How to Make the Ikea Antilop High Chair Safer with @yeahbabygoods Katie Kruithof

Katie Ferraro (0s):

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Calm Cove (31s):

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Katie Kruithof (1m 24s):

She said, I got your footrest. And it was like a night and day difference where my husband and I were just absolutely shocked. She sat for the entire meal, she was interested in participating in picking up the food and self-feeding and had her entire meal and wanted more. And she's like, that has never happened for us and it's continued to happen meal after meal since getting the footrest. And so I think people underestimate the importance of high chair positioning and posture when they're looking at what kind of high care to get and any issues that they might be having with feeding.

Katie Ferraro (1m 59s):

Hey there. I'm Katie Ferraro, registered dietitian, college nutrition professor and mom of seven specializing in Baby-Led Weaning. Here on the Baby-Led Weaning with Katie Ferraro podcast. I help you strip out all of the noise and nonsense about feeding, giving you the confidence and knowledge you need to give your baby a safe start to solid foods using Baby-Led Weaning. If you have seen the IKEA antelope highchair, maybe you have this chair at your house or if you've ever rented a house, they're always there. It's this ubiquitous $20 no frills high chair from IKEA and I've always written it off as one of the most unsafe high chairs.

Katie Ferraro (2m 41s):

It has no footrest, it has a huge bowl of a seat that is not supported for babies. It's has this unwieldy tray that minimizes your baby's range of motion. So as a dietitian, I am not impressed with this highchairs functionality. It is not the ideal setup for promoting independent and safe eating for babies. And I'm not a design person, but for folks who care about that stuff stuff, one could also argue that the IKEA antelope high chair is ugly. So from a form and a function standpoint, there are a few reasons to write this high chair off, but my guest today did not write off the IKEA antelope high chair. Her name is Katie Kruithof and along with her husband, Brent, Katie started a business first as an Etsy shop way back in 2016, designing cute cushion covers for the IKEA antelope highchair, Katie and Brent's business is called Yeah Baby Goods.

Katie Ferraro (3m 29s):

And today they're known for selling all sorts of accessories to give the IKEA antelope highchair a much needed glow up. So they came onto my radar in 2019 when they launched the footrest for the IKEA antelope high chair. We'd seen parents before do DIY hacks for this chair with like lumber and knots and duct tape and Amazon boxes. But when Brent and Katie put their heads together, they came up with an incredible design for a solid footrest that you attach to this chair that instantaneously improves its safety. Along the way, they've developed some other really cute and functional accessories for the IKEA Antelope high chair. Personally, I'm just fascinated by other small business owners and their stories and how they got to where they are today.

Katie Ferraro (4m 9s):

So I've been dying to interview Katie for a while. She's gonna go through the timeline of how she and Brent even decided to start Yeah Baby Goods and how they're busy evolved over the years. They have four children and they really involved their kids in their business on top of homeschooling them, which I am just so in awe of. So if you like to support other small family run businesses, please do check them out online at yeahbabygoods.com or did the same on social at Yeah Baby Goods. That's Yeah. Katie's also gonna tell us why they named their business Yeah Baby Goods. A story that I had never heard, but it's such a cool story. So with no further ado, here is Katie Kruithof from Yeah Baby Goods on how her company helps to make the IKEA antelope high chair safer.

Katie Kruithof (4m 51s):

I hear from parents all the time stories of how they had a child who really was resisting getting in their highchair. So it was almost like even as soon as they listed them over the highchair, I've seen videos of like children absolutely spreading their legs, like not wanting to get in there. Or once they finally did get in there, they could only sit for a little bit of time, they would start to get restless or fussy and they just didn't have an interest in food. So one mom in particular sent me feedback after she bought our foot rest and she said, I'm honestly, I'm in tears because I had a baby that the doctors told me I should be concerned with her weight gain.

Katie Kruithof (5m 31s):

She wasn't interested at all in solids. And she said, I got your foot rest. And it was like a night and day difference where my husband and I were just absolutely shocked. She sat for the entire meal, she was interested in participating in picking up the food and self-feeding and like had her entire meal and wanted more. And she was like, that has never happened for us and it's continued to happen meal after meal since getting the footrest. And so I think people underestimate the importance of high chair positioning and posture when they're looking at like what kind of high chair to get and any issues that they might be having with feeding.

Katie Kruithof (6m 12s):

I, I know that a lot of feeding therapists I've talked to say the very first thing I look at when there are any issues is what kind of height are they using and how are they possessed in there?

Katie Ferraro (6m 22s):

Tell us a little bit about your company. Yeah Baby Goods, what do you sell? What was it that inspired you to start this business with your husband?

Katie Kruithof (6m 30s):

Yeah, so my husband and I always had a dream of being able to work together and integrate our family life and our work life and our home life. And so we kind of had an entrepreneurial background anyways, we had started a couple other businesses and we were in the middle of working on a fitness business with my husband and that was going really well where meanwhile I had my second born and we were using the IKEA high chair and we had already used it with my first born, it was actually the only high chair I could get him to sit in. He resisted getting into any other high chair and then one day we were at the IKEA store at the restaurant they have them to use and I sat him in there and I was like, oh my goodness, he actually sits in this chair.

Katie Kruithof (7m 14s):

So we bought one immediately, we loved it with our first and my second was just about to start solids. And at the time I knew that my little guy who was only six months old needed a support cushion in there and IKEA did sell one, but it was not the aesthetic I wanted. And so I was telling all my friends, I was like, you should start selling cushion covers for the IKEA high chair cushion. Everybody loves this highchair and there's only one option. It's like red and blue and does not go with most people's homes and nobody else would bite. And so I was like, you know what? My husband and I, we start products, we we know how to do a business. And so I started just as an Etsy shop in 2016 right before my second was about to start solids.

Katie Kruithof (7m 58s):

We initially, it's kind of funny because when I started this business it was honestly an aesthetic thing where I just, we had the IKEA high chair and I felt like this could be even cuter in our home. So it's focused on the cushion covers and then making cleanup easier. One of the complaints we often hear with the IKEA high chair is how hard it is to take off the tray. And so we made a silicone food grade place mat that fits right in the tray and makes cleanup easier. So like those are the two things I really wanna tackle. And so that's when we started, Yeah Baby Goods 2016 and it started as a small Etsy shop. I was running it by myself. And then as we kind of started gaining more and more of a following on Instagram, I kept hearing from people requests about you should make a footrest for the IKEA high chair.

Katie Kruithof (8m 49s):

And honestly, this was something I had never heard of. I wasn't big into the baby lean led waning world at this point and didn't have a whole bunch of knowledge about high tier positioning or safety. And so I started doing a deep guide for myself and just learning more about it. I was fascinated to learn that honestly one of the products we were already selling, which was our cushions play a big part in high tier safety as well and helping children have the core support and sit upright. But a huge part that was missing from IKEA at high tier was this foot support and how important that is for stability. And so after people kept asking about it, asking about it, we tried, we probably spent a year prototyping this thing and just coming up with all these like different wacky solutions in our house and trying it with our, at that time now we had our third child and she was the product tester for all of our prototypes.

Katie Kruithof (9m 43s):

Finally we came up with a design that's similar to what we currently have, although we've updated a couple times since to continue improving it. But the idea is it is an adjustable footrest that gives them that sturdy footing for their feet so they have stability for the rest of the core. And that came out in 2019 and honestly that was when it exploded. And so from then on, yeah, baby goods mission was kind of twofold. Yes, it's still about the aesthetic, it's fun, it's like a blank slate that you get to totally personalize and customize, but everything that we come out with, we would definitely want to make sure it's now setting your baby up for feeding success, which just wasn't on my radar.

Katie Kruithof (10m 25s):

But the longer I was in this highchair world, I just kept learning more and more and being like I had no idea all this came into play with feeding and started implementing a lot of Baby-Led Weaning stuff that I was learning and we had our fourth. And so it's been a really fun progression as like this initial idea that has really just grown and blossomed. And since coming up with high chair accessories, we've gone further into the feeding accessory world with utensils and dinnerware and some other products. And I like to get feedback from feeding therapists and occupational therapists when we launch those, when we're developing them to make sure that they're also things that are not only cute but are actually promoting developmental skills that babies have around the feeding ages.

Katie Ferraro (11m 14s):

Hey, we're gonna take a quick break, but I'll be right back.

Ritual (11m 20s):

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Katie Ferraro (13m 11s):

I love hearing the timeline because, so I didn't know that you did the cushions first because I discovered you when my youngest who are twins were doing Baby-Led Weaning , they started in 2018, it was early 2019. So someone had sent me like obviously anyone who uses that high chair, not to dis it, it's the most unsafe high chair in the world because it doesn't have a foot rest, plus it doesn't have like, it's a massive swimming pool basically for babies. So it needs a lot of adjustments in order to make it safe. So in the feeding world, we always kind of like wrote off that high chair like, yes, I know it's affordable but there are much safer options that are gonna cost you a little bit more money. And then someone told me about your brand and I had been familiar with an, there was another product prior to you that was a more flexible footrest for that high chair, but it wasn't the flat solid foot plate that we need for babies in order to stabilize their core.

Katie Ferraro (13m 60s):

So they had sent, that other company had sent it to me and I was like, this is nice, but I would not use this or recommend it because again, it's not providing that solid foot plate that our babies need in order to stomp their feet down when they're gagging and use their mouth muscles to push that food forward and protect their airway. Then when I saw yours I was like, oh my gosh, this is genius. Actually went out and bought two IKEA highchair, which I couldn't believe I was doing just to test your product out. And we did a bunch of content with those babies even before I met you guys just 'cause parents were asking about it. But then I met you and your husband was like, this is such a cool story 'cause this is not like a mass produced product, you know that just off of Amazon, like there's an actual story behind this with the mom and dad who created it.

Katie Ferraro (14m 41s):

And you've, you've iterated, I've loved to watch the way that the footrest has evolved. Could you share about the changes that you've made to the footrest? I know you, you have a lot of knockoffs, there's a lot of other people copying this idea, but you had the original solid foot plate and I wanna give credit where credit is due. I, I work in a space where a lot of people have literally ripped my program off as well. So it's important, you know, you guys had that first product and it is, again, it rises to the top because it is the best product out there. It's probably gonna be a little bit more expensive because it's made with quality materials. But tell us about the changes to the footrest that you can without, you know, divulging any trades or product secrets.

Katie Kruithof (15m 17s):

Oh yeah, absolutely. No, it's all stuff that you could find on our website and we have videos explaining the difference. But like, like you referenced, the initial one we had, it is a, I mean it comes in a several different types of wood so you can kind of pick whether you like a dark wood or a light wood. The initial one was bamboo and it, for people who maybe haven't seen it before, it's basically like a solid piece of wood that then has little cutouts on the side so you can slide it in between the two legs. And then initially it was held up by a black O-ring and that was how it would stay stable. And so definitely it was like there was such a need for this product.

Katie Kruithof (15m 58s):

It was insane when we launched it in, that was end of 2019, it just like, we couldn't keep them on the shelves fast enough. And so it would like immediately we'd have a launch and it was like whoa, we sold 202 minutes and then we sold 1,005 minutes and we just could not keep them on the stock. So we were making 'em as fast as we could and I was like so many people were all of a sudden using 'em, which was amazing. And we were also getting some really helpful feedback. So one of the things was that like if the leg gets dirty at all, it might, the black o-ring that was holding, which was a rubber o-ring would start sliding. So then we developed a custom clamp that would wrap around the black O-ring and really keep it secure from slipping.

Katie Kruithof (16m 40s):

But the major development that happened is kind of twofold in that and, and now our footrest design is patented. So like you said, there have been many copycats that came along the way and I always remind myself, you know, that is imitation is the highest form of flattery, you know, and it's also really good.

Katie Ferraro (16m 59s):

I tell myself that too, but I don't believe it. It still makes me angry,

Katie Kruithof (17m 3s):

But we have to tell ourselves these things. but it also definitely is motivating for us to be the best. And so like when we hear feedback from people about how it can be improved, we're like, okay, let's, let's re prototype this. Let's come out with a version 2.0 and 3.0 which is something that our Chinese knockoffs are not doing so they're not keeping up. So the footrest that we have now is patented. The major difference is, it's hard to picture, but if you think about a height tier, the front legs are gonna be angled outward for stability. And so if you have a flat foot rest that is attached to those legs, it's also going to be angled and you can kind of picture it, it's gonna be inclined.

Katie Kruithof (17m 46s):

So it's tipping back towards the baby's feet. So one of the big things that you learn about height, your positioning is you want 90 degrees, 90 degrees, 90 degrees. So basically like their hips at 90 degrees, their knees at 90 degrees and their ankles at 90 degrees. And that's just kind of optimal positioning for like a safe feed and a safe swallow. And so because the foot footrest would tilt back, it wasn't quite a 90 degree angle that their ankles were at. So we just were like, this is an area where we can improve. We promote the 90, 90 90 and we're not quite there. And so what we did is we created a cutout in the bottom of our footrest that is also angled to compensate for the angle of the height your leg.

Katie Kruithof (18m 28s):

So now when the footrest is on there though, the legs will be angled out, the footrest will fit, sit straight with the base of the seat. So like as their knees hang down, they actually do have a flat surface instead of an incline surface to be resting their feet on. Additionally, those cutouts allow us to hide the support clamp that we've developed. And so it's not visible from the front, which is an aesthetic thing more than like a functional kind of thing, but it looks like it's floating instead of sitting on like kind of bulky clamps. And so now it has like just a more finished appearance that those slanted cutouts really allow us to do. So that's our current design. Yeah, and it's been, it's been fun to kind of work with people.

Katie Kruithof (19m 10s):

I mean our followers were the reason we initially came up with this idea and they've continued to be incredibly helpful, kind, always like willing to be product testers. And I think that's the special thing, like when you were talking about like there's a family that actually created this. There's a face behind this product. It's, it's a family run business in its truest form. Like our four kids are helping at the warehouse all the time. I think people are, are followers and our customers genuinely have like this attitude of I just really wanna support them. I, I, I like backing them. I feel like I'm part of the team. I, for people who have been following us since 2016, they're like, I feel like I'm part of the family.

Katie Kruithof (19m 52s):

Like I've watched you guys grow from like this tiny Etsy shop to what we are now. And it's a very kind community of moms who are always willing to help giving feedback in the most gracious kind way where it's like, I love hearing from people about, Hey, I wish you would come out with this or this drives me crazy about feeding. Can you help me come up with a solution? I'm like, yeah, because I have those from my own story with feeding and I've developed products around it, but there's some stuff that other parents have experienced that I haven't and how wonderful it is to hear from many people about like, it would just be amazing if somebody could make this. And I'm like, come tell me those ideas.

Katie Kruithof (20m 32s):

I'm, I'm all about creating more products to make mom and baby mealtime better.

Katie Ferraro (20m 38s):

And I think Katie, it's fascinating to hear the intricacies behind the footrest 'cause you could also hear people just saying, oh well it's just a piece of wood, you know, why does it cost so much? And we'll talk about price in a second and it doesn't cost that much. But when you look at like, no, these things are there not just for an aesthetic standpoint because I think of it, you look at your brand, you look at your website like, oh this is so cute. It's like, it's, and what I wanna really focus on in this interview, it's yes, it's cute and like your stuff is so cute, but it's also about safety and the footrest for me as a registered dietitian and my specialties in Baby-Led Weaning and highchair positioning is everything because you cannot support a safe swallow if the baby's feet are not sitting flat on that solid foot plate. For me, your product has always been about safety and I feel like I've been such an advocate of your guys' business because yes it's cute and I think it's fantastic that you involve your whole family, but the end of the day you are making an unsafe product safer.

Katie Ferraro (21m 27s):

But you, you can't copy that like a Chinese factory knockoff doesn't. That's your you factor, right? Like people can't copy my story and why I created the 100 First Foods program and how we actually so thoughtfully select the foods that are on our list and the reason why they're prepared the way they are and the recipes that do or don't have certain ingredients in that. It's like you could go knock it off and sell something for a lot cheaper, but it's like that's not gonna be around because there's no real story behind it and there's nothing to really support unless you strictly just want the cheapest product possible. And if that's your story then you're probably not my ideal customer avatar to begin with,

Katie Kruithof (22m 1s):

Right? It is true. And I mean for sure all the, all the accessories we make, which we now have the cushion and placement at the originals, the footrest, and then this is another customer supported thing where all of a sudden there was a fad where people were buying contact paper, a big rolls of contact paper, cutting 'em to size and putting them on the IKEA high chair legs

Katie Ferraro (22m 24s):

And feeding their baby food off of contact paper.

Katie Kruithof (22m 26s):

Well I'm sorry they're putting it on the legs.

Katie Ferraro (22m 28s):

Oh sorry. Okay. I thought it was on the tray. I was like I missed this trend but it sounds terrible.

Katie Kruithof (22m 32s):

Yes. The fourth product is the leg wraps which are adhesive, they're like higher quality than contact papers. So they're not gonna rip, which was the problem people were having. They're cut to size. And so that's the fourth IKEA high tier accessory, which truly is no function, only aesthetic but out of the high tier accessories really, I mean if you're only gonna get one, it's gotta be the flood rests.

Katie Ferraro (22m 52s):

That's what I say as well. But I think everything else, like once you start, you can't stop with you guys 'cause it is kind of addictive. Now my mom is a dietitian and she's commented more than once about how she thinks it's like so silly that parents pay for a program to help their babies learn how to eat real food. And you know, moms will say what they wanna say, I love your products, I love the joy that they bring to families, you know, but Katie what do you say to people who would argue that it's kind of silly to be spending a hundred bucks to glow up a $20 high chair? Like why not just buy a hundred dollars high chair with a foot rests in the first place?

Katie Kruithof (23m 23s):

Totally. So I guess I have kind of two thoughts around this. First of all, when we started in 2016 as a mom who was high chair shopping around that time, I mean I guess I started earlier with my first born, there was a lot less options on the market. So we definitely had the soki, which is amazing, high chair for ergonomics and positioning, but that's in the 300 plus range. And then there were a ton of kind of like reco big bulky high chairs and that's like I got a hand me of down of that. That's what we were trying to use. And that one just wasn't super portable, lightweight, not to mention like for somebody who did care about the aesthetic, it was an eye sore.

Katie Ferraro (24m 5s):

So dude. They were so ugly and they take up half your kitchen. Yes, I know. Say it.

Katie Kruithof (24m 9s):

I know. And they were so hard to clean was the honest thing. So that is a function thing is there was just so many nooks and crannies and it was like, it just always looked disgusting. And so then the other big option was the IKEA high chair, which was $20. So I mean already you have millions of people just buying it because it's like this thing is something I can afford, you know? And it's like, like I said, you could spend, you could get the whole set of our accessories and if you get one of each, you know you're right around $75 and then plus the IKEA high chair, you're close to a hundred. But if you only get one for safety and just get the footrest plus that $20 IKEA high chair, I mean that, that's a win right there.

Katie Kruithof (24m 51s):

But I think over the years they have had more high chairs come out that have a footrest already on it. The things that I continue to love about the IKEA high chair is how lightweight it is, how portable it is. I carry it from room to room in my house very easily. I take it outside on my back deck and we eat outside. It is so basic that it's incredibly easy to clean. There's no weird nooks and crannies. It's very durable in that you can spray that thing down with a hose if it gets messy. It is like it's just no bells and whistles, which is amazing for cleanup but not so amazing when it comes to your positioning and safety.

Katie Kruithof (25m 32s):

So that's when it's like there's already millions of IKEA high chairs out there. People are passing 'em down to each other. So even if you're not choosing to buy that one, you might just end up with one because they're on Facebook marketplace, they're at once upon a child. And so I think it was, it's still a great option because so many people still have the IKEA hedger and honestly the the final thing is it is a blank canvas where it's very fun, which some people like your mom or you know, like I, I have a sister who works for us and she is like, she doesn't care what it looks like and she's like, I'm not your target market, you know, it's not fun for me to dress up my highchair. But I think there's a lot of parents that are at home all day and really look for sparks of joy throughout their day.

Katie Kruithof (26m 17s):

And even just being able to glance over at your high, which you're using at least three times a day and have it be something like I picked those things out. They're truly like things that I look at and make me happy, make mealtime fun. This is another kind of silly superficial reason, but you take a million pictures and videos of your kid when they're.

Katie Ferraro (26m 39s):

You are right and that IKEA, like if you see the plain IKEA now I'm like.

Katie Kruithof (26m 43s):

I have pictures of my person that Greco which was doing nothing for me, but it's like I have hundreds of pictures and videos of look how cute they're, this is their first solids and they're making a mess and it's adorable and I do love having my cute hi care and all of those. So practically speaking, there's a lot to love about the IKEA high chair. If you go with that route affordability you cannot beat even if you end up getting all of our accessories, there's definitely more options out there now and there's even good alternatives if you have the IKEA high chair and you can only get the footrest like we mentioned, that that base is just so roomy. It's just no child needs a a seat face that big, which is why the cushion is really important.

Katie Kruithof (27m 27s):

But if you can't afford the cushion you can put towels and blankets. There's definitely modifications you can make to, to make it safer and and still use it. So I am, I'm not an IKEA height to or hater people think you designed products for it, you must hate it. And it's like, no, I actually love it. Which is why I designed products for it because I just have I, I have very fond feelings for it as the first and only hier my first would use. And I just had this dream of like we can make this better. Like millions of people are using this, they don't need to scrap the whole thing but let's see how we can improve it for, for our,

Katie Ferraro (28m 1s):

You made it cuter but you also made it more functional and safer, which is as a person in the feeding space, I appreciate that, I don't care what it looks like but like it doesn't have to look terrible and work well. And I think you guys have proven that I had a question about the cushions 'cause I heard from Brent you guys are phasing out the cotton cushions and going all vegan leather for the cushions. What's that all about or why?

Katie Kruithof (28m 22s):

Yeah, so we've been doing cotton since 2016 and this was also really spurred by our followers who they're just like Baby-Led Weaning starting solids is super messy. I'm ending up buying multiple cushion covers because it's pretty much like right after a meal I need to unzip it and throw it in the wash. And so there was many people requesting a wipeable fabric and initially we started with just solids a couple years ago and so we had a few solid color options but of course people were like okay but when can we get the patterns? And so we started selling our wipeable ones in solids and patterns and all of our patterns are designed by independent artists throughout the world.

Katie Kruithof (29m 9s):

We have some in the US but in many different countries they are directly benefiting every time their cushion cover design sells. And so I love supporting those artists. We were able to work with them to get them printed on the vegan leather fabric as well. And so it was kind of just a win-win for our artists and for our customers who just wanted that option where you can still unzip it and throw it in the washing machine. That's how some people prefer to take care of it and it's just like eh, I don't wanna be wiping it, I'm just gonna get a new one on there. But for people that are like, I just got a little bit on there, I just need to wipe some off, that's an option now too. And so we were kind of just watching sales and it was like those wipeable ones who were going up and the cotton ones were going down and so we have been phasing out the cotton ones.

Katie Kruithof (29m 58s):

If if you know, we start to hear from customers that it's like we miss the kind of ones we're nothing if not receivers of feedback. We love to hear from people. So it's more just a trend in what people are buying that we've been going deeper into the vegan leather just because it's wipeable I think,

Katie Ferraro (30m 13s):

Hey, we're gonna take a quick break but I'll be right back.

Culture Kits (30m 21s):

Ever dreamed of traveling the world with your children without leaving your home? Tune into Culture Kits podcast to embark on an incredible adventure right where you are. At Culture Kits we collaborate with cultural organizations, authors and educators from all over the world to expand our children's horizons, inspiring them to embrace our differences while bridging communities worldwide. And that's Culture Kids podcast. Here's your passport, let's go.

Katie Ferraro (30m 57s):

Oh Katie, how do you decide which patterns to retire of the cushions?

Katie Kruithof (31m 2s):

It's hard because I actually have a lot of sentimental ties to all of our patterns and so we do launches pretty regularly where it's really fun. Probably a reoccurring theme as you ke we, we love to hear from our followers. So we actually let our followers vote on all of our new patterns and then we do new collections several times a year where we launch anywhere from like eight to 12 new designs. And so the customers are very active part of that where we do polls on our stories to kind of narrow it down and then there's a ballot and we pick the top ones and those come out a few months later. So each new design, it's like, oh, I remember being with you, I, I discovered you early on.

Katie Kruithof (31m 45s):

I brought you to the followers, they loved you, we launched you. It was very exciting And honestly it does just, we watched the numbers, we watched the trends and see what people are buying and it gets to a point where it's like, you know it can be reordered multiple times and once we start to see it slowing it becomes like a retiring student pattern. Which is always like don don't know, I'm way too emotionally fest.

Katie Ferraro (32m 6s):

I like watching like the countdown on your website feels

Katie Kruithof (32m 8s):

One my babies are getting cut but.

Katie Ferraro (32m 10s):

I know but it says how many you have left on the website. I love that 'cause I'm like well if you really like that you better get it 'cause you know she's not lying. Like you can see you in your warehouse being like, there's only five of these left.

Katie Kruithof (32m 20s):

I know. Or every now and then it's like oh gosh, how did this one get mixed in in the others? And you're like, oh I found one more and we'll post it on Instagram. It's like this was retired but we just found it and it gets snatched up right away. but it is important in order to be able to keep introducing new patterns to retire some, although it's heartbreaking for me every time but we like to keep having new stuff in there there and the warehouse isn't big enough for all of 'em. So it's a tough project but.

Katie Ferraro (32m 45s):

Have you gotten any feedback from IKEA? Like I always thought such a good idea. Wouldn't they just go and do what you're doing but at a mar mass market scale, is that not the case?

Katie Kruithof (32m 53s):

I know I would have totally thought the same thing. So we have never heard from IKEA don don't know if it would be a good or a bad thing if we did someday. I dream of like having going to IKEA and seeing like a pamphlet or something next to it about our products like that would be the ideal collab where it's like oh grab your high tier and then by the way, here's a small business you can support. But I also had the same fear, especially when we started that it's like why aren't they gonna just, yeah

Katie Ferraro (33m 22s):

At least the footrest like why haven't they done the footrest fail?

Katie Kruithof (33m 24s):

They could sell it so much cheaper because they just have such mass scale. Like you said. I think the big difference is or or maybe why they haven't decided to go for it is because our niche is that you really can't customize it. And it's like you go on our website and there's a build your highchair feature, you're right

Katie Ferraro (33m 42s):

Around and there's an endless number

Katie Kruithof (33m 43s):

Of combinations can put around with like, yep it's too many combinations for them to like compete with that element where it's like pick your place mat and see what it looks like with this C cushion and this foot rest and this leg wrap. And like you can have the whole thing like just completely customize it and see what it looked like together before you even order it. So I think our differentiation was always that we were able to have like a hundred plus cushion covers and we have probably 30 different placements that you can choose from. So they could have picked any one item and they actually like eventually did get rid of that, that primary color red and blue stripe cushion cover. Like they started, I think they eventually changed it to a gray herringbone, which is maybe what they have now. So I feel like they know that we exist and I, I actually think we helped their business and that probably, it used to be that I thought oh our target market is just people who already have the IKEA high chair.

Katie Kruithof (34m 35s):

But I had been blown away with no people are buying the IKEA high chair so they can get the accessories. And that just was beyond my wildest dreams when we started. And so I, I think it's actually something that probably IKEA knows about us. We're actually helping bring up the sales of their high chair and just that whole customization piece. I think they couldn't do it to that same level. They wouldn't wanna have hundreds of options. That's not really their model. And so yeah they've, they've come out with other high chairs that have a footrest but but they've left that one $20 no frills, very basic, which is excellent for us.

Katie Ferraro (35m 13s):

Is it $20 in every other country and do you get customers like do you guys ship everywhere? 'cause the thing about IKEA is it's same stuff all over the world. So how do you guys handle that?

Katie Kruithof (35m 23s):

We absolutely ship worldwide and it's so true. It's everywhere. And so I mean that's something that's really helped our business is, and I actually just heard from somebody the other day, they're like, the amount of options in the US as far as high shares has increased over the years but not worldwide. We don't have the same options as you guys. So a lot of us are still using the IKEA high chair and need accessories like this whether and so it is worldwide, I'm not actually sure if it is $20, like how the price translates in other countries. There was actually a brief period right around covid where the, this is the IKEA op is what model it is.

Katie Kruithof (36m 4s):

And it went from, it's 1999 but briefly for like a maybe a year or two it went up to $30 for the high chair.

Katie Ferraro (36m 13s):

I remember that. 'cause sometimes when we talk about the $20 high chair, everyone's like, no that high chair is 30. And I'm like, nope, that high chair is $20. Again, it's the only thing in the world that where the price went down back to its normal price.

Katie Kruithof (36m 23s):

I know. And so I thought it was just gonna be 30 from here on out, but I think it was last year they brought it back down to 1999, which is amazing. And so don don't know, I know a lot of people I heard during that sup, that Covid supply chain issue that most IKEA's were out of stock. There was a bunch of people who would sign up and like get notifications about when they came back and some people buying our products and then having to return 'em 'cause they could never find the IKEA I tier. So luckily all those issues have been resolved and it's easy to get again and it's back to its $20 price tag. But yeah, I mean it's, it's definitely, I, I have to believe it's kind of a loss leader for IKEA.

Katie Kruithof (37m 3s):

It seems like they can't even make money on that but people always say well what are you gonna do if they stop selling the IKEA high chair at this point, like early on we maybe wouldn't have had the the resources to be able to do this but at this point we'd be like, oh well, well then we'd probably design our own highchair and keep going. But we definitely played around with that idea over the years.

Katie Ferraro (37m 23s):

Can I make a request 'cause I'm never gonna design a highchair but like can you design a restaurant highchair because restaurant high chairs suck or can you please make, you know, there's only two to three brands at least in the United States of restaurant high chairs. Like why don't you make a footrest for those? Because we have parents that are taking their portable high chairs to the restaurant, affixing them to the adult chair, which is like, don don't think that that's crazy. 'cause like I think that's important. But for some parents who're like I'd rather not lug a portable high chair, like if you just made the footrest for the restaurant ones or make a better restaurant, like we can do better than the crappy restaurant high chair. That hasn't changed since like I was TA waiting tables in high school. And by the way is a major pain in the neck to clean and doesn't have a footrest.

Katie Kruithof (37m 60s):

That is hilarious. Yes, you're right. Okay, I'm gonna bring it to, to the board, which is me and Brent.

Katie Ferraro (38m 6s):

Fantastic. Okay, I have a question for you. In the ne like 10 years from now when you're, your oldest is 11, right? Your oldest is 21, your youngest is 13. What do you hope for your business at that point? Like I love that you guys have done other businesses, like you're willing to iterate. Like do you think you're gonna branch out into other high share or product lines, call it a day like we're gonna be 10 years from now?

Katie Kruithof (38m 23s):

Katie, that ss a really good question and definitely one that family and friends ask all the time. I mean when I think about 10 years ago, so that would've been 2014 would've been a couple years before we started this. I had no idea we'd be doing this, you know? And so it's like partly I'm like, oh I could play out a couple scenarios but I'm like, it could be something that I can't even dream. Like in my imagine in my imagination I could just never even come up with, which is kind of what I'm doing now. It's like this is honestly my dream life is getting to work every day from home with my kids and my husband as my partner. It's like I worked a little bit in market research straight outta college, did the cubicle life and it was like I felt sick to my stomach every day going to work and what I get to do now.

Katie Kruithof (39m 10s):

I'm like, this is like the greatest gift I, I couldn't have even designed something more perfect. But to answer your question, in 10 years I think my firstborn geo dreams of taking over. Yeah, baby goods. Like, I mean when you ask him what he wants to do when he grows up, that's what he'll say is he wants to be running. Yeah, baby goods. He, my husband and I do weekly business meetings where we just kind of go over updates, talk about new products, any issues, customer service stuff. And my, he just turned 11, 11-year-old sits with us at those, it's after the other kids go to bed and he has wonderful things to add. He asks great questions. He gets us thinking about things that we don't think about where our brain doesn't go.

Katie Kruithof (39m 54s):

And so it's been really fun to involve him in that whether or not he takes over the business, it's just such a beautiful life skill that he's getting to see problem solving, real time. He's getting to learn about entrepreneurial life and, and revenue and expenses and math and business and accounting and those kind of things. And so it's, it's a joy having him on there. I would love to be able to pass it on to him. But EI know even if we don't pass over, yeah baby goods, we are passing on that, that entrepreneurial spirit which will take him far. But if he wants to take it over, if it's still going strong, that's awesome. I would definitely continue expanding into other feeding products. Like I said this last year we came out with starter utensils, fork spoon set dinnerware probably my favorite new product that we've launched, which was honestly just a selfish thing I wanted.

Katie Kruithof (40m 43s):

And I get to be at this point where it's like if I can't find it anywhere else, I'm like, I'm gonna make it. And it was a silicone mug for children 'cause my kids love to drink hot chocolate. They think it's so fun to pretend to have coffee like mom and dad. And I was just like cringing every time they used a cera ceramic mug where I'm like, they're gonna break it. Like don't walk around with it. And so I was like, why isn't there a silicone food grade mug anywhere? And I was like, wait, I just need to make it. And so I actually ended up making a whole dinner where I said just so it didn't look completely random that I made a mug but that was really all I wanted was for a child-sized mug for like child side portions of hot chocolate and that they could use with their pretend coffee or whatever they're doing.

Katie Kruithof (41m 25s):

And so we came out with that last year. So I love to go deeper. We just launched our silicone bibs, which are kind of some changes based on feedback that we heard from the traditional silicone bibs that people were having issues with. And so we're going deeper into that feeding So far we've stuck mostly with baby and toddlers that could branch out more into kids. And then we always have all these crazy ideas where it's like, what if we branch into home stuff? What if we branch into pet stuff? So we're totally open to crying a lot of different things. Maybe someday we still will create our own highchair. I like to, I like to dream about that as well. Or maybe, you know, we'll be doing something completely different. And I used to think success for a small business was like, you know, getting investors on Shark Tank and making millions and ending up in a big box store like Target or something.

Katie Kruithof (42m 13s):

But now I just feel like having a couple small businesses that have kind of very naturally fizzled out, I've seen that success is what you're learning during that process and you take all that with you whether or not that business continues. And there were things that we learned through Fly Fitness, which was the fitness company my husband was working on when we launched our Etsy shop years ago. And it's like there were people we met, connections we made, things we learned that I couldn't be running yet baby goods now if we hadn't gone through all those experiences. And so I, I like to keep it very open handed. We feel very blessed to be doing what we're doing and we have grown our trust in the Lord and our open handedness as we keep seeing like he is providing and he's carrying us to the next thing.

Katie Kruithof (42m 57s):

And it's, it's honestly something that gives me a lot of faith where it's like no matter what we're doing, if it's Happy Goods or something else, like I'm along for the ride, what's

Katie Ferraro (43m 5s):

Behind the name? Yeah Baby Goods. Why did you decide to name it that? Is there a story there?

Katie Kruithof (43m 9s):

That's not a question we get asked that often, but it's actually like all growing up, that was my dad's catchphrase. He would, this isn't a video call so you can't see it. He'd stick his pinky in his thumb out and like move it side by side, like back and forth and be like, yeah baby. And that's just what my dad said. Like I remember having my high school friends over and just be like, oh dad. And so I remember I was sitting in the rocking chair nursing my then six month old, my second son and I was just thinking about ideas and I was like, yeah baby. And I think we tried, yeah baby.com and it was like, or no it wasn't dot com 'cause at that time we didn't have a D domain. I tried, yeah baby on Etsy it was already taken. So then we threw the goods on and the whole thing has stuck but it's, it's definitely a nod to my dad.

Katie Ferraro (43m 52s):

Hey, we're gonna take a quick break but I'll be right back.

Story Time with Philip and Mommy (44m 2s):

Hi friends, are you looking for a story time podcast with your littles? Something that has some great storytelling and maybe some conversation about it? Look no further with Story Time with Philip and Mommy. My little guy. Philip and I sit down every single day and read a story together and we of course want you to join us. Grab your copy of the book, sit down, let's read it and let's talk about it. We'll learn new words, we'll learn new ideas and then we'll learn how we can use those stories in our lives. It's a lot of fun classics like Little Golden Books or Bernstein Bears all the way up through the newest phenomenons like Bluey. We talk about them and we have a lot of laughs. It's a great time and we hope that you can come and join us. So please look for us and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Story time with Philip and mommy. Thanks so much. We'll see you there.

Katie Ferraro (44m 58s):

I have to ask you before we go, what is it, is it like always awesome you and your husband working together? Because I really admire couples who can work together. I know you guys very well from getting to work with you over the years. I think you do such a great job of balancing like what you're good at. Like I know exactly what I need to call Brent for. I know exactly what I need to call Katie for, but like, do you ever get annoyed with each other? Like even just a little bit?

Katie Kruithof (45m 20s):

Well, that's a good question. Probably not in business. Sometimes the, the beautiful thing about Brenda and I is we are wired really, really differently and have different strengths and different weaknesses. And so that plays really well with business where there's certain things where it's like anything number finance related, I don't wanna touch it. And so like I couldn't be doing this without Brent, but I bring more of like the social media, the creative outlet, the, the vision of like, okay, let me dream big and now bring you figure out a way to make this happen. And so it it suits us very well. Our parenting styles are also different, but I have to believe that our kids are getting the very best because we're taking two very different ideas and we're compromising right in the middle.

Katie Kruithof (46m 4s):

And it's like, that's exactly where we should be. If they were all done my way, it wouldn't be right. And if it was all done Brent's way it would be imbalanced. And so for business, I don't think we've ever really, he's very good at helping me when I get overwhelmed or like stressed out about something helping me be like, that's, that's not as big of a deal as you think. And I'm very good at nagging until things get done. So I think we actually do balance each other really well with business. And we've been married a long time now we're, I think this December is 18 years, so don don't know if we could have done this, this same partnership as well early on in our marriage. But we've definitely figured out each other and our styles and it's, it's kind of an awesome thing and I'm, I'm very thankful to have him as my partner in parenting and life and business.

Katie Kruithof (46m 53s):

It's, he we're a good match and I couldn't be doing this without him. Honestly.

Katie Ferraro (46m 56s):

You literally could not be doing this interview without him because he's watching the four kids right now. So you can be on this interview. So I'm sorry I kept you for so long, but I just, I love your story, I love your family, I love the product that you're making. 'cause not only is it aesthetically pleasing, but it's also helping make a product safer for babies who are starting solid foods. Where can our audience go to learn more about Yeah Baby Goods and to support your small business? Yeah,

Katie Kruithof (47m 17s):

Absolutely. So we're, the website is yeah, baby goods.com, that's our e-commerce site. There's a ton of resources on there too. There's a blog that talks about starting solids and readiness signs and then talks about all this highchair safety stuff we covered and what to look for in a highchair. And so it's a good resource in addition to, you know, building your highchair and buying the products and that kind of thing. We're very active on Instagram, which we're just at, yeah, baby goods, all one word and no punctuation or hyphens or anything. And we love to share about our family about running a small business behind the scenes stuff. But then a lot of feeding tips and that kind of thing as well.

Katie Kruithof (47m 59s):

So on Instagram. And then we're also on Etsy still. We're on Amazon and our goal for like the next month is to get fulfilled by Amazon up and running so that you can get free shipping on Amazon, which we're not currently, but this is the year for it. So we've been working on getting everything ready on our end through that. Currently we've just been fulfilling it out of our warehouse, but we're gonna start having it be fulfilled by Amazon because I know how important those prime, the prime shipping as a, as a shopper. So we wanna be able to offer that for our customers as well. Well

Katie Ferraro (48m 33s):

Katie, thank you so much. I love chatting with you. Keep up the great work. You have a lot of energy, but I think you're like the perfect person to do this and I'm, I'm glad you have Brent with you too. I love seeing your family on social media. I love that you, you share like just the right amount. It's not like gross, but I'm like, but they're like, wait a minute. She's got the kids in the warehouse. But they're not, it's not like child labor. It, they are definitely helping. And I like, I like seeing that because again, you're a real family running a small business and like, I feel like in this like AI world, you never get to see that anymore. And even when you said that about Amazon, like I was just kind of poking around, like looking at a lot of the knockoffs of your product that are out there. But that's interesting that in some way you would, would embrace Amazon. Obviously that's gonna help you with the thing that Amazon is, is good at, which is fulfillment, which will help allow you to serve more families with the products that they need in order to make that product safer for their baby.

Katie Ferraro (49m 19s):

So that's amazing. Right?

Katie Kruithof (49m 20s):

Yep. I mean, it's definitely more fees than everything, but for Brandon and I, it's like, it's never been about making tons of money and that wasn't our goal with starting a small business. It was get to have as much family time as possible, and we're achieving that. So at, at this and we're able to pay our bills, you know, that's, that's all we really want is to be able to pay our for groceries and mortgage. And so then it's like we really just wanna be equipping encouraging other young families and we try to use our Instagram platform that, and our products. We want 'em to be available and affordable for, for all families.

Katie Ferraro (49m 55s):

Well. Thank you so much, Katie.

Katie Kruithof (49m 57s):

Yeah. Thank you so much, Katie. This was really a joy. I, I'm so glad we got to connect like this.

Katie Ferraro (50m 2s):

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed that interview with Katie Kruithof from Yeah Baby Goods. I was supposed to interview Katie and Brent together, but they had a family like emergency with one of the rental properties, and she's so sweet that she still took the interview. I was like, You, don't have to do this interview. Like, you're busy, you guys have stuff going on. She's like, no, Brent's got the kids. They're fine. They were at their house. He had 'em outside and she took the interview inside. And I feel like I kept her on for way too long, but I just had so many questions and I think her business is so interesting and I really admire the work that they're doing, not only as a business, but also as a family. I am, I mean, I was telling Katie the only time I actually get anything done is when my kids are at school, so I don't understand how families run a business and homeschool. And then also that she works with her husband.

Katie Ferraro (50m 42s):

She's amazing. She really is the one of the nicest people in the baby space, and her husband's amazing too, and I love what she was saying about them having complimentary skills. I, I just loved everything about that interview. I hope you guys did too. If you want to check them out again, they're online at yeahbabygoods.com on social, they're at Yeah, Yeah Baby Goods. And I'll put some links to some of the resources Katie talked about and their products on the show notes page for this episode, which you can find at blwpodcast.com/464. A special thank you to our partners at AirWave Media. If you like podcasts that feature food and science and using your brain, check out some of the shows from AirWave. We're online at blwpodcast.com. Thank you so much for listening.

Katie Ferraro (51m 29s):

I'll see you next time

A Mindful Moment with Theresa McKee (51m 31s):

At a time when change is constant and we are pulled in far too many directions. We need a way to stay present to life and to increase our ability to remain calm, think clearly, and maintain our wellbeing. Many studies indicate mindfulness improves our mental, emotional, and physical health. On a mindful moment with Theresa McKee, you can learn how to practice mindfulness and enjoy its many benefits. Tune in for guided meditations and to hear tips and advice from some of the most respected experts in the fields of mental health and mindfulness. The world truly can be a better place. It all starts with a mindful moment.