Daisy Dreamers was dreamt up while Lauren, her partner and their young daughter were travelling around Australia in their caravan. Noticing a big gap in the market where travel families, people in lockdown, living interstate or too busy to stop at multiple places needed a one-stop-shop. Daisy Dreamers is a boho based online gift shop that specialises in eco-friendly and multipurpose presents. With items that are thoughtfully curated and chosen depending on their textures, fibres, how they are broken down, recycled or repurposed, Lauren is changing the way that people think about their gift giving for the better.
Apart from what we would normally ask is the obvious… But it’s actually not that obvious – so, in your own words what is Daisy Dreamers?
Daisy Dreamers is a boho based online gift shop that specialises in eco-friendly, multipurpose presents. We have a love for nature and small footprint living and adore gifting for our friends and family. Our items are thoughtfully curated and chosen depending on their textures, fibres, how they are broken down, recycled or repurposed. Not to mention, making gifting easy, we gift wrap all orders and ship direct to the recipient, even hand lettering your gift cards.
Tell us the story – your story, of how Daisy Dreamers came about/to life + how long have you been up + running for?
Daisy Dreamers was dreamt up while travelling Australia in our caravan. We noticed a gap in the market where travel families, people in lockdown, living interstate or too busy to shop at multiple places needed a one-stop-shop. We had a few big birthdays, friends in lockdown, celebrations we were going to miss and couldn’t find a company that not only offered stunning eco-friendly boho/neutral themed gifts but gift wrapped and sent directly to the recipient. We were having to find post offices in outback Australia, add them to our travel itinerary to simply wrap/add some love and resend to our loved ones.
We have been fully operational since September 2021, but I have been designing products for Daisy Dreamers from lockdown 1.0 in 2019.
Everybody has something they love, what do you love about your job + what you do with Daisy Dreamers?
I love the flexibility of working from home, I love the creativity and working different pieces together, I love the research of finding new products which fit my brief, new companies and I love that all of the suppliers are female-led (usually SAHM (stay at home mum), side hustles) and where possible, all local Geelong, Surfcoast, Western Suburbs or Victorian suppliers.
I love that my products are sourced within Australia including the products that make the products, I pride myself on choosing low tox, natural ingredients, minimal environmental impact and as many natural fibres used as possible. I adore the great outdoors and the ocean so developing a business with these things at the forefront is the most loved thing about my job.
Aside from an obvious love for beautiful handmade keepsakes and beautifully crafted products, what made you want to dive into starting Daisy Dreamers?
I wanted to start an eco-conscious brand for Geelong and the Surf Coast, I want to, in a creative way, show how we can still live a stunning curated lifestyle/home/gifting option that doesn’t leave a huge impact on mother nature.
Our packaging includes 100% recycled tissue paper stamped with vegan ink and sent in a compostable mailer bag or recycled cardboard boxes. I wanted a way to help support other mums and their small businesses. I also wanted a way to promote my own keepsake designs made through my graphic design background. And I wanted to kick start a way to set up systems and supply channels to eventually open a “bricks and mortar” storefront.
There’s a lot of competition out there for the industry that your business is in, what sets YOU apart from the next business that is offering gifts for new bubs and boho babes?
We offer curated gift hampers or build your own hampers not only for newborns but best friends, work colleagues and even toddler gifts. We gift wrap every order so even if it’s for yourself, it’s still received as a present. All of our items have been thoroughly thought through so that most items have a dual purpose (no end-life products, for example, our coconut shell candles are designed to be burnt down and repurposed as breakfast bowls or trinket dishes), we even have an acrylic exchange program for no longer used night lights!
What makes supporting small businesses so important to you?
I now own two small businesses, so I understand the time, the thought, stress, (sometimes tears) that is thrown into setting up your own small business.
I’ve self-taught absolutely everything I know regarding small business, so I know the other small business have put in the same effort, I now choose small business always.
Small business to me, means another mum is able to spend more time at home with their kids, or people having a break from their usual 9-5, an income coming back from injury or illness, a passion or a dream, whatever the reason for why it usually means the person has poured their heart and soul into it which means you will be so well looked after as a customer. Plus, after the disaster of Covid-19, it’s really nice to have something beautiful to look at (products), something mindfully challenging and something out of scribe and away from the medical world (I’m also an emergency nurse).
How have you found it being able to source locally made and ethically sourced products since the beginning of the pandemic – has it made it harder for you?
I’ve actually found the opposite. I’ve stumbled across some wonderful forums with other small business owners, mums with side hustles and small business Victoria. I’ve noted an influx of new businesses starting from being bored at home in lockdown or being laid off and needing some extra support. While travelling in our caravan I had plenty of time to source small businesses which aligned with my brief and my brand.
What are some of the little joys that you bring to those that have entrusted you to put together newborn and boho hampers and products to gift?
If you follow us on Instagram, you will regularly see my four-year-old helping with the stamping of the gift wrapping paper, she even cuts around the sticker which comes free with all orders, but her favourite is putting the hand-lettered plantable gift cards into the envelope and sealing it off.
For me, it’s doing the little things like folding all of the items and packaging them in a loving way so that things look beautiful when they are opened. There really isn’t anything like the feeling of giving an absolutely stunning gift to family or friends and not just whipping into Kmart.
The other thing that brings me joy is just how thought through each item is and relating it back to multiple uses, like our Balm Balm Co lip lam is branded with ‘BB’ on the lid which goes into our ‘boho babes’ category, not only used for mums lips but can be used as a breastfeeding nipple balm and even for nappy rash and small scratches.
If we were to spend a day in your shoes – what would that look like for us?
We live a very nomadic lifestyle, so every day is different!
At present, we are at home in Geelong, prepping to head back into caravan life. Which means our little one is starting kindergarten. Work is split between nursing, graphic design and Daisy Dreamers. On a kinder day, after drop off, I do a nice nature walk at the You Yangs and come home to emails and finish graphics jobs. If orders are coming through, they are packaged almost immediately and sent the same day. I sometimes have client meetings or am often off to the printers a few times a week, always with a coffee in hand. Some days are so busy I don’t even notice until it’s pick up time and other days I squeeze in a Yoga session.
Days off are filled with adventures, beach time, walks in the bush and socialising with family and friends. And every other spare minute is researching places for us to see and do on our travels of Australia.
What do you consider a good day at work for you?
A great day at work for me is actually ticking things off my to-do list, some projects are months long, so it’s nice to finally sign off, pick up my designed products from manufacturers and seeing things in real life, witnessing people open their orders and seeing their response, receiving a couple of orders to package with my daughter and just moving towards having a cohesive mindfully curated brand.
Every business needs an adviser… who do you turn to for trusted help at Canny Group + with so many accountants Geelong has on offer, why Canny Group?
Amanda has always been so helpful at the start of my business. I had a meeting with her to help set up what works for me in terms of documenting and I was lucky enough to attend a group Side Hustle event which gave me even greater insight into how to set up my businesses for growth.
Canny Group has a great atmosphere whenever I need to pop in, no issue is ever too hard. With their online system, I upload my documents at tax time and everything is there ready to go, like, no stress at all!
What kind of support have you received from Canny Group since joining forces with them as your accountant?
As above, a stress-free tax time, always available to ask quick questions and just generally promote small businesses – especially in Geelong.
Looking into your “Daisy Dreamers crystal ball”… What do you see the future looking like for you + your business?
Daisy Dreamers is set to continue running until mid-2022, where we will take a break while we go back to nomad life for a little while. I’ll be using this time to design and develop some more in-house products, set up more supply chains and expand our range to eventually open a bricks and mortar store hopefully on the surf coast come 2023-4.
With the same intentions as the present; low tox, eco friendly, minimal environmental impact, reusable items, dual-purpose products without looking the look of our boho/neutral theme.
How do we get in contact with your + find out what you have in stock?
Visit our website: Daisy Dreamers
and check us out on Instagram: Daisy__Dreamers and Facebook: Daisy__Dreamers