cup of tea, say goodbye to my son as he heads off for school and join a morning conference call. My morning conference calls (now that we are all working from home) are often interrupted by my daughter wanting to show me the shapes of her cereal, or her latest outfit for the day! She then goes off to pre-school and I continue with work meetings throughout the day. I’ll try to get out at some stage for a quick walk with the dog and make a few calls, but often I’m glued to my chair. At around 4pm the kids return home and I retreat into my study to try and get the last few conference calls done for the day. This is never an easy task with the kids constant interruptions! We do dinner, homework and bath time for the kids and once they go to bed I log back on and work on Awakind. I’m a night owl, so I am sometimes still working till very late, but because I’m usually in the zone I don’t even notice the time!
