Today we’d like to introduce you to Kierra Mitchner.
Hi Kierra, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I am the Founder off Ello Puppet. Our company responsibly manufactures safe baby diapers and wipes to provide softness for babies and confidence to you. We aspire to educate our customers on the principles of premium quality, clean and ecofriendly products. We are sure that with the right education and availability of superior products, the market will change and create a demand for healthier products. Our natural cotton diaper brand contains absolutely no fragrances! You don’t risk having your child break out in rashes, having leaks or blowouts with our diapers.
After the unfortunate murder of George Floyd, I could not help but think how his daughter would go home without a father. This inspired me to create a brand that would advocate for families, especial black families. In addition, the products used on my child 5 years ago were underperforming, too expensive, with too many harmful chemicals for many families.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
When I initially came up with the idea of creating a diaper brand, I thought it would be a 3-month business plan to execute. But the more I researched, the more I found out how diapers are connected to many things and 1 of them being poverty. Trying to come up with a brand story or a pitch that did not sound like a charity case took me at least 1 year. I wanted to move people by my story but also make financial institutions believe I had a good product to sell.
Freight costs quadrupled in the Pandemic and the prices are staying high in 2022. This was something that I did not plan for which is surprising because my background is in accounting. I had to push back my launch date and also redesign a more affordable product to ship. At the time, I was, and still am, under review for a loan application. This was a concern for my loan officer so he suggested I continue to increase may brand awareness and marketing to generate sales.
I thought to myself, how can I sell a product I don’t have? It truly was one of the hardest things to do during a pandemic.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am an accountant by trade. I have my Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Florida A&M University. I also have my Master of Science in Accounting. Math and business have always been a passion of mine since high school. Let my colleagues tell it, accounting came naturally to me. They can remember our freshman year at FAMU, when I was the only student to excel in that class. I had a high A average while everyone sported at best a C., I was hosting study sessions and pretty much carrying the class on my back lol.
I am a Finance professional at a Fortune 500 company, and I specialize in budgeting and forecasting multi-million-dollar budgets. Getting into my field wasn’t easy. I didn’t get a full-time position until about 5 years after my bachelor’s. I always knew this is what God wanted me to be and I’m so glad that I didn’t give up when other jobs said no.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
I can recall my first time changing a diaper. I was around 14 years old. My cousin allowed my siblings and I to baby sit her kids. She had a nine month old boy and he was a hand full. So, we were at church and the baby kept whining. Then the Pastor’s daughter said to go change the baby. I took my twin sister with me to the bathroom. A shame the diaper didn’t come with instructions. I did the best that I could do and gave the baby to the pastor’s daughter. She calmed the baby down and asked who changed the baby. I said I did. She said you put the diaper on backwards. I couldn’t do nothing but laugh. It was at this point I knew I wasn’t ready to be a mother.
Contact Info:
- Email: marketing@ellopuppet.com
- Website: www.ellopuppet.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/official_ellopuppet
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/ello.puppet.com
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/ellopuppetbrand
Image Credits
Terry Ratcliffe
Caitlyn Smith
