Tell me a little about yourself and your family.
I’m Purusha Rivera, a mother to 13 year old girl/boy twins and a rambunctious 3 year old. My husband and I juggle the kids and our business, My Baby’s Heartbeat Bear, while trying to stay sane and enjoy this amazing journey. It’s not always easy, but it’s always worth it!
How did you get started with building an online store?
I was an Ultrasound Tech for years, first in a hospital and then an OB office. We started offering 3D ultrasounds to our patients when I had a special request, “Can you record my baby’s heartbeat in a teddy bear?” My first thought was how incredible it would have been to have my twin’s heartbeats recorded in pink and blue teddy bears.
I was on a mission to figure out how to offer these to my patients. I searched high and low for a “heartbeat bear kit” but found nothing. I was ordering stuffed animal skins (and hand stuffing them) from one company and recorders from another. My husband is the one who really pushed me to start this business. “Cut out the middle man.” he said. “If it takes you a year to sell all the animals that’s ok. Eventually you’ll sell them.” And so it began…
Tell me about your products?
We sell a pregnancy keepsake that captures the sound of a baby’s heartbeat in utero in an adorable stuffed animal. We recently added a Gender Reveal Kit that includes a Heartbeat Animal, a bow tie, and a tutu, and a gender neutral box that parents can take to their ultrasound. After the ultrasound tech finds out the baby’s gender she/he will dress the animal with the tutu or bow tie and the parents can take the box home to open with family and friends or have siblings join in the fun!
Do you hold inventory or drop ship?
All our animals are stuffed in our 5000 sq ft warehouse. They’re then looked over for any defects and packaged with sound modules and instruction sheets before getting shipped directly to our customers.
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How do you market your store? Do you advertise?
We do a lot of advertising on social media, google shopping, and we have an amazing PR team. Our blog is another great way to drive traffic to our website.
Who are your business inspirations?
I absolutely LOVE pregnancy and birth! I’m very fortunate to be able to reach so many expecting moms. We provide them with support and information via our blogs and social media to assist with a positive pregnancy and birth experience, along with a really cute pregnancy keepsake.
How do you balance time with your family and time for your business?
I really struggle with this. Working on my business is a lot of fun and my mind almost never shuts off. I try to put down the phone and focus on my big kids when they’re around and my toddler DEMANDS my attention.
Hubby and I try to get out for a date night once a week but we almost always talk business when we are out. We laugh that we get the most work done when we are on vacation. Maybe we should take more of them?!
What are your goals for the next year?
I have some great new products that we are rolling out this year. Our new app that’s currently in phase two of development has so many great features for our customers like uploading the heartbeat directly into the app so that we transfer the recording for them and their animal arrives already with baby’s heartbeat in it. Also, a really cool calendar with milestones and blogs that relate to the expecting Moms specific gestational age.
Final thoughts?
Since starting My Baby’s Heartbeat Bear I’ve learned to dream big, act on it immediately, and always trust the gut. There is so much truth to what Lori Greiner said, “Entrepreneurs are the only people who will work 80 hours a week to avoid working 40 hours a week.”
[…] RELATED POST: How a Special Request Led to a New Business for Purusha Rivera […]