Maternity leave side hustle solving big baby carrier problem: Hackerlily HipSurfer goes global

A Gold Coast entrepreneur who is genuinely solving a daily problem experienced by all parents and carers of young children has revealed how she is building her business Hackerlily into a purpose-driven brand.

Launched in February 2023, Hackerlily started as a self-funded maternity leave side hustle by founder Laura Campbell, who wanted to alleviate the pain she experienced with her chronic rheumatoid arthritis while carrying her two young children.

In just 12 months, Hackerlily HipSurfer, the first Australian-owned hipseat baby carrier of its kind in the country, has turned over more than $250,000 and won three awards.

During the very first year of business, Hackerlily walked away with the ROAR Start-Up of the Year Award 2023, while the HipSurfer won the Ausmumpreneur ‘Product Design of the Year’ Award 2023 and placed highly recommended at the SHE-com Awards for Baby Travel Accessory.

It was also the first Australian brand to be invited to join Baby Bunting’s Online Marketplace and has recently partnered with NovitaTech- Australia’s largest assistive technology retailer.

Campbell told SmartCompany the Hackerlily HipSurfer is basically a pimped-up lumbar stool. 

“It’s a strap-free baby carrier and bum bag that sits snuggly around your waist and absorbs the full weight of your child,” she explains. 

“The ergonomic design and wide, padded waistband allows parents and grandparents to hold their child with ease, convenience, freedom and comfort.”

The Hackerlily HipSurfer is the first baby carrier in the world to come with washable and interchangeable covers in a variety of on-trend designs. 

It also has a large storage compartment under the seat, a retractable bottle holder, and three extra pockets.

Solving challenges for parents

The HipSurfer took eight prototypes and 18 months to refine before launching and Campbell worked directly with her manufacturer and design experts to refine the different prototypes.

“By the fifth or sixth sample, I engaged local families to trial it for feedback – as well as with my own two kids who were my number one test pilots,” she said.

Source: Supplied.

“The covers were a bit more difficult to prototype as it was so new and different. We went through various iterations to finalise the prototype alongside the HipSurfer.

“(It was) shared with physios and chiropractors for final feedback and input before refining and adapting the final version. Improvements have been made since launching into subsequent productions.”

Campbell says baby carriers or baby products are often only targeted at mums, which is just one target audience group.

“This is all about solving the challenges for parents,” she says. 

“What I’ve done with my brand is a really large portion of the target customer is dads and also grandparents.

“Grandparents want to be involved so much more and a lot of them are purchasing for themselves because they want to be involved. 

“Dads love it because it’s just like a tool belt that goes around their waist.”

Vibrant community spurs growth

When asked how she has grown the business from the ground up, Campbell says community has been the number one factor.

“I bring it down to a few things and one is community. You’ll see on my Instagram; while I’ve only got over 6,000 followers, it’s so engaged and so vibrant, “ she says. 

“I’ve literally got like this team of women and mothers who will share, comment, like and help to build the brand and they’re really happy customers. 

“I regularly talk to customers and my inner circle of brand champions to find out new ways they are using the HipSurfer, any hacks they’ve tried to bring more ease to various (and often random) situations. 

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“This connection to my customer ensures that my marketing talks to their challenges, pain points and aspirations for how they want to feel and what they want to do.”

The Hackerlily founder said she also uses a genuine storytelling strategy through all customer touchpoints and marketing channels, its website, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest, as well as brand representatives and a customer referral program, paid digital advertising, community and retail partnerships.

Campbell confirmed plans to expand Hackerlily into the UK, Europe, and the US by 2025 with a growing range of innovative parenting products and accessories sold both online and through retail and strategic partnerships.

“What’s really important to me right now is that I really lay down strong foundations for profitable growth in the Australian market,” she says. 

“I had such a really great start in 2023. This year, I want to triple that. That’s going to require really strong foundations for really great retail partnerships and a really solid e-commerce strategy. 

But underneath all of that is the most important element of the business, says Campbell. And that’s purpose. 

“It’s not just a brand that’s selling a product. I want to be providing solutions,” she says. 

“I really believe that any brand or business, whether they’re big or small, needs to get back to the communities that they serve.”

Campbell said the brand will start in the UK and Europe first in early 2025 and then the US in late 2025 or 2026.

“I think being a one-woman team, I want to scale not too fast because that’s where a lot of businesses can fall,” she says. 

“I want to make sure I perform really well and get that structure for each market and build out a team there.”