Meet Tangela Walker-Craft

Meet Tangela Walker-Craft. She is a mom, author, owns her own business, homeschools and is also a writer for Examiner. She has a wonderful story and some great advice for moms who want to work from home so they can stay home with their children. She has invented a product that every breastfeeding mom should have!

Tangela, tell us about yourself.

I am married to Ernest Craft III. We have been married for 18+ years (19 years in May). We have an eight year old daughter, Emari. I home school my daughter, run Simply Necessary, Incorporated, and write for Examiner.com.

I am the inventor of the patented GoPillow!, a multi-purpose baby pillow. I market and sell the GoPillow! through my company, Simply Necessary, Incorporated. Simply Necessary, Incorporated operates a website where the GoPillow! can be viewed and purchased.

I am the Tampa Bay/Lakeland Parenting Examiner for Examiner.com. I draw from my experience as a wife, mother, business owner and former Language Arts teacher for my articles. I provide tips for helping families enjoy life.

I have also written a children's book about hygiene with a strong emphasis on dental health that has been added to the American Dental Association Library Children's Collection in its unpublished form. The American Dental Association librarian was impressed enough with the book to add it to the ADA library. The ADA librarian was especially impressed with the illustrations for the book, which were done by my husband. View the children's book online by clicking the arrows on the extreme right and left of the small slide show pictures to enlarge the pages when you click here.

Tell us about your business.

Simply Necessary, Incorporated was founded because I was a breastfeeding mom that wanted a comfortable way to cradle my baby for an extended period of time. I started toying around with creating a solution to my problem.

I was watching a child product segment on a talk show (The View) when they plugged a website and explained that the company bought ideas from parent inventors. I emailed the site and asked for submission requirements and sent in my idea. The owner contacted me that same week. She loved the idea. After finding out that I as a stay at home mom trying to replace my teaching salary she asked me if I could come up with my own "start up funds". She then told me how to get the product made and how to market it myself. My mother had some money in savings and she agreed to loan me the money to market the product. She is now co-owner of the company. [We are still 100% self-financed].

The idea for adding the privacy blanket came later. It was added after I was caught in a crowded area during a rainstorm at Disney World in Orlando Florida. My husband took off his shirt and gave it to me so that I could nurse my daughter discreetly (I was very modest). We realized that a privacy blanket or cover would separate our pillow from any other nursing pillow on the market. The build-in blanket turned the pillow into a multi-purpose wonder! The GoPillow! solves several problems that mothers often run into when away from home with a baby or toddler.

What has been your biggest challenge so far?

Getting national retailers to look at my product has been the biggest challenge so far. With almost no advertising budget the buzz about the GoPillow! is building - but slowly. National retailers only want to give products a chance when there is already a big demand for them. Even though it has endorsements from nurses, lactation consultants, travel experts, and moms all over the world. I still can't afford to pay for national advertising for the GoPillow!

What has come the easiest for you?

Being a spokesperson for the GoPillow! has been the easiest for me. I invented the product because I needed something like it and it didn't exist. So I know that the product is useful for moms and their kids. I am selling something that I would use. I believe in the GoPillow! so I can market it better than anyone else.

Where do you advertise...or do you?

Most of my advertising is online. Websites like Our Milk Money, Merchant Circle and other websites that promote small businesses have been my primary form of advertising. The GoPillow! has been featured in magazines, newspapers and newsletters. It has been reveiwed by dozens of bloggers and writers online and in print. I have product demonstration videos on YouTube that can be viewed by typing in GoPillow! in the YouTube search box. I am on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. The GoPillow! has even been featured in several local news segments and a few nationally syndicated television segments.

What would you like to suggest to a mom who is interested in starting her own business?

Do your homework. Know your product or service better than anyone else. Be familiar with your competition and know why your product or service is better than anyone else's. Consult others that are already in business. Build a mutually beneficial network of business associates. Learn from others that are already doing well. Be willing to help others that have not made as much progress as you. Helping others is the best way to gain support for your business and personal ventures.