In Their Shoes - Ashley Beaty (Baba Bears)

“In Their Shoes” is a series shining a light on female founders. At Salt-Water we love to champion creatives and women-led, independent and sustainable businesses.

Ashley Beaty learnt to crochet whilst on maternity leave and founded the beautiful keepsake company Baba Bears whilst pregnant with her first child. These fun, ethically made crochet bears and bunnies each come sporting a gorgeous hand knitted personalised jumper.

SW: What inspired you to start your business?
AB: It all happened a bit by accident! I had a difficult pregnancy during the pandemic and was bedridden, with my anxiety at an all-time high. I had tried a few hobbies during lockdown; puzzles, paint-by-numbers, baking but then I discovered crochet, and everything changed. I taught myself how to crochet by watching videos online and set myself a mission to make the most unique and personal keepsake for my baby.

I had spent hours browsing online but couldn’t find anything that made me stop and think: "This is the teddy bear he’ll keep forever and pass down through the family." After a lot of trial and error, I finally made a teddy bear with a little jumper and embroidered his name on it. When I brought the bear along to baby groups and playdates, people started asking about it. I began making teddy bears for friends and family, who encouraged me to set up an Instagram page.

I had no idea that I would start selling them straight away—and things just snowballed from there!

SW: How has your work/business evolved since you started?
AB: When I started out, I was doing everything myself and had to turn down a lot of orders because I simply couldn’t work fast enough. I only had nap times and evenings to get things done.

Eventually, I decided to take the business seriously. I enrolled in a course with The Prince’s Trust, which helped me put together a business plan and secure a grant. I also redesigned my bears after a few copycat versions started to appear. I wanted to have full ownership of my design.

Now, I work with an amazing non-profit partner who makes all the bears and bunnies, and a lovely group of local women knit the clothing. I embroider the names, initials, and patterns myself and then send them out into the world!

SW: What was your job before starting your business?
AB: Before launching Baba Bears, I had a 10-year career in fashion, working for well-known brands as a garment technologist and pattern cutter. I loved the mix of creativity and technical problem-solving, but I eventually fell out of love with the industry due to its questionable ethics and smoke-and-mirrors approach.

I’m incredibly grateful for the skills I gained during that time, and I now apply them when developing my toys and working with manufacturers. My past experience with factories has made me uncompromising when it comes to transparency so when I looked for the right partner to make my bears and bunnies, I knew I wouldn’t settle for anything less than complete openness and fairness.

It’s incredible to think that my products are now handmade by skilled artisans who are paid fairly and treated with care.

SW: What goals or dreams do you have for your business in the coming years?
AB: I’d love to find stockists and grow the brand’s visibility, but I would never scale up in a way that compromises my ethical standards - so we’ll just see what happens! I’m also perfectly content with how things are at the moment, so there’s no rush to change.

SW: Do you have a memorable story or experience with a customer that has stayed with you?
AB: I feel so lucky to have customers who return years later to order something special for a new baby. I’ve also had the honour of creating bears with angel wings for stillborn babies.

I hope those pieces bring some joy to the families and serve as a unique and loving way to celebrate their beautiful babies.

SW: What are your hobbies or interests outside of your business?
AB: Honestly, I don’t have much time for hobbies at the moment! Running a business and parenting is a constant juggling act, so there’s not a lot of free time but I know that won’t last forever, and I’m not wishing it away either.

When I do get a moment to myself, I love walking our dog and find that a trip to the coast really helps me reset. I also listen to podcasts and watch true crime documentaries while I work ....though I’m running out of new ones, so if you have any recommendations, please send them my way!

Send those recommendations and follow Ashley over on Instagram @baba.bears 
and shop her gorgeous keepsakes on Etsy here and at Holly & Co here

Watch Ashley's Reel on The Salt-Water Instagram Page here.