Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Rossen and Natasha Daguio.
Nicole and Natasha, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I received my Master of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Baylor University in 2011. Since then, I have worked as a Speech-Language Pathologist in a variety of settings including hospitals, clinics and schools. That was when I started seeing a connection between what my pediatric and school-age clients were eating and their performance, alertness, and focus within the therapy session. But it wasn’t until later I fully understood the food/body connection.
My fellow mom-friend Natasha and I began our company as a passion project that emerged from our own babies and their struggles with conventional baby food. As a newborn, my baby had colic and symptoms of acid reflux after nursing. We received several recommendations to “just wait out” the colic and opt for acid reflux medication. “He’s only 4 weeks old!” I thought,”You’ve got to be kidding me.” Luckily, I linked up with an excellent pediatrician, NP, and ICPA chiropractor in the area. Come to find out, meds would have caused long-term damage on his gut lining. I learned his reflux was largely due to my diet. I cut dairy, gluten, corn and soy completely out of my diet and saw unbelievable improvement within weeks. The crying stopped. The spitting up stopped. The tiny bumps on his belly and face disappeared. He was a completely different baby – much more content.
At 6 months old, my baby was showing signs of readiness for foods and I was nervous. As busy mom, I ached for convenience. I considered every “organic” baby pouch possible but they all had problems: watered down, added sugar, preservatives, or packaged in chemical-leaching plastics to name a few. Luckily, Natasha had a similar experience with her little one and we bonded. We simply wanted the best for our babes and were floored by the baby food aisle. Truly, there is NO need for over-stated sweetness to mask lower quality ingredients yet the baby food aisle is stocked with shelf stable foods full of preservatives, hidden sugars and fillers. Not good! This affects our babies and their guts, overall health, and lifetime journey with food.
We did research and were inspired by Morell’s “Nourishing Traditions” book and Ripley’s “Baby Led Weaning” literature. Resolved, we consulted with a local nurse practitioner who is an advocate for babies, clean eating and wellness. We saw our babes thrive and enjoy whole, organic vegetables over junk. The goal!
At one point, Natasha and I looked at each other and said, “Well, we’re already doing the hard work for our babies. Why not make it a business?” Inspired by our own two babes, we formed Two Babes Organics, LLC. We were determined to offer premium, glass-bottled (no plastic) baby and toddler food. Committed to ORGANIC, NON-GMO, NO PRESERVATIVES, NO PLASTIC, NO CRAP, we hope to take brain work out of meals for busy parents. We say to literally treat our food like you would a live vegetable because it IS perishable with a 3-5 day life! We want parents to know they can choose to refuse the status quo of the food industry and let us be their option. Beyond food, we want to educate and inspire parents to understand the importance of what they are feeding their children, especially in relation to brain and body development. Baby’s first interactions with food establish a foundation and we really enjoy helping families start that journey. We offer weekly meal packs and local pick-up locations to families in North Dallas and love that our families don’t have to worry about making their child’s next meal. It is valuable work to us.
Has it been a smooth road?
Starting a business is a lot like getting a rocket off the ground. It takes power! Working from a budget, resourcefulness quickly became one our strong points. My husband designed our logo and manages the website. Natasha’s husband helps with projections and numbers. It’s a team effort out of passion and love.
As a two-woman operation, our small business has its challenges. It’s all us right now! Manufacturing your own product from start to finish requires sacrifice and time away from family but we’ve become increasingly more efficient over the last 5 months.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Two Babes Organics story. Tell us more about the business.
We offer organic weekly meal packs for North Dallas babies and toddlers. Customers order online and may opt for local pick-up or home delivery (at additional fee). All of our food is bottled in recyclable glass jars and delivered fresh. We are committed to organic, non-GMO, no preservatives, no plastic, and no crap. Customers love that they can add-in probiotics or bone broth to help aid digestion or enter special instructions within the notes section. We’re not a mega company so we do everything ourselves. Gift cards are available and make great baby shower gifts. Our company is for every parent who refuses to compromise their ideals for dollars!
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Greater awareness is certainly brewing in our industry. People are realizing the power of food. With this, we are hoping for a whole foods movement and for the community to respond positively. We hope North Dallas starts to view their food as an investment in their health care. We believe people are seeing that foods processed outside of the body hurt the processes inside the body.
We hope to inspire our customers enough that they demand more from companies for their children. We hope to expand our delivery across north Texas so that little ones everywhere have access to the best.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.twobabesorganics.com
- Email: twobabes@twobabesorganics.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/twobabesorganics
- Facebook: facebook.com/twobabesorganics
Image Credit:
Top photo of brunette mom feeding baby: Photo by Breanna Vahid
Mid photo of baby sitting with 4 bottles in front: Photo by Lindsay Hauk
All others photos: Two Babes Organics
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
