On discovering I was pregnant for the first time, I immediately decided that a few things had to change! The first was to give up smoking which was surprisingly easy; to give up a stable job and move to the suburbs was not as straightforward. After working as an editor of travel, investment and mining publications as well as three years as the Regional Marketing Manager for a large systems integration firm, and briefly in PR, I had my feet firmly entrenched in ‘the corporate world’. Our house was conveniently close to Cape Town city centre and was a lock-up and go…with no real garden to speak of. What garden there was tumbled onto the street which was frequently lined with rubbish and beggars. Not for MY baby!
We started looking for a house that was in a cleaner suburb, with some space for a toddler to run and play in a garden. Needless to say we only found something suitable and moved in a month before giving birth! I also resigned from my job and so did my husband! He had been teaching in town in various language schools, but it was now time to put down roots and ‘get serious’ about starting his own company. This was very scary, but paid off as he now has his own successful translating business – and he works from home which is fantastic for the kids.
I was more than content not to have to go to work and just stay home with baby, but after a few months I found myself needing something a little more than nappies to talk about. Ironically, this was not meant to be!
When I first started using nappies in 2002 after the birth of my son Hugo, the only alternative on the South African market to ‘disposables’ was the ‘Terri nappy’, which is the one that you have to fold, use a safety pin and a plastic waterproof with. This just seemed so ‘old-fashioned’ and far too much effort.
I had seen fitted nappies from friends who had bought them overseas (where they are readily available and hugely popular) and wondered why there was nothing like it on the South African market. That is when the ‘project’ started! I called a friend who is a dress maker and gave her a pattern to make up some samples which were duly tested on my son. Each month the design would change, the layers and types of fabric would alter – this was real trial and error!
Working for yourself is not easy, especially in a field that you have no previous knowledge. If someone had told me 5 years ago that my life’s work would be to ‘design, manufacture and distribute eco-friendly nappies as an alternative to disposables’ I would have laughed hard and dismissed the idea as ludicrous! However, the amount of time and work I had put into my ‘project’ meant that, above all, I had to take myself seriously. That is why I sought out the guidance of the folk at the Umsobomvu Youth Fund.
The fund was established by the government in an attempt to address the youth unemployment challenge in South Africa and, through its Voucher Programme, help with business plan development. This was an essential part of getting my business off the ground…an idea is one thing…making it a viable business venture is another kettle of fish entirely!
At the end of 2004 I did my first production run in a factory with ladies I had trained in Grassy Park…after nearly having a nervous break-down I went on the Christmas holidays with family in Durban. Then the most truly awful thing happened, on Boxing Day of 2004, a tsunami, of unimaginable proportions struck the countries of South East Asia. Unfortunately, my brother Justin and his fiancée Seda were holidaying on the Thai island of Phi Phi at the time, needless to say, neither of them survived. Seda’s body was recently identified by an unusual tattoo on her shoulder; nearly 2 years after the event. She was repatriated to Turkey and buried just before Christmas 2006.
Much of the early part of 2005 was spent in mourning and travelling around the world attending memorial services in Justin’s honour. During this time I met many truly amazing people who were united in their grief for loved ones. They also all shared a common philosophy, and that is that ‘The planet is in crisis ’.
A human tragedy and natural disaster of this scale is an enormously humbling thing and made me acutely aware of how interconnected we are, and just how fragile the planet is. On returning from Zimbabwe in June of 2005, I was resolved that my passion for raising awareness of the environmental impact of disposable nappies was no accident and set about thinking of ways to ‘get the message across’ to the largest number of people, in the shortest possible time.
It was then that I came across a wonderful company called Acorn International– who had products that were natural and ‘Created with love in South Africa’! This ethos was integral in my decision to approach Acorn as part of my intention when I started out was to ‘think and act local’; a great moral boost for me is that I now provide work for people from the communities of Grassy Park, Lotus River, Athlone, Bonteheuwel and Hanover Park.
The Acorn Brand was established by Richard Sletcher in 2004 in order to provide a viable business for stay-at-home moms. Cool! Here was a company that also wanted to help with the unemployment problem as well as having an ethical approach towards its products and ingredients! For example, - the Acorn Babes range (of which Bio-Baba nappies are now a part) uses no petroleum based products, but uses Saflower oil instead. Acorn provides great support to its members in the form of training workshops, dvd’s as well as a highly effective web based information management system. This support has been a ‘God-send’.
My business is my way of honouring my brother’s life. I believe that Bio-Baba nappies are the best alternative to the billions of disposable nappies dumped each year (making disposable nappies one of the biggest waste contributors on the planet). I do not want my children to grow up in a waste land. I consol myself after a sleepless night of looking after a teething baby and a 4 year old who wakes up just to be ‘part of the action’ that I am ‘doing my bit’ to ensure that South Africa does not become one!
In February 2006, I was blessed with another baby boy, Todd Niran Clarke… ‘Niran’ is a Thai name meaning ‘Eternal’), and have been supported through all the hard times with love and infinite patience by my husband Greg.
Last year was incredibly difficult for my whole family, but in the words of the Archbishop of Canterbury, in a memorial at St. Paul’s Cathedral last year “love can continue to grow, even on the soil of the worst pain and the deepest doubt”...this is so true of life, and of business too. If you love what you do, and believe in it – it will grow into something meaningful.
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