Belkiz story
I was in Tasmania. Jenna, my best friend and mother of my god daughter ‘Belle’ called. She was going to take Belle to my Tassie house for a long weekend and spend quality time with her husband here.
“Now, B…., do you have a cot in your Tassie house?”
”….eh….a cot?”
“yeah some where I can put Belle to sleep”
“well..Jenna, you know me?! I don’t have kids?!! Why would I have a cot?,
I’ve got a dog’s bed, that’s all”
“that’s ok, I’ll borrow a foldable cot from my neighbours and bring it down”
“Ok, cool, sorry I couldn’t help you with having one here for you”
I thought that perhaps the bunk bed would be ok for Belle, but she was only 1 year and a bit, so would probably roll out of it.
Again the phone rang.
“Hi Jenna, that’s quick?!, What’s up?”
“sorry to ask you again, but what kind of chairs do you have?
“what do you mean, what kind of chairs do I have?”
“well…I need something to feed Belle in, and thought I could use your chairs, but it sort of depends what kind of chairs they are”
“…..I’ve got cane tub chairs, they’re sort of round, but low”
“Do you think Belle will slide out of them?”
“hmmmm…to be honest, yes I do. Don’t think they are suitable for feeding as I don’t have a table yet either….How about I visit some op-shops here and buy you a
second hand feeding chair?”
“nah, don’t worry about it, I will bring my own feeding chair.
We hang up and I felt really annoyed at myself that I couldn’t offer the comfort to Jenna that I wanted. Also at the same time, I felt amazed what a big mission it must be for Jenna to go away for a weekend. Or a day. Or a few hours, with a little bub like that, packing all sorts of stuff you need, bags and cars full of it.
I thought…there MUST be a product that you can use when travelling or in transit, for sleeping your baby and feeding it, and then after an X amount of times, throwing it out. Like a take-away coffeecup.
Something that is cheap, light weight, foldable to flat so you can leave it in the back of your car permanently, recycled and recyclable of course considering where the world is going….
And…considering it’s cheap and disposable/recyclable, family and friends (like me for Jenna) can also buy it and store at home, for when they get a baby/toddler visit. There MUST be some foldable cardboard solution for this.
I went on line and downloaded all images that relate to ‘cardboard furniture, cardboard baby furniture’ I also looked at hundreds of links to websites about any kind of cardboard furniture.
Heaps of cardboard furniture around, but…there was nothing that I was looking for. And I knew EXACTLY what I was looking for something practical, light, cheap, environmentally friendly, and disposable.
I had an idea.
I called my sister and told her the idea. I trust her judgment if she believes in me, as she is very commercially critical and would always say what she thinks…honestly.
I called the project ‘Belkiz’. Belkiz is the name of my sister.
Belkiz has ‘belle’ in part of the word, referring to my god daughter who inspired me. Belkiz means ‘beautiful girl’ in Turkish (where we come from), which both my sister and Belle are beautiful girls inside out.
My idea was to produce toddler furniture made of cardboard that was safe, economical, portable, and so easy to use everyone would love it. I called my new venture Belkiz.
And that is how today there is the Belkiz Feedaway.
