This philosophy was in the interest of our budding business - yes - but even moreso I was passionate about increasing success rates in cloth diapering in general which would help me to achieve the ultimate goal of reducing waste and precious resources. Several years into the business and I held true without compromise to our early commitments of focusing on ethical & high quality manufacturing, and in putting ecological benefits over profits. Honestly, the Chinese make it so easy! However, I accredit Thirsties' long term success to the consistent satisfaction of our customers. On one hand, it would have been so much easier to bring our diaper cover to market through a foreign manufacturer. Not only was it important to me from an ethical standpoint to manufacture all of our goods in the USA, but by doing so I was able to closely monitor the quality of our product line and quickly adapt to the increasing demand on inventory. Why did you choose to commit to Thirsties being a Made in the USA company? Eighteen long but exciting months followed of prototyping, sourcing components, building relationships, testing products, and "raising" money through a (risky) home equity loan and finally (drum-roll) Thirsties Diaper Cover was born! Much to my relief and surprise, Thirsties Diaper Cover became an overnight sensation in the world of cloth diapering and the rest is history. I felt that in order to make cloth diapers appealing to the mainstream, we needed a fail-proof and stylish system. I started by sewing a prototype of a diaper cover that I felt was an improved version of those that I used on my daughter. And so I dusted off my old sewing machine and officially set up shop in my dining room. The successful resale of my cloth diapers on eBay triggered my thinking and energized my hustler spirit. Wage increases were frozen by the school district for the 3rd year in a row while at the same time health care costs continued to soar. My husband was a teacher at a 'failing' high school.
Erin kimmett iconographer how to#
Financially, our family was in a sticky spot and I was actively trying to figure out how to earn an income from home. When my daughter potty-trained, I attempted to sell my used cloth diapers (on an eBay auction) and was shocked when they sold for nearly the price that I had paid for them new. How did you go from cloth diapering mom to starting a cloth diapering company? Only once was I busted by a notoriously grumpy neighbor who gave me a shake of his head and a look of disgust but I quickly retreated with my clean diapers in hand before he had a chance to protest. So that's what we did! By 5:00am at the latest, I would hoist my stinky laundry bag of dirty diapers over my shoulder, hike up my hood to veil my identity, and quickly and quietly tiptoe down the stairs into the basement laundry room to sneak our poopy diapers into the washer. We had shared laundry facilities in our condo and despite the risk of making waves with our neighbors, husband and I felt we had no other choice but to purchase our own diapers and launder them in the public machines. The local cloth diaper service called me the morning of my first delivery (just before my due date) to inform me that they didn't feel safe delivering diapers to our inner-city Denver condo. I had originally signed up for a diaper service. I hit a few snafus in those early days of cloth diapering. Tell us about your experience as a new cloth diapering mom. I choose cloth because it was the most economical, the most ecological, and healthiest option for my baby. She started out in good ole fashioned, reliable chinese prefold cloth diapers and diaper covers. My first born arrived on a rainy September day in 2002. I was a passionate about cloth diapering my babies. How did you become interested in cloth diapering? After seeing the market need for quality cloth diapers Erin dusted off her sewing machine, got to designing Thirsties diaper cover and in 2006 started Thirsties Inc. We caught up with Erin to talk about Thirsties beginnings and what's she been up to since selling the company to the Merrill family in 2010.
Happy International Women's Day! We thought it fitting to share more about the amazing women who founded Thirsties, Erin Kimmett.