Optimizing Baby Care Through Necessity

Raegan Moya-Jones -- the Co-Founder and CEO of Aden & Anais -- moved to New York from Australia, and in 2003 her first child was born. She went looking for special blankets that were common in Australia, but couldn’t find them anywhere. This inspired her to start a business to make swaddle blankets available to the American market. Over the years Aden & Anais has grown to provide a variety of baby care products from bath supplies to items for the home. Leading a team as big as hers takes a lot of work but she is focused on ensuring that optimum baby care is available for families everywhere.

Three Questions with Raegan

1. How do you identify trends? What resources does your team use to spot trends and consumer insights?

I'm very much into fashion -- I don't have a background in it but I love it. I find a lot of trends exploring different shops, and travelling across Europe, Asia and Australia. Being the person that drives the aesthetics and works with the design team, I bring back photos from my travels for inspiration. It’s so important to be aware of what’s out there. I have a strong opinion of what I like and don't like. I'm inspired by architecture, and being out in the world is where I truly identify trends.

Many people love our designs, in fact the royal baby came out in one of our blankets and that blanket was one of the first we ever designed back in 2008. The things we design, they’re still fresh and on the market even though years go by.

2. What is the biggest challenge you face when innovating?

There aren’t a lot of challenges with design because the wonderful thing about our swaddle blanket is that it's a blank canvas for us. It’s a simple white fabric, so we can do whatever we want with it. Your imagination can run wild with what you can design on it.

As for challenges from a product standpoint, we have so many people copying us so we try to stay ahead of the game.

3. Looking to the future, how is Aden & Anais going to be a leader in innovation?

The speed we get our products to market has a lot to do with it. We aim to stay true to your identity because authenticity speaks volumes. We’re able to create such wonderful relationship with our customers and consumers.

The goal is to get better at what we do and do it faster. Overall, our goal is to become a true global lifestyle brand. We aim to be five times the size in the next five years.