Cutie Caboose - Meet the Owner
Direct, empathetic, persistent, present, and determined are words I’d like to believe accurately describe my character. Speaking of direct, I’d like to address when you asked, “who are we supporting?” Well…a mom of 2, wife, homemaker, my family, a small business, the cloth diaper movement, our earth, and therefore your own babies. That’s deep, I realize, but true and a clear direction of exactly how I found motivation to take on Cutie Caboose.
You wouldn’t believe me if I told you how I ended up taking a leap of faith with Cutie Caboose. So, for now, we can save that story for later. You must understand that this is a RARE occasion. If you know me personally, I don’t share personal information online for the safety of my family. I know, I know. Why get into this knowing the kind of exposure that comes with it? That’s easy. I like to keep my private life, well, private. This was a subject my husband and I decided on the moment we learned we were going to be parents and based on personal experiences, we decided to stay as private as possible. As parents yourself, I’m certain you'll be understanding. In addition to that reason, I believed in and loved the product first… and that’s where my focus was and is.
Challenging as it may be, I’d like to keep the focus 99.9% about our products and supporting the cloth diapering movement. You’re just helping me along the way, which I am ever so thankful for the support! Truly, I am blessed to live out a dream of being a small business owner. I’m sure I’ll share a few things here and there eventually, I’m just really focused on getting all the boring and tedious behind the scenes stuff completed or started or moving along. So now you’ll understand why I will rarely engage in content with my personal page and instead allow the moose caboose to take the spotlight. He’s so much cuter anyway!
I’ve edited my “about me” blurb, too many times I’d like to admit, and clearly taken lots of time (maybe too much time…) to execute. When was a good time? Do I even give one? (I’ll be frank, I didn’t feel like sharing after how my identity was delivered, and not by me.) After a pause for thought, my question was when did I want to deliver? After all the behind the scenes business was complete? With the Soft Launch? (obviously I didn’t deliver then) Wait for the first drop in April…. ish? Why not a random Friday (now Saturday) night when inspiration hits? Yep. So here I am.
The boring truth is that there are so many tiny steps, and forms, and applications, and phone calls when switching ownership of a company. I won’t bore you with the details, but just understand, it’s way easier just starting new. No regrets though, we’ll get it done. It’s just taking longer than expected is all. It’s so going to be worth it once everything is revamped and our new inventory starts coming in! All this and I still needed to be in the right headspace to write something fitting and that felt right for release into the internet wild.
Right, so who am I? A motivated mama, eager to be a part of the cloth diapering community, open to learning, and strong willed enough to continue holding high standards for Cutie Caboose. My enthusiasm to continue a brand you and I trust is limitless and once the groups are reorganized, I’ll share the new designs we have on the way! It will take some time to get everything where I’d like it to be, and with patience and kindness, great things are destined for this little moose.
Alright, now for the story I mentioned at the beginning:
My love for Cutie Caboose started with a pocket diaper in 2023, and from that first perfect fit I was determined to cloth diaper full time. I dove head first into the deep end of cloth diapering, despite how overwhelming it felt initially, by building my stash plowing through all the BST groups to get as much as I could for less. Infatuated with the new community I found, I called my mom for motivation at starting my own cloth diaper small business. I. Was. Hooked.
Simultaneously, my husband and I were realizing that it was coming to the time that I needed to think about reentering back in the field to supplement our income. It’s just the ugly truth. I didn’t want to give up living my current dream of raising my own children full time, and needed a means for keeping us afloat in this crazy economy. That night I prayed for guidance to help me find a way to support my family without sacrificing this dream. No lie, the next morning an announcement popped up about Cutie Caboose closing its doors. I had a moment (it felt like a shove) to take a leap of faith.
Why Cutie Caboose? Why not just start my own? Have you ever had a feeling where something was just meant or made just for you? That’s how I felt from the logo, to the pocket design, to the cutest patterns, to the direction of the product line; I had to save Cutie Caboose, because it already felt like my responsibility.
Let’s talk about Cutie Caboose and what’s next!
The Cutie Caboose logo was hands down one of the biggest reasons I wanted to continue my small business journey in this direction. I could not have created a more perfect image of what I would want in a brand. The Cutie Caboose NB, OS, and XL fit. Accuracy is important to build trust with the brand, just as important as keeping the chef’s kiss fit of Cutie Caboose pockets. I loved Cutie Caboose designs in previous runs as much as you, and I’d love to honor some of our favorites by bringing some patterns back for reruns! I’m diligently learning all the ins and outs, and details for each of our products. I’ve already inquired about other products, and also really digging deep into safety, and material quality with our manufacturers. Yes, we will have more bamboo pajamas coming and likely launched in a preorder setting. We will continue with licensed art and exclusive hand drawn art made by myself, and other small business artists.
I’ll leave it there for now. I look forward to meeting you in the groups! See you there!
Gratefully, Rachel