#MomCrushMonday Series: Meet Hindi Zeidman, Founder of The Ollie World

March 22, 2021/Comments Off

1.) Your company has a beautiful origin story. Can you please share the story of what inspired you to create the Ollie?

Thank you so much! It all started with an amazing infant named Oliver. I was a single foster parent and he was my foster son. When he came to me he was on the verge of being labeled failure-to-thrive because he struggled with the basics of eating and sleeping. He was also exposed in-utero to drugs, so he was truly having such a hard time. With my background in working with drug and trauma exposed infants, I knew the importance of swaddling. I bought every swaddle on the market and nothing worked for him: they did not contain him or his joints properly, he overheated, and he escaped them all. So, I set out to make my own swaddle and one that could meet all of Oliver’s needs. And, that is how I created the very first Ollie Swaddle. Once Oliver started using it, I saw such a dramatic change with his eating, sleeping, developmental milestones, and attachment.

2.) Your mission is to see little ones flourish. How does your mission motivate you each morning when you wake up?

When I first started my career in working with the 0-3 age population, it was a breakthrough time in the world where that age group was not being dismissed as just being “resilient”; people were truly delving into neurodevelopment and how their amazing brains were affected by what happens in their life. As a population that doesn’t necessarily have the ability to use their voice, it is critical to have others, who have their best interests at heart, be their voices. That is my goal and mission and drive every single day.

3.) At what point did you realize, “hey, I got a really great idea here”? How did you pursue taking it to market?

It was truly seeing the change in Oliver, my foster son. I saw him being able to settle for this first time in his life and to be able to do such things as take a bottle, sleep, or just be able to make eye contact, all of which he struggled to do prior. Seeing those changes in him, was what inspired me to share the swaddle with little ones all over the world.

4.) You were a single foster mother when you cared for Oliver. Can you tell us your experience as a foster mother?

I feel like the best way to describe my time with my foster son is life changing. Oliver changed my life in every way and there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about him and miss him. He was strong, he was a fighter, he was wholeheartedly lovable, and it was my honor to be able to love him. It was a challenging experience navigating and supporting a newborn with drug exposure and neglect, but there is absolutely no question that I would do it all over again.

5.) What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs?

The most important thing and what has gotten me through my hardest of days was that I believed in my product. Every single person, store, shop, not only told me no, but they also told me that I would never be able to compete with the larger swaddle companies. The only thing that kept me going was knowing what the Ollie swaddle had done for my foster son, Oliver, and that belief kept me going (and still does). So, my best advice is to believe in what you do and make that purpose be what drives you in everything you do.

6.) What is your favorite song lyric? Why?

I am now a single mom by choice to a miracle little girl named Olive. Her favorite song that we listen to on repeat is “Holy” by Justin Bieber. I hear those song lyrics on a daily basis. They are not my chosen favorite, but they are my daughter’s favorite, so now they are mine too.