Pebbles Weitekamp is the founder and owner of Little Teether, a company focused on designing safe teething necklaces for babies that are also stylish for moms. Her desire to design much of her own wedding pieces led to her passion for fashion. Her success in designing for her wedding led to her selling handmade jewelry pieces on Etsy. This scaled to the launch of her own company, Little Teether.
Entrepreneur Interview Q & A
1. What is your business/Business Name? What does your business do?
Little Teether manufactures and retails non-toxic, food-grade, BPA-free teething necklaces. Our stylish jewelry is fashionable for moms and functional for babies.
2. Why did you get into this field? What opportunities did you see?
As soon as I became a mom, I realized my Tiffany & Co necklace wasn’t going to hold up to yanking, tugging, and chewing. After my silver necklace was broken off, I realized I had to create a stylish necklace that was safe for baby to tug on, chew on, and play with. From there I created our silicone, BPA-free, safe and stylish silicone teething and nursing jewelry.
3. What have been your biggest challenges?
Jumping all in is a failure of mine. I’ve gotten overly excited about a product, invested all my time and money in it, and then have it flop. For now, I’m going back to growing small, celebrating small successes and remembering that I will not be a millionaire overnight (unless I win the lottery).
4. What has been your greatest reward?
I’m obsessed with the #momlife trend which I’m seeing as graphic tees, coffee everything, and brands built around being moms. Having Little Teether be a part of that growing movement makes me a proud mom, woman, and entrepreneur.
5. If you could change something, what would it be?
Start what again? Nothing. Everything, good or bad, has led me to where I am today.
6. If you could give a new entrepreneur advice, what would it be?
Follow up. Follow up with everyone, every interaction. I send thank you notes. I email to check in. I call if I haven’t heard back in awhile. I make sure that I have the last contact with everyone.
I don’t want anyone to feel like they purchased from me and never heard from us, like we don’t care. I want my wholesalers to feel like I remember them and want to know how their businesses are going. I want my other small business companions to know I’m thinking about them and seeing what I can do to help. It’s so important, it doesn’t cost anything, and it makes a huge impact. It sets you apart just by keeping in touch and being personable with all your interactions.
7. Social Media. Yay or Nay?
Yes! Social media is the life-blood of Little Teether. The majority of our loyal customers originated from Instagram.
8. How do you market your products?
Social media has played a vital role in sharing our product with moms everywhere. That has lead us to score features by celebrities and go viral on Instagram.
9. Is your business a service or a product? If you are a product, how do you handle production?
Our non-toxic nursing jewelry is BPA-free and food-grade silicone, and we comply with all applicable product safety regulations by CPSC accredited lab. Our teething necklaces and baby chew beads are tested twice, once by manufacturer and once by a third party USA testing facility.
10. What is unique about your business?
I start old school with a pencil and paper. I draw out all my necklaces first. Then I take my sample bead shapes and mold them to create a sample. Then I go through the pantone color chart to select the perfect shade of color and after many samples, changes and testing, a product is born and sent to production. There are other teething jewelry companies, but I like to think ours is the best. I make sure ours have a different look, a better look.
11. Sell me your product/service.
Our stylish teether jewelry necklaces are longer, approximately 35″, which we found to be the perfect length for little hands to hold and chew without straining on mom’s neck. This provides fashionable options for you as a mom with functional benefits for your baby. Best of all, all orders are gift wrapped at no additional cost.
12. How can people get in touch with you? What’s your website/Contact information?
- Website: http://www.littleteether.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/littleteether
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/littleteether
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/littleteether/
- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/littleteether/
