We recently connected with Inbar Brenner and have shared our conversation below.
Inbar , appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
The idea for the Potty Kit came about the first time I took my then 2 year old daughter (who was potty training at home) to a public restroom while our family was out one weekend. I very quickly learned that public restrooms were not an ideal place to take a two year old to try using the toilet! Public restrooms were loud, dirty and did not have any items to accommodate small children. The toilet seats were too big, the automatic flushers went off all the time (scaring my daughter), and the toilet seat covers were not at all helpful since they were too small. I layered the toilet with toilet paper, and had to bend down to hold my daughter on the toilet so she wouldn’t fall in, all at the same time telling her “don’t touch anything!” over and over. It was not a low stress situation, to say the least.
Like most parents, I really wanted my daughter to succeed at potty training. We had just had her little sister (a new baby) join our family 2 months before this occasion, and the idea of having one child potty training was very enticing. Fortunately for me, my daughter showed a lot of interest in potty training leading up to this event, so I was able to support her. Except for, it seemed like, in public restrooms!
After our first public restroom experience, it got me thinking that there had to be a better way to do this. I couldn’t be the ONLY parent who felt like public restrooms were a struggle point that needed to be overcome with young potty training children. I searched online for something that had the items I needed to help make these early potty days out of the house experience less miserable, but really couldn’t find anything that made sense for me and my daughter. So I ended up sourcing my own “kit” of sorts in preparation for our next outing. I knew I needed a better toilet seat to fit her, but something portable, something to cover an automatic flusher so she wouldn’t freak out, and also toilet seat covers that were big enough to be a barrier between her and a public toilet. I assembled some items together for my daughter, and didn’t think anything of it until our next family outing. My husband joined us in a family restroom and saw me put together a set up to help my daughter feel more comfortable. He saw the seat, the seat covers and the sensor covers and told me that if we needed this, then maybe other parents could use these too!
The wheels started turning, and Potty Kit was born! Any parenting product that made my life easier was such a huge win, and I dedicated my time to making a product that would help empower parents especially in potty training, so that they as well as their children could be more comfortable and confident going potty in public restrooms.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I was a former prenatal and child development behavioral health researcher turned stay at home mom during Covid and the birth of my second child. My original plan was to take some time off to be home with my kids, but the idea for Potty Kit came just a couple of months after being “at home!” I love creating, and this was a new project for me to create, but with a bigger purpose of helping other parents which was really meaningful to me.
The main problem I solve is helping both parents and children feel more comfortable using public restrooms. Public restrooms are loud, dirty and not equipped for young children. They can feel super intimidating for both the child and the parent, and I set out to create a Kit that would help provide the tools to make this experience better for all.
Many parents stay home or limit their outings during early potty training months, and I personally did not want to feel limited. The goal of the Potty Kit was to make children feel like they could be comfortable going potty anywhere outside the house with the right tools.
This journey has been such an amazing learning experience. I am so happy to have helped so many others with their potty training experiences!
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
I think that diversifying my sales outlets and partnering with other brands have been effective strategies for growing my clientele. I originally wanted to just sell on my website and keep my other costs low, but I have found out that in order to be more visible and reach more people, I needed to sell in multiple places and also partner with other brands in the same space. Partnering with other brands has been very rewarding and we have learned a lot from each other!
Have you ever had to pivot?
Right before COVID, I got pregnant with my second child, and we made the decision to move across the country to be closer to family. During all of this, COVID happened, and I knew with a second baby coming, I wanted some time off of work to adjust and deal with all of these new changes. I had never made a decision to take a break from work before, and was sure that after a year or so I would return to work in the research world. But the Potty Kit idea came about and it was too good an opportunity to not dive into. So I spent a couple of years researching, learning about the business, and really embracing this “pivot” which ended up being one of the best decisions I ever made. I love being an entrepreneur. I am also a full time mom and this career allows me to be present for my kids and also have something that is “mine.” I would not have been able to do this if I went back to the type of work I was in before.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.pottykit.co
- Instagram: @pottykit
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Potty-Kit/100088252801099/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/inbarbrenner/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRePbb7_tanDOlp8zsNiZVg