We recently connected with Shauna Worrell-Waldron and have shared our conversation below.
Shauna , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with 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.
As a New Graduate Registered Nurse working in a new city, new state and in a new nursing specialty, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, I was very observant as I wanted to learn everything about this specialty. One night shift that I worked I noticed a patient I was taking care of had clothing in their drawer that their parents brought from home. The clothing appeared to be cut up with holes in them where healthcare staff would access medical devices in the NICU. I questioned why we would do such a thing. Why were we cutting holes into clothing that parents, family and friends purchased for the preemies in their lives? That night I began to doodle designs that would prevent this from happening. On other shifts I observed parents dressing their premature babies for the first time. One would think this occasion would bring joy, ease and positive memories. For some parents dressing their baby for the first time whilst attached to medical devices, tubing and wires made them very anxious, stressed and fearful of hurting their baby. Most clothing purchased for babies is not accommodating to medical devices nor are they designed to provide ease and comfort for parents as they dress their babies. Growing up I can recall hearing people speak about “preemies” (premature babies). Most of the time the mention of preemies came with feelings of sadness. So I named my clothing brand “Welcome Preemie” to take away the negative thoughts/emotions around prematurity and welcome positive emotions instead.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Shauna Worrell-Waldron is a Registered Nurse in the state of Massachusetts. Shauna was born and raised in Boston, MA. She holds a B.A. in Sociology and
Health Science from Boston College and a B.S. in Nursing from the Massachusetts
General Hospital Institute of Health Professions. Shauna has had a burning
passion to become an active individual in the healthcare field assisting others from
a young age. Shauna has worked most of her nursing career in two Level III
Neonatal Intensive Care Units caring for premature babies and their families.
Shauna is also a “nursepreneur” and the founder of NeoLove LLC. Her company is
working on a brand catered to premature babies and their families. Her brand
“Welcome Preemie” provides clothing and accessories that allows easy access to
intravenous lines (IV tubes), feeding tubes, electrocardiogram wires and any other
external devices in use while premature babies are in the hospital. Shauna
understands that dressing a premature baby with external devices can cause the
baby undue stress and is also very frightening for new parents. Keeping this in
mind, she has designed a clothing line that will allow dressing to be a positive
experience for both baby and parents while in the hospital.
Shauna’s goal is to make the time families spend with their babies full of joy, one
outfit and helping hand at a time.
How did you build your audience on social media?
Currently I have a website, a twitter account, a Meta account and an Instagram account. I started all platforms from scratch and have organically grew my following. I have followers from all over the nation from Boston to the United Kingdom and all the way to Africa. I built my following by visiting accounts that are connected to my business. I would follow and interact with parents of premature babies, Neonatologists, NICU Registered Nurses, NICU parent support groups and organizations etc. My instagram account I would say is the most interactive and has the most followers to date. My advice for those just starting to build their social media presence would be to interact and follow, like and repost accounts that share commmonalities with your business.
How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?
When a customer orders from my website or purchases an item from my business I like to send a follow up email to see how the product worked out for them and their baby. I also like to send out newsletters that keeps a line of communication open for my customers. I also encourage customers to take pictures of them using my products and repost on social media using a hashtag. In doing so I believe we are able to build a community of families and friends who share similarities and create a safe space to interact and maybe bond.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.welcomepreemie.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/welcomepreemie/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/welcomepreemie/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/welcomepreemie/
Image Credits
Shauna