Nurturing Newborns with Advanced Diaper Design and Parenting Tips- Terese Fessenden and Jessica Hung S4E7

Discover the incredible journey of Jessica Hung, who transformed from a CPA to a trailblazing co-founder of Parasol Diapers, and ,Terese Fessenden who's reshaping the way we educate new parents with Fika Newborn. Our latest episode takes you through the meticulous process of developing baby products that are gentle on the most tender skin, and how knowledge becomes power for new moms and dads grappling with the challenges of early childcare. The collaboration between these two dynamic women is not just inspiring—it's a game-changer for families everywhere.

When it comes to our little ones, nothing less than the best will do. Jessica's quest for a diaper that addresses the pain of rash-prone skin resulted in a treasure trove of insights, and we share these along with Terese's practical wisdom on nurturing a newborn—from mastering breastfeeding to conquering sleep training. The episode is a testament to the power of passion and dedication in creating products and educational resources that can provide a sense of calm in the beautiful storm of parenting.

We wrap up our conversation with a sincere thank you to Jessica and Terese for their authenticity and the support they offer to parents just starting their journey. You'll find a wealth of guidance on Parasol.com and FikaNewborn.com—beacons of hope for those in the thralls of caring for a tiny human. Tune in for an engaging and empowering discussion that offers not just comfort for your baby, but peace of mind for you as well.

Connect with
Terese Fessenden - Fika Newborn
Jessica Hung - Parasol Diapers

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:16

Hi, I'm Coach Mickey and I'm so glad that you've joined us and if this is your first time joining us, come on in and make yourself comfortable.

Speaker 1: 0:22

For those of you that joined us on a regular basis, I'm so glad that you do, and thank you so much for always reaching out to our guests and I love your comments, your questions and your suggestions of all of my guests that I have on. We've had some incredible, incredible guests, and today is no different, and I think we've got to find something because I'm so excited about my guests. But that's why I have the spot gases, because everybody I bring on has something to offer, and I wish, I wish wholeheartedly, that I had had these two amazing women when I was having children, and one of my guests you have heard in the past and she is gonna come here with some new information. But also, we are going to a collaboration today and I'm just gonna jump right in. So today we have got with us Jessica Humb and Tilly Fezzington. What we're gonna? Fezzington Fezzington, you say your name is different now Terese.

Speaker 2: 1:18

Yeah, it's Terese Flores, but my married name is Fezzington. Yes, yeah, no problem.

Speaker 1: 1:23

Thank you, thank you. So Jessica is co-founder of Parasol diapers and, as a women-owned business, they are dedicated to innovating diapers that prevent diaper rash to sensitive skin babies. And Terese you have heard before on my podcast and I just love her, love her. Love her because, again, I wish I had had somebody like her when I was having kids. She is the founder of Thinkin' Newborn online education. Now how fun is that? Empowering parents with information and resources that you're gonna need to build confidence as a new parent, anywhere from breastfeeding to sleep training. So welcome both of you. I appreciate you taking the time to be with me today. How are you Great?

Speaker 2: 2:05

Thank you so much. Thank you, Mickey.

Speaker 1: 2:08

I guess I'm gonna jump in with you because this is something that I think is absolutely amazing, because, as a mom, and probably as other parents who are listening, that diaper rash is huge when it comes to having babies and children. So I love, I love what you have come up with and I'm good it's gonna ask. First of all, let's talk a little bit about you. So tell me a little bit about you and who you are.

Speaker 3: 2:32

Of course. Well, everybody, nice to meet you here. I am a first generation immigrant from Taiwan, so I speak Mandarin as well too. That's my first language. I'm a single mom of two very wonderful kids. They are a little older, they are not babies anymore. I've been working since age of 14. So I've been a career woman. My career took me from being a CPA I specialized in taxation for Fortune 300 companies to then owning a small business in education sector in California and started to working out some investment in real estate here In 2015,.

Speaker 3: 3:18

A friend of mine was a mother of five kids. She shared a little bit of her struggle finding some quality diapers for her children. I did some research and then I was blown away by wow, this is interesting. Like nothing had ever changed for a couple of decades after I have my two young babies. So I decided to check out more, and one thing led to the other. That's how I become the co-founder of Parasol Diaper Company, and I just love working. I throughout all this journey, I made so many different incredible friends, and every single step they just keep leading me to incredible people like to race and also now today, mickey. So it's been wonderful and that's who I am, and now I'm stopped working mom I love it.

Speaker 1: 4:16

I love the fact that you took a challenge that we deal with as a parent and you just ran with it to create something that I know is going to be successful. I mean, this is just incredible, especially for infants, Because, like I said, diaper rash just seems to be the most prevalent thing. That happens pretty much at any time and with any parent. You know when we ask each other.

Speaker 1: 4:37

So I love it. I love it. Okay, so, teresa, I'm gonna I'm gonna just have you recap. I know a lot of our circle of friends have heard you and they love you because they're always commenting on you. But you have now got an online education and I love it. So you've taken it a little step further from just going into people's homes and helping them to actually now offering something online. And finally, I would be grateful to have this Ros, or Sorry about that.

Speaker 2: 5:07

Yes, there was such a need for my services in home it was difficult to keep up. I'm only one person when I've worked within the early child care industry since I was 18, so, like Jessica, I started working in high school when I was even younger than college. My college time in college. People and families love that. I've just been doing this for so long and I have the formal education aspect. I was stretching myself thin and just so tired. It's impossible to work every night. I have a family as well. We came up with this idea for online education which is accessible nationwide. It's a subscription service. We have an annual rate and a monthly rate as well.

Speaker 1: 6:00

That is great. I love it because now you have an opportunity to reach out so much further, because your knowledge and what you have to offer is so important. It really does help because, like we said before, children don't come with an annual. It's a new family. Sometimes it's difficult, especially when you don't know. I love it. My next question is how did you two meet to collaborate together? This is like a perfect match. This is still perfect.

Speaker 3: 6:30

Sorry, so you want to take the lead?

Speaker 2: 6:32

Sure, I'll go ahead and share a little bit. It's actually very serendipitous. I think it's very common for doulas or newborn care specialists like myself to reach out to other companies and just see if they would like to collaborate with samples to gift our clients and products that we love. I'm always looking for new products. My clients always have new products that they've come across that I learn about. I reached out to Parasol on Instagram I think they just showed up on a suggested. I reached out to them and said hey, what do you be interested in? Having any samples? I do a lot of expos and things events. It's always nice to give things out to new parents. Then I believe it was Jessica someone. Somehow it got in Jessica's hands and then she had actually emailed me and said oh, can you come to our office, our local office? I said sure. Then we went ahead and met. I had no idea what to expect. It turned out we've just built trust and a friendship along the way. Here we are. I'm so honored to work with Parasol as well.

Speaker 1: 7:41

It's great when you meet somebody that you can actually collaborate with and do something that just fits the perfect niche of what you're doing. Jessica, I shared how you came up with the idea. Explain how your diapers work to prevent, to help with diaper rash for sensitive. No-transcript.

Speaker 3: 8:02

Well, there are a lot of the details. There's many different work that have to combine and happen all together to make it working out perfectly. So I mean, besides the raw materials, that have to be really, really good qualities. So what had happened is in 2015, when I started with this idea, and because I was a total outsider, I had no idea about how to make a diaper. I just have the idea about, like, hey, you know what, something better, something high quality need to be introduced. So I hired a consultant and he took me on a very, very long trip. We visited about 20 different countries. I basically went to raw material suppliers, manufacturers all over the place, from Asia to Europe to even Middle East, and, of course, it made with a lot of very capable vendors in North America to really understand what's their insights for their offerings, their production processes, their motivations. And then I was so amazed that I observed varying approaches, different strengths and weaknesses in a lot of different type of practices.

Speaker 3: 9:21

In the meantime, I was trying to get to the understanding of what's the reason that's really causing the diaper rush. So I don't know if you know, in United States and this was a few years back when big companies they started to launch, you know, featuring 12 hours of absorbency for the diapers. It's really really convenient and it sounds a very desirable feature for a lot of diapers. At the meantime, when that product launched, there's an indication, you know, the diaper rush, green cells also jumped over the roof. That basically tells people that extended exposure to the wetness on the diaper soil, diaper can cause the potential issues.

Speaker 3: 10:14

So we have to take a few things. We have to make our diaper dry really fast. We have to making sure all the urine that went down, gone down to the diaper, won't neighbor herbal surface again to touch the baby's skin. We have to make the diaper extremely breathable. We have to make the material really soft. We have to make the fit it fits right so it doesn't irritate any parts of their skin. So it's a lot of combinations to making sure it works extremely well for the skin.

Speaker 3: 10:54

And that's how basically I started. You know, take every single potential element that can create any problems for the baby's skin issue and then went on a very thorough testing for six months with Dermatase, which is in Germany, to have our material and the product testing on sensitive skin babies to get a result. That's literally with 200 babies 24 hours, consecutively, 48 hours and then 72 hours on our diapers give us a zero result of any rotation on the skin to then come from its go to lounge. So it's a no joke. It's definitely not easy. It did take time, but I just feel great, I feel comfortable that when I truly can give that piece of mind to the parents that make me sleep better, Well, yeah, you took a challenge that most parents deal with, and I remember even with.

Speaker 1: 11:57

My children were babies. One of the things that was for me was I hated when those elastic were going to cut into the legs and then they'd red.

Speaker 1: 12:07

And I was like, oh my gosh, and you couldn't make it loose, because then it was a problem because now it's leaking. But then if you made it too tight so it didn't leak, they had this. Poor little things have that. And I was like forget it, I'll deal with the leaking, because I don't want to have that red mark. So the fact that you took all of these challenges and you tested it and said, okay, well, what about this and what about that? And you took it to collaborate and make a diaper, make a product that actually fit and addressed all of these issues, is amazing, I mean. And then to have it say, okay, okay, we're ready to go, and the fact that you didn't just escape either something, I love it. I love the fact. Plus, we are a mom, we do this. So, like you, teri, so we're a mom, we know these challenges and people. They're like I just need someone to fix this or have an answer. And you took something that was in the marketplace and you made it better.

Speaker 3: 13:03

And trust me, yeah, trust me, I drive my manufacturers crazy. Good, every time when they hear Jessica's coming, they were like, oh, this crazy woman, that's good. Oh, my God, you know, headache is coming, passionate. What she's going to complain about? Yeah, and that's me. And that's why, when Teri's reaching out to us, you know, and after I learned, wow, this is great, this is a very professional service provider and she's right in Orange County and I wanted to meet. I don't just want the team member to send her a product and say, okay, let's collaborate, and then, you know, go for it. I scheduled the meeting with her in face, I introduced the product, I explained to her how this is going to work, I listened carefully of what you know. What are the parents' issues? What kind of product or quality that they are looking for?

Speaker 3: 13:59

I constantly learning from the professionals and the parents and I think this is very important. It's not just something in my own head that's thinking, okay, this is what I want to do. It's all about what Jessica wants. It's not. It's really all about what the parents really need. And I better be a great listener. And as soon as I learned something and I passed it, I check it and I know like, okay, this is going to be something critical and important, not just for them but for the babies. I then will take it from there until I finally get it from my manufacturer to deliver that to the parents. It's hard but for whatever reason, I enjoy that process and I guess that's why I survive. For the business. It's like a torturing myself, you know, to get to it.

Speaker 1: 14:52

No, actually there's a word for this, Jessica. It's called passion.

Speaker 2: 14:57

It's like you have to do it.

Speaker 1: 15:01

That's right. When you have got passion, there are no obstacles because you're either going to go around them, over them or right through them. So, no, it's actually. I love the fact that you don't settle and that if you want something that is out there in the marketplace that is just so extraordinary and so we're looking for, that just has so much potential, but also you see what the challenges are and you've got the answer for it. You know, and that is what makes a really good product, cause you've taken your passion and you've put it into something and every parent that's going to use your diapers is going to see that because you've taken the time to recognize what is needed. You know.

Speaker 1: 15:42

Same thing with you, teresee, you know, I know you go out and you work with all of these parents that have got newborns and babies and again, you take them through each and every step on what to do and how to do it and help build their confidence. You know, and again and that's why I keep bringing you back because your passion for creating, you know, a much better environment for newborns you know newborns and for the parents, you know your passion comes through. You know, and that's what makes you too incredible, not only business women, but just two incredible, extraordinary individuals, you know, and that's why I love hearing your stories. So so, teresee, I know some have you had the opportunity to incorporate the parasol diapers into some of the clients that you've used.

Speaker 2: 16:29

Yes. So Parasol has been gracious enough to mail me samples on demand. If I email Jessica, they're usually at my doorstep within 48 hours, which is so kind. Yeah, and I do have clients that have which from competitor brands and they've loved Parasol. They've heard great things about a certain brand and they're like, oh, we'll pay the extra money for this brand, it's wonderful, and then it's maybe just not a right fit for their baby, for whatever reason.

Speaker 2: 17:01

And I introduced Parasol and I know I have one client recently and they're like you know what they put off Parasol for a little bit because they were convinced this name brand was the one. And then they tried Parasol and they said we signed up and we're getting Parasol. So it definitely helps, you know, having little sample packs on hand. Parasol gives me sort of like two little sample packs which the parents love for putting inside their diaper bags for on the go, and then I might offer them, you know, as a gift usually a greeting gift or a parting gift I usually offer them a pack of, you know, a full pack of diapers as well in wipes.

Speaker 1: 17:44

I love it, the collaboration. You know that's how it works, right. I mean, you give a little bit and you share. I always believe that, you know, when it comes to business, is that you're having the collaboration. You actually lift each other up and that's what creates success. And both of you are just. You have such a great combination to be able to complement each other. So I can see why this business has worked the way it has for both of you. Wow, that is Parasol is very generous of you, jessica, and what a great way. But and then also for you to be incorporated at Trace.

Speaker 1: 18:18

You know, I was just thinking when you were talking about you know. See, that's the challenge. People go well, you know it's a little bit more, you know it's a little bit more cost, but when you think about it, you're really saving so much more because, like you said in the beginning, jessica, if people are buying diaper rash ointment and their child is dealing with is uncomfortable and then but you could have a little bit more with a product such as Parasol diapers that's going to prevent the diaper rash and never cause, you know, because that's an absolute, but you know, may not cause a diaper rash or something with a child that is so that you know it's invaluable. So I mean, so, looking at it that way, it's like it's it's worth it. You're getting quality. You know for what you're what you're getting for your product.

Speaker 3: 19:06

I think a lot of the parents, especially first time parents, young parents, they have no idea why the babies will have rash. Right, they must be scratching their head, thinking like, okay, is it a food, Is it the outfit? Is it that they have no idea? So I mean, most of the time they probably need to go to the pediatrician, the doctor, right, they have to spend the time go visit the medical professionals that will have to buy the diaper rash cream. They have to try many different things, that whole process, you know, just to take all this one issue, if we can go from the root, not even giving them that at all, I think it's not just about money. I think parents at the beginning, when, when the life changed right, this is a brand new milestone they don't even sleep well. I mean, I remember when, when I had my first son, I was breastfeeding and I'm literally like getting up every two to three hours constantly. My son was like a you know a clock, you know one AM four.

Speaker 1: 20:17

AM seven AM.

Speaker 3: 20:18

Yeah, and you don't even have sleep and your brain doesn't work the same way. How? How are you going to handle and take another issue that coming along your way? I think it's too much. And diaper is supposed to solve a problem for you. Right To handle the urinations and the boat movement it's supposed to do is work, but then when it becomes a product that give you another health or skin problems, that that deviates from what is supposed to service. So it's, I mean, to me, to give parents a piece of mind is very critical. In the principle of a parasol philosophy, you know, we have to attend to every single detail that can potentially do the best, not just for the physical part of it but for the mental side of it, to give them some sleep, for God's sake. You know they don't have enough sleep already. I'm just a reason. No, like all the challenging the parent have to take on, you know figuring out from there, and that's why she's there to help too.

Speaker 2: 21:28

Yes, exactly so I do. You know, in person support. I do overnight shifts the majority of the time because parents need their rest and you know those three hour marks come along where they have to wait, where they wake up and they need to change. And so you know I, you know most part of support. You know it's an investment and it's a gift and it's wonderful, but you know the cost of Jessica mentioned a doctor's appointment and healthcare. Or you know, having someone to have overnight sleep, overnight care. You know there's a price to pay of some sort, so why not? You know, help make your life a little easier and have a dry diaper throughout the night.

Speaker 1: 22:12

Oh yeah, every little element is going to help, especially as a new parent. But, like you said, if you've got one challenge, that's been addressed and now you don't have to worry about a diaper rash because you've taken the steps to be able to prevent that, Like you said, that's going to help. But then also then having the knowledge of what to do and how to do it. That's a great combination to be able to at least make it a little bit easier. It's never going to be easy.

Speaker 3: 22:38

It's never easy having kids all the way up until the age of 18. Oh my gosh my kids, 23, they're still dealing with issues and trust me, Mickey, it's a full life. It's a full life.

Speaker 1: 22:50

I know, I know so, but if I would have had something that didn't have, that they prevented diaper rash, that would have taken a little chip out of that, that one element of being a parent, wow. Well, you guys have been so much fun. I really enjoyed having you and I love what you're doing. I love the fact that both of you have taken such important things as a mom, as an individual, and seeing what we needed and taking it and just ran with it to make everybody's life better. And so we've got a few more minutes. So is there anything that you would like to add or you'd like to share before we wrap it up?

Speaker 2: 23:30

No, I think go ahead. Yeah, I think everything's great. Thank you so much for having me, and you know we do have a coupon code that we would like to offer all the listeners. It's keep on sharing 20 or 20% off of diapers and 20% off of my online educational services. So go ahead and visit fecannewborncom underneath the Education tab, and you can find all of our online new parent education.

Speaker 1: 23:56

Oh, that is so kind of you. Thank you so much. And then they can also find you on all your websites and, as everybody knows, both Jessica and Teresa's website will be in the description of the podcast. So look for parasol diapers, and then also fecannewborn. And again, you know that for all the information on the podcast, but I'd also like to thank them for being the gracious sponsors to a lot of our YouTube channel and also our podcast, and also you can find them on keep on sharing too, along with all our other social media. Jessica, is there anything else you'd like to add before we wrap it up?

Speaker 3: 24:36

I just wanted to say, like you said, I wish when I had my baby I have somebody like Teresa. You know who's so good, who knows so much about how we have to handle certain things and give us the kind of help that we needed. It's very important and I highly recommend parents get professional help and, believe it or not, we have so many parents, it's literally becoming friends. They have the first baby, second baby, third baby, fourth baby, you know, still coming back to use a parasol and we chat and different kids. They have different issues. Sometimes they have sleep issues. Sometimes, you know kids have this other kind of issue. Reaching out to professionals and that will really save the time and then get to the bottom of the problems right away. That's all I wanted to. I can only do one thing. I can read the diaparite for you. Everything else go to Teresa.

Speaker 2: 25:41

Jessica, you know, that's just another reason why I found the online virtual educational education so beneficial for parents and have easy access to it.

Speaker 3: 25:50

Yes, love that.

Speaker 2: 25:52

Because we have new parent, educators, healthcare providers that are all on the platform and it's easy, accessible at your fingertips, and then you can get your sleep and really dig into the educational information on the online service at an affordable price.

Speaker 1: 26:08

Thank you so much. You have been awesome. Thank you so much, both of you, for being with me today and sharing all your insight and information and your knowledge and creating some wonderful things for our circle of friends and for all over the globe. All over the world, because both of you are online, so I'm assuming everybody can reach out to you, no matter where they live on the earth.

Speaker 3: 26:30

Exactly so does the yep.

Speaker 1: 26:33

You've already traveled most of the earth to and around the country. Well, thank you again for both being with me, and I look forward to hearing from both of you again and hear how everything is thriving and what changes have happened. And please, please, please, know that you're welcome to come back anytime, and I wish both of you an abundance of success in everything that you're doing.

Speaker 3: 26:55

Thank you, Mickey.

Speaker 2: 26:56

Thank you, bye. Have a great day, bye.

Speaker 1: 26:59

Thank you All right, so thank you so much for being with us. As you guys know, the most previous thing you can do is be yourself. I really, really hope that if you are a new parent and you know anybody that is a new parent, please reach out to either Jessica or Teresa, and again, you can find them at ParisDalDiperscom and also for FikinNewborncom. All that information will be down in the description and I will look forward to seeing you. Until then, until our next podcast, see ya.