Mitra Morgan T'95
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Founder, Brooks Pond, Inc.
Brookline, Massachusetts
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When Mitra Morgan T'95 needed a name for her new business, she knew where to get inspiration and advice: her Tuck classmates.
Morgan convened a focus group of fellow mothers to examine the prototypes for the company's line of outdoor children's accessories, brainstorm about the image that various names would project, and advise Morgan on how to define her brand. From that afternoon session in 2004, Brooks Pond was born.
"I wanted to develop a brand, not just a single product," Morgan says. "By drawing in fellow Tuckies I was able to get the input of professionals from the fields of marketing, finance, and strategy. In the early stages of my business I could never have afforded to pay for the expert advice I received that day."
Morgan had always wanted to start her own company. In fact, she wrote her Tuck application essay about that desire. In starting Brooks Pond she has been able to use the marketing, strategy, and financial skills she acquired at Tuck, her real-world experience as a management consultant and general manager, and her longtime interest in structure and design.
Her inspiration came from her daughter. Frustrated at having to unbuckle and unswaddle her snow-suited toddler every time she wheeled her into a store, Morgan conceived the idea of an easily removable buggy blanket that could be used by a child from infancy to preschool. To turn her idea into a working model, Morgan solicited the help of a local designer. Then came the heavy lifting—finance, production, sales, and marketing.
Since few American factories can provide the complex stitching and precision assembly required for the blankets, Morgan had to learn how to source, manage manufacturing contracts, and monitor production quality with sources in China, while overcoming obstacles ranging from cross-cultural misunderstandings to defective products. She became a one-woman wholesaler with outlets mainly in the Northeast and an online retailer via the Brooks Pond website. Morgan also had to learn how best to communicate her company's brand image to her target market of urban parents with disposable income and discriminating taste.
Morgan's investment in the venture—both time and money—has been significant. And the rewards are adding up. Her company's second signature product, the Carrier Cover (a blanket that slips over soft infant carriers like the Baby Björn) won the iParenting Media Award for excellence in 2006. It was also featured among the best baby and children's products in Orca Communications' Best Products Media Guide in 2006. Significant retailers, including Barneys New York, have picked up Morgan's line.
It has been a challenging, but rewarding experience says Morgan of her venture. "I am fortunate to have a network of friends and classmates who have been incredibly supportive. Whether I need feedback on product design, help developing a pricing model, or access to someone's Rolodex, I have this amazing network of people to turn to."
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