We were lucky to catch up with Amanda White and Brinton Jaecks recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Amanda and Brinton, thanks for joining us today. Can you share a customer success story with us?

We are a furniture and toy brand making multi-stage products that grow with your family. One of our favorite stories we like to tell is from one of our very 1st sales. We sent off a Walnut walker kit to a young couple, who had their 1st Baby, Koa. He was about 11 months old. They unboxed their kit, put it together in a snap and then immediately offered it to their little guy and he literally got up and walked away. He walked for the 1st time! With our kit! On the 1st try. We were so thrilled. It was such validation. And such a triumph for Koa. Now we hear stories like this one all the time from our customers, but they NEVER get old. We love celebrating these achievements. The 1st steps are really thrilling moments for the babe and the parents. And we love that WE get to be apart of THEIR story. Wow. It’s the most rewarding moment. You put in a ton of R and D, countless hours creating new versions and executing refinements. Then finally, the moment comes. And you deliver, exactly what you promised. And it’s exhilarating. For us that’s the cherry on the top; that little babes accomplishment, and we got to help, just a little.
Brinton and I are also parents. So we know this joy. And it’s so heartwarming. It’s really such a sacred relationship, that of a parent and a child. And it can be hard, and overwhelming for new parents. It’s really rewarding to be able to make that process a little easier.
Our promise is to “Do More, with Less”. We launched with our BOOMERANG kit; which is a baby walker that converts into a scooter, then a toddler bike, and finally a balance bike. So it’s Always at the right stage at the right time. Helping little babes transition from cruising, to walking, to scooting, to riding. Building independence and a sense of self every step 👣 of the way. Taking a product that normally has a short life span of only a few months and extending that to 3 years. Our slogan is “Designed to Grow – Big Tree Co., Because tiny footsteps should have tiny footprints.” And I think that sums it up nicely.

Amanda and Brinton, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

We own and operate Big Tree Co. a furniture and toy brand making sustainable multi-stage products that grow with your family. Their slogan is, “Designed to Grow – Big Tree Co., Because tiny footsteps should have tiny footprints.”

Initially when we designed the very first walker for our daughter Lulu, we just wanted something that was beautiful and functional. We wanted it to look GOOD! and made of quality materials….not plastic. But then an interesting thing happened. Ozzie started climbing on the bridge of the baby walker and riding it through the house like a scooter. And we asked ourselves, “How can we make this walker turn into a scooter, so we don’t have to throw it away in a few months?” That was our Ah-ha moment that lead us on this journey. We added in the bike stage, and then a flood of ideas came to us on how ALL the things we use could be beautiful, useful, and designed for longevity.

The result was the BOOMERANG Walker Kit which they launched in January of 2022. The kit is a baby walker that converts into a scooter, then a toddler bike, and finally a balance bike. The four stages combined extend the product lifespan from a few months to up to three years, while minimizing waste.

That was the beginning. Now we are a furniture and toy brand making multi-stage products that grow with your family.
“We love designing things that solve multiple problems and are excited introduce new products that solve the single use dilemma.”

Big Tree Co. is 100% committed to be the most environmentally sound business they can be, by sourcing FSC Certified, sustainably harvested wood, and 0% VOC plant-based finishes. All of their packaging is plastic free, recycled and recyclable. They also donate 1% of all sales to promote healthy reforestation, and forest stewardship.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Brinton and I had already begun designing and fabricating proto-types for our first Boomerang series right before the Spring of 2020. We were in the process of developing our website and hunting down manufacturer’s when the COVID lockdown went into effect. We were absolutely devastated. We had our third child well on the way and had been planning to launch our new business before her birth. We immediate had to re-organize our goals.

We decided to buy our own CNC machine (who we lovingly dubbed “Tina”). We researched and designed our own CNC machine from scratch, so we had all the capabilities we needed in one instrument. Next, we had it made in china, shipped over to the Port of LA, and brought to our shop on the back of a flatbed truck. We moved our production in-house and decided to go with a vertical business model. Our motto at the time was, “Keep Moving Forward”.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Our Business is self funded. We wanted to remain in control of our growth speed. Children’s products have a set of inherent risk. Clearly safety is always a top priority. And with that there’s specific of market testing involved prior to launching. We wanted to take our time and learn as we went, making sure to patent and test our products at every step. We have learned a lot, and really keyed in our process. Now we are ready to really level up and we are currently seeking out capital to move to the next phase of growth.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bigtree.la
• Instagram: @bigtree.la
• Facebook: bigtree.la
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/big-tree-co/

Image Credits
John Davis Rachel Barrett