Mumpreneur: Louise Tanguay

Louise Tanguay discovered Dr Harvey Karp's incredible book 'The Happiest Baby' when her son, Jack was eight weeks old. The book's techniques were very effective at calming Jack's crying and for general help.
 
Recent research has shown that 50% of post-natal depression cases could be resolved if mum gets a full night sleep, as sleep deprivation is very closely linked to depression. So there is a very compelling reason for teaching babies to sleep as soon as possible.
 
With the book as inspiration, Louise and her husband, Matt, established The Sleep Store in 2006 as a one-stop shop for tired parents. Their aim is to provide solutions to calm crying, settle newborn babies, and help babies and toddlers sleep through the night.
 
How has your family been an asset to the operation of your business?
 
My oldest two children were the inspiration for The Sleep Store, and my four children continue to inspire me. There’s always some reason for children’s sleep to be interrupted. Sleep deprivation is not just an issue for parents of newborns!  My husband has worked alongside me running The Sleep Store for five years now and we work very well as a team. I really couldn’t do it without him. Plus it’s wonderful to have a whole family of little product testers right here, and they are always eager to test a new brand of pyjamas, try a cool new nightlight or a relaxing bedtime CD. My parents recently moved to Auckland and are such a help with looking after our boys.
 
Had you not been a mother, would you be in the business you are now?
 
Absolutely not! If I wasn’t a mother, I’d have no idea how important sleep is to families and what a difference The Sleep Store could make to families around Australasia. I’d probably still be working for someone else too. Having my children inspired me to take the plunge and work from home, so I could be more flexible with spending time with them as well as growing a business for our family’s future. Through having my four children I’ve had a great opportunity to truly understand what parents really need, how important sleep is for the whole family and to try out all our Sleep Store sleep advice and products on my own children.  I think that has added real credibility to The Sleep Store’s offering, as we actually understand and empathize with our sleep deprived customers! I can never understand how people are in the baby products industry when they haven’t had their own families to thoroughly understand what works and what doesn’t!
 
What do raising children and running a business have in common?
 
Chaos on a daily basis!! And feeling like there are never enough hours in the day to get everything done. With both family and business, you have to focus on what is most important and not sweat the small stuff. My house is usually quite untidy, as I’d much rather spend time gardening outside with the family, and my office is a mess as I’d rather work on bigger things than filing!  My children are great growing up as resilient and independent little people, and our team are also empowered to be independent and make the right decisions for our customers. With both family and business, people come first.
 
How has the Government helped you as a ‘Mumpreneur’? If applicable, how would you recommend their assistance could be improved to others in your situation?
 
I think that Labour’s introduction of 20 hours ECE and paid parental leave were wonderful for self-employed mothers. Years ago, I took advantage of some excellent start-up training through Waitakere Enterprise, and more recently we had some assistance attending the Icehouse owner manager program for a year. It can be very hard finding information about customs and also exporting. We’ve had to seek paid advice on many occasions when I do think the government could be doing a lot more to help small businesses with exporting rather than just picking a tiny number of businesses and giving them huge assistance.
 
 
What are your three top tips for successfully juggling family and a business?
 
Recognise you’ll need to invest in excellent staff and paid expert advice to help you grow your business.
 
You will need help with childcare, it’s really impossible to run a business with your children at home all the time.
 
Pay a house cleaner! I’d much rather work on my business or spend time with the children than scrub my kitchen floor!
 

www.thesleepstore.co.nz