Minette Ansell (36), originally from the UK but now living in Sydney runs Swish Little Fish, a babywear company specialising in bamboo bath wear for children.
Minette Ansell
C4K: What is Swish Little Fish?
MA: Swish Little Fish is a bath wear company specialising in bamboo bath wear for newborns to 4 years old. Our range is made from super soft organic bamboo, which is gentle to both the environment and our little babes. Our range includes hooded robes, towels, face cloths, kaftans and slippers and all are hand finished in different coloured vintage trims and can be personalized too.
C4K: How did you come to specialise in bamboo children's wear?
MA: Swish Little Fish was born having become a mum and every mum’s hardest dilemma of how to manage going back to work and raise a young family. I chose to stay at home to raise the boys, since my former life of event production wasn’t really going to work with the hours required, so I focused on something I could do from home.
I tapped into a childhood passion of a love of fabrics and there seemed to be a gap in the market for practical yet stylish baby gifts, particularly in good quality bath wear. After lots of research into the perfect toweling fabric, bamboo came up trumps every time. Our bamboo is sourced specifically from an Oeko-tex supplier (Oeko-Tex is an international testing and certification system for textiles, limiting the use of certain chemicals), meaning that no harsh chemicals are used in its production, resulting in a product that is super gentle to babies and the environment. This was exactly what I wanted to Swish Little Fish.
C4K: What does your daily routine involve usually, if there is a daily routine?
MA: I've never really been one for routine so I always try to mix it up for the boys since they are little Duracell bunnies that go non stop from morning till night, so anything to exhaust them works for me!
C4K: Working from home has its advantages and disadvantages. What are they for you?
MA: The main advantage is that there is no one to see you at your worst, but the disadvantage has to be that your work is never finished – after orders have been taken and processed there's always a wash load to put on, a meal to cook and toys to put away!
C4K: You've already got two boys and one on the way and are doing a massive renovation on the house, how are you managing to juggle the kids, house, business etc?
MA: I'd normally resort to a bottle of wine, but with that off the cards, I'm very grateful for a bunch of great girlfriends and a very supportive husband.
C4K: What sort of child care do your boys have?
MA: I've been so lucky with my choice of daycare, Bo Peep at Rose Bay. It is privately owned and run, with the same team who have run it for the last 17 years, so the boys have developed a really strong bond with each and everyone of the carers and it's reassuring to me that I know it will be the same caring staff there until they leave.
C4K: Did you find child care hard to find?
MA: I wasn't the most organized when it came to sorting daycare and you hear the horror stories of people not getting places and putting their names down at 5 different centres, but we were able to find ours very quickly and secure the days we needed within a matter of weeks. It also has to be one of the most reasonably priced within the Eastern suburbs.
C4K: What 3 things could you never do without as a working mum?
MA: My cup of coffee first thing, my iPhone (which means you never really can get away!) and the support of my lovely friends who encouraged me to start my Swish Little Fish venture.
Swish Little Fish
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