Little Jellies founder on the model’s mission to maintain children safer in water

Amy Hando was a aggressive swimmer rising up and have become a swimming instructor in her early teenagers, subsequently working as a lifeguard. Whereas learning regulation at college, Amy continued to show and nonetheless supplied the occasional personal swimming lesson post-university when working as a junior lawyer.

All this publicity to the pool atmosphere left Amy underwhelmed by the tasteless nature of a lot swimwear, and significantly that of boys. “I’ve all the time cherished color so my bathers had been all the time – and nonetheless are – vibrant and enjoyable,” Amy avers. “The boys actually solely had black and blue to select from for a very long time. I used to be all the time conscious of the color situation and what colors present up higher in aquatic environments, however it actually didn’t turn out to be a urgent situation for me till my first nephew was born in 2021.”

As a water-loving household, nephew Vinnie was put into swimming classes very early on and the bathers accessible within the outlets for him had been beige, pastel blue, or pastel inexperienced. Busy along with her job as a barrister, the concept of beginning her personal swimwear line didn’t actually come to Amy till she completed a giant case and had a while on her fingers in early 2024.

“By that point my second nephew, Jimmy, was on the scene and each boys’ love for swimming had solely grown,” Amy explains. “That gave me a mission to make children – my nephews included – safer by being extra seen when in and round water.”

Amy began on the lookout for producers in early 2024 and formally launched in January this yr. Being Melbourne-based for her barrister work, Amy relied closely on her household for help with the enterprise, together with her nephews and a few of their little pals in her hometown of Bendigo, performing as product testers for her bathers.

Regardless of the challenges working full-time within the regulation offered on the time, she may decide to her start-up enterprise, as being a barrister on the Victorian Bar had its upside.

“My authorized background has given me the information of what to have in place in case one thing goes improper,” Amy explains. “Working in disputes, I actually solely see issues when one thing has gone improper – understanding how they’ve gone improper and probably then easy methods to stop that has assisted me in basically working backwards. Having the ability to draft agreements can also be an necessary talent that has translated to Little Jellies.”

Other than balancing full-time authorized work with operating the enterprise, Amy’s largest challenges have been the educational curve by way of advertising, adverts and placing herself ‘on the market’ on social media.

“I don’t assume I’m essentially the most inventive individual on the market and, while I’m a silent watcher on social media, I’ve by no means been an avid poster of content material,” Amy admits. “It’s most likely ironic that I’m snug arguing a case earlier than a Decide, however in relation to sitting alone at dwelling and taking a video of myself, speaking about myself, I can turn out to be a little bit of a multitude. The considered creating content material that’s ‘face-to-camera’ has been fairly daunting however it’s all in my very own head.

“To be able to recover from that, I’ve simply needed to energy via and do it – movie, edit and put up!”. To beat her lack of awareness about advertising and promoting, Amy learn books, listened to podcasts, and went on programs to show herself the tips of these trades.

Amy selected to make use of recycled nylon as the bottom cloth for her swimwear. “Within the early years, significantly, children develop quick, so that they may be fortunate to get one summer season out of their swimwear earlier than shifting up, and the smaller dimension is then most likely thrown out,” she bemoans.

“Recycled nylon diverts different discarded nylon merchandise, like fishing nets, carpets and textiles away from landfill and offers them new life. Not solely are we attempting to create a product that may final on account of its high quality, in order that they are often loved over the course of a number of summers as hand-me-downs, however they’re additionally produced from materials that will in any other case go to landfill.”

Amy says that operating two companies by herself might be “very lonely at instances” so she deems having sturdy supporters who’re conscious of the struggles of proudly owning a enterprise as being is important.

“I’m very fortunate that everybody in my household owns their very own companies, so I lean closely on them for each normal help and for his or her information,” she enthuses. “If you wish to exit by yourself in enterprise, I say do it. However be sure to have somebody in your nook – household, pals or your skilled community.

“They’ll be there for the grim days but additionally to have a good time your wins with you.”