Courtney Boylan, Le Lolo

[00:00:00] Sanjay Parekh: Welcome to The Side Hustle to Small Business Podcast, powered by Hiscox. I'm your host, Sanjay Parekh. Throughout my career, I've had side hustles, some of which have turned into real businesses, but first and foremost, I'm a serial technology entrepreneur. In the creator space, we hear plenty of advice on how to hustle harder and why you can sleep when you're dead.

[00:00:22] On this show, we ask new questions in hopes of getting new answers. Questions like, how can small businesses work smarter? How do you achieve balance between work and family? How can we redefine success in our businesses so that we don't burn out after year three? Every week I sit down with business founders at various stages of their side hustle to small business journey. These entrepreneurs are pushing the envelope while keeping their values. Keep listening for conversation context and camaraderie.

[00:00:56] Today's guest is Courtney Boylan, the founder of Le Lolo, a postpartum brand of thoughtfully designed postpartum accessories. Courtney, welcome to the show.

[00:01:05] Courtney Boylan: Thank you, Sanjay. I am so excited to be here.

[00:01:08] Sanjay Parekh: I'm excited to have you on because I think the area that you're working in is so interesting and unique.

[00:01:13] I don't think we've had anybody that's been on the show working in this kind of market niche. So it'll be interesting to talk to you. But before we get into all of that, give us a little bit about your background and what got you to where you are today.

[00:01:25] Courtney Boylan: So my background has nothing to do with entrepreneurship whatsoever, or a product-based business. My background is actually in retail leadership and HR. I worked for Target and Amazon for a collective 15 years. And, after I had my children and I struggled through postpartum, I realized that there was a need in the marketplace for beautiful postpartum accessories that bring joy and confidence to a new mom.

[00:01:56] And I knew that if no one was gonna do it that it needed to be me. So I took a leap of faith. I was scared to death. But with the support from my husband, I decided to jump on the journey of entrepreneurship. And here we are today.

[00:02:12] Sanjay Parekh: Well, that, that's the normal story of entrepreneurship. Right? You'd be scared to death and still jump into it because what can go wrong? Right. Exactly. So, so was this the very, this was the very first time you did something entrepreneurial. Was there anything entrepreneurial as a kid or anything else like that?

[00:02:27] Courtney Boylan: I always had an entrepreneurial spirit for sure. I would think of different ways to do things better or products that could be made differently and, but I never acted on anything. They were just ideas in my brain. And even when we had our kids, there were baby products, I'm like, oh my gosh, you should be so much better if it was this way. And my husband's like, you are so crazy.

[00:02:46] And it kind of all started with my nipple shield actually. I had a clear nipple shield as I was breastfeeding my kids, I would always lose it. In the middle of the night, I'd be searching and I was like, where are the colored shields? Like, this is so crazy. And I searched and I couldn't find one. And that was kind of the start of the brand Le Lolo. That was like our first initial product and it just kind of launched from there.

[00:03:13] Sanjay Parekh: Oh, that is so funny. Yeah. What, were there any entrepreneurs in your family or anybody else like that, that you had as kind of a guide or a mentor or somebody to kind of model after?

[00:03:23] Courtney Boylan: Yeah, so my father actually owned, had a family business with my grandfather. So I did see a lot of, I do have a lot of business background from him but in like product creation. Definitely none of that whatsoever. He owned a beverage distribution center a distributorship.

[00:03:47] Sanjay Parekh: Right. Okay.

[00:03:49] Courtney Boylan: Yes.

[00:03:50] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. So, okay. Let's talk about the start of the business. So you got frustrated at night looking for clear nipple shields. Yes. That, that's a funny way, but I think a pretty usual way of how most entrepreneurs start because they're just frustrated by something. So how did you start down that path of trying to create something better?

[00:04:12] Courtney Boylan: Yeah, so, you know, my first thought was I can't be the only mom searching for my nipple shield in the middle of the night. Like, it sounds so crazy and then, but you don't really talk about that as a mom because like nipple shields are kind of weird to talk about and you know, it's just like an awkward thing. And so. When I first, I was like, I'm gonna find a designer who can make me a shield and I'm gonna make it colored. And then as I was thinking about it, I was like, well, I'm not just gonna make it colored. Like if I'm gonna make a whole new product, I might as well make it beautiful as well. So I found a designer, I think through Fiverr. Or I don't even, Upwork actually is where I found her and I got so lucky. She's a mom as well and she does 3D designs and she helped me create this beautiful nipple shield and I knew, you know, that I wanted to be based off of what was already on the market and have all of the same qualities, effectiveness and safety aspects of a shield.

[00:05:09] But I want it to be made beautiful. So she created a product for me. Then I found a manufacturer who manufactured silicone goods and they created a mold. And yeah, it was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. I think for me, I am good at the design and creation part of business. So for me, that wasn't a tough part for me.

[00:05:34] Sanjay Parekh: So talk to me a lot of times we talk about these products and stuff, but it's hard to understand for somebody that's listening in. What does it really take to get to that point of an actual product? Like what did this cost you? If you can remember for like, the design and then the mold manufacturing and the first run, like what did this cost?

[00:05:55] Courtney Boylan: Yeah. So I was worried it was actually gonna cost a little bit more than I thought. So I, you know, I, my, my company is completely self-funded by myself and my husband. I actually, we saved for a whole year of me working and we're like, we're gonna put this money aside and we can launch this money with Le Lolo. So when I was doing my research on who I was gonna hire for a designer, I knew that I couldn't go with someone who was $300 an hour. I had to look for someone who was within my budget. So I did have budget, you know, restraints, but I think that's okay. You don't have to go with the person who has, you know, 10 years of experience and 300 and a $300 per hour salary, you can find someone who is actually affordable for you. And I think the biggest thing is like, what does that relationship look like with the person you're working with? So I think my designer was probably 2000 to create the design. The first initial mold was 2000. Now I had to do that twice because my first one was not correct and I had to remake it.

[00:06:59] So that was double the cost, which was a learning, and then to produce, it was just based off of my price per unit, which I believe is around a dollar per shield. That includes the box, A case, and two nipple shields.

[00:07:14] Sanjay Parekh: Wow. Okay. So all in to kind of get going, it was about 6,000 or so dollars. It's costing you a dollar or so to make, and then what is it selling at in the market?

[00:07:26] Courtney Boylan: It sells for $18.

[00:07:28] Sanjay Parekh: Okay. So how long did it take you to get to, to break even on that initial cost of making all of this stuff?

[00:07:36] Courtney Boylan: By the end of the year, I had broke even on my cost.

[00:07:39] Sanjay Parekh: Okay. Wow. And so that, that year that you spent saving up money, how much money did you gather up and how much did you know, like how much did you think this was gonna cost? And it sounds like it was a lot less than what you thought it was gonna cost.

[00:07:53] Courtney Boylan: Well, I think the product piece is what is, what cost the least for me. Then I put a lot of money into building a website. I put a lot of money into my photography, and I put money... I invested money in myself with a business coach. Got it. And for me, I knew I, I didn't have any background, so I needed someone to help guide me and understand what it takes to run a business as an entrepreneur to get me to where I wanted to go.

[00:08:20] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. Do you feel like your experiences 15 years in retail helped as well?

[00:08:26] Courtney Boylan: I, yes and no. I think, obviously I learned so much about leadership and, you know what it looks like to run a good business, but from like a business acumen on entrepreneurship and what it means to be an entrepreneur and like the daily tasks and what it takes to be an entrepreneur. No, that is, I didn't learn any of that in retail because in with Target and Amazon, it's very structured. They tell you what to do and you execute, and I'm great at executing and I can execute all day long. But to have to understand what to do and when to do it. That's been, you know a tough learn for me, for sure.

[00:09:08] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. So there, there were no lessons in like how to price your products or like how to stock it or where to stock it, or any of those things that you picked up along the way?

[00:09:17] Courtney Boylan: No, because I worked in the stores for Target. So that was all done for me. I wasn't doing anything behind the scenes. Everything, you know, in Target, the price already comes, you're just coming and you're putting the products on the shelf and really what your job is as as a manager within Target in the store setting is customer service. And making sure that your shelves are full.

[00:09:43] Sanjay Parekh: Right. Right. So interesting. Okay. Yeah. So was there anything in this journey, and I'm sure there was, that made you nervous when you started kicking this off and how did you overcome that for yourself?

[00:09:56] Courtney Boylan: Oh my gosh, I was so nervous. I almost like talked myself out of doing it because I was so scared and I had to do a lot of mindset work around reminding myself like, you know what? I can do this. I am strong enough to do this. I am capable of doing this. And my husband helps me a lot with that. Like, just reminding me like, you are good enough to do this. You don't have to be scared. And I was so scared to fail and what people would think if I did fail. And I just had to remember like, if I'm gonna take this leap.

[00:10:28] It's not a failure. It will always be a learning. So even if it doesn't succeed how I expected it to, at the end of the day, I'm going to learn something from this experience and be able to take that onto my next venture.

[00:10:41] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah, absolutely. I think entrepreneurship is probably the cheapest education you can get. Even though it still can be expensive, right? $6,000 is not a small sum of money. Probably the amount that you learned in that period of time, it would've cost a lot more if you'd gone to, you know, a traditional school or something like that. So it is definitely a fire hose.

[00:11:03] Courtney Boylan: 1000%. Yes.

[00:11:06] Sanjay Parekh: So you've gotta be ready for the fire hose. Yes. But but other than that it's a great opportunity. Was there anything that really, you know you talked about how you wanted it to be aesthetically pleasing. Were there other products that you experienced that you were like why are they designed so poorly? And I guess maybe the broader question is too, is like you're fitting in at a point in time where I think we're seeing

[00:11:29] more and more consumer products become more focused on design and the better design product, even if it isn't functionally better, is the one that ends up winning. And so how did you think about that for yourself across all the products that you do now because you, it's now more than just the nipple shield, it's a lot more products than that.

[00:11:46] Courtney Boylan: Yeah, absolutely. And you know, when I had the idea that I, like an idea just sparked in my brain one day and I was like, wait a second, I don't just have to stop at the nipple shield. Like I can take every single product that a mom uses. After she has a baby and make it more beautiful. And it became a mission to our brand. If there's anyone who deserves pretty accessories, it's a new mom after she birthed a human, you know, she just went through a life experience that you just, you can't even understand and unless you are a mom and even that transition into postpartum with your hormones and now having to take care of a baby that you have no idea what you're doing. It's such a rollercoaster of emotions, and my thought was if there's one thing that can bring a little bit of joy and just remembrance for a mom to remind herself that she's beautiful, strong, worthy, that's my hope that when she uses our accessories, that, that she remembers that. So I don't think I answered your question whatsoever.

[00:12:53] Sanjay Parekh: But it was a great answer regardless, because it actually touched upon some things that I've thought about. Like I, you know, when we were first parents and it's now been, you know, over two decades, I was like, I don't know that I'm responsible for a new human being like does somebody need to tell me something? So I totally am in touch with what you're saying there.

[00:13:15] Courtney Boylan: Yeah, absolutely. You just, you don't even understand that feeling until you become a parent. And it's so wild. And, you know for our products, I knew that I could make them, like all of the products on the market currently are so stale and sterile.

[00:13:30] You feel like a patient, like you're broken, right? Something is wrong with you. And. Like there's no reason that they can't be beautiful also, and ours are not only beautiful, but they are functional as well.

[00:13:42] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. I mean I can definitely identify with that two decades ago, you know, like breast pumps and things like that. Like they were very utilitarian. Yes. They worked. Yeah. They just didn't look great though, so.

[00:13:55] Courtney Boylan: And they can be both.

[00:13:58] Adam Walker: Support for this podcast comes from Hiscox committed to helping small businesses protect their dreams since 1901. Quotes and information on customized insurance for specific risks are available at Hiscox.com. Hiscox, business insurance experts.

[00:14:19] Sanjay Parekh: So I need to ask you about the name, because it is kind of an unusual name. What's the significance behind the name Le Lolo?

[00:14:27] Courtney Boylan: Yeah, so it's actually a funny story. I had an original name and I don't know why I was always stuck on this, but I was like, I'm gonna name my business Modern Mama. And I have that in my head for so long. And then I went to go get it trademarked and the lawyer was like, you cannot trademark Modern Mama. That is like way too generic. And there's a million people who have a brand named Modern Mama. And I was like, Ugh. Okay, fine. And so my husband and I, we search, we were like doing play on words and we came across Le Lolo, which in French means the boob.

[00:15:01] And I was like, oh my goodness. Wait. This is genius. This is exactly, it's beautiful. The average person doesn't know what Le Lolo means, but in the end it also means the Boob Witch. We are a company for moms, so it's so fitting and it was like a blessing in disguise that Modern Mama didn't work out because Le Lolo is so much better.

[00:15:25] Sanjay Parekh: It's gonna be very funny if you ever expand into selling products into France and what the uptake is gonna be there.

[00:15:33] Courtney Boylan: I know. I actually spoke to one of my previous coworkers who spoke French, and I was like, what do you think about, like, what does Le Lolo mean? And she was like she's like, oh I don't know that you wanna name your business that. I was like, what? No, like, here's my business. Like, put the two together. She's like, oh. She goes, that's genius. That's perfect.

[00:15:56] Sanjay Parekh: It's good that she came around based on what the business is actually about. Yes.

[00:16:00] Courtney Boylan: Absolutely.

[00:16:01] Sanjay Parekh: So let's talk about the products and how you've kind of managed them over time. Have they evolved based on kind of customer feedback or your own experience like. How do you think about that process to maybe make sure that you're designing the products that really do work for moms?

[00:16:16] Courtney Boylan: Yeah, absolutely. So after I had the Nipple Shield designed, I knew that I wanted to expand on a breastfeeding line that was like...

[00:16:23] that was the easiest, most simple transition into expanding my line was to do breastfeeding. I always say though, Le Lolo is not a breastfeeding company. We are just a company for moms. We don't care how you feed your baby, whether it's formula or breastfeeding it doesn't matter. This is a company for moms. But what I did to expand the brand was.. I knew the products, the main products that women typically use for breastfeeding and I took those products to our community within Instagram, we have a great little like insider community that we use, and I posted those products on our Instagram stories and asked for feedback on what they would like to see differently. I had some ideas, but we did a lot of like color variations with our community. A lot of different like sizing and shapes. And that's really where we got our feedback as to how we were going to expand the brand and like what color palettes and what different techniques and you know, little distinct ideas we were gonna have for each product.

[00:17:30] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. Interesting. Okay, so, so thinking about that and how this is a business about moms and not necessarily just breastfeeding, what do you think about the business and how do you think about it over like the next five years? Where do you see it going?

[00:17:46] Courtney Boylan: I mean, there's so many ways we can expand. The next line we're gonna do is specifically for postpartum. So anything you need you know, after having the baby down below all of those products that you have to use, ice packs and all the things that come with actually having a child. And then we would, I'd love to do like a body line for moms, a pre-pregnancy line. There's just, you know, there's so many different, things that we can do to benefit mom and what she goes through, through pregnancy and then through postpartum as well.

[00:18:22] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. Okay. Let's shift gears a little bit and talk about balancing running a business like this with family life flow. So how do you think about that and how do you balance the stress and demands? Like you mentioned before, you're fully self-funded. No outside investors. So it's all kind of up to you. And how big is the company actually right now? Is it just you and your husband or is it just you or is it employees as well?

[00:18:49] Courtney Boylan: Yeah, so I have a social media manager who is absolutely amazing. She does all my social media for me and social media outreach. And then it's just me. My husband is like my sounding board. He, if I have any questions or I'm like stuck with an idea, yeah. He'll be like the last person that I go to and I know that I can always trust his final say, but for the most part he's like, he knows that I have it and that I don't really want his opinion and I'll ask for his opinion if I do. So it's just the two of us.

[00:19:22] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. So then in terms of like products and manufacturing and logistics and all that, all of that is outsourced.

[00:19:29] Courtney Boylan: Yes. So I do the, so I, you know, I work with manufacturers to create all the products I did. All of the box creation myself. I literally created everything from, you know, start to finish on my own. Obviously with the help of the manufacturers who made the product.

[00:19:47] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. Why did you make that decision to go that route versus try to think about what a lot of people do is like, you know, manufacture and fulfill and do all that stuff themselves.

[00:19:58] Courtney Boylan: Well I do fulfill myself. For me, I, like, I can't make a product on my own. You know these are products that have to be, that have to be created by a company. So.

[00:20:12] Sanjay Parekh: So, so then the fulfillment part, are you actually shipping boxes and things like that? Or do you have a outside partner that does that stuff?

[00:20:18] Courtney Boylan: I do fulfill all of the orders myself.

[00:20:20] Sanjay Parekh: Okay. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So where are you at in terms of that journey? Is that something that you see like at some point, like, oh, it's gonna be too much and you've gotta push that out to somebody else, or?

[00:20:31] Courtney Boylan: 100%. So I actually, my neighbors. I have two sweet little neighbors who are 13, who wanted a little part-time job. They helped me pack boxes a couple times a week. And you know, they're like have their little entrepreneurial spirit themselves, so they helped me a little bit with the packing. And it's fun for them and, you know, they get a little extra money, so.

[00:20:56] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. That's awesome that you're spawning new entrepreneurs. Yes. How to happen in the world. That's great.

[00:21:02] Courtney Boylan: At some point I will have to use a three PL to start fulfilling my orders. Yeah, for sure.

[00:21:08] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah.

[00:21:08] Courtney Boylan: Yeah.

[00:21:09] Sanjay Parekh: Okay let's talk about then boundaries, because I, it sounds like you're doing this out of the house also. Yes. The fulfillment and everything else like that. So how do you set boundaries between work and family life for yourself?

[00:21:20] Courtney Boylan: Yeah, I think that's been hard and one of the biggest lessons that I've had to learn, I could work 24 7 and be fine with it. My husband obviously is not fine with that, and it's not good for the kids either. So I've had to put some really strict boundaries in place.

[00:21:35] Like when my kids are home, my phone is on do not disturb, I know that's the time that I have to be present with them and, and with my husband, I have to be in mom mode for sure, and I can't have anything Le Lolo come in between that. You know, I still do, I do drop offs with my daughter in the morning and my son and I have to make sure, you know, between the hours of 10 and three, I am super productive because that's really the only time I have during the day to work on Le Lolo. So a lot of you know, time batching, making sure that my schedule is set up properly so that I know exactly what I'm gonna be working on every day, every week has been helpful in being productive.

[00:22:21] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. I on average, how much would you say in a week you work on Le Lolo? Like how much time are you able to give it?

[00:22:30] Courtney Boylan: Yeah, so it's about 20 to 25 hours a week. And I actually had never thought about that before, but. If I do the math, it's 20 to 25 hours. I'd love for it to be more, but at this time in my life, it's just, it's not feasible. So.

[00:22:43] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. No I think that's an interesting thing because a lot of kind of, you know, standard talk around entrepreneurship is like, oh, you've gotta give, you know, 60 hours, 80 hours, a hundred hours a week. And I think you're the proof point that... No you can start up a good business and give as many hours as you have available, and sometimes that's gonna be less at certain points in your life. So, yeah.

[00:23:06] Courtney Boylan: Absolutely. That's so true and I think there is such a stigma around if you're gonna be an entrepreneur, you have to work 24 7 all the time to make it successful, and that's really not the case. If you make sure that you're using the time you have to be super productive, you can do it.

[00:23:25] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. I mean, there's nothing wrong if you wanna work that much for sure, if you've got that kind of time, if you're passionate about it. But you can do it with less too, and you don't have to feel pressured to do that, that excessiveness either.

[00:23:35] Courtney Boylan: Absolutely. Okay. Last few questions here. Thinking about now, your journey going through all of this is there something that you think back and if you could do differently you would go back and do differently? And if so what is that thing? I would've started earlier. For sure.

[00:23:54] Okay. I was so scared, which I know that we already discussed, but I was so terrified to take the leap and now that I'm doing it and I'm in it and I'm building my confidence and I'm showing myself that I can do it, I wish I would've started earlier.

[00:24:11] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. Was it just being scared about how to move forward or failing or like what was the major thing that held you back?

[00:24:19] Courtney Boylan: Failure. Definitely

[00:24:21] Sanjay Parekh: Failure. Yeah.

[00:24:22] Courtney Boylan: Yeah, failure for sure. I was just so terrified that it wasn't gonna work out or what people would think of me if I launched this business and I talked about it and it didn't become what.. What I wanted it to become, and I was putting those own restrictions on myself. No one else was feeling that way or would probably even think that, except for me thinking that they would think that. So.

[00:24:42] Sanjay Parekh: Right. Yeah that's the thing. You know, we think that other people think about us a lot more than they actually do. Like they, they don't actually think about us. Right.

[00:24:50] Courtney Boylan: It's so true. If you think about it, and all the people you act like you personally think about, I'm like, wait, I don't think about anyone. I don't care what other, no one else is thinking about me either. So I just need to let this go.

[00:25:01] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. I don't ever think about other people's failures. Right, exactly. Like I only think about them when they tell me about them and like, okay, how can I help you kind of move beyond that failure now?

[00:25:09] Courtney Boylan: Yes. A hundred percent.

[00:25:10] Sanjay Parekh: Was there anything that like actually tipped you over and made you realize, like that was a dumb thing to worry about?

[00:25:16] Courtney Boylan: Oh gosh. Well, you know I went back to my corporate job and I realized, you know, I just can't do this. Like, I can't work a corporate, you know, I would think I was probably working seven to 5:00 PM and going home to be a mom. By the time I got home I was so tired and I wanted a little bit more flexibility in my schedule to be there for my kids. And then also just to show them like, if you wanna follow your dreams and you believe you can do something. You can do it. And I wanted to be a source of in inspiration for my children as well.

[00:25:48] So that pushed me, those two things is really what pushed me to follow my dreams and without my kids. I definitely, obviously I wouldn't have this idea, but I wouldn't be... I wouldn't be doing this either, so I'm very grateful for them. 

[00:26:02] Sanjay Parekh: I I love it. Okay, last question for you, Courtney. If you were talking to somebody who's thinking about taking that leap like you did and starting a side hustle or, you know, turning it into a kind of a full business and kind of burning the boats and quitting the corporate job and going all in, what advice would you give to them?

[00:26:19] Courtney Boylan: Do it. Take the leap. Take the jump. You will not regret it 100%. If you feel in your heart that you have something that is a great idea and you know that you are on the edge of thinking about doing it or not doing it. You're always going to wonder what if you don't. So take the leap and give it your best shot.

[00:26:42] Sanjay Parekh: I love it. I love it. Okay, Courtney, this has been fantastic. Where can our listeners find and connect with you online?

[00:26:47] Courtney Boylan: Absolutely. So our website is www dot We are le lolo. That's L-E-L-O-L-O.com. We are most active on Instagram. We are Le Lolo, and we're also on TikTok.

[00:27:02] Sanjay Parekh: Awesome. Thanks so much for being on today.

[00:27:04] Courtney Boylan: Thanks, Sanjay, for having me.

[00:27:07] Sanjay Parekh: Thanks for listening to this week's episode of the Side Hustle to Small Business podcast, powered by Hiscox. To learn more about how Hiscox can help protect your small business through intelligent insurance solutions, visit Hiscox.com. And to hear more Side Hustle to Small Business stories, or share your own story, please visit Hiscox.com/side-hustle-to-small-business. I'm your host, Sanjay Parekh. You can find out more about me at my website, SanjayParekh.com.