How parenthood inspired couple’s business success story.
Author Susie StubbsSusie Stubbs created Totter + Tumble while expecting her first baby, to provide families with stylish, hygienic playmats in a crowded market of loud prints and unpractical designs. Here, Susie talks us through the designs and success of the business to date.
What’s the story behind Totter + Tumble?
Our story starts not long after the birth of my first baby. My husband and I were anxious to provide the safest home for her. We researched everything - and I mean everything - to ensure we had the most appropriate products for our new arrival.
But there was always this niggly thing when it came to floor coverings for her early days of play. There was the foam, jigsaw-style playmats that did the job to a certain degree, but they were always on the garish side and not to mention fiddly to lay and clean.
Rugs were softer, more aesthetically pleasing, but harboured dust and required scrubbing even with the smallest of spillages.
Fast forward a few years, and with the birth of our second child, I just couldn’t bear putting the jigsaw mat down again after our family kitchen renovation. It didn’t actually solve problems for us as a family, it just created more, and it definitely didn’t suit our newly renovated home!
From this desire to find a practical and stylish playmat solution, Totter + Tumble was formed and our founding principles of “safe, stylish, supportive and simple” still very much stand firm three years later.
Do you design the playmats yourself?
Designed here in the UK and made with love in our factory in South Korea, our non-toxic, luxury, memory foam playmats are made in one piece, so you can unroll and go!
I designed them with the whole family in mind and they are safe from day one, undergoing (and passing) the same testing as teething toys, which I think is pretty amazing.
Which designs are the most popular with your customers?
Today, we have a range of eight different playmats in two different sizes, with a different design on each side, so customers can mix up the look of their home with a simple flip over, if they want to. We hope to be able to offer even more in the future.
The ‘Scout’ playmat was hailed by Real Homes as Instagram’s ‘Most stylish playmat!’ and with our playful prints proving so popular with customers, we released our first leopard print designs at the end of last year.
The ‘Trail Blazer’ and ‘Champion’, with names inspired by amazing people and movements that made 2020 memorable (for the right reasons), are fast becoming customer favourites.
Tell us about your team.
The team has grown from being just me to a full-time team of four, with another member soon to join, so I’m really excited to see where we go next.
Do you work with any charities?
We really wanted to be able to give back, so we donated a proportion of the profits from our new collection during 2020 to two very important charities - Duty to Care and The Black Curriculum. It is our Play Matters Donation campaign which we are most proud of though, having donated our playmats to well over 100 charities, hospitals, hospices and refuges.
Where can you buy Totter + Tumble playmats?
In 2019 we were approached by John Lewis to stock our playmats, which is still a pinch me moment. We also have a website totterandtumble.co.uk where you can view and shop our full range.
The Totter + Tumble story began not long after the birth of founder Susie Stubbs and her partner’s first child. After being anxious about creating the safest environment possible and researching endlessly to find the right products for their new arrival, they realised something was missing. And so, Totter + Tumble - a practical playmat solution, was born. The stylish mats are designed in the UK with the whole family in mind, and lovingly made using luxury, non-toxic memory foam.
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