About me

My name is Chloe, I have two young boys – Oscar and Charlie.  I have always worked in the welfare to work sector, helping disadvantaged (disabled, ex-offenders, 18-24 year olds) people into employment, mainly through work experience.

I discovered babywearing when Oscar was around four months old and got hooked!  I had wanted to use a sling before, but just didn’t know where to start – I couldn’t find anything in the shops and there was too much confusing information on the internet.  I found a website – Natural Mamas - where I could buy and sell second hand slings, and got through about 30 styles! 

I really liked the look of ring slings, but couldn’t find a design that worked for me, so I tried making my own and Gosling was born!  I also found Kozy Mei Tais were great and so many people tried mine, and went on to buy their own, that I decided to start selling them too.  My aim is to bring the benefits of babywearing to the masses by trying to remove the hippy stigma that goes with them.

I returned to work after having Oscar, and I was so nervous!  I went in to talk about my hours six months before I was due back because I was so worried about it!  I felt like I’d forgotten how to do my job, I couldn’t believe I’d ever manage to get Oscar to nursery and get to work on time!  But of course it all went fine.

Then, when I was pregnant with Charlie, I was made redundant.  Again, with a three month old baby, I started to panic!  I knew so many Mums, all with very different work situations, but none of them seemed to feel confident about returning to work – both because they didn’t want to have to leave their baby, and because they were nervous about work itself.  I decided to put my experience to good use by starting this social enterprise.

Susan at Opportunities South West has been a fantastic help and inspiration.  She pointed me in the direction of Unltd, who have provided the initial funding for this project.

Relevant qualifications that I have are: NVQ Level 3 in Advice and Guidance; Level 3 Babywearing Peer Supporter; Level 2 Breastfeeding Peer Supporter, Walk This Way Leader.

Useful Links:

Unltd - funding http://www.unltd.org.uk/

Opportunities SW - Self employment support http://www.opsw.co.uk/

Natural Mamas - Babywearing Forum http://www.naturalmamas.co.uk/

My website - http://www.go-sling.co.uk/

Kozy Website - http://kozycarrier.homestead.com/
Healthy Babies UK (Breastfeeding Peer Support training) http://www.healthy-babies-uk.org/
School of Babywearing http://www.schoolofbabywearing.com/
Walk this Way http://www.teignbridge.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=7448