Joy Williams & Jane Molina of Ninni Co. on being moms’ “breast” friend

Copy-of-Website-Header-Template-16

Describe your business in a few words:

We are Joy Williams + Jane Molina. Sisters, best friends, and co-serial entrepreneurs. We launched the Ninni Co. brand on March 1, 2021, and sell direct-to-consumer from our website. Our featured product and what we’re known for is our breastlike pacifier. It’s a technology we patented and worked on for seven years before finally bringing it to market. Birthed out of a need Jane had with her third (exclusively breastfed) son, she couldn’t find a pacifier that met his needs. 

Breastfed babies are used to a specific oral movement when feeding on the breast, and nothing else had entered the world to soothe this specific need. The sisters went on a journey to construct a silicone product, made in the USA, that could meet the biological expectation of these babies. It took a lot of work, navigating uncharted territory and hearing a lot of “no’s” before finally bringing the Ninni pacifier to fruition.

Since its launch, the company has shipped over 30,000 pacifiers to households all around the world who needed a solution that their picky breastfed babies would take to, and offer them an elevated oral development solution for their pacification needs. Because not only are we moms’ “breast” friends, we also help reinforce strong, healthy latch and proper mouth development.

What was your background prior to starting your own business?

Prior to working in the Construction Industry, Jane went to Film School in Miami, FL, and worked in Corporate Film Production. Joy went to school in Chicago and was in the Documentary/Reality television production Industry before moving back to St. Louis to join the family business.

Did you always know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

Yes. 

Not only was our dad a business owner our entire lives but his father before him was also an entrepreneur. In  Mississippi’s early 1900s,  black people didn’t usually own land, but our grandfather had his own farm where he harvested cotton and operated a meat/dairy farm. 

I’d say it just lives in us. We inherited our strong entrepreneurial spirit. The security of conventional jobs never appealed to us, but we both had hopes and dreams of risking it all to live out our purpose. In past jobs, we would always have out-of-the-box ideas and never really liked the status quo or conventional ways of doing things. It seems that being our own boss was always meant to be.

Take us back to when you first launched your business, what was your marketing strategy to get the word out and did it go as planned?

We had no idea, to be honest. It was like, let’s hurry and launch this product because everyone needs it! Tell your sisters and all your friends! Ha…but in all seriousness, we got heavily involved in Instagram and Facebook from the very beginning. 

Posting every day, engaging with our target audience, and running some very simple ads on our own. This sparked little fires all throughout various breastfeeding groups, chat threads, and posts of moms raving about Ninni Co. saving the day. Word of mouth was our best friend and continues to be our biggest revenue generator.

What is the accomplishment you are the most proud of to date?

I think our greatest accomplishment is developing a product that works and helps moms/babies. It was our dream for so many years. We bootstrapped our company, putting all of our money and resources into what we believed in so deeply. Every time we get an email or a DM from a tired mama, in tears over finally finding a solution to help her get some rest and a much-needed break, that’s what we are and will always be most proud of.

Do you believe in work/life balance? What are some of your best tips?

We believe in it. But we’re not always the best at it. I guess the way we see it is, there’s really no such thing as balancing the two. If you put all your energy in one, the other is going to lack in some way. There are always things to be done! 

However, I think the balance comes in the mental balance. Knowing it’s ok. Being aware of our time and saying “no” have to be constants. There will be entire days’ worth of schedules we will put off to spend time with our kids or take a self-care day. We have non-negotiables like picking our kids up from school/getting them off the bus every day. And because we’re entrepreneurs, we get to make the rules!

What have you achieved recently that you’d like to celebrate with our community?

We just won a prestigious Engineering award. It’s a Worldwide competition that our design Engineers entered our product in, called the Good Design Award. We are pretty proud of it!

What’s next for your business? What can we expect to see over the next few years?

Retail and International Distribution. They both take planning and strategy but we hope to be in stores around the world very soon!

What excites you about being an Entreprenista League member?

Jane and I are always excited about being in the presence of other entrepreneurs. Coming from the Construction Industry in a family-led business before this, we gain so much energy and excitement being in the presence of like-minded and driven women. We believe in the nature of collaboration and not competition, helping others and always being open to sharing knowledge. We also love to ask questions and learn from others’ experiences as well!

Learn more about the Entreprenista League and join today!

Share it!

Posted in
Tags

Leave a Comment





Grants You Need to Apply to For Your Business!

The FedEx® Entrepreneur Fund Who can apply? Entrepreneurs who have a connection to the military and/or entrepreneurs with disabilities. What you could receive: $10,000 Deadline: October 6, 2023 15th Anniversary Entrepreneurship Who can apply? Any entrepreneur who submits an engaging pitch of up to 1,000 words highlighting your business and how it would benefit from…

How to Plan for the Unpredictable with Emily Cisek

“You want to do everything you want to be everything to everyone. You want to be the perfect founder, but the perfect founder doesn’t exist you need to be authentic and true to yourself and the type of leader you are.” – Emily Cisek Named the 2021 Women Who Mean Business Honoree by the Houston Business…

Courtney Boyer on Starting a Biz of Her Own to Elevate the Dialogue Around Women’s Health and Sexuality

Hi Courtney! Please share a brief introduction about yourself and your business: Hello! I am a relationship and sexuality expert. I was trained as a mental health and sex therapist, life coach, and Reiki Practitioner. Recently, I published the book, “Not Tonight, Honey: Why Women Actually Don’t Want Sex and What We Can Do About…

The Scoop on Building a Business from Scratch with Kim Malek

“Money is always available, you will find it believe it or not, it really is, but finding the right money. It could not be more important.” – Kim Malek Kim Malek is the Co-Founder and CEO of Salt & Straw, an ice cream company that produces and serves boldly unique flavors made by hand, where customers…

Taking An Integrative Approach To Medicine and Business with Dr. Cindy Tsai

“Life is a serie“I really realized that we need to take this very integrative holistic approach to wellbeing. So often we are focused on productivity and being busy. And we forget about listening to what we’re actually going through.”  – Dr. Cindy Tsai Dr. Cindy Tsai is an award-winning board-certified physician, TEDx speaker, best-selling author,…

Mamaprenista Cinder Trout on Opening a Natural Beauty Brand, Abature, with Her Daughter

Hi Cinder! Please share a brief introduction about yourself and your business: Hello, my name is Cinder. My daughter and I co-founded a natural beauty brand dedicated to lip care called Abature. We make lip scrubs, lip serums, and lip balms all proudly packaged plastic free. Our wholesale distribution channel is currently only available to…

Creative Kelsey Kloss on Launching a PR and Social Media Company to Empower Industry Thought Leaders

Hi Kelsey! Please share a brief introduction about yourself and your business: Absolutely! I am the CEO of Kloss Creatives, a PR and social media company that scales CEOs and companies as industry thought leaders. Kloss Creatives clients have been featured by The New York Times, HuffPost, Bustle, and beyond. Previously, I was a journalist and in-house…

Finding Your Purpose and Fulfilling Your Mission with Dr. Nadine Collins

“When you understand who you are, and why you’re here, you will recognize that you have no competition. Because there’s nobody in the world like you but you. And whatever you’ve been divinely called to do. There is nobody in the world who can do it like you but you because it’s your assignment.” –…

Nicole Pearl Kaplan on How She Created a Business that Provides Her Clients Insights, Strategies and Personalized guidance

Hi Nicole Pearl! Please share a brief introduction about yourself and your business: Hi! I’m a PR & Media consultant who helps small business founders get noticed, grow their brand awareness and become a household name. When the pandemic hit, I heard a lot of people asking how to get featured, and I heard a…

Learning How to Start Over with Olivia Howell

“Life is a series of fresh starts, and everybody is worthy of the support. We are about meeting people where they are and celebrating them.”  – Olivia Dreizen Howell After her own divorce and watching her sister call off her engagement the following year, Olivia was left with two significant questions: Why do we only…

Entreprenistas, Go for These Amazing Grants!

As founders we know how hard it can be to secure funding for your business, so we want to make it a bit easier! Below are our top picks of grants and resources this week!

Creating A New Business Category with Jen Batchelor

“ The more I tell my story, the more I’m like, damn, I would never have wanted to follow in the footsteps of anyone, I really have to blaze the path. Even though it’s painful as sin, I have to put something out there that’s brand new, and let people react to it.” – Jen…

Artisan Joy’s Stephanie Blanchard on Smashing the Myth of the “Starving Artist”

Hello Stephanie! Please share a brief introduction about yourself and your business: I am the publisher of Artisan Joy, a website and magazine that celebrates creative entrepreneurs. Artisan Joy’s mission is to smash the myth of the starving artist by publishing success stories of artists, designers, artisans and makers who have turned their passions into…

“Life Coach in a Bottle”, Laura McCann, on Establishing Adoratherapy

Hello Laura! Please share a brief introduction about yourself and your business: My name is Laura McCann and I am the Founder and CEO of Adoratherapy. At Adoratherapy, we invite you on a journey of healing through breath and intention using all natural essential oil based fragrances. After many years as a successful entrepreneur in…

Mamaprenista Ami Bhansali of Chai Diaries on her mission to Make Fresh Premium Teas Accessible to All

Welcome Ami! Please share a brief introduction about yourself and your business: Chai Diaries is a lifestyle brand retailing specialty teas. Inspired by my tea-enriched household (three generations of history in growing and manufacturing tea in the beautiful Nilgiris, India), the brand is all about REAL TEA, REAL HERBS, REAL SPICES! Embracing a tea culture…