Eps 8: Nursery Sickness & Building a Brand Without Missing Out on your Children's Childhood with Stephanie Drax

This week on Heidi at Home, I'm joined by Stephanie Drax, founder of Leapfrog Remedies, journalist, and mum of two, for a conversation about entrepreneurship, family life, and what success really looks like.

What started as one mum searching for answers after years of nursery coughs and colds became Leapfrog Remedies, a science-backed supplement brand now stocked in major retailers including Selfridges and trusted by families across the UK.

Stephanie shares the fascinating story behind discovering lactoferrin, the natural protein that transformed her family's health and inspired her to spend three years working alongside immunologists, pharmacists and nutritionists to bring Leapfrog IMMUNE to market.

But this episode isn't just about building a successful business.

It's about building one around your family.

We talk honestly about the challenge of being present when you're running a business, making career decisions that prioritise family life over relentless growth, and why Stephanie has consciously chosen not to overcommit so she can be there for the moments that matter most.

She also shares how her two sons have become part of the business itself, from being the first taste testers of every new product to developing a genuine curiosity about entrepreneurship by watching their mum build something from the ground up.

This is a conversation about ambition, motherhood, trusting your instincts, and remembering that success isn't just measured by turnover or retailer listings—it's also measured by the life you're building around the people you love most.

If you've ever wondered whether it's possible to build a thriving business without sacrificing your family along the way, this episode is for you.

Find Stephanie and Leapfrog Remedies here:

Website: https://www.leapfrogremedies.com

Instagram: @leapfrogremedies

If you enjoyed this episode, please follow Heidi at Home, leave a review, and share it with someone who might enjoy listening.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to Heidi at Home, where we have real connected conversations about motherhood life and everything in between. Because motherhood isn't just one thing. It's messy, emotional, beautiful, and constantly evolving. Here we go beyond the surface to talk honestly about what it really looks like and how we can grow through it, not just survive it. So on today's episode, we are joined by Stephanie Drax, founder of Leapfrog Remedies, which we'll talk more about later. Mummy of two.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 0:28

And former journalist as well. Still a journalist. Still a journalist. Gosh, that's a lot of fools to juggle. And we're going to be talking all things motherhood and business, which I'm very excited about. I have slightly been fangirling Stephanie and her brand pretty much since I found out about them. And I use them regularly, so I'm very, very excited. So thank you for joining me. Around my kitchen table. Thank you for having me. It's so lovely to be in your home. Yeah, thank you so much. And let's talk about motherhood and the juggle first, I think, because it makes total sense. You've obviously got two boys, not so little now, nine and ten. They're nine and ten. But you're still doing both things, right? Very much so. Yeah. So how does that look? Like what how do you feel about the juggle of motherhood and founding an incredible business? It seems to be, and we'll go into it later, but just growing and growing and growing.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

Well, I mean, I think that's it. It's been incremental. Um, I founded the business when the kids were sort of three and four years old. Um, so I was very much, you know, in the nursery, in the groups, and all of that sort of stuff at the beginning, and then it became a balancing act between the two of them and and the business, growing the business incrementally. Um, and we've just we've found our way. I think we, all of us together have found our way. They've learnt to share me with the business. Um, but I also try not to focus on the business too much to have time for them, and it is really it's hard. It's a hard balancing act.

SPEAKER_02 1:55

I think that's really interesting. I picked up on when we were talking just before that you said that you could almost actively choose not to go too fast because you want to enjoy them at the ages that they are. And obviously, three and four, that's so tiny to get started. That must have been quite hectic.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Absolutely. I mean, yeah, there are once you start a business and and it begins to be profitable, you get lots of advice about how to grow as quickly as possible. And of course, you know, the businesswoman and me wants to sort of jump on that train. But on the other hand, this moment is so fleeting, and um, you know, before I know it, we know we all know this. You blink and they're older, and people say cherish the moments while you can. And so, going a little bit later in life, having kids later on in life, um, I've had that advice from friends, which is just really sit and enjoy the moment. So, I yeah, I haven't taken it as fast as I could. I haven't been as relentless as I could, but that doesn't mean I'm not really committed and incredibly passionate about what my business can do and how many people it can help. But um, I do take a breath and I just say, look, I need to be there for my kids as well. I'm mum too.

SPEAKER_02 3:04

And what does that look like sort of daily? Is that sort of the school pickup? Are you always there after school? Have you had childcare to support you?

SPEAKER_00 3:11

No childcare.

SPEAKER_02 3:11

No childcare.

SPEAKER_00 3:12

No, and that was um that was a conscious decision between my husband and I um quite early on. When they were in nursery, we had a bit of help because it really genuinely is a physical juggle, especially when one's pregnant and has another one very close behind because my kids are only a year apart. Um, but after that, we made the decision that we would do the childcare all ourselves. We would, we would, we wouldn't have um a nanny, and it's been hard, I won't deny it, but also, you know, incredibly rewarding. So, yes, I do the pickups. Um, both kids are at school now, so my husband does the drop-off. That happened this morning for the first time. I was like, don't I need to be some nanny? I didn't know that's amazing. Um, because they've been at different schools previously, so yeah, and it's the pickup and it's it's the scrape knees and the stories, and it's the you know, have your bath and get them dinner, and it's all of those moments. I just feel like those mundane moments are actually the foundation of something that's really important. And yes, you can take bricks out here and there, we all need a break, we all need to get away, but we wanted to just make that foundation as strong as possible. All the memories that we could possibly squeeze in, even the most sort of mundane ones.

SPEAKER_02 4:27

Um but that's also where the connection happens, isn't it, at the end of the day, when they're a bit tired and something's kicked off at school and they want to tell you about it. Or it's actually, I think, in those in those everyday sort of do the same thing at the same time each day moments that they actually start to open up to you and want to connect with you. So being there, I think, then is really powerful.

SPEAKER_00 4:46

Exactly. Sometimes it it does take time for them to reveal what they're really thinking under the surface, and so you need to be there and peel away those layers and get to what it is that's really going on. Um, so yeah, I mean we found it we found it really rewarding, as I said, and hard, but um, it was an important decision for us.

SPEAKER_02 5:06

So nice to hear, and what that brings, because I obviously speak from experience, I have three children of my own. Um, my eldest are the middle six, and the eldest is eight, so similar, not quite nine and ten, but similar. And for me, there's a lot of obviously juggle. We do have childcare two days a week, but there's also those moments of like I've got this thing to do or this person to email, and it's in my head, but I'm also trying to do bath time, and then I'm on the stairs to my laptop, but I don't want to distract from bath time, and the kind of trying to do it all, the phrase have it all. What do you think about that?

SPEAKER_00 5:41

I haven't cracked it. I'm just gonna say that right now. I have not cracked it. Um, I'm definitely not as organized as I should be. I've been asked to be on the PTA, I've said no.

SPEAKER_02 5:52

Because I am the kill you because that killed me to have to say no. I was like, I really want to be the person who says yes, because my mum and dad were. But I just was like, I just with my business, I just can't.

SPEAKER_00 6:02

No, exactly. And and I I've let go of trying to be the person that could say, I just, I know it's not me. Um, the person who's running the PTA, I'm on the I'm on the WhatsApp going, what do I need to do tomorrow? Yeah. Because I otherwise I'm gonna forget because there are so many emails and I just don't read everything and things fall through the net. So um I'm very thankful to all the PTA reps who take that on. Um, I'm I'm I'm not as organized as I should be, but I'm getting better. I'm trying, I'm using the tools. We're living in an age and a stage now with AI, etc., where you can there are many, many tools available. Tell me your tools. Well, Notion I found. Notion is is what we use. There are many different types, but Notion for task tracking. So if something pops into my head, undoubtedly within six minutes, I'll have forgotten what that was. I will have forgotten that it was. I've forgotten completely. Um, so I run to my laptop or my phone and I write it down. Such a good idea. And then it's there, and I know that that's something on the list now. How fast does the list get done? That's another question. That's a different question, but at least it's sort of getting it down. I I think honestly, the key is hiring people you can who are really organized and who really get stuff done. And thankfully, I have the most amazing team who are just they're on it, and so they tell me, you know, where I need to be, what I need to do, and and I'm there and I show up. So they really help. We really do work as a team, which is great.

SPEAKER_02 7:25

And people that you can really rely on as well, which is so important, especially when you founded the brand itself.

SPEAKER_00 7:29

So and some of them have children as well, yeah. So they really get the juggle, which which helps too.

SPEAKER_02 7:34

Yeah. Okay, well, let's talk about leapfrog remedies. Yes. Because I do feel as though they have changed my life. So I'm you are here for a reason, because I really truly believe in your brand. And uh we'll go into the winter and whatnot later on in illness, but you it started from memory from when your littles were little, and they were getting obviously with nursery, like cold after bug after cold after bug. I mean, we've all been there, still are sometimes. Like, how how did you start? Like, what was the problem that you saw, and how did you even start to think about well, I can solve that?

SPEAKER_00 8:07

Well, it was just uh in a uh an un very unusual chain of events. My kids were at nursery bringing home all the coughs and colds. It's one of the things that they don't tell you about. It's brutal. That first winter as well, it's just yeah, it's hard, isn't it? I mean, I breastfed the kids, right? And while I was breastfeeding, they didn't seem to get sick, and then once I stopped breastfeeding, they got sick. And so that was interesting to me. And then suddenly they were sick all the time, sick. And then they went to the Petri dish that is nursery, where everybody's getting each other sick, and then they're doing this and they're wiping their noses on everything, and the whole thing was just a gunk fest. And they were bringing it home to my husband and I, and it was just going around and around and around. And I thought to myself, as a journalist, there must be something we can do let me think strategically what I can do to change this disgusting situation. And so I went searching. I spoke to a nutritionist, I said, look, how can we keep the kids well? What do we need to do to keep their immune systems resilient? Um, and she suggested a few things, including kefir, and started making my own kefir at home. Did you really? That is committed to the cause without even creating a brand of something. I was desperate. What am I telling? I was desperate, okay. And you're not supposed to blend kefir because that ruins it. It has to be as it is. So I was just puring fruit and putting it through this, really not very nice. Wow, this is real committed to it. Giving it to the kids who were like, oh, but in the hope that I was doing something for their immune system. Um, and then I met a scientist and I had a conversation that changed my life. Um, and he said these very words. He said, Kefir is all well and good, Stephanie, but if you really want to stop a cold in its tracks, you've got to try lactoferin. I haven't had a cold for 30 years. How? How did you meet this person? Was it just a few years? So I met him through a friend. Um, I was introduced to him because I was interested in kefir and I was thinking, well, look, can it keep us? Maybe, maybe there's something in this. And he was working with food and as a scientist who understood nutrition, and um so it led to a conversation, and out of that conversation came this word lactoferin. And as a journalist, I was surprised that I had no idea what he was talking about because I'm pretty curious about wellness. Um, because I would write about lifestyle and travel, and so I would have thought I'd have heard of lactoferin. And so I said, you know, what is that? And um, it's a protein that your body makes every day in your eyes, nose, and mouth right now, and it sits there in your tears and your saliva, ready to kill viruses and bacteria as they try to get it. So literally it's like your body's best friend, your bouncer at the entry point to your body. Great explanation that kills the bugs, and it's also the key ingredient of colostrum and other. So when I breastfed my babies and they didn't get sick, that was the lactoferin that working. So it primes a baby's immune system and it literally just fights off all the bugs. So we can take lactoferin from cow's milk because cow's milk and human milk are very similar. They're they're both to sort of prime the newborn's immune system. So we can extract this one protein out of cow's milk. So it's lactose free, virtually lactose-free. It's just this one protein, and um it's it's it becomes a fine pink powder when you extract it. It's known as pink gold because it's so effective, it's so rare, and it's it's so effective, rare, but also um valuable and and has this amazing pink colour.

SPEAKER_02 11:40

And so we put that into chewable tablet. So just so when he first said lactopharin, so going back, he's like, You gotta try this. Yeah, was that at the time was that simply I'll get some and try it because I'm having a hard time as a mother? Yeah, okay. Except it's like kind of a personal interest into I just need my kids not to be sick the whole time.

SPEAKER_00 11:58

Massively personal interest. I said, Send me some, please. Yeah, and he sent me um a bag of this pink gold powder, and my husband said, What's that? Because I get sent all this stuff. I'd just tried three different types of collagen the week before that I was writing about. So he was used to me trying all this stuff and his eyes rolled back. And I said, Apparently it um cures a cold.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

And he went, give anything a go. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:26

So he did, we did. I shoveled it into the kids whenever they got that first sign of a cough or a cold coming on. And I mean, it was miraculous.

SPEAKER_02 12:36

It's insane.

SPEAKER_00 12:37

It worked like magic. And the kids would just the next day it was it had disappeared, and we felt better. And when we ran out of this this bag of of of the lactoferon, my husband said, You've got to get more. We can't run out. I've I've got I've got too much work on.

SPEAKER_02 12:53

This is where I'm now at. There is a panic. I'm scared of life without it. Oh dear. So it was a very much a personal fix in the moment. And then, do you remember the moment where you thought, actually, do you know what this could this could be a thing?

SPEAKER_00 13:10

So, of course, being a journalist, I did lots of research. I was like, no, no, no, okay, hang on a second. This works for us, but like I need to see the science. So there was lots of science, there was lots of scientific research online. Um, so I read a lot of that, and then I kept seeing a name coming up at the top, this doctor, Dr. Marianne Crusal. And he was at the University of Texas and he was a lactoferin expert. He'd been working with it for 35 years, and I called him and I said, Hello, am I crazy? I want to start a lactoferin supplement. This stuff is amazing. Is isn't it amazing? And he goes, It is amazing. If I wasn't here working here, doing what I do and busy as I am, this is what I would do. And he lifted up a little, a little um pot of chewable lactoferin that he makes for his family and his friends. No, yeah, and I said, Oh my gosh, that's what I'm making, a chewable lactoferin. So he came on the team, of course, naturally. Um, and that and that was how it started. But yeah, no, it was over the course of three months we were trialing it, and um, it just worked so continuously that I knew I had to bring this to people. I knew I had to help the mums at the school gates who were going, oh, he's sick again. He's gonna be at home. I've got some more work to do, you know. Obviously, poor little darling, but also I've got to go to work. What are we gonna do? Yeah. And I just the idea of having something that could help. And I we made some tablets, obviously professionally made and a manufacturer, and I had uh samples of them, and I was giving them to friends, and I was giving them to mums, and they were coming back going, Oh my god, have you got any more of it?

SPEAKER_02 14:44

It's like some, yeah, once you're in. That's it. Once you're into the club, lactate fairing club. Um, how long was it between meeting that scientist and then going to market?

SPEAKER_00 14:54

Do you remember? Yeah, so I think I met him towards the end of 2018, and then it took the whole of 2019 um researching and developing learning. I was not, I'd never made a supplement before. I was a journalist, so I got together a bunch of uh very clever people, including Renee Elliott, who is the founder of Planet Organics. She came to help me as my mentor to sort of help me start the business, and then and obviously Marion Crusal, who was the Lativer and expert, he came on, and our amazing nutritionist who's still with us, um, Emma Davies, she's fantastic, she helped formulate all of our products now.

SPEAKER_02 15:32

Um, and did you go directly to these people just to jump in there? So you all of these amazing names. Did you just pick up the phone? You were like, Do you know what? This is who I want. Oh, you just picked up the phone.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

Yes. Oh, you just pick up the phone. Interesting. Oh, I've I've always been tenacious. Somebody called me tenacious when I was probably old enough to know what it meant, but I didn't know what it meant. I think I was about 19, and somebody said, You're so tenacious. I was like, Oh, really? Well to that. And as an English lit student, that's probably like I shouldn't fully admit that, but I wasn't quite sure what and that is what I am. Like, if there's if there's I I'm not shy about going and asking for help, and that is what I have done. That's certainly what I did at the very beginning. I asked the smartest people I could find, I asked the best people if they could find to help me because I needed that help and I wanted the best help I could find in in starting this supplement. And thankfully, you know, they all came together because they could see. I remember remember Renee Elliott saying, Why are you doing this? And she's very values driven. And and I said, I said that word, I said, I really feel like I can add value, I can really help people. And so she came on board. So, you know, I got really the best people at the beginning. And then it launched in 2020. The worst time to launch an antiviral supplement.

SPEAKER_02 16:50

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

Yeah, talk to me more about that. Gosh. Terrible timing. It was such bad timing because as a journalist, I thought, oh my gosh, I can go to all the newspapers and magazines and people that I know and tell them I've got this antiviral antibacterial supplement, and they're gonna go, oh, that's so interesting. No, no, in the as soon as COVID broke out, um, everybody had an antiviral uh something or other, and there was just like and and also, you know so could you even get in the papers because the stories were just COVID, COVID, death, death.

SPEAKER_02 17:20

Like it would be hard. It was all about the vaccine.

SPEAKER_00 17:23

It was all about the vaccine, and there wasn't definitely there wasn't there was no room for any sort of natural supplements to support your immune system. No.

SPEAKER_02 17:31

So did you still launch or did you hold back on? No, no, no, I did launch.

SPEAKER_00 17:34

And and it's not such a sad story because we we went straight into Selfridges, um, which was amazing. I know. I'm always grateful to the buyer. I had 10 minutes on a Zoom call with him when Zooms were just starting, and by minute seven, he said, Stephanie, go open the champagne in Selfridges. And I did. That's such a great story.

SPEAKER_02 17:53

It was it was really so from I've got a problem that needs fixing for my own children to I'm in Selfridges. Like that journey, that's quite a quick journey for a business brand, eh? For a brand. Yeah, I guess it is. You know, I I've never really thought about it, but yes, I think it is. And what's interesting about what you said is it was about asking the right people and actually having to ask. I feel like there's a lot of people, me included, that would look at something and go, oh, quite like look at that person, but I don't think I'd ever pick up a phone and call them. Maybe is that the journalist in you, do you think, as well as your personality?

SPEAKER_00 18:22

I'd say that probably is. You're just used to doing that. I I'm you know, what's the worst that can happen? They won't write back to you. If you email them and you ask for a meeting, you know, that the worst that can happen is that they ignore you. Um, but very often I think when there's, you know, if you're coming at it from the right angle and you're there, you know, for the common good, and you know, you've done your research and you turn up prepared, I think it's amazing to me how how how generous people are with their time, actually.

SPEAKER_02 18:52

It's a really good tip because obviously my audience is very much mothers, and a lot of them will be looking at career changes or building businesses at home and from the bottom up with small children around them. So that point on just reaching out actually is a really powerful one, I think.

SPEAKER_00 19:07

I was thinking that as as I was saying it, I went, I would I would just say just if there's somebody that you think can unlock something for you, do just ask them.

SPEAKER_02 19:17

Okay, great, great advice. Um, in terms of coming to market and selfages and all that lovely stuff that you've done, biggest challenge in launching well, I mean, yeah, that's easy.

SPEAKER_00 19:29

The biggest challenge is nobody knows what lactoferin is.

SPEAKER_02 19:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:32

So it's how do you start to convince people? It's the greatest opportunity to be working with something I feel so passionate about that is natural, that is made by Mother Nature, who is the greatest formulator of all. Um, that's a great opportunity. The challenge is undoubtedly the fact that nobody knows what it is, and I need to educate an entire country. Forget about the world, yeah, starting with a country. Um, and it's hard, but it's it's people like you because you know we sent it to you, and you know, you tried it and you felt the effect, and you've talked about it. So it's been your influence is hugely influential to a brand like ours. It has been really um it was a big step change for us because you speak directly to the people that I wanted to help at the very beginning. Yeah, yeah. The person that I am solving those pain points. And so, you know, you have such a have a have a such a powerful voice, and I know that you're you're you know, you curate, you get sent lots of things, so I was just very grateful to you that you tried it and that that you know you're passionate about it now too. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 20:40

Well, it's so interesting. So when I do share, I've had quite a few messages. I had one more recently that I can think of a lady with a six, I'm sure he was six years old, multiple chest infections yearly off the back of it, and she sort of said, like, this is we we've been trying this and it's really working, and he's not had one since. And so not only am I sharing it because I've seen it in my own home, I'm sharing it because I've had people say to me, like, actually it's been the same for us, it's really powerful. So I I'm also the same, like, make our lives easier. Like, what can we do to make our lives easier? And of course, we can't always completely um get away from illness, like it's going to be around, right? But we can do what we can do as mums and as parents to try and preempt it and stop it in its tracks, and I think that's what it's all about. The other thing I love, which I'm going to get your products out now, is quite honestly one of the main reasons would have been the branding and the colours. Because to me, like block colour, beautiful colours is so important and just it just looks so clean. So, talk me through. So, we've got various different ones here the daily, which is your new one, immune. I don't think I need to say any more on that, and snooze, which guilty secret, me and my husband love taking one on a Saturday night. I don't take them in a week, it's like a treat for me. I'm like, right, Saturday, let's let's take a loop frog. I love them. It's like some kind of date night, but it just means we get a really nice sleep when we wake up feeling all Kind of zen and chilled, and um, but branding, like where do you start? So you've got this little tablet, it's been manufactured, it's really well researched. Like, how do you decide?

SPEAKER_00 22:11

Well, again, it was you know, it was lucky because I'd reached out to the right people. So Rene um Elliot said, I've I've got a great designer you could speak to. So I did, um, spoke to John from Make and sat down with him and told him my vision. And my vision became his vision, and I sort of actually um I wanted lily pads and I wanted frogs jumping, and he said, No, you're not having lily pads. No, he said, You're having this colour and that white and the name across the room.

SPEAKER_02 22:41

I feel like it wouldn't quite be the same of lily pads and frogs jumping, no offense.

SPEAKER_00 22:45

When I look at them now, because I have all the designs, I'm so embarrassed. But that's why I'm not a designer, and he is, and and I think he made something that's really timeless, and it's it's just super simple, and that's the point. The body is brilliant, it doesn't need a lot of stuff, and I think there's so much overwhelm and so many supplements to take, and so many, you know, so much to do in one's lifestyle that I wanted it to be really simple. We that's why we've got few ingredients that really are effective, and then it just says the word of what it does on the on the on the packet. And um leapfrog? Where does that come from? Leapfrog remedies. So I needed a name, and it's lactoferin has a scientific abbreviation which is L big L small F. And so when you're reading any of the science, it immediately becomes LF. And I was with the buggy in hand on the way to nursery, empty buggy, to pick up the kids from nursery, and I'll never forget the bit of pavement that I was staring at when I went leapfrog. It just came to me, leapfrog, and it just just every every part of my body, just like putting on a coat, my old coat, it just fit. And I said, This this is the name. But then the best bit was the next day, and I'm not joking, it was the next day. I was at home and my husband called out, do you know what? I think I've leapfrogged over another cold with that stuff of yours, and I went, Oh my god, I literally still think it's all the business.

SPEAKER_02 24:17

So I thought that must be like some kind of universal, that is the right wow. Okay, amazing. Gosh, this story. I just I just love any any mum that has thought of something that has then gone on to become a huge success. I just think it's incredible because how hard it is to grow a business with small children around, it's just insanely difficult, isn't it? And I think you we mentioned that thing about sort of the juggle, but the distraction piece as well, the sort of constant, you know, which which was your first product, the immune product or so this comes out, and then presumably you had people sort of going at you to go, go again, go again, next one, next one. And how did you manage to slow that process down? Like, what would you say to them? Like, would you just say, I'm a mother, and that's what I want to do first and foremost?

SPEAKER_00 24:58

Or yeah, I never felt pressured, actually. I think the the the company that I that I sourced my lactoferin from in northern France, they said to me about six months after I launched immune, they said, We have something else for you that we think that you'll really like. Um, it's an ingredient called lacteum. And you know when a baby goes all relaxed and calm when it drinks milk. This is exactly what it does. This milk-drunk feeling that a baby gets after a feed, and you're like, Oh my god, I want some of that. Then well, that's what this is. They decided to work out what was going on in a baby's body. What does the how does the milk do that to a baby? And they worked it out. The milk is basically broken down by enzymes in a baby's stomach, and it creates peptides that travel to the brain and make it go all relaxed that. And so they recreated those peptides, and and and then they made this again a powder that contains these peptides in it, and then we put that powder into snooze. So that became our second product, these sort of chewable, it's a chew, it's a chill pill.

SPEAKER_02 25:57

I mean, it's it really is, yeah, absolutely. I can't I I struggle to describe it fully, but essentially what I'd say is I still have to get up sometimes, you know, someone's had a nightmare or someone needs the lib or all sorts of stuff we're going through at the moment, wet the bed alarms, blah blah blah. But it's the ability to get back into bed and just go straight back off. And as a mother, I'm sure you'll shirty those sort of 3 a.m. to-do lists or thoughts or the whole Perry Meniforce thing, like it can be quite hard to switch off and go back to sleep, especially in the early hours. With this beauty, it's like straight back to sleep, and then you know, I'm very lucky my children all sleep till 7:30, sometimes eight o'clock at weekends. So just kind of waking and go, oh, it's seven, but I'm just I'm just gonna stay here. Whereas normally I'd be like exactly. It's a chill pill, exactly. Literally, you just in a day, which I haven't done.

SPEAKER_00 26:46

So talk me through Yeah, so focus, which I couldn't bring. I am so sad to say because we've sold out. Um but it's time it's green. I know it's green. It also contains lacteum because we had a lot of people who were saying, Can I take snooze during the day? Because it doesn't knock you out like a sedative, it takes you off the hamster wheel. So some people were writing to us and saying, you know, I'm taking it during the day. Um, is that okay? And yes, that is okay. So we thought, well, look, let's make something that is targeted for during the day for that stress that you know somebody might have in a corporate world or or brain fog mum, middle stage of life. Um kids who are who are doing exams and absolutely terrified. God, I still have nightmares about doing exams. Um, what can we make that's for them? And so that has this calming um effect. So we brought in the lactof lacteum, and then we have L-theanine and B6, because they are also great for calm and sharpness and focus, but also the lactoferin, because not only is it antiviral and antibacterial, but it also helps with neurodevelopment. Because if you think a baby drinks nothing but milk between zero and six months, and yet its brain development is huge. The lactoferin is helping with the brain development, and um, so it was a natural thing to also have in this tablet because it makes you it helps with memory, it helps with cognitive um learning, and um and that's been a huge success. Obviously, we've sold out.

SPEAKER_02 28:12

No, it's incredible. And what I love about the way you talk about it, it's it's so science-backed as well. And I think that's it's a really hard thing because as you say, like I get sent lots of different supplements. Do you want to try this? I mean, even just yesterday I had three different random supplement brands just asked me, do you want to try? I'm trying to do this, and you know, like you have to look at their story and you want to help at the same time. For me, it's always as well. The science behind it, I think, is really, really important. Yeah, it's got tons of that.

SPEAKER_00 28:37

And it and it's easy for me to sit here and say, you know, it's good for cognitive development because I've interviewed the scientist who did the study about that cognitive development. And and and so, whenever there is new science, I try to find out who it is, and if I can reach them and do an Insta Live or at least an interview that we can publish on the website, that's the journalist in me. It has to, the I's have got to be dotted and the T's crossed. The science it has to be rooted in the science.

SPEAKER_02 29:05

This episode is proudly sponsored by Biogaia Probiotics. BioGaya are experts in gut health, offering clinically tested probiotics designed to support the whole family's digestive system from day one and as your child grows. Whether it's helping with colic, gas, or overall gut balance, their products are developed with both science and safety in mind. You can purchase BioGaia in Boots, Amazon, or Hollander Barrett, or use the code PPBY20 for 20% off on their website. Because when your family feels better, everything feels a little easier. Dare I ask what's next? So we've got this one, so talk me through. So this is this is sort of stopping a cold in its tracks, andor just winter, like dosing up because let's say you're going on an aeroplane, or you just know it's December and everyone's at parties and mixing, whatnot. Obviously, that's the sleep from that we've spoken about. This is what, just sort of lower dose every day.

SPEAKER_00 30:00

So this is our new one, and yes, so we've had again, similarly, we had people saying to us, I can't live without immune. Can I take it every day? Um, and so some people were taking it every day, some people were taking it SOS.

SPEAKER_02 30:14

Just realized it wasn't a tool one perfectly.

SPEAKER_00 30:17

Apparently approved. Um, yeah, so we thought, well, look, let's let's go one stage further. Let's have the lactoferrin that we know is replenishing your natural lactoferrin levels because yes, we do make lactoferrin every day, but actually, modern lifestyles, sort of not eating well, not sleeping well, being stressed, can deplete our lactoferrin reserves. That's so that's used up faster than it's restored. So why don't we supplement with something that your body already makes, lactoferrin, um, over the course of the year? So you are can you're you're continuously investing in your lactoferin reserves so that you can battle any viruses and bacteria they you know try to tackle you. Um you're just it you become more resilient. And so we have 100 milligrams of lactoferrin in this one and 250 milligrams in this one. So I mean, at home, and it's important to me that it works for my family, of course. So what we do is we'll have the leapfrog daily, but if we're traveling on a plane, or if somebody coughs and sneezes on us, or if we're just feeling vulnerable and run down, and we think this is exactly the time when you know you're going to get sick.

SPEAKER_02 31:26

But I think you know, don't you, as well in advance, like you just have that feeling like I've just done a bit too much, and I'm starting to, it's not even necessarily like a runny nose or anything, it's just that feeling of like, uh-oh, I should get to bed early, and in my brain, take two of those.

SPEAKER_00 31:40

Exactly. I know, and that's really it's it's wise because you need to listen to your body, and I think that's the problem, is that so often we don't because especially as mums, you know, we're multitasking, we've got so much to get done, um, we get into bed absolutely shattered, and you know, we our bodies can give us what they know what we need, but we often don't give the bodies the tools um and the time, and yeah, um so I think you know this works in sync with your body's natural immune system, and I think that's why it's it's it's really powerful. Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 32:11

And if anyone wants to look at the research behind iToFREN, it's really easy to find online andor presumably on your websites as well. So we'll put all of it into the show notes and you can have a little look. Um, in terms of going back to the motherhood part of the business andor being a mother, because that's you know, as important as a role as co-founder of Leapfrog Remedies, uh, what would you say would be your advice for someone out there, like a mother who's listening who maybe also has young children, as I was saying, has an idea, um, thinks it could be a goer, but also is just kind of stuck in the everyday grind of motherhood.

SPEAKER_00 32:49

It's funny when you say that, I start to get excited because if I listen to any, if I hear anybody's little budding business idea, just finding a kernel is where it starts. You don't have to think about the big, the big selfridges moment or the big whatever it is, you know, expansion and sale. It's finding the kernel. That's the really exciting bit. And I think everybody is looking for that kernel and probably thinks, gosh, I've got I've I've got so much to give. I'm just looking, I I just need something to get my teeth into. Open your eyes. There is going to be a pain point somewhere and uh be brave. Just think, gosh, there's a gap there. I could fill that. I've got a bit of an idea. And then it is simple, it is as simple as one foot in front of the other. I didn't have the tools to build a massive business. I literally just put one foot in front of another with one kid here and one kid here. And I think on that point, I would say, as you know, I I you know I was trying to do it all myself. I brought them in. I talked to them about what my ideas were. I talked to them about the ups and the downs. And not only was that therapeutic for me as a solo founder, because my husband was too busy working to listen to all of my woes, or you know, to sell my celebrations. Um, I I just invested that time in my children. I said, well, this is what happened today in mummy's business. And I found them to be very receptive and very useful because kids see things, as we all know, in a very different way. They do. And my God, did they have a perspective that any sort of jaded adult, cynical, grown-up would have they didn't have they didn't have that. They they they just came at it with fresh eyes. So I brought them in very early on. Um, so I've got, yeah, my my two chief taste testers were definite. They they taste everything first before it gets even to my husband's lips. Yeah. Um, but I just say, look, this is what's going on. I'm not really sure what to do. What do we think about that? I mean, we've had stock problems. So when we run out, it's a wonderful problem to have because it means it's selling so well. But that also means we need to get the manufacturing happen fast, and you can imagine it's a train of oh my god, oh my god. And I share that with the kids, and they um they just give really good advice. They just they always do. I mean, definitely my elder son, he's he um he's gonna take over the business.

SPEAKER_02 35:26

Yeah, yeah. Well, this is the thing, isn't it? And I think I recently started home education, as you know, with my children, and for me it's about looking at the world differently. It's not necessarily about ticking the boxes and going out there to uni and getting, you know, the job. The thing that we all did. Yeah, because AI is changing, it's kind of tearing shit up, it's changing things a lot, and so actually, not only for your boys to see you being an incredible founder of this brand, but also giving them ideas as to like how they start a business, the problems that come up, the problem-solving piece that I think with AI is going to be crucial for our children, actually.

SPEAKER_00 36:02

That is so true. Um, I hadn't actually thought about that. You are so wise to say that because I think what we need more than anything in these very fast changing times, quite frightening times, um, is to be resilient. Yeah. And, you know, when you get knocked back, when there isn't the job that you want, when this isn't working the way that whatever, whatever it is, do you know what I can't even, there isn't even a script because in in 10 years' time we have five years' time, we've got absolutely no idea what the landscape is going to look like. So I think at this point, you're right, the best thing is to be adaptable, resilient, um, problem solving. Um, and that's you know, that's not the way that we were originally taught. So yeah, we have to adapt as parents.

SPEAKER_02 36:46

Just incredible skills by just watching you go, and if you're involving them, yeah. I think that's so so powerful. And I can only see my eight-year-old in it as well because I often talk to him. I've made some changes recently, and he was like, Oh Mummy, you're feeling okay. It's sad that you had to close that bit down. You know, it's just so special to have them involved, and yeah, who knows? They may well, in what another 10 years' time, they need at least to enjoy their childhoods first. Yeah, um, and on that note, so you're very clear that you want to be fully involved in their childhood and make sure that you are around. So, in terms of your setup, and as the business expands, which clearly it is doing, is it just bringing more people in, or how what will it look like for you?

SPEAKER_00 37:31

I'm funny enough, I'm doing a I was selected to be on this Goldman Sachs program, but they they they have these two cohorts a year of 70 people, and I'm one of them on this cohort, and that's very much what we're looking at. It's it's a business growth program. What does it look like? How do we grow? And definitely getting in the right team at the right time. This is what's going to make um a r a really big difference. Um, but also, you know, all of us just just thinking creatively with AI, there is there's so much you can do. Um, and that's just you know, not only just creating zany content, which obviously you've got to say is AI, we love natural and real content too, of course we do. Um, but it's also just systems and processes and getting things you that what you can achieve in a day now.

SPEAKER_02 38:16

Yeah.

unknown 38:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:18

You know, you could only you wouldn't even dream of five years ago. So yeah, it's just bringing in the right people now to just take it to the next the next level and and and and talk to the right people like you, who are experts in their fields, who really you know are curious about the science and who who want to try it and then communicate that to their audiences, those are the people that I I really want to um you know work more with. And um so yeah, it's it's just it's really exciting. So exciting. It's really exciting. But just going back, just to anybody listening, if you have a kernel, a kernel of an idea, just you know, sprinkle water on it every day because it it really could grow and share that with your children.

SPEAKER_02 39:00

And um and I think your point on just reach out to people, because again, I think we've spoken this morning on another podcast about this idea of like people pleasing and not advocating for ourselves as mothers, and that completely ties into this because if you're sat at home with an idea, you don't really want to bother, you know, it could be reaching out to you, whoever, and just asking questions, then nothing nothing changes if nothing changes, right? Yeah, whereas if you just first step, small step, reach out to someone, have a conversation. And as we know, conversations are magic. Yes, you know, someone will say something.

SPEAKER_00 39:31

And look, I think you know, communities are so powerful as we know. You know, when we're when we're mums and we've we've just had babies, how important are those communities that we build, those coffees and cakes that we have when we don't know what we're doing, how we keep this little precious thing alive. You know, how I you know I remember that so fondly those times that it was so vital to have that network. Well, just to expand upon that. I mean, there are networks for business, there are networks for everything. And I'm part of several networks, and um they're just there's just you could always go there. You've got a question, somebody has an answer, and um, I mean, you can't put a price on those sorts of communities. And especially, I'd say, especially the ones you know that generally are women-centric, there's there's just so much time that people will give. Um, and I'm so grateful for that. So, yes, I'd say look at the Instagram networks, um, just start start investigating, and you'll be surprised what there is there, what resources there are there, communities to tap into.

SPEAKER_02 40:34

Great advice. Thank you so much. Thank you for coming. Thank you for sharing your idea with the world, quite frankly, because it was literally a personal problem. You've turned it into a business, it's helping I hear about on the daily, like so many other parents, and um, just really well done. I'm so inspired. So, thank you for being in my kitchen.

SPEAKER_00 40:52

Thank you so much. I've had so much fun chatting to you.

SPEAKER_02 40:55

I always um end just by asking every single guest the same question, which is in motherhood, what has been your support network? Like, what has it been that has helped you through? And obviously, yours has been a pretty busy journey. So, what would you say has been your key support?

SPEAKER_00 41:10

Well, I'd have to say actually, yes, it's all the all the female friends that I have, and I try to carve out time no matter how busy I am, like so busy at the moment. But I had a walk around the park with a friend yesterday, and just carving out that time, that one-to-one time with with a female friend is important. But I've got to say, it's my husband and I just being on the same page, having the same values. Um, that has been key. Um, and I didn't know what that meant. I remember when we met each other, one of my best friends said to me, you know, what are his values? And I said, Um, well, yeah, turns out they're the same as mine. Good. And that's really, really good. Um, that makes a big difference. So yeah, it's it's really important.

SPEAKER_02 41:55

And I don't think many people could sit here and say that either, actually.

SPEAKER_00 41:58

It is important. He knows the kids as well as I do, and and this is the biggest project of our lives, really. So to have you know, to have him to bounce off of I'm you know, and he's and he gets me, it's I feel very fortunate for that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:13

Amazing. I'm so so happy for you. And um, yeah, just a big thank you again for being here. And we look forward to seeing what else happens for Leapfrog Remedies in the coming months and years. So thank you, Stephanie. Thank you. Thank you, thank you for listening to this week's episode. Don't forget to subscribe on whichever channel you find your podcast on, Spotify, Apple, or other podcast players.