While providing health education to families in urban communities, Epic Infants founder, Kimberly P. Jones, discovered that a majority of her clients complained of skin irritations on their babies caused by wet wipes. The moms were also complaining of not being able to afford or have access to the higher quality wipes they felt were non irritating. After searching herself for a wipe suitable to her clients’ needs, she discovered that there was not one accessible or affordable to them, that was of high quality and non irritating. Kimberly decided to take action and develop a product to meet her clients needs, and Epic Infants organic baby cleansing wipes was created.
Epic Infants began with organic wipes. “They were the easiest thing to make, and the most needed by my community,” says Jones. “The families were so often complaining making sure it was affordable was an aspect of my business I refused to budge on, because these women needed to have access to these healthy products.”
Jones later found out families in her community weren’t just using the wipes for their babies, but to remove makeup, clean beards, and freshen up. “The thing with these wipes that has really baffled me was the fact that at one point, I was selling them to just men,” Jones marvels. “Go figure! I developed a male customer base and I couldn’t change the brand because of my trademark. I also didn’t want to get away from the original intent. So, I started putting family friendly, skin friendly as a slogan along with more clean with less wipe.
Epic Infants has plans to expand its product line and the wipes can currently be purchased at Rivertown Market and Woodward Corner Market, and on Walmart.com as well. “I was at the Royal Oak store doing a demo and two of my customers came up,” Jones remembers. “One stretched the wipe vertically, one way the other stretched it horizontally, and they were amazed that the wipes even tear! I had never done that before. I just knew it was made from quality fabric. So, now I’m trying to include that in the branding as well. I have so many slogans going on. But it’s truly remarkable the different directions your business, brand, and product can go in. And I am very proud of the fact that my wipes are so well received in the community.
Jones encourages aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners to look into ProsperUs and their network if they need guidance. “When I initially went to ProsperUs I had the product and nothing else. They educated me along the lines of business. Mr. Yates was an amazing teacher and brought in different speakers that provided different insights. I took what I learned there, the feedback from my customers, what I learned on my own, and kept pressing toward my goal of having Epic Infants available in retail stores And there’s still so much more for me to learn and grow the Epic Infant brand”
When it comes to starting a business Jones always tells people, “no matter what it looks like keep going. If it’s your dream and you believe in it, just keep going. Thomas Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts before he made the light bulb, so stay the course and fail your way to success!
Kimberly Jones is the owner of Epic Infants. Their products are sold in two Meijers, online at Walmart, and through the website. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
