Trying to find the perfect personalised gift? Namelyco has got you covered! 

Find out about how Namelyco began as we chat to the founders of the business that is skyrocketing on social media. Namelyco gives Minty the low down on business, social media, style and working with your bestie!

The stunning knitted blankets with a personal touch are a must have for your kids! 

We absolutely love the concept of Namelyco! How long ago did it start and where did this amazing idea come from?

‘We started in October 2017 and the planning was over 12 months in the making! We are two corporate working friends (+ Mums) who found a gap in the market for contemporary and on-trend knitted baby/child name blankets. With our creative juices flowing, we combined our product and marketing skills and formed one hell-of-a partnership! Together we wanted to create modern products that suited today’s nursery and interiors.’

What advice can you give to parents out there wanting to start a business?

‘We would always encourage anyone to give your ideas a go. We spent a good 10 months planning all the parts to the business before launching and doing all our research- planning is key. Start out small and try to do it on the side while you establish the idea. This takes the pressure off you financially, however, be prepared to put in some late nights and work from 8-12pm each night!’

In the beginning, we did absolutely everything ourselves to keep the costs as low as possible. The only part we agreed to spend extra money on was photography. We made sure we had clear and crisp website images as well as beautiful lifestyle images. I think this combination has been a huge part to our success on social media and it has paid off.

Namelyco has seriously skyrocketed on social media. What tips do you have on creating the perfect Insta feed?

‘Building our brand presence through Social Media has definitely been our most enjoyable and rewarding part. Brand consistency and knowing your target market is key to success especially with so much choice out there for consumers. We knew we wanted to have a particular look at feel for our product and have aligned ourselves with influencers and businesses that share the same vision. We have met some extremely talented people and connected with some amazing businesses along the way.

We also try and connect with our customers through engaging posts and also re-posting photos of their cute babies from proud Mama’s and Grandparents.’

What can your customers expect from Namelyco in the near future?

‘Our vision for Namelyco is to continue adding beautiful products that carry our signature style with a focus on Names and initials. We aim to keep up with current fashion trends to keep bringing fresh new colours, styles and yarns to our offering. Our love of knitting and interesting yarns will continue to feature in our collections. For Christmas this year we have the most beautiful named stockings coming out that will be perfect for families to start traditions with their little ones. Our goal is to develop products that create lifelong memories. We have BIG dreams for the future and hope to take our brand internationally over the next few years! We’re going global baby!’

Who are your go-to Instagram accounts when you’re seeking design inspiration?

‘Oh, there is so many that we love!! We are both interior and fashion lovers so there are so many on the list that have us dreaming!’

@cellajaneblog
@netaporter
@greenhouseinteriors
@pantone
@thebeachpeople
@anthropologie
@oh.eight.oh.nine
@littlelibertyrooms
@aimeestylist
@norsuinteriors

Is there a secret to balancing family & business life?

‘It is one of the most challenging parts! We have supportive husbands and families that have allowed us to bring this little business to life. We are by no means experts and like everyone find it extremely hard and question ourselves often. Taking time out is important that we both need to remember to do and set aside some time for yourself without the kids or work is important. Our goal is to be better in 2019!’

3 keywords that describe your style?

1. Contemporary
2. Timeless
3. On trend

What is the best thing about working with your friend?

‘The Journey. It is surreal waking up every day seeing our products being loved and adored by our amazing customers. So much work goes into each product to make it perfect- we are creative junkies at heart who love designing and developing commercial products. And having someone to talk through all the key decisions and have that support of each other has helped Namelyco be successful. Together we have learnt so much along the way about business. Particularly Marketing and PR- two very important parts to our business. 

The best part is: We get to share the success together!’

What is the process for designing and picking the colour palette for your products?

‘We look at what is trending from fashion/interiors and take a lot of insights from what we know is working across the market. Both working in fashion gives us some insights into colour and trend. It’s important to us that our blankets reflect current baby and nursery trends. Based on these insights we choose new colours for each season and look at either new knit designs or colour combinations. We also have the core colours that we run all the time. Keeping it fresh and injecting new colours every few months (just like fashion) is key to our design core values.’

Anything else you’d like to add?

‘We would love to give a huge shout out to all the wonderful customers, bloggers, businesses and influencers who have worked with us, purchased and supported the growth of Namelyco over the past year. It’s amazing the community that gather around you through social media and the power that has to encourage you to continue on your journey. So THANK YOU! Without your support, we wouldn’t be here today.’