Laura Modi’s organic baby formula company, Bobbie, thrived during a formula shortage that saw nearly 50% of the nation’s formula supply vanish. As desperate moms searched for alternatives, many turned to Bobbie, leading to massive growth—until the demand threatened the supply. Laura faced a critical decision: continue accepting new customers or pause growth so OG Bobbie babies were taken care of. Laura tells the story of how her bold choice paid off and how Bobbie has future-proofed itself through smart business decisions.
In this episode of 9 to 5ish, Laura shares:
How growing up in rural Western Ireland taught her hospitality
Why it took having a second child to push her to start Bobbie
How she navigated Bobbie through a product recall just two weeks after it launched
Bobbie’s recent 15% price cut, and how the company was able to do it
Why implementing paid family leave federally would help alleviate moms’ mental health issues
On Referring to Herself as a Mother Before a CEO on LinkedIn
Laura: It's the most important job I have. I could get emotional just thinking about it. It really is. And I think it is important that as founders and CEOs that are also playing that role that we have to remind people about that. LinkedIn is a platform to show your professional side. And I would argue that I cannot show up as a good professional – not just because I'm making infant formula, but as a CEO of any company – without also being a great mother and recognizing that that is the number one job. So it's number one because it is the most important and the moment, the day I ignore that or it's not put front and center, I guarantee you I will not be doing a better job at work.
On What She Learned from Getting Recalled after Bobbie’s Launch
Laura: We had to basically pull our product from the market. I want to say we were on for two weeks, made less than $4,000. I mean, it was so early. But the feeling at the time is this is a product where you need to build immense trust and sometimes a recall – especially in a consumable world, CPG product – it can be the end of a business. But what became really apparent was the reason why we were asked to pull the product was not related to the nutritional value. There were no reported complaints on it. It was our approach to enter the market that got us pulled. And we made a very honest decision at the time to say, we need to own it and we need to come out and tell the story for the intentions for entering this market. How maybe entering it, we took more of a too much of a disruptive approach for something in a regulated space and just. Be humble and own it and be honest. And that ended up creating a wave of support and love in ways that I don't think we had fully anticipated. So it was a great lesson to sometimes you may get punished or slapped for taking an approach that is not traveled by most. And as long as you're very clear and transparent and own it with integrity, the right people will recognize it.
On How Governments Should Support Moms
Laura: I'm going to start with the one that just seems very counterintuitive to say as the CEO of an infant formula company: we need paid federal leave. I say this in a way that in large part, a big reason why there is stress and there are mental health issues is because we are forcing mothers to choose how they feed their baby with the limited time they have. And not just that, but then the decision to say, are you going to go to work and make a paycheck to be able to support your family or are you going to stay at home and choose to be able to breastfeed them? These are choices that no mother should go through. We need to pass paid federal leave immediately and I actually would tie it, honestly, even closer to breastfeeding. If we want to see breastfeeding rates go up, then let's get this passed.
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