When my mom gave birth to me back in 1998, she had just started her special education degree in teaching, worked two jobs, and had now become a new mom. But she had a product and an idea to help soothe babies, and she was determined to share it with the world. And I should know, because I was the first baby to ever hold a WubbaNub.
My mother moved from town to two growing up until her family found a place to call home in Derby Connecticut. She was the youngest of three girls, but unfortunately her father left the family at a very young age which meant she had to help out around the house more while her mom worked. When she wasn’t in school, she spent her time at home taking care of her sister Christine who was born with developmental disabilities and experiences seizures.
When her mom decided to open a non-profit company that provided housing and care for people with developmental disabilities, my mom was one of the first people hired to the staff. My grandmother took my mom under her wing and taught her the ropes of how to be an entrepreneur and running a company in a male dominated world. Through high school she worked at the group homes and then attended college for a degree in special education. A few years into her degree she met my father who was doing construction on her mother’s house.
When I was born in 1998, my mother and father had to move back into my grandmother’s house for financial reasons as my mom had to stay home and take care of me while my dad worked overtime shifts at the police department. While vacationing in Florida, my mother was awakened several times during the night by the sound of me crying. She knew that every time the pacifier fell out of my mouth, I would wake up crying. In the heat of the moment, she quickly took the hotel sewing kit and sewed the pacifier onto one of my favorite stuffed animals and then laid it on my chest where my hands could grab it. Knowing that I would now be able to sleep into the night, my mother went to bed feeling accomplished that night. But unbeknown to her, she had just laid the groundwork that launched her into the entrepreneurial and business world.
The thought that she had just invented something that could be made into a company wasn’t apparent to her until she was stopped several times on the streets for months. Other moms would ask her where she got the stuffed animal with the pacifier attached. With a loan from her grandmother, my mom was able to send in for a patent and safety regulations and after a year was granted the right to start manufacturing.
One of the best decisions she tells me she’s ever made is naming the company “WubbaNub.” And coming from hundreds of encounters myself I know exactly what she means. Growing up I would tell people about how my mom invented WubbaNub and immediately people would say the name back to me and then ask what is was and I would explain. Then when see that same person days later and they would tell me about how they saw someone’s baby with it either in person or on TV with a celebrity. Success didn’t come right away for my mom though as she, with no business education, had to build the company from the ground up, literally in the basement.
My mother first started selling and distributing the product to hospitals. When she would take me to my doctor appointments, nurses would ask her for the products and where they could buy them. The pacifier was manufactured in China while the plush was made in Vermont. And when to two were combined they were then sent to our house to be repackaged and shipped out.
When people ask what one of my earliest memories is, the first that comes to mind is an 18-wheeler backing down our driveway delivering palettes of WubbaNubs. It really was a family run business growing up. Sometimes I was the “delivery boy” at my school handing out gifts to all the pregnant elementary school teachers and friends who had new baby siblings. Everyday though my dad and I came home at the same time. I would finish my homework while he went to work out, and then it was time to pack.
Downstairs in the basement my dad would assemble and pack the boxes while I labeled and carried them to the waiting cars outside. The boxes would reach 3 rows deep and reach all the way up to the ceiling. And when they got lower to the ground more would come in. Upstairs in the kitchen my mom would work at her desk sending emails and answering the “work phone” in the house. My mother would answer providing different names to give the illusion of multiple people working for her. My grandmother would then come over with her car and we would fill hers with more boxes and then it was off to the UPS store for shipping.
When the company expanded to selling to boutiques, the company quickly grew out of the house. There were obstacles finding a new office as my mom went through office neighbors who smoked heavily and even a bird store. Every office she moved into though she made sure it was close to home so keep the balance of work and family. My mother had to take on many roles in the company as she didn’t have enough to pay fulltime employees and she would work late into the night and early morning most days. On family vacations my mother would have to bring a personal computer but would save it again for the night. The only time I wouldn’t see my mother was when she went to trade shows in Vegas and New York, but I knew it was for the good of the company and her trying to grow it.
The amount of employees has grown exponentially over the years as the company has grown. Every one that comes in for an interview and is hired for the job has a degree of some sort in the field, and I just sit there and think about how my mom did all the jobs with no background in any of them. The only other person to have done multiple jobs at the company is me, but I help to fill in where need be. From packing boxes with my dad to importing data and EDI invoices to social media campaigns, I’ve seen it all. And one of the most important things I learned from watching my mom is to protect the brand and image because it is trusted by millions of moms and families around the world.
One of the things my mother was most successful at early on was sales. She would call dozens of boutiques and brick and mortar stores looking to sell product to them. It was when mass distributors though like Buy Buy Baby and Babies R Us reached out to her that she knew she made it big time. One way I look at the evolution of the company is the product line. At first there were only three different styles: a red dog, green frog, and yellow duck. Now there are over 25+ different styles and variations as well as licensing agreements with companies like Target.
When WubbaNub first launched in Target, my entire family went to our local store and celebrated within it the accomplishment my mother made. Every time any of us visit a store that carries the product, we always check on the skews and make sure the product is well represented and on the pegs. And when my mom signed a licensing deal with Major League Baseball, she sent me to Yankee Stadium to help with the product launch while she went to Fenway Park for the Red Sox launch and donation to Operation Shower.
With the rise of social media and instant sharing, WubbaNub has received a lot of exposure and fan interactions which my mother always shares with me. People will buy all the styles for their babies and then still hold onto them after they no longer need them. Some people have hosted WubbaNub themed parties with cakes and some have even gone the distance with WubbaNub tattoos. Celebrities like Kylie Jenner have posted pics of their babies with the product and athletes like Tom Brady have been seen with having it for theirs. During my teen years I loved to watch South Park, but the person who had the biggest reaction to seeing it on the show was my mother, who was almost brought to tears when I called her and told her about it. The show had animated the turtle, cow, and giraffe WubbaNubs right down to the same color swatches and gave them to the “PC Babies” on their adventure through the town of South Park.
Through all the hardships and downs my mother has faced over the years, I find that my mother finds her strength through the emails and letters written in from families whose babies loved the WubbaNub. Parents write in about the experiences in the NICU where they were unable to hold and comfort their child but the WubbaNub lay with them in the incubator and cuddled with the baby while soothing them. One parent wrote in saying, “The nurses in the CICU at Phoenix Children’s Hospital exclusively use your WubbaNub pacifiers to provide comfort to the babies being treated there. Unfortunately, these little warriors are usually hospitalized for long periods of time, endure incredible lifesaving procedures and experience amounts of pain no baby should ever go through while unable to be taken out of their cribs and be held for comfort. This is when your WubbaNub pacifiers come in and play an undeniable and beautiful key role.”
Some people write in about losing their baby but talk about the bond they formed with the product and how they work to raise money and give back to the hospital. An example of this came from two parents giving back to their hospital in Massachusetts. “Our daughter had spent much of the year in the hospital and my husband and I would like to donate WubbaNubs to the hospital unit where she stayed. We would not have made it through her recoveries without her favorite WubbaNub. I spoke with the Child Life Specialist on the unit where the donation was received and she was so grateful. She was brought to tears when she opened the box and saw the WubbaNubs.”
One grandmother wrote in about her grandchild who was fighting neuroblastoma.
“I wanted to share how grateful I am for the comfort your product has provided. It has been a difficult time during cancer treatment and the WubbaNub is always the choice for soothing. L was not really a pacifier baby prior but when his parents introduced it during his 1st surgery it has been a godsend ever since. The WubbaNub has played a major role in comfort for L when he undergoes procedures, chemo, and other painful things he has endured. Thank you for offering a wonderful product that has provided comfort to a child fighting for life.”
The most recent campaign my mom ran was for CHD (Coronary Heart Disease) awareness. She took the tan bear, which has been the staple for her hospital donations, and added a stitched heart to it to represent CHD. Hundreds of people wrote in asking for it and many more shared their own stories and experiences with their children having CHD. With the company looking to take its next step in branding and early childhood development, this campaign has helped to bring attention to the company giving back and helping families in need through social media.
When people find out who my mother is and what she invented they always say thank you and ask her about all the success of the company and how it started. The story that is never told though is what happens in between starting up a company and how it reached what it is today. My mother always looks to how I grew up with that of how the company also grew, as both were born in the same year. But what I am most proud for my mother is how she was able to start an entire company from the ground up and still have time for me and my family. Many people know her as Carla Schneider CEO and Founder of WubbaNub, but I know her as mom.
