en
Canada
After the birth of her fourth child in 2014, while on maternity leave and breastfeeding, Claudia Marion began the search for something to sell that defined her and her experience as a mother of four. She arrived at women-focused products with a simple mission: to make healthy, safe, convenient, non-GMO products that moms can enjoy and benefit from. Soon after, a name for the business was born, Stork and Dove, representing both the bird of devotion and that of love. This name has since become the umbrella brand for her growing line.
Ms. Marion’s first step to ensure her products’ success was attending a WEConnect International event. This event introduced her to an energetic network of other women in business.
“WEConnect International] has connected me to a community of over-arching enterprises that really care about investing in and supporting the women-owned business,” she said. “[It] has connected me to trade partners that I felt my business might not be ready for and it helped me to understand that many (global) businesses do have stewardship programs in place for women and minority-owned businesses. This was a revelation and something that remained invisible to me before WEConnect International.”
While attending this event, Claudia handed out business cards and samples to a few buyers. Within two weeks, she received a call from a category buyer at Walmart who had received the samples. The following week, Claudia presented her product line. Within months, Stork and Dove was rolling out two of its top-selling Booby Boons flavors into over 300 Walmart locations across Canada.
Claudia is still inspired by mothers.
“Motherhood leaves behind the “me” and brings in the “we” forever-more. Women so often go into it with fear and come out with superpowers, or the ability to do what they feared or never thought possible,” she says. “This is an exceptional metamorphosis that I think too often is not reflected upon. If more would reflect on their journey, then I believe more women would continue to pursue their goals and realize they too can conquer the challenge.”
Claudia notes how incredible it is that we live in this time when women are driving purchasing and design decisions like never before. Because of this, she feels increasingly confident in the new and future product lines she’s creating.
Her advice for young female entrepreneurs?
She agrees that it’s harder to wear both hats (motherhood and entrepreneurship), but Claudia believes that the toughest part to achieving business goals is accepting that you can do both without guilt.
“It is okay to have passions and goals, outside of traditional roles, goals that are uniquely your own and that define you. It is okay!”