Vancouver: Calling All Mompreneurs

Mompreneur™.

It’s a word that’s entered our lexicon, and none too soon. After all, when women are starting up small businesses at twice the rate as men (and one-third of them have kids under 12!), you know it’s not just a passing fad.

Not that that’s news to us at SavvyMom (a mom-run media company). Since we launched almost two years ago, we’ve been constantly impressed by the number of Canadian mompreneurs whose great products and services we’ve enjoyed uncovering and promoting. And today, in celebration of all those moms who dared to dream big, we’re announcing the SavvyMom Mompreneur of the Year Award (with an $18,000 prize no less)!

So we thought it was only fitting that today’s article feature two Vancouver women who are mompreneurs to the max. Melissa Krezanski and Jennifer Bogart launched Goober Baby last July, the same month that both their daughters turned a year old. Now Maya and Emelia are about to turn two, and Goober Baby has grown just as fast as they have.

We fell in love with Goober Baby’s beautifully soft and attractive line of blankets and coordinating diaper change accessories, and we’re not the only ones. The company was recently discovered by Jayneoni, the ‘kiddie swag specialist,’ who invited Melissa and Jennifer to include their products in her gift baskets for Hollywood’s top celebrity moms. So when Katie Holmes, Angelina Jolie and Courtney Cox unveil Goober Baby’s tote bag, change mat and baby change purse, they’ll be able to surround their offspring with a slice of stylish Vancouver that’s taken this country by storm.

We think Melissa’s secrets to success are worth sharing—first, identify a gap in the marketplace. The Goober Baby fabrics are pretty and fashionable, allowing Mom to express her own sense of style instead of getting lost in Winnie-the-Pooh land. Second, maintain “unshakeable faith”. Having their babies, she says, gave them all the confidence and inspiration they needed to believe they could succeed at their business.

One tangible symbol of the Goober mom’s vision is their ‘Universe Board’, a mounted wall calendar on which they’ve posted all their goals, big and small. Some of them may seem unachievable, Melissa says, but they get written up all the same—and they’re coming true, by golly, at a rate that’s testament to the power of positive thinking and lots of late nights .

It was William Arthur Ward who said “If you can dream it, you can become it”—but all across Canada, it’s mompreneurs who are proving it. Hats off to you all!

Now about that contest—The SavvyMom Mompreneur™ of the Year Award is a readers’ choice award designed to find Canada’s top Mompreneur. The winner, who will be announced in the fall, will be rewarded with an $18,000 prize package of cash, business services and office equipment designed to help take her business to the next level. Readers are encouraged to browse the Mompreneur of the Year Award Site and vote for their favourite mompreneurs—we’ve got 35 great prizes for the voters as well.

Know a Mompreneur™? Make sure you tell her about our contest, tell her to complete a nomination form and vote for her!

Tested by Peggy TJ., North Vancouver