Born Anxious is the mastermind of Kellie Barker. A mother to three children with Autism she understood the need for clothes that were comfortable to wear without labels that irritate the skin. This clothing and accessories line are made from soft cotton and are eco friendly. We are so inspired by what Kellie has done and produced that we wanted to share her story with you. This interview was done online via email and social media.
BeautyTies: Hello Kellie, thanks for doing this interview. How did Born Anxious start?
Kellie: Born Anxious started as an idea to make a T-shirt for my son who was two at the time and had been diagnosed around 19 months with ASD, he presented very violent unpredictable behaviours and I had had comments about smacking him! We were due to travel to America, and I wanted to alert others on the plane and make them aware to be kind, it started as one t-shirt and an Etsy page and grew from there.
Kellies' children Lorcan, Oscar and Orla. BeautyTies: What advice do you have for people starting up their own business?
Kellie: I think if I was to give any advice it would be you must believe in your idea and do not compromise the vision, no matter how big, be confident and go for it.
BeautyTies: What’s been the most memorable moment for your business so far?
Kellie: The Most memorable moment so far for me was having the BBC in my home filming us as they wanted to share our story, it then hit me that we had started to make a real change and help people.
BeautyTies: One of your aims is to be eco-friendly, fair trade and organic. Could you tell us a bit more about that please?
Kellie: I only use Earth positive products, they are 100% Organic and ethically sourced for two reasons; one because I feel if we all contribute to lower the carbon footprint in what we do together we make a big difference, and secondly because Organic cottons are calming on the skin and cause no irritation, we also remove the label and reprint this information on a recycled postcard for washing instructions, a label may as well be a cactus for a child with sensory needs.
BeautyTies: What is your best selling item?
Kellie: Currently my best seller is Be a nice Human, the end and 75% of our sales are from USA, over all our best seller since we began by far is Bee Kind, it has two versions Bee Kind and Bee Kind I have Autism
BeautyTies: Your t-shirts are good quality and the youngest in our family loves hers. How do you choose the designs?
Kellie: I literally began with a note book and listed everything I thought would be a good awareness message with my very complicated son in mind, his needs include Autism, Epilepsy, non verbal, Eating disorder, ADHD, dyspraxia and emotional deregulation. I then cast the net farther and tried to be as generic and gender fluid as possible.
BeautyTies: If you could tell your 13 year old self something, what would it be?
Kellie: Don’t let your dreams scare you, believe in yourself more.
BeautyTies: If you had the power to change anything in the world, what would it be?
Kellie: Equality for all
BeautyTies: What three things can’t you leave the house without?
Kellie: Children! Phone lucky lobster that is in my handbag
BeautyTies: Where would you wish your company to be in five years time?
Kellie: Carnaby Street London, little boutique with a big queue outside with a neurodiverse team inside.
BeautyTies: Anna Kennedy OBE is an ambassador for Born Anxious. How did that transpire?
Kellie: I'm very upfront, I approached Anna to ask if she and her sons would give me a product review, they loved the products. I then, later after Anna tweeting about my brand, asked her to meet me in London and she invited me onto her show, I then asked her if she would be my ambassador, because quiet frankly I really relate to her, she is a lovely person and her work is amazing, thankfully she said yes
BeautyTies: If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would it be and why?
Kellie: My bed, I'm absolutely shattered. I think as a mum there’s no better feeling than being in bed knowing your kids are asleep, happy, and there’s been no dramas and you can happily go to bed and fall asleep x
BeautyTies: This year has been a difficult one for everyone. How has this affected your company?
Kellie: If anything, I think it's allowed me to plough some more time into networking, people have been more available, be kind has been such a home this year after the tragedy of Caroline Flack and it's something that we in our house are still too sad about as we all loved her and it's a warning to the world isn’t it, being kind is free- yet people do not practice it, I hope she leaves that legacy forever, The lockdown has made us push that message a bit more as people tend to pull their ladder up in an emergency, which long term isn’t going to work, so the Lockdown allowed us to spread some positivity encourage kindness and also as the lockdown eased and throughout we had many people approaching us for awareness t-shirts in social distancing situations. In many ways our website continued as normal, we had to add a few days on to delivery times, but we use local for printing so it remained open.
BeautyTies: What do you do to relax?
Kellie: I'm a bit of a binge watcher, it goes in themes, I choose something and watch them all then I move on. I love a good drama.
BeautyTies: With the colder weather upon us, do you do a winter range such a fleeces / hoodies?
Kellie: We do tracksuits available as separates yes, and bobble hats
BeautyTies: You have a lot of stock online on your website. Have you thought of selling your products through other retailers?
Kellie: Well funnily enough this is something we have been approached about. Firstly we do have a shop in Canterbury, we have a section within an emporium and we are currently in discussions with an Austrian company and a UK based website to stock our clothes, so very hopeful about that. I will keep you posted. ..just wanted to say I loved completing that, thank you for asking me x
BeautyTies Thank you so much for doing this interview! We love your work ethic and inspirational messages. We will be placing an order for a sweater soon. Natalie loves her t-shirt she got from you and the kit bag you personalised. Wonderful quality! We think Kellie is an amazing woman. We can see Born Anxious going from strength to strength.
Born Anxious can be found on the links below:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bornanxious2018?s=21
Website: Born Anxious
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