This week I had the pleasure of chatting to Luisa, the Biz Babe behind Dough My Dear Play Dough. I am seriously IN. LOVE. with her beautiful Insta feed – it’s full of gorgeous photos of play dough with delicious scents like “Orange Crush”, “Starburst” and “Rose Gold” (mmmmmm, this one smells like coffee! What more could a mum want?) Read on to discover the inspiration behind this sweet-smelling business (and snap up an exclusive reader-only discount!)…
Tell us a bit about yourself:
My name is Luisa; I’m 37 and I am a mum to three gorgeous girls, Allegra (4) and identical twins Illaria and Iléna (9 months old). My husband and I have been together for 11 years (OMG where has that time gone…?) and we live in the Camden area of Western Sydney.
How did you get started with your biz?
Dough My Dear started while I was on maternity leave with the twins. I needed non-tech ways to keep Allegra busy while I had my hands full with the babies needs. Allegra LOVES play dough, but she’s very curious and will smell and try everything – edible or NOT – so I made some for her and she loved it!!!
Her favourite colour is pink, so naturally that was the colour I perfected first. She made a comment like, ‘Mum this smells like pizza’ so it got me thinking about adding scents that go with the colour. The second colour I made was yellow and added lemon to it (one of my faves) and from there it just kept going…
What (or who) are your biggest influences?
Allegra definitely. She’s very active and gets bored easily, but there is something about play dough that has her hooked for hours!
Do you experience mum guilt and how do you tackle that?
I am about to return to ‘Big Work’ 2 days a week, so I’ll keep you posted! As for making the play dough, I love that I am currently making it from my kitchen so I can watch the girls at the same time.
If you could sum up your day in three words what would those words be?
Early. Chaotic. Long.
What does your workstation look like? (share a photo if you’re brave enough!)
OMG, on play dough days it’s a mess… I spread my wings over the entire kitchen bench so I can make, jar, stamp. label and pack all at once. It’s a real production line!
Give me your best kid distraction strategy:
FOOD always wins!
Most embarrassing moment as a mum, or in your biz?
Hmmmmm… I contacted a few gorgeous businesses introducing myself and my product to see if they’d be interested in stocking my brand, and on one of my emails I wrote the wrong business name. Needless to say they never returned my email…
What are you most proud of achieving biz wise?
I have two; the day after I put my first post on Instagram, I got my first wholesale order! And the fact that I’ve been only running three full months and have had a such an overwhelmingly wonderful response from everyone!
What are your big goals for the next 12 months?
I would LOVE to be in a commercial kitchen making magic!
Exclusive reader offer
Luisa is offering Nestling Collective readers 25% off your order of Dough My Dear goodies! Just use the code ‘NESTLING’ at checkout (valid to 30th September, 2017). You can shop, follow and stalk Luisa here:
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