Waylon & Flo is an online children’s nightwear shop. We have designed a range of career themed pyjamas for children in sizes 2-3 up to 9-10 years old. Our range currently includes two Doctor styles, Fire Chief and Police Officer. They cost €11.99 for sizes 2-3 & 3-4, and €24.99 for sizes 4-5 up to 9-10. We have a May sale on now where all of the €24.99 sizes are reduced to €14.99.
Why did you decide to set up this business?
Inspiration for my business came from watching my two boys role playing their lives as junior police officers every day. Seeing how transformative dress up costumes can be created a desire in me to take that further. We absolutely love pyjamas in my house, always looking forward to cosy days and being comfortable playing together. I found that while you can absolutely buy other styles of themed pyjamas, the careers are never consistently available. I wanted to design a range that is always available and made in a high-quality fabric that will stand the test of time.
What makes you different?
What makes me different is the fact that my pyjamas are not just an item of clothing for bedtime. How we dress is how we present ourselves to the world. When children get to dress up as their favourite characters or idols it can allow them to feel a sense of belonging, an outward show of what or who they identify with. Clothing choices can boost confidence or bring comfort and we aim to make those two things collide! A child that feels confident and comfortable? We say watch out world!
What has been your greatest achievement in business so far?
To be honest, I think actually setting my business up has been my greatest achievement so far. To get all the information and ideas out of my head an into a tangible product was a huge undertaking. In doing so, I have become more confident and believe in my abilities a lot more. So, I think my greatest achievement has been based around self-belief. When I started my business, I wanted to be able to make a difference in children’s lives and had planned to get involved in childrens charities to raise money and to use my brand to create awareness eventually. Just a couple of weeks ago, I held my first fundraiser which was an afternoon tea style day in my home where we raised €730 for the National Childrens Ambulance Service-BUMBLEance. I plan tocontinue to fundraise with other charities and help out as much as I can.
What are your goals moving forward?
My goals going forward is to work alongside childrens charities, using my brand to create awareness. Whilst keeping that in mind, I plan to create a range of my pyjamas to suit children with additional needs. Creating styles that will be of more ease to a wheelchair user for example, where buttons or Velcro will be used, and the fit will be also be more relaxed. I also plan to expand my range to include more career themes. A longer-term goal will include introducing home accessories in career themes.
What advice would you give yourself if you could go back to the start? What, if anything, would you do differently?
Advice I would give myself is to believe in myself more, we are all adults trying to get through the week without being found out! A lot of people have imposter syndrome, and I now believe that if you are brave enough to take the step to start your own business, then you should trust yourself. Wear your bravery instead of your imposter syndrome! I would also advise that everything does not have to be perfect before you start, just get started. All new businesses need to tweak and change things at the beginning and actually forever more if they want to continue to grow. Needing to make changes does not mean that you have failed, it means that you are growing. I would have started my social media a lot earlier if I could go back in time. I was afraid to be posting without a product to show but I now understand that people buy from people and it would have been a better use of my time to begin building relationships with people and let them get to know me during the time I was waiting for my stock. It definitely would not be a waste of my time.
