Today we’d like to introduce you to Julianne.
Hi Julianne, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
From Bottle Refusal to Invention: The Story Behind Bottimals
The idea for Bottimals began with a very personal parenting challenge.
After my son was born, I was exclusively breastfeeding and eventually wanted to have some flexibility with feeding. I remember going to get my first postpartum haircut. I was sitting in the salon chair with my hair soaking wet when my husband called and told me that our son would not take a bottle and that I needed to come home.
That moment was frustrating, but it also became the beginning of my journey to understanding bottle refusal.
We tried various bottles, nipples, flows, positions, and caregivers, but nothing seemed to work. If I wasn’t there to breastfeed him, feeding became a challenge. It was difficult for our entire family because my husband couldn’t easily feed our son, and I couldn’t be away for very long (I lived on a 90 minute timeclock for a long time).
With my background in biology and clinical research career of 13 years, I became curious about *why* he was responding so differently to a bottle than he did to breastfeeding. I began researching the sensory aspects of breastfeeding and learned about the role familiarity—particularly a mother’s scent—can play in a baby’s experience.
That led me to experiment at home. I took one of my worn shirts and wrapped it around the bottle. When my son drank from it, I had my lightbulb moment.
I began developing an idea for a soft bottle companion that could incorporate a familiar scent from mom and stay close to the baby during feeding. That concept eventually became the Bottimals bottle-lovey®.
What started as a solution to a problem I was experiencing as a mom became a product and ultimately a company.
My hope is that the bottle-lovey® can help families create a more familiar and comforting bottle-feeding experience while giving parents a little more flexibility during those early months of parenthood.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has been anything but a smooth road, and I think most entrepreneurs would say the same. In reality, I think entrepreneurship is more often a bumpy road than a smooth one.
One of my biggest challenges has been bootstrapping the business and learning how to build something from nothing. I had no previous experience in product development, so I have had to learn that entire process from the ground up—from sourcing and vetting vendors and manufacturers to understanding who I can trust and how to build those relationships.
Building a product is one thing, but building the network around that product is another. Developing relationships and making the right connections takes time, and I’ve learned that there really aren’t shortcuts to that process.
I’ve also had to learn how to sell. I had never sold anything before starting Bottimals, so learning how to talk about my product, communicate its value, and put myself out there has been a significant learning curve.
There have been plenty of moments when I’ve had to figure things out as I go. But I think that’s also one of the most rewarding parts of entrepreneurship. You’re constantly learning, adapting, and doing things that you’ve never done before. The challenges haven’t necessarily gotten easier—they’ve just taught me how to become better at navigating them.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Bottimals is a baby and parenting brand created to help make bottle-feeding feel more familiar and comforting for babies and more flexible for families. Our flagship product, the bottle-lovey, was born out of a very real challenge I experienced with my own son when he struggled to take a bottle.
The bottle-lovey is designed to be a soft, comforting companion that wraps around a baby’s bottle and includes a removable scent heart that can be worn close to a mom’s skin before feeding. The idea is simple: bring a familiar sensory cue into the bottle-feeding experience while creating something soft and comforting for baby to hold.
What sets Bottimals apart is that we aren’t simply another bottle or feeding accessory. We are focused on the *experience* surrounding feeding. We recognize that feeding is about much more than the bottle itself—it can be about familiarity, comfort, connection and giving parents the flexibility to feed their babies in different ways.
Our brand is rooted in real-life parenting. Bottimals wasn’t created in a boardroom or because I saw an opportunity in the baby-product market. It started because I was a mom trying to solve a problem that I couldn’t find a solution for. That perspective continues to influence how we develop the brand and think about the products we create.
What I’m most proud of from a brand perspective is that Bottimals has a genuine story behind it. It represents the idea that a frustrating parenting experience can sometimes become the inspiration for something meaningful. We’ve built the brand around empathy for parents, thoughtful product design and the belief that small innovations can make everyday moments feel a little easier.
What’s next?
Bottimals is continuing to grow, and I’m excited about what’s ahead. We recently expanded our product line, and I’m looking forward to hearing customer feedback and learning how we can continue to improve.
Ultimately, my goal is to bring the comfort and connection that inspired Bottimals to families all across the country, while continuing to create thoughtful products that make feeding and other aspects of parenthood a little easier for parents and babies.
Pricing:
- $34.99 – 1 lovey
- $59.99 – 2 lovey bundle
- $79.99 – 3 lovey bundle
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bottimals.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bottimals/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bottimals/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bottimals/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Bottimals
