November Brand Crush - Noc Noc Wooden Toys
NOC NOC WOODEN TOYS
Behind every beautiful store, you find online, there are people hustling behind the scenes to bring you thoughtfully sought after products. In this case, it is the lovely Heather from Noc Noc Wooden Toys.
Heather has built her business up from scratch to having 142K Instagram followers and a website full of incredibly beautiful wooden toys, milestone plaques, baby gifts and more. We were lucky enough to chat with Heather to get an insight into this beautiful brand.
Heather has built her business up from scratch to having 142K Instagram followers and a website full of incredibly beautiful wooden toys, milestone plaques, baby gifts and more. We were lucky enough to chat with Heather to get an insight into this beautiful brand.
When and how did the concept for Noc Noc come about?
I purchased a wooden toy for my niece in 2014 from an online marketplace. The toy was mass-produced with no clear indication of its origin or ingredients. The biggest concern for me was the quality of the materials used and their safe use in the hands of a youngster. This experience led me to begin thinking about a store that provided safe, artisan-made, environmentally aware toys. There was no one-stop-shop, thus Noc Noc was born with the original purpose of selling bespoke handmade wooden toys from around the world.
How did the name Noc Noc Wooden Toys come about?
After days of playing around with hundreds of words on a whiteboard, my linguistically gifted sister lobbed in with Noc Noc from left field and it immediately stuck. I guess the funny part was the instant singing of Amii Stewart’s Knock on Wood.
What is your favourite Noc Noc product?
My personal favourite by far is our rattle. It has been the single most defining style of the Noc Noc brand. Not only is it aesthetically beautiful, the overwhelming feedback is that it is exceptionally functional. Baby’s love it!
What did you do before Noc Noc began?
I have had many toes and fingers in many pies. Hospitality, veterinarian nursing, strata management, web design, bookkeeping, many attempts at university, creation of an organic baby skin care company, the list goes on. However, the most successful of all has been my passion for being a mother.
What do you love most about running your own business?
The ability to be ME. I don’t have to pretend to be someone I’m not. My emotions, my passions, my feelings and my broad skills are all available to the business wholeheartedly. Each day in our business is unique, challenging and ultimately rewarding for our entire family as everyone has an emotional connection to it.
Was has been the biggest challenge in business thus far?
Growing from an Instagram success story to a legitimate business has been our biggest challenge and lesson. We relied on one single channel to market for too long (because it was working while it was working) and we weren’t investing in the development of other sales and marketing channels.
What are some of the things you do to combat those challenges?
We have spent a lot of time and money investing in the development of other channels such as SEO, Facebook, Google My Business and Pinterest. We are still developing a strategy for public relations and are constantly thinking about the development of our product offering.
Where do you hope to see your business in the next five years?
We have some big plans in the wings for 2020 in terms of new products and an expanded range of offerings to complement our core business thus our goal for the next 5 years is to be the best online gift offering in Australia for the 0 to 12 months range.
What do you like to do when you need some ‘downtime’?
There is no denying that every available spare minute is with my horses. I have been around horses since I was 8 and there is nothing more grounding and relaxing than spending time with these amazing animals. I have over the last couple of years started competing in the long-distance format of Endurance riding which is predominantly riding through the bush for long distances while being governed by the overall health and wellbeing of the horse. Horse welfare is strictly governed by veterinarians at these events and it is a growing concern across many of the other horse riding disciplines.
What’s one piece of advice you would like to share with other Mama’s going through the motherhood journey?
It may take a village to raise a child, however, my advice to any mama, or mama-to-be, is to do it your way and parent by heart! You don’t have to listen to all the ‘experts’. If routines work for you and your baby then go for it, but you’re not going to ruin your baby by giving it all the cuddles in the world! One day they all sleep through the night and you will sleep again!