Community Spotlight: Raising Hamilton + Little Froggy's Consignment

Each month I'm hoping to feature a local small business owner in our monthly newsletter (found at Gentle Family Living). I will always share the interview here on the blog too just in case!

This month we're talking to Emily from Raising Hamilton. She is Mom to a 2 year old boy, blogger, and small business owner. When she moved to Hamilton she felt unsure about what to do with her little one in a new city, and decided to create a resource for other Moms while she was discovering their options. She blogs about local activities and products for kids, parenting resources in Hamilton, and updates on her house renovation.

Recently, she has added a new project to her list called Little Froggy Consignment - an online consignment store for baby clothes, toys & gear (maternity clothes too!) I met up with Emily to sell some of my baby clothes and picked up a few new bits because I just couldn't help myself - The pieces we got are adorable and all in great condition. I can't wait to see how much I earn from selling my items! Emily was kind enough to answer a few questions I had about her new venture...

Explain to us how consignment works and what items you are currently looking for.

My goal at Little Froggy Consignment is to make busy parent's lives just a little bit easier by taking the tedious work out of selling their children's clothing and gear.  

To consign your items you set up an appointment to drop your items off, review and sign the consignment agreement and then I take care of the rest-- taking photos, cataloging and pricing the items, posting them on littlefroggy.ca, and then selling the items!  At the end of your 10-week consignment term, you'll get 50% of what your items sold for and you can choose to have your unsold items back or donated to a local charity for parents in need.

We accept excellent condition children's clothing from newborn to size 6, baby gear, some specific brands of toys, and maternity wear.  Since we're heading into September things like fall and winter clothing and Halloween costumes are definitely on our most wanted list!

Why did you decide to start this business on top of running your blog?

Although I have a corporate job I have forever had this burning desire to create my own business from the ground up.  In university I would refurbish and sell home decor and furniture.  When I lived in the Northwest Territories I had a cake decorating business.  And now in this new phase of mama-hood I've taken on children's consignment. 

The whole idea spawned from a conversation between myself and a friend when she had taken some of her son's clothes to a popular children's buy and sell store and after waiting in line for over an hour had received maybe 15% of what that store was going to turn around and sell the item for.  She was frustrated and I had felt similarly in the past-- so I started to think about offering an alternative to the existing options in Hamilton, and Little Froggy was born!

Being relatively new to the city, I've really enjoyed meeting other mamas through Little Froggy and hearing their ideas on how to make this business work in Hamilton!

What's next for Raising Hamilton?

Fall is one of my favourite seasons and I am really looking forward to taking our toddler to farms, festivals and events to celebrate and then sharing about them on the blog.  

I'm also going to be starting a series of posts about our home renovation that we've been working on over the last three years.  I know that there are a lot of other families that are new to Hamilton and undertaking renovations and I can't wait to share more about the products from local businesses that we used throughout our home!

Thanks to Emily for answering my questions!

Follow along with her child-friendly Hamilton adventures on instagram @RaisingHamilton

and find out more about her consignment shop by visiting littlefroggy.ca