6 minute read
Baby edit
Cherubs interviewed Jessica Rolph and Rod Morris, Co-Founders of Lovevery, a company that offers products and information which help create developmental experiences in the lives of new babies and families. Here’s how this creative educational brand came to light.
QHow did Lovevery come about?
JESSICA: The idea for Lovevery started when I became a first-time parent. One day I was watching my baby play with a purple plastic cow with flashing lights. The question was, why do toys like this exist and what do they do for development? As co-founder of Happy Family, a baby food company, I was already interested in children’s health and development. I felt pretty confident about how my baby’s food was helping his body grow, but I wasn’t so sure about how his toys were helping his brain grow. I discovered a doctoral thesis on infant brain development that had all these detailed, nerdy, things that I could do with my baby. The approach felt really natural and simple and I never looked at my children’s toys the same way again. I am confident now that I understand what my children are hungry to learn at each stage. I want to share that feeling of confidence with other parents, and that’s the inspiration for Lovevery. What took the idea behind Lovevery from incubation into the “okay we’re really going to do this” phase was teaming up with Rod. I believe in partnerships and needed Rod to make Lovevery really happen. He is strategic, creative and particularly good at making quick, hard decisions. He is rigorous about establishing and maintaining our company’s growth and is a discerning team-builder.
ROD: When Jessica came across the doctoral thesis, I was working at Opower— an American software company that helped families save energy—where I helped lead the team through its IPO. I got a call from Jessica, and we started talking about the research and experimentation that she’d been doing building her own toys at home. It became immediately clear to me that she was onto something and that we should team up to pursue it further. In 2017, we launched with Lovevery’s first product: The Play Gym.
QBoth of you have come from different business paths, what drew you together to form Lovevery?
ROD: Jessica and I have known each other for over 20 years. There is a level of trust and understanding that we share that has translated well into our partnership as Cofounders. Jessica has a deep customer focus and a tremendous capacity for idea generation. I knew that my experience building mission-driven, recurring revenue companies would complement her abilities and that together, we could build Lovevery into something meaningful that could help parents around the world.
QJessica, what’s it like working with your best friend’s husband? And vice versa for you Rod.
ROD: We get asked this question a lot and it surprises people to hear that it isn’t too different from any other co-founder or business partner relationship. Having a long-term friendship does have its benefits when it comes to anticipating what the other is thinking, what their feedback might be or what they need from a communication standpoint. JESSICA: It’s important to treat each relationship as its own, rather than letting the dynamics blur across lines. When I get together with Rod’s wife, Andrea, or the four of us get together, our conversation doesn’t focus on Lovevery to make sure there is a balance.
QHow important is it to be in tune with your child’s brain and what they’re craving?
JESSICA: While the timeline can vary depending on each individual child, we know that predictable developmental windows are constantly opening and closing. Tuning into exactly what your baby is craving based on their unique developmental stage is the reason we created Lovevery in the first place. While the science aligns on what is best for a child’s brain development, parents are swimming in advice and competing perspectives, and there is an endless scroll of shopping options. It can feel overwhelming and hard at times to sift through and determine what you actually need and what exactly is happening in your child’s brain.
Lovevery is a simple, verifiable, and holistic resource for families. We know that making it easy to tune into your child’s development helps eliminate that feeling of overwhelm, encourages meaningful parent-child connection, and ultimately leads to greater outcomes for more children.
QRod, you are a father to twins! How important was it to be part of a product that your twins were going to love?
ROD: When we started working on Lovevery, I had just finished going through the first few years of early childhood with them. My twins are older now, but I would have loved to have an option like Lovevery as a parent when they were born. When you have two children at the same time, it turns you into not only how each child can flourish in their own unique way and do so even more with the right support from their parents. I’ve been very involved in supporting their learning over the years, and we have always taken a conservative approach to screen time in our home, so it’s natural to have co-created a brand that aligns with that, and which can be a platform for bringing families together and improving outcomes for children.
QJessica, this is your second company and you’re a mother. How do you find the time to juggle both?
JESSICA: I try to be as present as possible no matter what I’m doing, whether it’s something Lovevery-related or spending time with my kids and husband. My family refuels and inspires me. I couldn’t do what I do without their support. At the same time, I know it’s so important for my kids to see their mom building something and working towards a goal. Even though I make an effort to be intentional with my time, it’s still a daily juggling act. Inevitably something lacks my attention, whether it’s keeping the house organised or catching up with close friends. There will always be something that I’m wishing for more time to get to!
QHow does your average day take shape?
JESSICA: It’s an exciting time for Lovevery! Every day looks different, especially because we’re scaling so quickly as a company. Depending on the day, I could be doing anything from working with the team to edit our next board book or on set for a photoshoot with a family, to meeting with investors or interviewing a new hire. No two days look the same anymore. A large portion of our team is based here out of our Boise, Idaho headquarters. We also have teams in Amsterdam and Hong Kong, along with remote employees based across the US. There are plenty of time zones and priorities to manage, which keeps us on our toes throughout the day.
QWhat is next for Lovevery?
ROD: Lovevery has already become an essential resource for parents around the world. We recently launched our subscription Play Kits program in the U.K. and Europe, which was an important milestone for us. Our goal is to continue listening to our customers, expanding the business, and creating new products that serve children all over the word for more years of their early development. Our longterm vision is to support every part of the parenting experience throughout early childhood. We want to be truly accessible to as many families as possible.
