At SXSW I met Alison Kramer a mom of three and owner of Nummies http://www.nummies.com/ nursing bras. Blogger, Twitter enthusiast, hot yoga addict and reluctant runner, Alison has a rather full and busy life balancing the ups and downs of running a business while being a parent. Before kids and creating Nummies, Alison was a Kinesiology graduate (never practiced) and Social Worker (barely practiced). Her company, Nummies was named for her children’s word for breastfeeding.

Busy mom, busy entrepreneur - I had to sit down and ask Alison first about her company and then WHY she was at SXSW!


Tell me about Nummies...

Nummies is a company that designs, manufactures and sells lingerie for nursing moms. We believe that women who breastfeed their children are beautiful and our products are made to help make sure they feel this way. Just because you are nursing, does not mean that you aren’t still you. I started Nummies, named after my children's’ word for breastfeeding, four years ago, when I was pregnant with my third child. Nummies products are available in just over 150 of the most wonderful baby boutiques, lingerie stores and maternity shops throughout North America.

Ok, I need to know, why did you attend SXSW?

I attended SXSW to meet some of the amazing people I have had the privilege to get to know online since launching our twitter account and blog. I had the pleasure of attending a few great sessions as well, but for me it was mostly about taking online relationships to the next level and hanging out in real life.

3 part question Alison. How is Nummies using social media? How did you get started in social media? What has been the greatest benefit for your company?

Nummies uses social media to connect with our customers and to be a part of the wonderful online community. I have found an amazing network online of business owners, parents, parents to be, other social media enthusiast and friends. Social media allows us to be in front of our current and potential customers in a wonderful, engaging way. I think for us, because we sell to women and mostly moms to be, social media is a great tool because women are so present and amazingly active on there. Personally, I love social media for the friends I have found and also for the community of entrepreneurs I am able to share my experience with day to day.

I just started one day. I was not a big Facebook user and I had heard about twitter from a friend so I gave it a try. I used some online tools, like wefollow.com to find people I was interested in and followed them. I sought out some local twitter users who I knew already from baby retailer shows and also started following any of our retailers with accounts. And then I just jumped in. Slowly at first as I figured it out and then more and more. When I was getting ready for the ABC Kids trade show in Las Vegas last fall, I started searching for others who would be exhibiting and found it really helpful in planning for the show and building some relationships before arriving. I also followed people who provided what I found to be the most helpful advise about how to use twitter properly and learned from them.

The greatest benefit for my company...hmmm. Well, because of twitter I have launched a new website, started a blog and connected with some of the most amazing people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I have also had the opportunity to write for some wonderful online publications about Nummies and parenting while running a business. I know have friends all over who I trust daily to help guide my business as it grows.

Three months ago we took a further step by launching the Nummies Blog. I am so proud of the topics we have discussed on there so far and love the ability to take the short twitter conversation further and more in depth.

What's next for nummes bras?

We are still a growing company and lots of new and exciting things are ahead for us! We have been bringing on new customer service and sales specialists to better support our retailers and grow our reach. We continue to strengthen and develop our product line, and love how social media allows us to get feedback from women about what they are looking for in a great nursing bra. We are going to be filming a video next month for our retailers sharing sizing tips and making it available on our website for all of our customers for free. We have also launched our retailer newsletter to keep stores on top of our newest information.

Just wondering, what's the one business question you are always asked?

I am asked a lot about how I was able to start my business, especially because I have such young children. I like to say my two greatest strengths are my ability to function on very little sleep and a lot of tenacity. Sometimes you just need to know what you want and not take no for an answer.

And finally, what question would you really like to be asked?

I would like just once for my husband’s office to call me and ask how I helped him in business. I find that people are always asking me how he helps me, which of course he has in countless ways. But I am still waiting for them to call me.

Thanks Alison!

http://www.nummies.com/

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