The Kitchen Diaries Podcast - Episode 3 - Motherhood Meets Innovation: Garrett on Building Kozēkozē

✨ Full Transcript Below ✨

00:00:00

 
chelle waite:
today's guest is someone I'm genuinely honored to have on the podcast, Garrett Cuz, the founder of Kozēkozē. While we haven't met in person yet, I will say chatting with you over email and on our call has truly felt like talking to a girlfriend, very effortless and zero pressure to sound professional and proper, and I mean that as the highest compliment because I really appreciate how easy and genuine this connection has felt. And I'm so excited to dive in today. Um, if you have ever leaked through your shirt or felt like you were drowning in the overwhelm of early motherhood or found yourself wondering why hasn't someone made this better, this episode is for you. Garrett launched Kozēkozē in 2021, and what she's created has already become a lifeline for so many women.
 
 

00:02:50

chelle waite: With her iconic nipple diaper, genius one-handed nip gloss, and silicone peacup that makes testing easier, everything Cozy Cozy makes is rooted in real life need and thoughtful innovation. But today's conversation goes way beyond the products. It's about vision and vulnerability and what it really looks like to build something meaningful while you're still in it. So Garrett, thank you for being here and welcome to the Kitchen Diaries.

Garrett Kusmierz: Thank you so much for having me and for such a sweet and thoughtful introduction. I uh the the feeling is mutual.
chelle waite: I feel like that first call it was like very chaotic and my kids were screaming and you guys just made me feel so at home and welcomed. You were like, "It's okay." That's like what life is as moms trying to start businesses.
Garrett Kusmierz: Yeah, I all three of us on our team that like we all have kids and so there's always there's always a toddler appearance on one call and we're just like but this is why we're doing what we're doing because we can not only make a difference for moms who are in it but we have to embody being mom in order to actually help moms but it's like if we're really on a mission to help moms as moms ourselves with the value of motherhood, we have to live that value. And that means sometimes there's kids on the call.

chelle waite: Right. And it's a balance. Like sometimes they're there and you just have to
chelle waite: move it. and everybody like that's the other thing you like I was so nervous I was like of course it's the one day and my kids are like freaking out but you're all women you're all mothers you understand what it's like and so like the embarrassment on my like on my end is like it was totally like soothed from you guys because you're like we get it and we're doing the same thing so I really appreciated that.
Garrett Kusmierz: Yeah, it's nothing. It's like it's real life. It's totally normal.
chelle waite: Yeah. Well, I want to start with a little bit more about you.
 
 

00:04:48

 
chelle waite: So, I'm going to ask you, what is something that people might not know about you right now from reading your founder bio?

Garrett Kusmierz: Oh gosh. I think what some people wouldn't know um that's not as obvious today is just how much fitness was an influence in my life um I spent 10 years teaching fitness classes doing the fitness instructor hustle coaching people online um with fitness fat loss wellness um life coaching and it was just such a huge part of my life um and then also real estate was a big part of my life as Well, and like
chelle waite: Wow.
Garrett Kusmierz:  I can say like, "Oh, I did commercial real estate development, but like what does that even mean?" commercial real estate brokerage. but I really enjoyed it. And at the very end of that part of my career, I was actually helping fitness people expand their location. So, I got to help like a spin studio go in next to like a coffee shop that we we represented um, Cafe Nero, which is a London.
 
 

00:05:49

Garrett Kusmierz: It's like the Starbucks of London kind of. And we brought them here to the States on the East Coast. If you're in Boston, you've probably had Cafe Nero. It's like a really pretty blue cup. Um, and so yeah, it was really cool to like put together fitness and food. Um, because I loved real estate and I loved fitness as well.
chelle waite: Wow. Okay. I knew there would be something fun tucked in there. I feel like I knew a little bit about that just from like now that we're like social friends and I see you doing like your handstands and I'm like you strong girl. Like
Garrett Kusmierz: Thank you.
Garrett Kusmierz: Yeah, it's fun. I feel like I'm like the one thing that makes me feel young is like when I can still move really well.
chelle waite: Yeah, I love it. It's great. Um, so for listeners who might not be familiar with your founding story, what was what first inspired you to start Kozēkozē?
 
 

00:06:40

 
Garrett Kusmierz: Uh I think I was inspired to do something CPG and be in a founder role before I had the idea. because I had a podcast and I was constantly talking to founders. So I think you know just one that stands out is like the founder of Slate Milk or the founder of Gravity Blankets and the founder of Kodiak Cakes. And I was listening these stories and they just they honestly seemed like the hardest thing you could do. And if you're into fitness, you know that like there's this weird allure to like go take the hard instructor or like go to the like longer spin class.

Garrett Kusmierz: And so it felt like something I wanted to challenge myself with, but I had never had like a core idea that was meaningful to like who I am or my family is. Um, and so it was when I came home from a 4-day long induction that when awful. Um, it was every bit of it was awful except for the fact that I'm so grateful my son was healthy when he was born and and all was well with him.
 
 

00:07:41

 
Garrett Kusmierz: But it was a really traumatic experience. And so I came home thinking, "Okay, I'm sleepd deprived now. I have to be mom." Like, I don't I don't have time to process the birth, but at least it's over. And then I was being woken up in the middle of the night by leaking breast milk everywhere on top of postpartum sweats. And um my mom was in town for the first few days, so she every morning she'd help me change my sheets. And you know, it's annoying to do, but I'm like, why in 2021 am I sleeping on a towel to avoid, you know, washing my sheets? And everyone kept saying, you know, Garrett, just put pads in your bra. Like, you're leaking. Just wear pads in your bra. And I was like, my bra is too small. I was so engorged that my double E bra didn't fit. And so, not only that, but um I wanted a place to put like jellies or silver cups or something for nipple care. And I tried putting them inside like a cami, but the cami was leaving red marks. Like when I'd wake up in the middle of the night because I was getting so engorged. And so I just felt like there has to be a better solution. And just talking out loud, I said, "God, I just wish I had a diaper for my boobs." And that was the aha moment.

chelle waite: I think that's hilarious that you're like a diaper for your boobs because I think in those moments like I I had a low supply but I did have a leak and I think I told you that but the last thing of all of the objects around me would have been a diaper that I was like thinking this would solve the problem. So, I just love that your brain went there and um it's very funny to me, but I love it cuz it's like so smart. And I'm wondering like when you were thinking about it, was it one of those moments where you were just like obsessed about it in the middle of the night like before and prior to launching?

Garrett Kusmierz: Um, in the beginning, no. Like I was just when the idea struck me, I was only a few weeks postpartum and I was just saying that like, "Ugh, this is so annoying. I wish I had a diaper for my boobs." At 12 weeks postpartum, I made like a post of like five business ideas for bre for like postpartum moms. just again kind of as like a joke being like, "Oh, this is like there are a lot of pain points in postpartum." And it wasn't until a year later in 2022, I had been thinking about it so much, but when you're alone with a baby and you live in the woods in New Hampshire, like you don't really realize the your thoughts. And I went on a bachelorette trip and I realized that the bulk of the trip I was asking all these other women like, "Okay, what should I call it?" "what do you think about it?" And that's when the obsession was like full on that bachelorette trip was in August and by September I had filed the LLC and um yeah the rest is history. It never it's like the elephant in the room of of our life. So it's here.

chelle waite: it is.

chelle waite: I love that like you were like talking to your girlfriends and then once they start like validating, you're like, "Okay, I need to do this and this needs to happen.

Garrett Kusmierz: Yes. And at the time, the hard part about the bachelorette trip is that I think that I was the only mom or there was one maybe one other mom on the trip who hadn't had leaking as a problem. But there were a lot of really astute business women who enjoy talking business, enjoy talking marketing. So, I was in hindsight, I'm like really grateful they even entertained the conversation given that they had never been through it. But it was it was helpful.

chelle waite: So, since bringing it to life, how has Kozēkozē changed you? Whether in like your day-to-day life or how you see yourself or just how you move through the world.

00:00:00

 
chelle waite: today's guest is someone I'm genuinely honored to have on the podcast, Garrett Cuz, the founder of Kozēkozē. While we haven't met in person yet, I will say chatting with you over email and on our call has truly felt like talking to a girlfriend, very effortless and zero pressure to sound professional and proper, and I mean that as the highest compliment because I really appreciate how easy and genuine this connection has felt. And I'm so excited to dive in today. Um, if you have ever leaked through your shirt or felt like you were drowning in the overwhelm of early motherhood or found yourself wondering why hasn't someone made this better, this episode is for you. Garrett launched Kozēkozē in 2021, and what she's created has already become a lifeline for so many women.
 
 

00:02:50

 
chelle waite: With her iconic nipple diaper, genius one-handed nip gloss, and silicone pee cup that makes testing easier, everything Cozy Cozy makes is rooted in real life need and thoughtful innovation. But today's conversation goes way beyond the products. It's about vision and vulnerability and what it really looks like to build something meaningful while you're still in it. So Garrett, thank you for being here and welcome to the Kitchen Diaries.

Garrett Kusmierz: Thank you so much for having me and for such a sweet and thoughtful introduction. I uh the the feeling is mutual.

chelle waite: I feel like that first call it was like very chaotic and my kids were screaming and you guys just made me feel so at home and welcomed. 

Garrett Kusmierz: Yeah, I all three of us on our team that like we all have kids and so there's always there's always a toddler appearance on one call and we're just like but this is why we're doing what we're doing because we can not only make a difference for moms who are in it like if we're really on a mission to help moms as moms ourselves with the value of motherhood, we have to live that value. And that means sometimes there's kids on the call.

chelle waite: Right. And it's a balance. and that's the other thing I was so nervous I was like of course it's the one day and my kids are like freaking out but you're all women you're all mothers you understand what it's like and so like the embarrassment on my like on my end is like it was totally like soothed from you guys because you're like we get it and we're doing the same thing. 
chelle waite: Well, I want to start with a little bit more about you.
 

00:04:48

 
chelle waite: So, I'm going to ask you, what is something that people might not know about you right now from reading your founder bio?

Garrett Kusmierz: Oh gosh. I think what some people wouldn't know um that's not as obvious today is just how much fitness was an influence in my life um I spent 10 years teaching fitness classes doing the fitness instructor hustle coaching people online um with fitness fat loss wellness um life coaching and it was just such a huge part of my life um and then also real estate was a big part of my life as Well, and like I can say like, "Oh, I did commercial real estate development, but like what does that even mean?" Or commercial real estate brokerage. Um, but I really enjoyed it. And at the very end of that part of my career, I was actually helping fitness people expand their location. So, I got to help like a spin studio go in next to like a coffee shop that we we represented um, Cafe Nero, which is a London.

00:05:49

 
Garrett Kusmierz: It's like the Starbucks of London kind of. And we brought them here to the States on the East Coast. If you're in Boston, you've probably had Cafe Nero. It's like a really pretty blue cup. Um, and so yeah, it was really cool to like put together fitness and food. Um, because I loved real estate and I loved fitness as well.

chelle waite: Wow. Okay. I knew there would be something fun tucked in there. I feel like I knew a little bit about that just from like now that we're like social friends and I see you doing like your handstands and I'm like you strong girl. 

Garrett Kusmierz: Thank you.

chelle waite: so cool.

Garrett Kusmierz: Thank you. Yeah, it's fun. I feel like I'm like the one thing that makes me feel young is like when I can still move really well.

chelle waite: Yeah, I love it. It's great. Um, so for listeners who might not be familiar with your founding story, what was what first inspired you to start Cozy Cozy?

00:06:40

 
Garrett Kusmierz: Uh I think I was inspired to do something CPG and be in a founder role before I had the idea. Um because I had a podcast and I was constantly talking to founders. So I think you know just one that stands out is like the founder of Slate Milk or the founder of Gravity Blankets and the founder of Kodiak Cakes. And I was listening these stories and they just they honestly seemed like the hardest thing you could do. And if you're into fitness, you know that like there's this weird allure to like go take the hard instructor or like go to the like longer spin class. And so it felt like something I wanted to challenge myself with, but I had never had like a core idea that was meaningful to like who I am or my family is. Um, and so it was when I came home from a 4-day long induction that when awful. Um, it was every bit of it was awful except for the fact that I'm so grateful my son was healthy when he was born and and all was well with him.
 
 

00:07:41

 
Garrett Kusmierz: But it was a really traumatic experience. And so I came home thinking, "Okay, I'm sleepd deprived now. I have to be mom." Like, I don't I don't have time to process the birth, but at least it's over. And then I was being woken up in the middle of the night by leaking breast milk everywhere on top of postpartum sweats. And um my mom was in town for the first few days, so she every morning she'd help me change my sheets. And you know, it's annoying to do, but I'm like, why in 2021 am I sleeping on a towel to avoid, you know, washing my sheets? And everyone kept saying, you know, Garrett, just put pads in your bra. Like, you're leaking. Just wear pads in your bra. And I was like, my bra is too small. I was so engorged that my double E bra didn't fit. And so, not only that, but um I wanted a place to put like jellies or silver cups or something for nipple care. And I tried putting them inside like a cami, but the cami was leaving red marks. Like when I'd wake up in the middle of the night because I was getting so engorged. And so I just felt like there has to be a better solution. And just talking out loud, I said, "God, I just wish I had a diaper for my boobs." And that was the aha moment.

chelle waite: Oh my gosh. I think that first of all, I think that's hilarious that you're like a diaper for your boobs because I think in those moments like I I had a low supply but I did have a leak and I think I told you that but the last thing of all of the objects around me would have been a diaper that I was like thinking this would solve the problem. So, I just love that your brain went there and um it's very funny to me, but I love it cuz it's like so smart. And I'm wondering like when you were thinking about it, was it one of those moments where you were just like obsessed about it in the middle of the night like before and prior to launching?
 
 
Garrett Kusmierz: In the beginning, no. Like I was just when the idea struck me, I was only a few weeks postpartum and I was just saying that like, "Ugh, this is so annoying. I wish I had a diaper for my boobs." At 12 weeks postpartum, I made like a post of like five business ideas for bre for like postpartum moms. just again kind of as like a joke being like, "Oh, this is like there are a lot of pain points in postpartum." And it wasn't until a year later in 2022, I had been thinking about it so much, but when you're alone with a baby and you live in the woods in New Hampshire, like you don't really realize the your thoughts. And I went on a bachelorette trip and I realized that the bulk of the trip I was asking all these other women like, "Okay, what should I call it?" "what do you think about it?" And that's when the obsession was like full on that bachelorette trip was in August
and by September I had filed the LLC and um yeah the rest is history. It never it's like the elephant in the room of of our life. So it's here.

chelle waite:  I love that like you were like talking to your girlfriends and then once they start like validating, you're like, "Okay, I need to do this and this needs to happen.

Garrett Kusmierz: Yes. And at the time, the hard part about the bachelorette trip is that I think that I was the only mom or there was one maybe one other mom on the trip who hadn't had leaking as a problem. But there were a lot of really astute business women who enjoy talking business, enjoy talking marketing. So, I was in hindsight, I'm like really grateful they even entertained the conversation given that they had never been through it. But it was it was helpful.

chelle waite: So, since bringing it to life, how has Cozy Cozy changed you? Whether in like your day-to-day life or how you see yourself or just how you move through the world.

Garrett Kusmierz: So, one thing about me is that I am a huge astrology nerd. So, I joke that I just want to retire and read people's charts for fun. It's my favorite party trick. And if you look in my chart, my Chiron, which is like your your deepest wound and biggest like healing in this life, is conjunct my life's purpose. And so the way I like to put it is that Cozy Cozy is my like karmic healing partner. Uh because it's changed me in every way, shape, or form. It's changed how I think about money. It's changed how I think about relating to people. It's changed how I think about working as just a career. um and how I think about being seen because of like doing founder, you know, meta ads or Instagram ads or being on Tik Tok.
 
 

00:12:19

 
Garrett Kusmierz: And it also has changed what I think about myself because it's one thing to like have an idea and talk about it at bachelorette parties or talk about it with your husband, but to actually talk to people all over the world and talk to different factories and like make something out of nothing is like a really surreal experience. So, um, it's changed everything to, uh, to answer it in a short fashion. Um, and it's it's been the hardest thing I've ever done.

chelle waite: Yeah. I mean it must have been so huge doing that especially. How old was your son when you officially launched? So one year.

Garrett Kusmierz: He Yeah. So, he was a He was about 15 16 months old when Well, we didn't launch. We we decided to start a company which meant coming up with hundreds of thousands of dollars to invent a product because that that takes so much time and so much money. And so that's another really hard part of the journey is you have this idea, you tell people you're going to work on it and they think, "Okay, cool. A couple months later she's going to have this thing and you will go literally insane because we from 2022 until 2023 we had nothing to show for it." Well, until 20 end of September of 2023, we launched the nip gloss. And then from 2023 until March of this year, we talked about a product that didn't exist. So, it was a whole I I was like starting to have this deep level of imposttor syndrome because I'm like, people are going to think I'm insane because I'm talking about something and it keeps not happening. It keeps not getting done. Like, am I delusional? And the truth is, in order to make anything, I think you have to be delusional.

chelle waite: 100%. with consumer products, I can imagine that the process was long and stressful and like every time you want it to be perfect. Jonny, my husband, is always like don't let perfect get in the way of being complete and but when it's your like when you're attached to it and you feel so passionate about it, you're like no, I will not stop until it's perfect. Did you feel like that or like did you feel overwhelmed or frustrated through the process?

Garrett Kusmierz: Oh my god. Yeah. I mean, we were hit, again, going back to astrology. So, Saturn was just in Pisces since early 2023, and Pisces is like very creative and dreamy and um passionate and creative. And Saturn is like basically rules, restrictions, setbacks, hard lessons that you're so glad you've gotten through at the end of the day. And that's perfect a perfect summation of everything we went through. Like nothing was working. Nothing would come through. And I am a very, if you ask anyone in my family, ready, fire, aim. Like I'd rather put something out to the world that's a quarter of the way done and get feedback and make it real to then make it more real with like again feedback and um people talking about it etc. And it just was not happening.
 
 

00:15:25

 
Garrett Kusmierz: Not happening. Not happening. Um we had pre-sold things that we couldn't get to the people who bought them. Uh we were misled numerous times by people telling us it'd be done in summer of 2023 or fall of 2023. And so the worst was twice we fell for like getting PR lined up and getting paying for PR specialists to have all this hype around this launch that didn't happen for six months or 12 month until 12 months later. So very frustrating experience. Um, but I had a moment in um 2023, which feels like a lifetime ago, but at the time I was just so beat down after a year of just really, really, really hard lessons. Um, I said, "I'm not going to give up until we at least get the nipper nipple diaper out. I'd rather launch the diaper for your boobs and have people laugh in my face and tell me it's stupid than not do it at all because I'm too far in" 
 
 

00:16:26

 
Garrett Kusmierz: but the other part of it that I haven't mentioned is just like what energy I put into this is energy that I don't give to my my family and my son. So, there's that also background balance going on. Uh, and so I thought it was going to launch summer 2024 and I was like, I can make it six more months. And again, even if it falls on its face, like I did it. And then little did I know it'd be 18 months later, but that's another story.

chelle waite: I love hearing your perspective because for me it was like I was so afraid to talk about anything that I was doing until I made it like what it was. I think I didn't even tell like some of my closest girlfriends until like a month before launching and they were like, "Wait, what?" Because I'm like someone who's like obsess like I get so anxious that like if I tell them about it then it means that it's real and then I like have to do something even though you're kind of doing it all behind the scenes anyway.
 
 

00:17:21

 
chelle waite: So I love that you're like let me just get it out there and then I can like adjust and like fix and do what I need to do because I know that it's going to be really awesome. I just like you wanted that feedback and you were really passionate about what you were doing and also it's true like taking time away from your family like your husband and your kid like multitasking it's it really like pulls on you and I think that is a part of like motherhood that you feel like kind of guilty about because you're like I'm doing something for us and for our family but they're so little right now like they're not see that bigger picture thing. So there's so many night times at night I'd be like working until like 1:00 cuz I'm like trying to spend quality time with my kids, but then you're getting tired and burned out and then you're like, "Okay, TV time it is." And

Garrett Kusmierz: Uh it's so real and um it's it's just yeah there's a big sacrifice involved, and the interesting thing for us is the one thing I learned from Barry's is and a few other studios I work for is like you have to market what you're doing because people need to see things like 1900 times. And like a perfect example of that is I wrote and published a book in 2018 and I posted every day three times a day and I marketed like to my extent unpaid just organically the best I could at the time. And I had someone come up to me at a wedding last year, so like six years later, was like, "Hey, like did you ever publish your book?" And it's like, "Yeah." And I talked about it for three years every single day. So like people just don't pay attention. And so when we started Kozēkozē and we started the journey, I should say, of launching the products in 2022, I changed the name of the podcast that I had already had for several years to Kozēkozē to like say, "Hey, I'm doing this new thing." before we had anything to sell and we had supermama support circles once a month before we had a product to sell. We had a brand shoot before we had product to sell. So we and my husband kept saying you're doing it all backwards. You're doing all backwards. And like no, but if you don't talk about it now, then when if you like one week before launch like, oh, hey, like we're going to launch this thing. Like some people will be excited and find it, but like let people will have so many questions. And so that's one thing that I think helped us um just because uh there's a lot of education around the product and what it is. And so that

Garrett Kusmierz: was again kind of speaks to that ready, fire, aim. But I I have that ability to feel okay putting it out there because of what Barry's asked of me so many years ago, which was mortifying as a 22-year-old and to put myself out there. But they were like, "If you don't post, like you can't work here."
 
 

00:20:01

 
Garrett Kusmierz: And I was like, "Okay, well, here we go.

chelle waite: I mean, it does make so much sense for me. It's definitely intimidating. Um, but it does make sense. And like I think it's also part of storytelling and people want to follow along because they're like connected to you and they believe in you and like there is that aspect of it too. 
Garrett Kusmierz: storytelling. Yes, you are absolutely right. Love a good story.

chelle waite: okay. So what was it like when you had the nip gloss? And then how much longer until you had the nipple diaper?

Garrett Kusmierz: So, we um set off to start them both at the same time. And I don't know if I recommend doing two product development projects at the same time, but the nip gloss got done first.

 

00:20:55

 
Garrett Kusmierz: And we were like, this is great. We can use it as a Trojan horse because it embodies the pillars um and values of our company. So making it mess and stressfree and you know easy for mom reducing stress. Um sustainability in the sense of like the plastic is like a postconsumer recycled plastic tube and the packaging is forestry stewardship council certified and then the organic non-toxic nature of it being you know incredibly or organic natural sourced ingredients. were like, "Great. This embodies what the nipple diaper will embody and you don't have to educate." Like, people know for the most part that they're going to need a nipple bomb.

Garrett Kusmierz: It's a very straightforward thing, whereas the nipple diaper might need some education. luckily at the time, I was wrapping up an accelerator that I did called Dream Ventures. I highly recommend it. And going through the just like steps of like what an investor would need way before we were ready was really helpful because it was making me just a little bit more structured on how we were thinking about getting the product fully like consumer ready.
 
 

00:22:04

 
Garrett Kusmierz: And then our PO went awful. Like they told us an ingredient that like we didn't realize was in it. So the ingredient wasn't on the tube. So, we had to like pivot and get stickers to like add the the sticker on the tube that's like now with rosemary extract because they hadn't told us that it was in there even though like we had approved that formula. And um they tried to like back charge us all these taxes like you don't pay taxes on that type of a whole like they're you know the manufacturer not paying taxes on our own product. So it was because we're not the end user. It was a really bumpy ride. And luckily the accelerator at the time, I had other founders I could talk to that were a few steps ahead and they're like, "Oh my gosh, Garrett, that's so normal. That is so normal. It's never easy. It's so bad." And I'm like, "Well, I had like I had to go to the ER because I thought I was having a heart attack during that time."

chelle waite: no.

Garrett Kusmierz: So like like serious serious serious level of stress, like breaking out in hives, like just a whole new level of responsibility and awareness and intensity. And I was like, well, thank goodness both products aren't being done right now. Um, and you know, I was just thinking every irrational thought like, what if one of the nip glosses is bad or has bacteria in it? And it's like, we did microbial testing, we did stability testing, we worked with a chemist, and by the way, it's not a water-based product. So, like, bacteria can't grow without water. So, anyway, again, irrational fears, but it just speaks to just the intensity of birthing. um whether you're birthing a human or birthing a product. And the nipple diaper just launched in u March of this year. So it was over 18 months later that we had this one product in the market.

chelle waite: Well, I mean, first of all, the intrusive thoughts postpartum number one, and then like you're also doing this, too. So, it's like you're dealing with both. And I'm so sorry that it was so stressful, but thankfully you have them both here, and they're incredible. that's so thoughtful that you're thinking cuz these like nipple bombs, they're like these jars and sometimes you're fumbling and you're like uh like I just thought it was so cool and I've never seen it done before. So I just loved it.

Garrett Kusmierz: Thank you. Yeah, I love the cat popping off with one hand because moms do everything with one hand. And I also um I didn't think this through, but I had um accidentally I used to get gel nail polish and someone accidentally did dip on me for the first time before I went in for my induction. And so you can't really clip your nails with dip. And i come home and I'm dunking my finger in a jar getting all this gunk under these long nails I can't do anything about because I'm postpartum. I can't leave my baby. And I was just like like it's it's not a like crazy. It's like a first world problem, but it's it's also something that if we can reduce mess and stress in the personal hygiene realm, mom can put that much more energy into bonding with her baby and not jimmying solutions together for her own physical body that's still healing.

chelle waite: Right. Exactly. I mean, you're we're changing diapers. We're doing a thousand things and like trying to like wash our hands all the time. I was remember being like so stressed that my boobs were going to get like sick from like poop. Like you, like I said, the intrusive thoughts when you're like postpartum, you don't know anything is real and you're just like hyper aware. You're like, "Okay, I have to keep this human alive."
And like the last thing you need to think about is like, "Oh, am I going to get my baby sick? She going to drink poop because I touched my hands and I put this balm on." Like,
you know, so silly, but it wasn't So, I appreciate the product and the nipple diaper, too, is like the coolest thing. 

chelle waite: we heard a little bit about all of your stumblings and how hard it was and the stress and about being in the ER, but what would be one of the most exciting or surprise moments so far?

Garrett Kusmierz: Oh gosh. I think anytime I mean since we're still so early to the nipple diaper being here and being live in the market is any like honestly anytime someone makes like buys the product we're just like yay like because if you are if you are in s in the trenches bad enough to find us like most of our sales too have been coming in on the Amazon and like at 2 a.m. moms are up.
 
 

00:26:30

 
Garrett Kusmierz: They're leaking everywhere and that's when they're finding us. And so I'm just so conscious of like the mental state of that shopper is not it's not like the fun shopping you do in your 20s for like a girl's trip buying a cute outfit. Like it is like survival. And

Garrett Kusmierz: so I think just to put it simply, having um having our product into the hands of people it can help is the biggest just excitement. Um as far as surprises go, I actually just yesterday heard back from an investor that I cold like emailed and it was a really big full circle moment because I really believed when we started this like people will invest in an idea and like all you have to do is convince investors in your idea. Uh, and what I learned is that in this economy, like maybe in 2019 that was true, but right now a lot of quote unquote early stage investors are saying things like, well, if you're making a half million to a million in revenue, like we'll take a look at you.
 
 

00:27:30

 
Garrett Kusmierz: And I'm like, there it takes so much money to make that much money. So people who invest early, if that's early, like that's not early to me. And so anyway, we'd but we've been talking to an investor and going through diligence, which is really exciting, was someone who was like, "Congratulations, you know, you've come really far  is amazing." And it was just that was cool. But then to get a cold email that I had like submitted cold to them, a response back of like, "We want to get on a phone call." It made it just like restored my faith in what's possible because for you know some people telling me like nope you don't have 500,000 to a million in revenue like sorry like come back later it was just all it made it feel like okay well if we are not going to get the funding to keep going like what is this all for like we see that moms love it but this is so challenging so I guess the surprise would just be like literally yesterday getting a response response.
 
 

00:28:28

 
Garrett Kusmierz: And then um just the feedback at in-person conferences too, like when we talk to real moms who are like especially moms who are there with their friends who are first-time moms or older sisters or moms who are like, "Oh my gosh, I needed this when I had you." And like people just validating like that we're not crazy is also always nice, too.

chelle waite: Yeah. Well, the like thinking about it. So, you know, like when you're pregnant with your girlfriends, like that 2 a.m. text like, "Oh my god, what are you doing? How's it going? You up?" Like, but also it is that like send me a link of what you just bought at this is what I just purchased at 2 in the morning. Like, I bought bassinets from Facebook Marketplace at like 3 in the morning, that's what we're doing and I love that like you're seeing that and you're like okay what we're doing is working and I can imagine the stress of being turned down from so many people who don't see that as like a meaningful like way for them to invest and help you grow.
 
 

00:29:27

 
chelle waite: But I am just like picturing you in that moment yesterday getting that email and just feeling so validated and like so excited to, you know, take steps forward because, you know, what you're doing is really changing lives of so many women. Like truly, like it really is something that is very huge and I'm in all of it and I just love it. 

Garrett Kusmierz: Thank you.

chelle waite: do you want to talk a little bit about the nipple diaper a little bit more? Like explain about what it is?

Garrett Kusmierz: Sure. I feel like it has such a funny name. And yes, for anyone listening, we have been told like some people hate the name because they're like, "Ew, diapers are so gross and like who would want that?" But we're not trying to be a really cute, fun, trendy outfit. Like, we are a diaper for your boobs and that is what it is. And actually, my doula that I'm using for um this current pregnancy, I had had her on my podcast um years ago.
 
 

00:30:25

 
Garrett Kusmierz: And so when I wanted to create this this absorbent disposable bra, which is what it is, I I had a call with her for feedback. I'm like, look, you are in the space like what would you call this? And she's like, you know, haka, for instance, for anyone who knows Hakka, it's a milk collector. I am a huge fan of Hakka. Like I couldn't have gone through breastfeeding without Haka. Love it, love it, love it. She goes, "Haka is great, but they lose sales because the haka, which is a New Zealand term, because they're a New Zealand company, doesn't tell you what it does." So, you have to say like what it does, like absorbent disposable bra, but if you want like a catchy name, like, you know, I don't think nipple diaper is a bad idea. So anyway, I always like to talk about the name, but basically like I shared, we wanted to invent a diaper for your boobs, and we did not want it to feel like a real bra because we want moms to get to not have to wear a real bra
 
 

00:31:21

 
chelle waite: right?

Garrett Kusmierz: for those early days. I think so many moms have stories of just walking around the house topless or naked because you're like, "My bras don't fit." Or just like leaking into their husband's big t-shirts or sweatshirts. And it's like I did that. I leaked into his sweatshirt. I leaked into my own sweatshirts and dripped milk everywhere. Um, and again, I also acknowledge like not everyone has an over supply. Um, but as painful as an underders supply is, so is an over supply because it's this whole extra level of care and time and thoughtful like ways of like, do I want to collect it? Do I not? And so going back to this idea of it not being a real bra, we're the first ones to tell you like it's not going to lift shape and smooth. It's not going to be worn under your dress. Like if you want to go to school drop off and wear it under a sweatshirt, that's probably perfect.
 
 

00:32:10

 
Garrett Kusmierz: But the most important thing for me was having it the customer be able to wear it overnight because that's when I was leaking on my sheets, which was adding this whole other extra layer of laundry to my life. Um, and being a hygienic place for your nipples because if you sit around in a milk so soaked bra and you don't wash that bra every day, you could create, you know, some other problems for yourself like thrush or a rash or not having a clean place for a bleeding nipple to exist. Just like if you have or if you have a vaginal birth and you have stitches down there, like you want a hygienic place for the bleeding and for the healing, you're not going to wear the same dirty underwear every day. Like you're just not. And so the other notion, I've kind of already said it without saying it, but the fact that it's disposable is really important because to the same reason that people wear disposable underwear or adult diapers postpartum, they don't want to keep that material.
 
 

00:33:14

 
Garrett Kusmierz: And while there are great milk collector devices like the haka or um any of the other, you know, collectors out there, sometimes you want to catch milk and sometimes you want to sleep and that is allowed, especially if you have an over supply. And so I love the haka, but I can't sleep in a haka and I don't want to catch that milk. So, it does have um snaps so that you can I can actually I could breastfeed without undoing the snaps, but you can undo the top two to three snaps and keep the bottom snaps closed and you can breastfeed on one side while you leak into the other. It can hold up to an ounce of breast milk per side. And um you know that's like an underestimate I will say I've definitely poured more into it. And really important uh piece of this as well um is that the back of it is mesh to be a play on the mesh underwear that they give you in the hospital.
 
 

00:34:10

 
Garrett Kusmierz: Nobody feels bad throwing that away and we go through it if you have vaginal birth. And so we wanted it to be a play on the hospital underwear. The outermost layer actually has a papery feel like a real diaper. So you also don't feel bad tossing it. But the inside is a very very soft cotton so that your nipples have a soft place to land. And the mid layer is a cot an organic cotton and a viscous. So it's a natural absorbency and wicking. There's no chemicals or beads or um yeah any any toxic sprays that make it absorbent. It's literally just layered material. and the front panel is all biodegradable and soon to be the back mesh. So, my husband I filmed a video the other day of him clipping the mesh off so that he could throw the front panel into our compost pile.

chelle waite: Wow. See, love I love husbands that show up for those moments.
 
 

00:35:08

 
chelle waite: Well, it's such a beautiful product and like you're talking about the over supply is just as painful. Like I think like physically and emotionally as like a low supply and like so many girlfriends are one one of my true best friends for life. like she is someone who makes like such an over like she told me the other day she got 20 ounces of milk and in the beginning it is so painful and like none of us are really like thinking okay we need a nursing bra that's like supportive with wires in those especially the first couple weeks. did you leak like your whole breastfeeding journey did it balance out a little? 

Garrett Kusmierz: I leaked the whole time. But for most people, I think three to 10 days is like more of an average. Um maybe two weeks for some people, but um like to your point, in those early days, like the last thing you want is underwire

chelle waite: yeah, as it continues and you are leaking, like like I said, my supply was low and I only made it like eight to eight weeks with my daughter and I was still leaking and I remember getting like the elvie cups because do you know the elvie cup. It's similar to the the Hakka because I was like, "Okay, I could sleep in this." But my my boobs were still like not so large where like first of all, I couldn't get it to suction and I was so frustrated. I remember just waking up and like throwing this thing in the middle of the night.

Garrett Kusmierz: I do too.

chelle waite: And so, and also like to your point with the name, the nipple diaper, when I first saw it, I get that some people are like, "Oh, I don't want to put on a diaper on my nipples or maybe turned off by it." But it is telling me like immediately this is what I needed my husband will tell you because he's the SEO guy. That's what he does for a living. But like it's perfect because it tells you what it is in the name. If people are searching for it, it's going to come up. And I think it was just perfect.

Garrett Kusmierz: Thank you. That's a really good point, too, with SEO. So many things you don't think about when you're going into starting something new.

chelle waite: Exactly. Well, anyway, Garrett, I want to close here, but I wanted to tell you that you definitely have built something that holds women in such care and intention, especially during one of the most vulnerable seasons of their lives. And for someone listening who's maybe in those early days of motherhood or thinking about starting something on their own or just trying to feel a little more like themselves again, what what would be one piece of advice you would want to leave them with?

Garrett Kusmierz: Oh, I have full body chills just thinking about the intensity of that question because both, you know, early stage foundership and postpartum are the two hardest things I've ever done. Um, and I think I guess the best advice is just to remind yourself that everything's temporary and everything's a phase and there's going to be so much wisdom on the other side and that the wisdom doesn't come unless you're living it fully.
 
 

00:38:00

 
Garrett Kusmierz: And so being in the I guess from like them from a motherhood perspective like I was made my whole 20s about being efficient and being productive and achieving all this stuff and the biggest win was shifting my perspective and to be like you know we're going to spend 30 minutes in the parking lot so that I can change his poopy diaper, listen to a podcast and breastfeed him and I'm just happen to be alone and it kind of sucks because I don't like feeling lonely but like this is what we're doing now and this is our reality and this is perfect. Like there is nothing else I should be doing. Um and I'm not going to be breastfeeding and and honestly after I didn't mention this but I had a three-year infertility journey after getting pregnant first try with my son. I mean I looked back like yearning for the ability to feel lonely in my car breastfeeding a baby and changing a poopy diaper because I was like I may never get pregnant again. And so just reminding yourself that everything's temporary. Um, and trying to just soak it up for what it is.

chelle waite: Yeah. Well, first of all, thank you for being so vulnerable and honest, and I think that so many women really needed to hear that, and I wanted to thank you for being here and for sharing both the heart and the hustle behind Kozēkozē. You really are doing something special, and I know so many people listening are going to walk away feeling seen, inspired, and supported. And girlfriends, if you want to learn more or shop Kozēkozē, you can visit Kozēkozē.com or find them in on Instagram at Kozēkozēmama.