Published on Thursday, 2 July 2020 at 9:57:32 AM
New mum Joanne Shepherd was so unimpressed with the lack of suitable pregnancy and postnatal activewear that she started her own company – and now has a global fanbase and a growing international brand as a reward for spotting a gap in the market.
Her success has led to local recognition at the 2019 Belmont & WA Small Business Awards, where she took home the coveted Fashion Industry Award.
“Exercise became my therapy after a difficult postnatal period, but the activewear market for pregnant and nursing mums was almost non-existent,” explains Joanne.
“With a little research, I realised there was not a lot out there and the few items I found reminded me of something that Nana would wear,” she joked.
“I immediately decided I wanted to mix fashion with function, and started drawing designs.”
Since founding Mummactiv (mummactiv.com) in 2016, her clothing designs have featured in newspapers, fashion magazines, graced runways and are distributed across Australia, the UK and USA. Another significant achievement was receiving a Silver award in the Fashion category at the AUSMUM MUMPRENEUR awards in Melbourne in September 2019.
Joanne clearly recalls the moments that inspiration struck.
“I took up running again just six weeks after giving birth. I would sit in the back seat of the car interchanging crop tops for nursing bras and decided that there must be a better solution for new mums. We give so much to our kids and others and I thought mums deserve so much more.
“Mummactiv has developed from a simple idea into a fresh, original and innovative product line in just a few years. We’ve also passed a few milestones in our short existence and had quite a bit of international exposure.”
Social media plays an important role in helping grow the Mummactiv brand, with accounts on Instagram (@mummactiv), Facebook (mummactiv1) and LinkedIn (Joanne Shepherd).
Pregnancy and nursing activewear are a fairly new concept in the fashion/clothing world. Mummactiv clothing is designed to be worn through pregnancy, breastfeeding and beyond. The idea has taken off with an approach this year to stock the Mummactiv range on www.iconic.com and other online stores.
Mummactiv is involved in a number of events promoting the not-for-profit group PANDA (Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Association) and hosted a forum at the start of PANDA week in September 2019. At the event Joanne raised awareness and money for PANDA, looking at some of the mental health issues that can affect mums and some of the remedies to combat it.
During summer months Joanne keeps busy organising Active Mum classes which offer the opportunity for new mums to meet up and exercise in a friendly, non-competitive environment.
Contact Details:
Business name: MUMMACTIV
Key contact person: Joanne Shepherd
Email: mummactiv@hotmail.com
Phone: 0437 805934
Address: 33 Plantation St Menora
Website: www.mummactiv.com
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