In May this year Sophie Cachia made the leap from mummy blogger to entrepreneur.
Launching Cachia, her online retail business, The Young Mummy began selling a select range of products that she knew her legion of social media followers would love.
Cachia admits it was her ‘online family’ who initially gave her the idea for the start up.
“I have a really engaged and large loyal audience, I think of these people as my online family,” she told Mamamia.
“On Instagram I was always being asked ‘where are your jeans from’ or ‘where’d you get that bag’, and I was constantly promoting all these other brands.”
That’s when Cachia saw a gap in the market – she could make her own products and cut out the middle man.
“I realised people were following my social media pages because of me and what I do – they love me – so I created an opportunity for them to become even closer to me, to wear some of the clothes I was wearing.”
Her new business venture wasn’t an obvious choice for Cachia, who actually has a background in broadcasting.
“If you told me a few years ago that I was going to be a fashion designer I would have laughed in your face,” she said. “But I’m the kind of person who grabs opportunities when they present themselves.”
Cachia, the brand, was never about starting a fashion line or opening a shop, Sophie simply wants to create products that she loves and really wants to buy herself.
“I think a lot of people were let down at the start when I just released the t-shirt, they thought it was a lot of fuss for one t-shirt, but I’ve never come out and said that I’d do a whole fashion collection, or a capsule, or that I was going to open my own store.
“These are just products that I needed, that my husband or my kids needed, and that I knew other people would love too.”
MR + MRS. You know you want to ???? www.cachia.shop #CACHIA
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“I wanted these soft, silky leopard pajamas so I made them,” she explained. “I wanted a hat that my son could wear in the water, one that wouldn’t stick to his face or get all heavy, and one that was in a really bright, cool colour and didn’t have an ugly turtle on it.”
“That hat was three years in the making and we’ve just launched it this week.”
It hasn’t been easy, over the past few years Cachia has made some really good decisions and some really bad decisions.
“I’m still learning everyday and that’s why I’m so intrigued by it. I’m not only learning the design side of it, I’m learning the business side of it too.”
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“I’m finding myself going into shops now and looking at labels and thinking this is a really good brand and I actually use better fabrics than them.”
Sophie admits she hasn’t done it alone, early on she teamed up with her business partner, Leah Betts, who has over 25 years experience in fashion, design and distribution.
“I’ve never hid the fact that I have an amazingly intelligent and knowledgeable business partner, who has done this for a long time.”
And, most importantly, her husband Jaryd is at home and able to look after Bobby, 2, and Florence, 7 months, most of the time.
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“I don’t want people to think I’m some kind of superwoman, who’s doing it all,” she explained. “I’m very lucky to have a husband at home.”
“I returned to work four weeks after having Florence and we made the decision that financially it was more viable for him to stay home.
“And honestly, it’s the best decision we’ve ever made.”
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Of course, with being such a public face of the business, Sophie has faced her fair share of critics.
“I’ve gone out there and I’ve said ‘this is me and this is my business’ and it’s definitely opened me up to a lot of criticism,” she said.
Cachia says it was a “ballsy move to make” but she’s happy to deal with the criticism, so she can keep doing her own thing.
“I’m the kind of person who always has to be grabbing that next opportunity and I love to be successful on my own.”