Q & A with Lisa Munro from Happy Tummies: Building an Inclusive Food Business
Lisa Munro’s path to entrepreneurship was anything but linear. When her son was young, he was diagnosed with multiple food allergies and the challenge she found in finding suitable, safe and delicious options, ignited a spark.
In 2012, she took matters into her own hands and founded Happy Tummies.
Since then, Lisa has been empowering families to navigate the complexities of food allergies with ease, offering a unique selection of allergen free foods that go beyond the offerings of typical supermarkets.
Dive into Lisa’s story and learn how she changed the game for families like hers.
What was your background before you started your company and how did it lead you to entrepreneurship?
I did a psychology degree at university and was particularly interested in market research. My first job out was as a data analyst for a local market research company and I also designed questionnaires for them.
I decided then to study post grad marketing at uni. During my postgraduate study I had my first child and decided to change careers to something that suited my family life better and became a registered polysomnographist – I ran sleep studies overnight and analysed sleep studies.
I did this for around 14 years and also worked for my parents in their business selling high end kitchens as their kitchen designer – I was good at selling.
What inspired you to start this company? Was there a personal experience, a gap in the market you identified or a global issue you wanted to address?
When I had my son who is now 17, he had lots of food allergies and I decided that I would start an online business selling food for mums like me to save them time and make sure their children never feel like they are missing out. I had always wanted to run my own business and something that was a problem for me was surely something that was a problem for other families. Online business was really starting to take off and I thought it would be easy – LOL! This was in 2012.
What drives you to keep building your company?
I really love learning and digital marketing is so exciting – there’s always something new to learn! I also get a real kick out of helping my customers. I have a really high customer repeat rate and just love seeing pictures they send me of their kids that are so happy with their treats from us.
What’s the vision for your company?
- To create and maintain a profitable online platform that delivers relevant products to families touched by food allergies.
- Create a community of supportive families that raise happy and healthy children.
- Educate families of children with food allergies so they have the confidence and freedom to lead normal lives.
What’s your core product or service offered, what makes it unique and how does it benefit the target audience?
We don’t sell food, we sell inclusivity.
Only mums who have kids with food allergies would understand how much their kids miss out.
We make every mum look like a rockstar to their kids so every party they go to, every picnic and every school event their mum has a special treat for them that looks pretty much like the other kids.
Why is now the time for your company to exist?
Food allergies and intolerances are increasing.
Supermarkets only stock really popular products and we have a much wider range and specialty items that they don’t stock.
What does success for the company look like for you?
Success to me is about providing joy to my customers, a good income to my family and staff and a happy team to support me.
What are some challenges you’ve faced as a female founder and how have you overcome them?
In recent times my biggest challenge has been building a team of happy staff to help me scale.
We’ve recently purchased our own building and created an allergen free commercial kitchen and it’s been difficult to find appropriate staff and get the products I want into production.
After some advisory in the We Are Emersyn Scale Advisory Program and working on team building I’ve built a really happy team and gone from 2 casual staff to 9 – I couldn’t be happier – and now I get to have time off on the weekends too!
What are your key accomplishments and the company’s key achievements?
Creating our own brand Free From Family Co to increase margins and create new products our customers want.
I’m also really proud that I’ve got this business to the turnover I have with a husband that worked FIFO for a lot of the time and the responsibility of raising three children as well.
I feel like women have so much on our plate and 50 tabs open in our brains at once and it makes work challenging at times!
What have you enjoyed most about starting/the journey of your own company?
I love being my own boss so I can be there for my kids when they need me. I still work full time, probably more than if I was an employee but I’m at every assembly, sports day and available whenever they need me. I also love the satisfaction of working out my next challenge. I’m a very determined person which I think you need as an entrepreneur. I love puzzles!
What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur?
Being able to do whatever I want, when I want!
Do you have any tips or advice you’d like to share for growing a company?
Just do it, things don’t always need to be perfect to get going. In my own brand, I just strive for a minimum viable product to see if people really want it and then work out how to scale up production if they do.
We Are Emersyn uses an inclusive definition “female” and “women” and we welcome trans people, women, genderqueer women, and non-binary people who identify, have identified, or have been identified as female, women, or non-binary.