Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Breanna Hughes, co-founder, and COO of Bird&Be, located in Toronto, ON, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Bird&Be is fixing the broken experience of fertility education and care. For so many of us, the last time we received any information about our fertility health was in Grade 10 Phys Ed and was more along the lines of “don’t have sex or you will get pregnant.” With rising infertility rates, our kits will help educate our customers (people with eggs AND people with sperm) on their fertility health early. It will help them take action with personalized supplements and prescription medication that is scientifically proven to impact outcomes. All delivered together in a beautiful box right to their doorstep. We help people no matter where they are in the journey - curious about their fertility health, trying at home, are in the clinic, expecting, and soon we will be supporting those who are postpartum.
Tell us about yourself
I've spent my entire career working at tech startups, using technology to solve problems for millions of people. While going through a five-year battle of infertility, I had so many moments where I asked myself, "why has no one fixed this terrible experience?". The answer was because I needed to. My co-founder and I both pulled on our own personal fertility experiences and the challenges we heard from so many others and used that as fuel for building our company. I am motivated every day to help millions of people avoid the pain we endured in our journey. We want to help people take an empowered and proactive approach to their fertility health, shorten the time to care when necessary, and ultimately help create positive outcomes for people expanding their families.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
The most amazing thing about our business is it's not about what we accomplish that matters. It's entirely about how we help our customers. The biggest accomplishment is getting that email from our customers and telling us they are now expecting. Or that we have made someone's journey a little bit easier, or that we've taken a little bit of stress away from them. It's all for them.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
You are always out of your comfort zone. What may have been your previous, dedicated, 9-5 job is now just a tiny fraction of what you need to do every day. You have to learn new skills all the time and be prepared to feel stupid most of the time!
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Obsess over your customers. Their problems are your problems.
- Find something you are truly passionate about. It sounds cliche, but you will spend every waking (and many sleeping) moment thinking about it, so you better care about it!
- Take some finance courses!
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
The best part about working at a company that truly helps people is that it changes your view of competition. I used to subscribe to the idea that you must "crush" the competition. Yes, they will always push you, and you will want to win, but we also subscribe to the idea that "a rising tide lifts all boats" and that at the end of the day, having more companies trying to help improve outcomes for customers can be a great thing.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://birdandbe.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BirdandBe
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/birdbeco/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@birdandbe?
Email: hello@birdandbe.com
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.