In 2007, I was a new mum, desperately trying to get my gorgeous baby girl to sleep when we were out & about. It bugged me that I couldn’t find a product that solved my apparently very common problem, as I saw my friends struggling with the exact same thing.
My breakthrough moment was in around mid-2008, I was sitting in Café Rouge, having lunch with friends, and we fed the babies first. Everyone put a muslin or blanket over the pram, to get them off to sleep – and I remember thinking how ridiculous it was that there wasn’t a product out there!
So I decided to make one…and invented SnoozeShade (with ZERO experience in retail or manufacturing!)
SnoozeShade is now the world’s best-selling range of baby sun and sleep shades.
My products are recommended by baby experts, used by royalty and celebrities, have won over 70 awards and, most importantly, helped hundreds of thousands of parents worldwide.
Despite initial public success (my products were sold in huge UK retailers like Tesco, Boots and Mothercare) the business was not as profitable as it could be. In 2014, when I was getting divorced, I realised the business was not making enough profit to pay my bills.
So I began investigating ways for the business to be more profitable or else I was going to have to get a job – which I didn’t fancy doing, as I’m utterly unemployable! – and started studying how to sell on Amazon.
Since 2016, I’ve more than tripled my turnover, doubled net profit and my products are Amazon best-sellers in the competitive baby category in the UK and US.
Make It Brand It Sell It has come about because I frequently get asked how I’ve done it. The truth is there is no magic formula – but it can be done!
In February 2020, I started to run small, personalised workshops to teach other product businesses how to increase their sales on Amazon globally.
Obviously my event schedule was slightly kiboshed by a global pandemic! So like many other businesses, I decided to pivot into delivering online learning too.
I’m really passionate about helping other businesses to achieve their full potential. Sometimes, it’s just not knowing what other options are out there or being stuck in doing things the way you’ve always done them.
I consider my divorce to be a blessing because nothing makes you focus more on making your business a success, than being forced to choose between keeping it running or getting a job! I had to give up a lot of my preconceptions about how a product business should operate, to make it work.
I’m here to support in any way I can. Take a look around the site & get in touch if I can help!
Awards are a so much more than an ego stroke:
I practise what I preach & often recommend businesses enter awards, as they’re such a valuable business asset & provide great networking opportunities.
The SnoozeShade brand & I have won 70+ awards, over the last 11 years. Below are some of the business awards I’ve won personally:
London and South East Entrepreneur of the Year – British Chamber of Commerce Awards
Marketing Week Engage Awards – Finalist in Brand Innovator category -(alongside Heineken, Microsoft and Pizza Express)
Winner of Product of the Year – StartUp Awards
European Finalist (one of 3) – Cartier Women’s Awards
Finalist – Aphrodite ‘Mumpreneur’ Award – NatWest Everywoman Awards
Winner – Jacqueline Gold’s Wow Award
Winner – Theo Paphitis’s SBS Award
Winner – MumsClub Mumpreneur of the Year
Winner – Company with Turnover up to £1m – Toast of Surrey Awards
Speaking engagements:
Cara is a popular speaker at business events, sharing the ups and downs of her business journey. If you’re interested in having Cara speak at one of your events, please click here to email her!
“Cara spoke for us at the National What’s On 4 Kids Awards 2019 – to a room packed with business leaders, franchisors, franchisees and newbies. She was engaging, inspiring and entertaining and her honesty and integrity shone through. We were delighted to have received very positive feedback and I would have no hesitation in recommending Cara as a keynote speaker.” Suzanne Borrell, Events Director – Whats On 4 Ltd
“Cara gave a compelling and inspiring talk at The Momentum Day London 2019. It was fascinating to hear her story of resilience and building up her business to the success story it is today. Highly recommended.” Erin Thomas Wong
“Cara provided a talk at our annual business awards in 2019 and we were really impressed. Cara captured her audience and they were instantly enthralled with her witty and funny talk. I would highly recommend Cara.” Laura Morris
Media requests
I am an experienced commentator on small business and e-commerce issues. I’m comfortable appearing on national television and radio and have featured on ITV, BBC TV and on BBC national and local radio.
Click here to see a short feature on my advice to grow your business on BBC Business