Two years ago, Rebecca Melskey and Eva St. Clair looked at children’s clothing and asked why.
Why does no one make little girls clothes in pink with dinosaurs? Or sparkly with pirates? Or awesome with ninjas, robots and monsters?
In April of 2013, they set out to change that. From their vision came Princess Awesome: a clothing line that gives little girls stylish outfits to match all the cool things they love.
“We want little girls to internalize that dinosaurs, pirates, ninjas, math, science and all the other themes on our dresses are just as much “for girls” as they are “for boys,” said Rebecca.
After receiving an incredible response from their initial batches of dresses, they created a Kickstarter Project to accelerate their idea to the next level and now they need your help.
The team set an initial goal to raise $35,000 and already surpassed that with $179,100 and counting! They kept creating stretch goals, and the people kept supporting them above and beyond their expectations. Now with only 5 days left, they are beyond excited about moving to factory production and rolling out a bunch of new clothing lines much sooner than they thought.
To help make their dream a reality and bring all the little ladies in your life some awesome new outfits, browse their Kickstarter pledging options and join the 2,805 people already backing their company.
“We never thought it would be this popular, particularly given the response to Childrenswear on Kickstarter in the past—the previous record was $38,000,” said Eva. “This has just blown past all our expectations!”
With tremendous support from their friends, families and other women like Sharon Choksi, founder of Girls Will Be, and Rebecca Hains, author of The Princess Problem, these two moms gone entrepreneurs are driving their idea full speed ahead.
“We had some sense that if we were able to tap the right vein of public sentiment, we could do well, but we have fully entered ‘beyond our wildest dreams’ territory,” said Rebecca.
As for balancing the whole motherhood, startup founder and career life dynamic, these ladies are figuring it all out one day at a time.
“It’s an evolving issue because family and career needs are always changing. We just try to take each day as it comes and plan as best we can. Like Eisenhower said: ‘Planning is essential. Plans are useless’,” said Eva.
Being a full-time teacher and mom, Rebecca also does quite the juggle to find time to work on Princess Awesome either before she leaves her school for the day or after bedtime for her kids.
“Any parent knows that regardless of what you’re doing, finding time and energy for all of it is a challenge,” she said.
Despite busy schedules, one thing is for sure: these moms make for a pretty inspirational duo. They are pursuing a passionate cause and inspiring the next generation of women along on way.
For other moms with business ideas, they want to offer a key piece of advice, “Find a reliable, creative, complementary business partner!”
Check out Rebecca and Eva’s personal favorite clothing patterns below or visit their Kickstarter page to see more dresses and support Princess Awesome.
“Hidden Ninja looks like harmless, lovely flowers – but they are brilliant, strong women hiding in plain sight.” – Rebecca
“I love the geometrical design and the colors of Atomic Shells. It feels very spring-like to me… I can’t wait for spring!” – Eva
Through projects like Princess Awesome, let’s work together to raise more awesome kids.
Written by: MichelleLenzen
To stay connected with Moms1st, follow us on Facebook and Pinterest.