A Total View of Baby From Anywhere

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Kurt Workman, Co-Founder and CEO of Owlet Baby Care, located in Lehi, UT, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Owlet Baby Care delivers peace of mind with life-changing technology and support for every baby and every caregiver. Our mission is to empower parents to give care at home, and we exist for every parent and every caregiver. This means connecting parents with the training, tools, and support they need to keep their babies healthy and happy.

For more than ten years, we’ve been creating innovative products with the goal of making a baby monitor that meets the needs of every baby. To help give parents peace of mind from knowing their baby is sleeping soundly, we offer the Dream Sock monitor that tracks Sleep Quality Indicators, like wakings, movement, heart rate, and average oxygen. We have even more on the horizon, including a new prescription monitoring device for infants.

Tell us about yourself

I’m a father of three, and my wife Shea and I love to adventure with our kids - whether that’s camping, fishing, skiing, or just getting out on a bike ride. Prior to starting Owlet, we were expecting our first child and feeling a lot of anxiety - not just because becoming a parent is challenging but because, as a baby, my wife experienced serious medical issues. Even though she was very young at the time, this experience shaped her life and eventually mine. We went into parenthood fully understanding that a baby’s well-being is not guaranteed. Parents need support, technology, and tools to help them provide the best possible care for their babies once they are home.

I’m motivated to keep working towards the goal that every caregiver has the resources they need to make sure their baby is well-monitored when they come home from the hospital. I’m fortunate to hear first-hand stories from families and our foundation partners every day telling us just how life-changing Owlet products are for them, and that’s why we keep working so hard to create the most intelligent monitors on the market.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Owlet has partnered with more than 30 non-profit organizations to bring our baby monitors to families who need them. We’ve been able to reach more than 1.5 million babies, a lot of which is powered by these partnerships. We know that empowering parents with information makes all the difference, and we’ve heard from hundreds of parents that because they knew their baby needed attention, they were able to be there for them in serious situations. These stories from parents and countless other parents who have more confidence, better sleep, and peace of mind are our biggest accomplishments. We believe that every child deserves access to this type of technology. The business side has been fun too. We started the business in a garage and, within nine years, went public on the New York Stock Exchange. It’s been amazing to see how we’ve been able to create something that has grown so much!

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

The work never leaves you. It’s never finished, and there are always new challenges. It took me several years to realize that entrepreneurship is really just problem-solving. You’re trying to bring a new solution to the world, and that is inherently fixing issues, whether they’re business issues, technology issues, or customer issues. I think realizing that you have to take a break every once in a while and embrace the fact that your job is to problem-solve, or lead people who are problem-solvers, can help normalize the journey.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

Decide early on what kind of culture you want to facilitate, and that should align with why you started the business in the first place. Make sure you’re running the business and not letting it run you.
Surround yourself with great people. My co-founders and a lot of the incredible people we’ve hired along the way are the reason for Owlet’s success.
Don’t give up. I read a book early on in my career called “Making Ideas Happen,” and it clearly highlights that the biggest challenge for entrepreneurs is that they give up too early.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.owletcare.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OwletBabyMonitors/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/owletcare/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/owletbabycare
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kurt-workman-28707131/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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