Last month, I was blessed with the opportunity to attend Playtime New York. It being my first time attending the trade show, I didn’t really know what to expect. It was a wonderful chance to be introduced to new children’s brands and become reacquainted with ones I did know.
The location at the Metropolitan Pavilion was gorgeous and the setup was perfect. My favorite part of the event was connecting with some really awesome brands and people. It just so happens that today’s Mompreneur is one I had the pleasure of meeting there.
I was drawn to this woman’s area because it looked like a place that JustaBXgirl would call home. Have you seen the gold stars that adorn our walls at home?
It turns out that Heather is a fellow NYC mom. We spoke for a few minutes and just clicked. Don’t you love when that happens? We made plans to stay in touch and really did 🙂 We had a two hour coffee date two weeks later. We would have probably stayed there longer than two hours had she not had to pick up her daughter from camp. #WorkingMomProblems
It was during this coffee date, which was really a fancy iced tea date, that Heather helped me really flesh out what I wanted the #MompreneurMondays series to be about. Yes, I want to showcase mom-run businesses but even more I want to showcase these magnificent mothers.
Heather has been into arts and crafts her whole life so it’s not surprising that she would come up with a creative business. She did admit though that children’s hair accessories were not something she had planned on. Her first passion was handbags. Heather has been designing handbags for over fifteen years. Even now while focusing on children’s hair accessories with Me Oui, she is still working on her own personal handbag line.
Like many of the Mompreneurs I’ve been meeting, Heather’s brand was born from a personal need. When her daughter decided it was time to wear her hair more like Elsa than Dora, Heather needed a way to control the in between of her daughter’s bangs. She had difficulty finding hair accessories that would make her daughter happy so she made her own!
Even the name Me Oui can be credited to being inspired by her daughter. One day while having a tea party, Heather’s daughter said, “you, me and we” while pouring the tea. Finding it to be really sweet, Heather played with the words and came up with “Me Oui” and the slogan, “Me Oui(We) Fun Together.”
It is very hard to believe that Me Oui was launched only a year ago. Heather is already making a name for her brand by being picked up by stores domestically and internationally. It isn’t surprising that little girls everywhere are loving and wanting her products. Heather prides Me Oui on being about creating and sharing fabulous fun.
I know when JustaBXgirl checked out the Me Oui site with me she must have asked to add at least half of the inventory to her Christmas list.
Courtesy of the Me Oui Facebook Page
Family is at the center of Heather’s heart. Even in the business, she says her biggest supporter has been her husband and her greatest inspiration is her daughter. Her husband understands that building a business means sometimes he will have to pull extra daddy duty hours while mommy is busy with trade shows and sourcing trips.
Heather has serious plans for the brand. She sees it growing more into a lifestyle brand than simply an accessories brand over the next few years. Once her daughter is older and can help out more (at 5 she’s already helping with packaging), Heather would love Me Oui to be able to help empower girls.
I believe she’s going to do just that. Heather spoke to me a little about what she sees Me Oui looking like when it gets to the brick and mortar stage and she is as excited as me. For now you can find her products online and perhaps at your favorite boutique.
I’m asking all of the moms I speak with for two things to share with you, a piece of parenting advice and their favorite knock knock joke. Heather wants us to remember we don’t have to buy our children expensive toys. She thinks that creating memories is much more important. (I agree.)
