This week we to talk to Amylee Magalhaes and Katie Carter, the entreprenurial siblings behind Snuggly Jacks, a ‘baby sleep’ store specialising in baby and nursery products. A family-owned business, Snuggly Jacks has managed to not only achieve a $1 million annual revenue but also successfully established a presence in Canada where it enjoys a thriving customer base.
ISB: What is the inspiration that led you to start Snuggly Jacks?
AM: In 2014, after losing my son Jack at three days old, I really needed a way to keep his name alive. My mum was a seamstress and she had sewn all of Jack’s nursery bedding. Prior to him arriving we received so many compliments from our friends and family on how beautiful his gender-neutral bedding was. After Jack passed away my sister, Katie, was looking for ways to deal with the grief my family had, and she sought refuge in sewing with my mum. At that time she was working every day, and would go to my mum’s house every afternoon and sew. Eventually the pile of bedding that they had created was too much to give to our family or friends who were expecting little ones, so Katie listed these products on Etsy and before we knew it, we had custom order requests flying in.
ISB: How do you set Snuggly Jacks apart from the other baby bedding and blankets in the market?
AM: It was hard to find bedding that wasn’t pink or blue, and for people wanting to keep the gender of their babies a surprise, finding bedding and blankets was hard. We created pieces that were gender-neutral and modern. We wanted pieces that would fit into any new house, and didn’t look so generically baby. We also listened to our customers. We took custom requests and we went shopping to find the perfect fabrics for their requests. Eventually we received a request for a print we just could not find anywhere, and so as Katie does, she decided to teach herself how to design her own prints. In 2016 we released our very own print, designed by Katie, and it was a hit! From there we worked on creating all of our own designs and now we work only with our own designs.
ISB: As a family-owned business, how do you maintain the balance of good business and family relations with the other members?
AM: We are pretty strict about setting business hours for our business stuff and family hours for our family stuff. Unless it’s an absolute emergency, we really try not to allow the two to mesh. We are a family that is super close and we talk through everything. So, we communicate when we have feelings that are impacting us in either area. It’s essential for me to be able to communicate this in order for the rest of the team to pick up where I need them to. We also make sure we make time for each individual relationship in our family. Family is always first.
ISB: How were you able to accomplish the feat of expanding the business to Canada?
KC: When COVID hit and worldwide postage ground to a halt, we needed to find a way to get our orders to our customers in the USA and Canada. Luckily for us, we have a sister who lives in Canada with her husband. We had the option to either refund hundreds of orders that we couldn’t get out of Australia, or have the products shipped from our suppliers to our sister and ask her to fulfill them. Luckily for us this worked really well and we were able to open a website rather quickly and start selling directly from Canada. We know that’s because of Jack, I’m certain he makes sure everything works out in the exact way that it should!
ISB: What is your vision for Snuggly Jacks in the next couple of years?
AM: We are working hard to grow our business even more. We are looking into expanding into Europe and the UK and then possibly also warehousing directly in the USA to save on postage times. We also have some pretty exciting new product launches coming in the next few years as we expand our range. In 2024 we celebrate Jack’s 10th Birthday, and it’s pretty amazing to look back and see how different our lives are now. Hopefully in another 10 years, we can look back again at this moment and reflect on how much our business has grown and how much opportunity it has given our family.
If you could give one piece of advice to someone who aspires to be an entrepreneur, what would it be?
KC: Just do it! Follow your heart, trust your gut and dive in. Don’t wait around wondering if you should. Don’t be scared that you could lose everything. You only have one life. This is your moment to make it yours!
