Cushie Tushies designs, manufactures and sells eco-friendly baby nappies and nappy accessories. The founders came together while they were both on maternity leave.
Fowler has expertise in textile design and website design, while Langman’s background is in marketing and business development, so their skill sets combined perfectly.
They also share a passion for sustainability and the environment, which provided the inspiration for their original and core product: modern cloth nappies.
“Modern cloth nappies was an industry in its infancy at the time we launched Cushie Tushies, following on from a massive swing towards this type of product in the USA and the UK,” Fowler says.
“In Australia at the time, there weren’t any major brands doing this type of product really well.”
“Our aim was not to be another handmade, work-at-home-mum operation, but to be very professional about our product manufacturing, our branding, our customer service, etc.”
Fowler says securing finance for a virtually unknown product – during the global financial crisis – was a major challenge. However, they eventually found a bank manager willing to take a risk.
“It forced us to be very thorough in our business planning and to focus hard on what we wanted to achieve and how,” she says.
“We work in a fast-paced environment, so every six months we follow this same process and re-evaluate our plans, how are we going with our targets, and make changes as required.”
Despite juggling business with motherhood, Fowler says she and Langman never seem to lose motivation or momentum, primarily because “our passion fuels our ideas”.
“Secondly, being able to work in such a professionally satisfying role, that is also flexible around the needs of our children, is absolutely invaluable,” Fowler says.
“Third, but not least, the pride and sense of achievement from seeing something you created from nothing become a brand recognised nationally and available on shop shelves nationwide is immense. And that will soon grow as we expand overseas.”
