There are two scenarios that always have me thinking I can take on the world: when I return from a holiday and the start of a brand new year.
In both cases, what I thought was impossible ends up being child’s play. Deciding to write a column from my heart as the founder of The Baby Cot Shop is the result of my most recent holiday.
I get asked a question often: "How do you run The Baby Cot Shop, mother four boys (five when we include my husband), write, speak, and coach? How do you balance it all?"
Each time I get asked that, I laugh on the inside, because I don't balance it all! Something always gives. It doesn't help that I happen to have a mind that is always churning up ideas, and I love the start of something new. I struggle with the middle and celebrate the end. So to get through it all, I have an incredible team to assist me with the middle part.
I started The Baby Cot Shop when I returned from living in the United States and discovered there was no baby or children’s furniture or interiors like what we had in the USA. Everything was mass-produced, cheap, and boring, or brightly coloured, character-themed, and tacky. So I travelled around the EU to find artisans who were skilled in their craft and only used high quality material, and I curated a selection of lovely pieces. I did try to import furniture from the USA, but that proved difficult - high shipping costs, damages in transit, size differences, and more.
But even with our EU pieces, there was a common problem. I couldn't offer our customers flexibility in the design or colour. There were also damages sometimes in transit and the manufacturers changed or discontinued their designs at will and in one case, there were safety concerns.
The solution was to design my own line of furniture and interiors to give us full flexibility to create the most beautiful, robust and safe furniture for little ones. Experienced craftsmen who have been passing down their skills for generations produce the BCS collection in-house in the EU. We also have partners in Italy who produce our luxury furniture for that extra special nursery or child’s room. We can accommodate an unconventional colour or design in your little one’s room.
It means you get exactly what you want, problems are minimised, and I sleep well at night because I'm not worried about the quality or safety aspects. Once in a blue moon, a situation arises that we didn't see coming, and we drop everything to rectify it so that, in the end, everyone is happy.
If you have watched any of our Instagram Lives, you'll know that I champion journaling. It's the best way to get your mind in check. I warn you because in almost all my emails, I will encourage you to journal 😁
I've had a number of highs over the past twelve months, and some lows too. One of my highs was delivering a TED Talk titled The Superpower of Authentic Storytelling. I confess, I hesitated on whether or not to share this with you. 🙈 I'll explain why in my next instalment.
My name is Toks, and I'm the visionary behind The Baby Cot Shop, it's a pleasure to meet you!