No Sweat For Nursing Moms
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Growing up helping out in her family’s retail store selling towels to tourists, Carie Anderson learned many lessons about business. With an entrepreneurial spirit of her own, Anderson and her business partners invented the Snuzi.
“I tried to look for a product like the one we came up with, but there wasn’t any,” explains Anderson, who named the company I Nurse in Style.
The Snuzi goes on a person’s arm when feeding a baby so it soaks up the perspiration between the arm and the baby’s head.
“My first try was to take my husband’s sock, cut off the toes, and slip it on my arm,” Anderson says.
Ten prototypes later, she and business partners Kimberly Lee and Kristy Kono came up with the present design.
The Snuzi comes in two sizes: Small is 10.5 to 12.5 inches in diameter, and large is 13 to 16 inches in diameter. They come in various fabric prints, and there are sets with matching burp cloths. In addition to the Snuzi, they offer a keiki caddy strap that prevents an infant from slipping through the holes of the baby stroller.
The Snuzi is making its way around town at craft fairs and is is available at Little People in Hawaii at Windward Mall. The company website has a complete list of the locations.
These three moms cut and sew the Snuzis themselves when they’re not busy taking care of their families and working. They give thanks to all of their friends and family who have supported them through the process. Lee and Kono, whose husbands, Keola and Mark, respectively, are police officers, are dispatchers with the Honolulu Police Department. Each couple has two children - the Lees have 4-year-old Hunter and 2-year-old Hudson, and the Konos have 3-year-old Kylan and 2-month-old Kaylee, who uses the Snuzi. Anderson works part time as a medical lab technologist for organ transplants, and her husband, Erik, is a nurse. Their children are 4-year-old Ian and 3-year-old Dane.
“We have a 30-page operating agreement that tells what everyone’s duties are,” says Anderson. “It tells us what to do if any situations come up, such as someone wants out. It’s a business document. The agreement is great to have as it gives us peace of mind.”
Future goals for the company include getting their product sold at more stores locally and nationally.
Upcoming craft fairs where you can find the Snuzi are Dec. 6 at the Mililani Town Association at 95-303 Kaloapau St. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Dec. 7 at Castle High School at 45-386 Kaneohe Bay Drive from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; and Dec. 17 at Waterfront Plaza at Restaurant Row at 500 Ala Moana Blvd. from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For more information, call 780-1512 or log onto inurseinstyle.com.
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