The founder of global baby brand aden + anais, Raegen Moya-Jones tells the story of how she built a $100 million business that started at her kitchen table. She never thought of herself as an entrepreneur. She was a wife, a mother, and a full-time corporate cog in her thirties. But she was sick and tired of her micromanaging boss, so she quietly started a company in the wee hours of the morning while her daughters were asleep. She finally quit her 9-5 when her side hustle, boutique baby swaddle brand aden + anais, hit the $1 million revenue mark. It now generates over $100 million a year in revenue.
In this candid and vulnerable story of all the bumps in the road, What It Takes is Raegen’s brutally honest tell all that offers advice to entrepreneurs—especially women—about how to succeed despite all odds. It doesn’t take an MBA to be your own boss. It takes commitment to an idea you believe in, the will to learn and the readiness to work your arse off. If Raegen, an outspoken Aussie and university drop-out, could build a successful business from the ground up, so can you.
Raegen digs into topics most entrepreneurs shy away from, even the prickliest of things like butting heads with investors, parting ways with your co-founder, what to really do when you’re running out of money and mothers guilt. The truth is, there’s no magic formula to building a business and you don’t have to look or act a certain way to be successful. This empowering story from one of today’s most honest and outspoken founders will show the hopeful entrepreneur or career changer that she doesn’t have to know it all. This story is about staying true to who you are, trusting your gut, and harnessing your own unique talents. Do you have what it takes to take that leap?
Author quotes
I started aden + anais while working full time in sales for The Economist Group and raising three of my four daughters, which means I had three full time jobs.
I started slow, researching manufacturers and the basic fundamentals of starting a business, and went to market with my first products in June 2006, three years after having the idea.
Looking back, it seems completely insane and I’m not sure how I did it, but that’s the point right? I did it because I had no idea what I was doing. I hadn’t obsessed over what I was sacrificing (sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, friendships, sleep, showers) because I was too focused on what I was building.
About the author
Raegen Moya-Jones is the Co-Founder of Saint Luna, Entrepeneur and Founder of aden + anais, a Philanthropist, Public Speaker and Mother. In 2006, Raegan co-founded aden + anais, the baby lifestyle brand globally recognized for its high-quality design driven muslin swaddles and baby products. Raegan continued to work full-time in her sales role at The Economist Group until May 2009 when she left to run aden + anais in a full-time capacity as the brand’s sole owner eventually selling the company in 2013 and continuing on as CEO until 2017. In 2014 Raegan was named as one of EY’s Entrepreneurs of the Year, considered one of the most prestigious business awards in the world. Raegan now serves as one of the judges on the program. aden + anais was named to SmartCEO’s 2015 Future 50 list, as well as by Crain’s New York Business for three consecutive years on their Fast 50 list. The Fast 50 feature highlights New York’s most successful and innovative companies for their growth, strategies and success. aden + anais was also recognized for a 338% growth rate and a reported revenue of $41.7 million in 2013. Raegan has most recently co-founded Saint Luna, a premium moonshine brand that was released in the United States in March 2019. Raegan sits on the board of directors for Hopeland, a nonprofit created to pioneer innovative solutions and build new partnerships to prevent family separation, reunify children who are separated from their families, and mobilize a movement of families to support children who are growing up outside of family care. Currently, Raegan resides in DUMBO Brooklyn, with her husband and four daughters.
Why LoA loves it….
At Lionesses of Africa, we loved reading Raegan’s story of how she built her uber successful business because it is a great example of courage, tenacity, sheer dogged determination, to win-out no matter how hard the journey. So many women entrepreneurs battle with how to juggle family and personal life with building and launching a new business or getting a new product to market. Raegen shows it is not only possible, but her very personal story told with humour, great insight and honest, demonstrates what it actually takes to make it happen. This is a fabulous and inspirational read for all those women entrepreneurs out there who are busy juggling their lives as we speak. --- Melanie Hawken, founder and editor-in-chief of Lionesses of Africa