My marketing team asked me to write a few things down on my journey as a young mum and a young business owner to celebrate mothers day.
The idea of ROCC was born just before I had my first daughter Coco. I spent my maternity leave researching, developing and launching (1.5 years later) ROCC the brand as you know it today. Thank god my daughter Coco was a good sleeper.
In March this year, ROCC launched into 830 Coles stores nationally. 10 days later, I welcome my second daughter - Molly Rose Rocchi - into the world. She is 6 weeks now and wow, it's a juggle.
Read on for my tips and honest truths about getting it all done.
Q. How did you start ROCC
Answer: I was pregnant, standing in the supermarket aisle; I wanted to switch from a chemical toothpaste to a natural with fewer nasties. I also wanted to shop sustainably. There wasn't one single product in the sea of red and blue boxes that did both.
ROCC started as a question, which turned into a challenge (or many challenges). I questioned - If the whole world was using toothpaste twice a day, and every single item went to landfill for 500 years, why wasn’t there a sustainable option on the market?
This is how ROCC started.
Q. Did you start the business before or after you started thinking about having children?
The idea started when I was pregnant with my first child, Coco. The planning, research, and development of ROCC was all done during my maternity leave (fortunately Coco was a good sleeper!).
I can’t remember exactly when I started working on ROCC after Coco was born, but I remember flying to New Zealand (for the day) to meet with our now manufacturer (and pumping milk along the way!). ROCC launched when Coco was 1.5 years old.
Q. What have been the biggest challenges for you as both a mum and a business owner? How do you balance the two?
The biggest challenge is balancing my time between being a Mum and being a Founder. This often shows up in Mum guilt. I certainly haven’t solved this one yet, I just try to assess each week what my family needs and adjust my work schedule if needed. Family always comes first though.
Q. How do you think you defined success before motherhood? Has your idea of success changed or stayed the same?
Success was more tangible for me prior to Motherhood – always striving for a better title or a better pay package. On reflection, I was seeking some sort of validation from those things.
Today's success for me looks different. Success is about achieving flexibility to support my family and run a business that is built on values and makes a positive impact on our community and world.
Q. What keeps you awake at night? Your phone? 😉
My six-week-old newborn, Molly keeps me awake multiple times at night.
Q. What do you do when you're feeling overwhelmed or burned out?
I take it back to basics, focusing on three things:
1. Exercise - A yoga session if I need to chill out, a spin class if I’m feeling down and need endorphins hit.
2. Diet – cleaning up my diet, focusing on loads of fruit and veggies. No wine.
3. Sleep – Lots of it. Weekend daytime naps and early to bed.
Q. What or who inspires you the most in day to day life?
My friends and husband. I’m surrounded by incredible friends who have the attitude to “just go for it”. And my husband - he works incredibly hard and takes on a huge mountain of work, but does it always smiling.
Q. What advice do you have for other mums who want to start their own business?
Before starting your own business, I would ask yourself two questions:
1. Have I planned and researched this business enough? I spent an incredible amount of time planning and researching ROCC before I decided to go ahead with it.
This gave me time to create unique products/formulations, understand global market trends, know my competitors, and understand my audience.
2. Support System – Starting your own business is all time-consuming (I am writing this with my three-week-old daughter sleeping) behind me. It is important to be honest if you have the right support system in place (day-care, grandparents, nannies, friends who can help etc) that will allow you to dedicate
yourself to your business and family. There will be plenty of time when things go wrong (at home, or at work) so be prepared!
Q. Finally, we love hearing about morning beauty/wellness routines, tell us about your “getting ready” routine non-negotiable items.
Like most Mums, the morning is a chaotic rush, so I keep it super simple.
- I move for 30 minutes – most likely in the garage, but I make it to the gym twice a week.
- Shower time.
- Get ready – Tatscha Oil cleanser, Go-To Skin Care Moisturiser, Ultra Violette SPF (love this brand, and its Melbourne based female founders), Estee Lauder Foundation.
- Coffee, smoothie, kids breakfast.
- Day-care / grandparent drop off.
- Work time
That's it from me. But I can't wait to share with you more insights and conversations from inspiring mums and business owners, as part of our mothers day series.
Raising a family + running a start-up Back to blog
