Busy Plano mom Sarah McNamee didn’t particularly enjoy filtering through a sea of powder blues and generic designs to find the type of clothing and items she wanted to purchase for her son. When her five-year-old Isaiah was an infant, there weren’t many online options for childrens’ items except Etsy. She would go to baby stores and buy things that she didn’t really like; she felt it all looked too, well, baby-y.
Sarah said she thought at the time, “Why is this stuff so hard to find – quality products that are just basic simple things? Maybe I don’t want an animal-print onesie or a striped diaper bag or a teether in three colors.”
Five years later, Sarah has created What Little Wonder. Her curated online shop is a minimalistic, modern mom’s answer to the baby-item doldrums. Browsers won’t find splashy, gaudy colors. Instead the site swims in calming hues and subdued patterns of tan, sage, mustard and gray against crisp white. The diaper bags are stylish and sleek, the teethers are eclectic (one is shaped like a vintage camera) and there is a sweet alternative to the traditional “coming home” outfit – knotted gowns made from bamboo. Sarah is admittedly a picky shopper; she translates her discriminating tastes to What Little Wonder.
“I’m very thorough and intentional about the brands and products that are featured on the site. I focus on the details, the quality and I would personally purchase everything I offer on the shop,” she said.
Before launching her shop in September, she felt a lot of conventional baby stores “just threw stuff” out there. She found this especially true with online stores featuring a wide range of prices and products without honing in to a specific lifestyle. Sarah is very particular about the aesthetic she wants for What Little Wonder. She makes sure everything on her site is harmonious even if the colors or brands are different.
“Everything just flows. Everything we offer, a modern mom needs…She doesn’t have to go through 17 pages of it with a ton of options,” Sarah said.
Sarah focuses on carrying brands that shoppers can’t find just anywhere – most of her items come from small to mid-sized mommy-owned brands. Sarah said she mainly finds items she loves by stumbling upon them on Instagram. For her efforts so far, What Little Wonder appears to have a loyal following, and Sarah is honored to see many mothers sharing online their love of the products she offers.
Aside from running the online shop, Sarah also works full-time and is a single mom to Isaiah. Although owning a business has always been a dream of hers, she admits balancing work with home life is a challenge. While her son is still young, she wants to give him the attention that he needs and deserves, but it’s hard not to get carried away, sitting at her desk all weekend.
“The biggest challenge I face is simply doing it all solo. From marketing to product, it’s truly a one-woman show — and at times it can be a bit overwhelming, to say the least,” she said.
Sarah wants to create more than a shop, she wants to nurture a community of mothers just like herself. One way to do this is through the blog she’s just started on the What Little Wonder website. The topics, which she plans to post about once a month, are things she believes her shoppers would find interesting. Ideas come from her day-to-day life or sometimes from comments on her store’s Instagram feed.
“If you see our Instagram stories, I often encourage feedback – inviting them to share stories of their little one’s exciting moments and milestones or occasionally posting fun quotes that our followers can really relate to,” she said.
“Mommyhood is hard enough. Shopping for a little one at this exciting stage in life should be fun, as they’re choosing pieces that will ultimately be a part of some of their child’s most memorable moments.”
What Little Wonder >
