The Mama Behind Isara
With so many babywearing companies out there, it’s hard to know just who is who. Do you know who you’re buying from? We’d like to give you the inside scoop on who we are, so we sat down with the creator behind Isara, and got the firsthand account on starting the Isara Babywearing Company.
First and foremost, the mastermind behind Isara is a mama. Like many of us babywearers and caregivers, her life is her children. Monica Olariu started her babywearing journey in 2009 when her son was born. After using carriers on the market in Romania, she found them to be uncomfortable and really wanted to find something that worked better for her and her son. She started a t-shirt company in 2012 selling maternity clothes and realized that the stretchy t-shirt material would make a very comfortable wrap. Thus, the idea for the first Isara stretchy wrap was born!
Why the name “Isara”?
“Isara” means ‘close to you’ in the Philippines. With a meaningful phrase, keeping our children close to our hearts by babywearing, “Isara” is a catchy one-word name that is easy to remember!
The one of a kind Isara soft structured carrier design…
While attending the School of Babywearing in London, UK, Monica was impressed with the different styles and brands available to babywearing families. “There were lots of mei tais and wrap tais there. The teacher was showing us how you can roll the waistband and make the front panel shorter in height and make the seat narrower at the base. I thought, ‘why don’t any SSCs have adjustable features?’ So, I came home to Romania and searched for someone who could help me transform my dream into a reality!”
The good, the bad… and the ugly…
When asked what her greatest challenges were in running the Isara company, that came right at the start-up. “I knew I finally had a great product, but I had no one willing to produce it. I’m a perfectionist, and I wasn’t going to settle for anything less than the best. Only my perseverance helped me because there were many times I thought to leave it all behind.”
The best part of running Isara?
The support of positive feedback from bloggers, babywearing consultants, and mamas around the world as her carriers travel internationally to different families. “My favorite part is getting to meet very nice people, quality people, from all over the world. It is a really cool feeling. I love being apart of this community!”
Amanda, our blogger fairy, mom to 3 kiddos with the 4th ray of sunshine on the way