featured items
|
|
|
company history
History
Hotslings, developed by Dallas mom/entrepreneur Kristen DeRocha, are unique
baby slings that offer parents a fashionable alternative to bulky strollers or slings with
rings. Like most really good ideas, Hotslings was born out of necessity – Kristen liked
having her hands free to do the million things a busy mom needs to do, but felt like baby
slings could be both functional and fashionable. With some funky material she found
around her house, she reworked a sling she had bought and began wearing it. Friends and
strangers alike begged her to make more, and her company was born.
Mom’s the word
With word of Kristen’s slings spreading like wildfire through the mom network
and community, Kristen debuted a website for the slings at www.hotslings.com in 2003.
Considering her mom fanbase not only as customers, but also experienced product
testers, Kristen incorporated several new ideas from feedback she had received. She
invented a leg padding feature (now often imitated by others) as a way to make her
customers more comfortable, and she continued to roll out new and trendy fabrics so the
slings could be a fun, attractive accessory for her hip clientele.
Baby business grows up
Kristen began using factory cut and sewing facilities for production of Hotslings,
closely supervising to ensure it was the same quality or better than what had come out of
her own living room. This also allowed her to build a small inventory in addition to
made-to-order work and allowed Kristen to focus more on the development of her
family’s business. Also important to Kristen was the ability to outsource the making of
her products, but to keep making them in the USA. She also chooses to use fabrics made
in this country or in sweatshop-free environments in Asia.
Other than first-hand experience at giving customers what they craved, Kristen
had zero business experience. An excellent student, Kristen had a degree in wildlife and
fisheries science from Texas A&M University, and she used that in her career as a
biology teacher at the high school level. Though her experience and schooling was in the
art of nature, Kristen’s heart had always belonged to fashion. Coming from a “humble
background,” as she describes it, financial situations forced her to be creative in her
fashion and dress – the very skill that would change her business’s (and her family’s)
financial situation significantly in later years.
Hotslings are hot sellers
As the demand for Hotslings continued to skyrocket, Kristen had to make changes
to allow her company space to grow. She first moved her inventory into her attic and
hired two employees to work out of a semi-renovated home office in her antique
backyard garage in 2005. She revamped her company’s look and feel, as well as the
website, and was able to add wholesale clients at breakneck speed. In 2006, she
exhibited at the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association and orders continued to
pour in. Today, she is housed in a 4,500-sqaure foot warehouse/office.
Today, Hotslings is a multi-million-dollar company with 14 employees including
a fully staffed warehouse team supplying Hotslings to more than 700 stores around the
country, in addition to online sales. Most recently, Kristen appointed Joseph Harris as
President, who is well known for his experience in global sourcing and product
development.
Hotslings is the kind of company that is born of a really good idea from a mom
with ingenuity. While helping to keep parents’ hands free while raising their children,
Kristen DeRocha has her own hands full with demand for Hotslings.
|
