This is the full transcript for Episode #331 of the Wild Business Growth podcast featuring Charlotte Wenham – Baby Shusher, Wild Adventurer. You can listen to the interview and learn more here. Please note: this transcript is not 100% accurate.
Charlotte Wenham 0:00
If someone wants to do something and it’s only fear that’s holding them back, then just do it scared.
Max Branstetter 0:20
Welcome to the shushing podcast. Welcome back to Wild Business Growth this you’re a place to hear from a wild entrepreneur every single Wednesday morning turning wild ideas into wild growth. I’m your host, Max Branstetter, founder and Podcast Producer at MaxPodcasting, and you can email me at . This is episode 331, and today’s guest is Charlotte Wenham. Charlotte is the executive officer of Shusher, well known for their Baby Shusher, which shushes babies. In this episode, you’ll hear how Baby Shusher went from a simple voice recording to now a product that has been sold millions of times. How to Keep Your product simple and make sure it works, and all sorts of adventures ranging from skydiving in Texas to bungee swinging in New Zealand, it is Charlotte’s Shusher. Enjoy the Sure. Alrighty. We are here with Charlotte Wenham, a name that rolls off the tongue. I’m not a the executive officer of Shusher. You definitely know them from Baby Shusher, especially if you’re a new parent or just a fan of shushing in general. But Charlotte, thank you so much for joining. So excited to dive into the Baby Shusher story, the Shusher story and beyond which we need to work on that rolling off the tongue. How you doing today? Thank you so much.
Charlotte Wenham 2:03
Yeah, doing well. Thank you for having me here. I’m really excited to talk about what we’ve got going on. And you know, it was really nice to hear that you’re familiar with Baby Shusher and it’s helped you with your daughter. That’s cool,
Max Branstetter 2:16
yeah, yeah, exactly. It’s, it’s somehow shift her more than we have. So I’m sure that’s the case. So before we get to that, I want to rip the band aid off. Very intimidating. No, I couldn’t resist. I noticed your accent, and I know you’re from New Zealand originally. What brings someone from New Zealand to Texas?
Charlotte Wenham 2:38
Well, New Zealanders have a bit of a reputation for, you know, getting out and exploring the world. And after I finished my nursing degree back in the early 2000s amazing myself. No, no, no, I bounced across the Tasman to Australia, moved and moved around lot of different places, and my husband was working over here, and it’s a really long commute between Brisbane and Dallas. So you know, we just decided to route up the whole family and come and put some temporary routes down in Dallas, and nine years later, we’re still here. So yes, long
Max Branstetter 3:18
story short, if that’s your daily commute, you’re never going to make it to work on time, never,
Charlotte Wenham 3:23
never, even with the time change. It’s really tough
Max Branstetter 3:27
these days. How often do you go back to visit
Charlotte Wenham 3:29
every couple of years? I’m actually going back to visit my mom and I think nine days, so I’ll be over there for a week, leaving on summer solstice here, and then bouncing into winter solstice, so it’s gonna be
Max Branstetter 3:42
fun. Oh, my God, that’s always something that fascinated me, how it’s like the opposite sort of seasons there. But besides that, what would you say is, like the biggest difference that you notice coming to Texas and in the States versus everything there? That’s actually
Charlotte Wenham 3:59
quite a difficult one, because, you know, even within Texas, Dallas is different than San Antonio, different than El Paso, and so, you know, every place has its thing. Here, you know, being a vegetarian barbecue is not really on my menu. Oh, that’s, that’s a wrinkle. Yeah, it’s a wee wrinkle. But I think overall, when you really boil it down, people are people. Are people. You know, we all have the same wants and the same needs, but sometimes the way we express it’s just a little different.
Max Branstetter 4:36
Well, babies are people too. So let’s, let’s get to the babysitter. I mean, Baby Shusher is how I found out about your company and your different products. But I know, under kind of the Shusher umbrella, there’s a lot overall there, so a lot we can dive into, but in terms of the specific let’s start with the Baby Shusher and anybody who’s not familiar with the product, it is. Is aptly named because it shushes for you. It’s just an incredible product, and it saves your vocal cords a bit. But really, really cool, cute little product. How did this, like you first hear about this idea, or, like, the potential for a product here
Charlotte Wenham 5:13
my my husband is an engineer, and he’s always been really interested in product development. He’s a very creative problem solver. He came across this product that a guy down in Austin had developed to solve just that problem. His wife was having trouble calming their daughter, who babies are babies. They have one way of communicating with you, and you know as as somewhat evolved humans that have learned to communicate what we want. Interpreting that one sound can be really challenging, but what he ended up doing when he went back to work is recording himself, shushing. How many years later? Gee, 1415, odd years later. You know, we’ve still got Chad and that little machine shushing away these millions of babies around the world. So he came to us and said, Hey, look, you know, everyone wants this. I don’t know how to get it from this concept, this idea, out to the people who need it. And that’s where we stepped in and said, Yeah, let’s, let’s help you out with this.
Max Branstetter 6:27
You’re taking me back, because that’s like, this is almost could be a whole, like, voice actor story, too. The human recording that sound is, is fascinating. And way back, I’m so bad. I used to remember all these podcast episode numbers, but now I have to look it up in the very early, early days of this podcast, we had Susan Bennett on, who was the original voice of Siri, and your comments are taking me back to that interview, because it’s so fascinating hearing about how people can record something and then it turns into a product or technology that’s out there. That was episode 33 March 6, 2019, which I remembered off the top of my head. I should that’s my birthday. Anyway, anyhow, sorry for the aside. So it really like the Shusher is like a real person’s
Charlotte Wenham 7:16
show. It is, yeah, it’s a real human voice, and he writes great stories, if you want to look it up. Ed Zunker, his writing is incredible.
Max Branstetter 7:28
What’s his recording pro like? Was this like a one and done recording process? Or does he come in frequently to shush his heart out?
Charlotte Wenham 7:37
One and done, we’ve we’ve got technology, technology now to spread Chad out so we could probably get him back to refresh. But we’ve found the Chad that works.
Max Branstetter 7:51
That’s like, I don’t know something at a Dr Seuss or something. I’m just imagining Chad in a room, just like shushing over and over again. So the sound is, I mean, is authentic, and then you found a way to scale it, obviously. But what went into, like the early days, of turning this from idea to actual physical product,
Charlotte Wenham 8:10
early days was really, you know, obviously you’ve got the starting point of the design of the product, making sure that you know our processes to produce it is cost effective, so that it’s not way out of the reach of everybody. It’s affordable, it’s accessible. And then, you know, once we get that manufacturing done, getting it into the country, and then the biggest part is talking to retailers, putting it up on websites, getting it out so that people know that it’s available. That’s the hard part of actually telling people, Hey, you know we we know your pain. We’ve been there. We’ve lived it, you know, we’ve been that, that puddle of tears and booger in the corner, crying alongside our baby trying to get them to calm down. You know, we have something to help.
Max Branstetter 9:04
That’s one of the most vivid and accurate descriptions I’ve ever seen.
Charlotte Wenham 9:10
I have, I have been there and I have lived that life. I know what it’s like
Max Branstetter 9:17
that’s a huge challenge for any business. Is like breaking through and actually selling like no matter how good the product is, is actually doing so so what do you think has allowed the Baby Shusher in particular, to become so widespread and successful from a sales standpoint,
Charlotte Wenham 9:31
I think because it’s simple and because it works, the last thing you want at two o’clock In the morning when you’ve been awake for however long, for the last n number of weeks, slash months, with a baby that doesn’t want to rest, and you just need more, just just a few minutes more sleep. You know you don’t need to be toggling through the different sounds. You don’t need to be deciding how long it’s. Going for you want something that kicks in, that works, and that, I think, is the beauty of Baby Shusher. It is just one sound, but it’s the sound that works. You can put it on for 15 minutes or 30 minutes, which should be sufficient time for you to calm down, for your baby to calm down. You change the volume, and you’re done
Max Branstetter 10:23
simple and it works. It’s probably a wide range of products out there that don’t meet those two criteria. No, no wonder they stumble the Shush, I don’t know. Shush, shush, whatever. However you say it, that’s something that we kind of keep coming back to. Obviously, it’s essential to the product. But can you talk about from, like, a, I don’t know, get as scientific as you want, like, why that is soothing to babies?
Charlotte Wenham 10:47
I think there’s a lot of things that feed into that. Firstly, the specific shush of the Shusher. It’s not, I guess maybe Chad just has the voice, right?
Max Branstetter 10:59
He’s the golden shusher. He is, he
Charlotte Wenham 11:01
is, he’s, he’s like that Willy Wonka ticket, but it’s long, it’s soothing. It’s got that flow. It’s, it’s almost like watching waves crashing onto a shore, right? It’s consistent and it’s calming. It’s not high pitched. It’s just one of those sounds, I think. And I know it’s not very scientific, but I really haven’t been able to figure out much more than that.
Max Branstetter 11:30
I mean, in turn, it’s soothing the parents too. I mean, well, one when it when it like, works and helps your baby go to sleep or stop crying, but also, just like the relief of like realizing, oh, I can stop shushing now, as a parent, is a game changer. And actually, the first time we heard about your product, shout out my cousin Sam, her husband, Matt, they just had their baby, Logan, like, a year before we had our child. And, you know, we lived near them and we were going to visit, and we’re, you know, looking all their new, new gear and gadgets and baby products. And we’re like, what is that thing? You know, like the little, like, orange and white rocket shape thing. We’re like, that. And Sam just turned it on, and then you just hear the and we’re like, oh my god. Like, well, one, we couldn’t believe that product existed. Like, just had never thought of it before. But then pretty quickly after that, was like, this is genius. And Sam was like, Yeah, you actually end up using it a lot. There’s something about your product too that just has that like, wow factor, I think, where it’s like, there’s nothing
Charlotte Wenham 12:33
like it, I think it’s just so simple. But I don’t know of really any other company that has has taken something that’s that simple and that effective and turned it into something so accessible, the mental load of shushing. My My boys are 17 and 19 now, so shush wasn’t around. It was me.
Max Branstetter 12:57
You probably use it even more now.
Charlotte Wenham 13:02
Oh, I’ve got a puppy, and I’ve actually we’ve got a doggy Shusher. Yeah, it’s surprising how well that works. She loves it sidebar anyway. But you know, back when I had my boys, it was physically hard work to capture that much breath to shush for that long when all you wanted to do was go to sleep or be doing something else. It got to the point where I’m sure that’s how I got my abs back, because it was just like hours upon hours of shushing
Max Branstetter 13:36
Charlotte gets her abs back again the movie sequel. Yeah, up. What do you think is driven the growth? Like, if you could point to like, one main thing besides, besides, like, the product and its simplicity, and what’s the word, functionality, utility, I’m just gonna throw as many big words as I can think of. Besides, like, the actual product. Like, what do you think has worked well for your, like, marketing strategy as a company? That’s like, turning this thing into a huge hit?
Charlotte Wenham 14:09
I think there’s been a few things. Firstly, we we got into some trusted retailers that you know, when they saw the product, they went, Well, this is Captain Obvious. But no one has done that, but also that it works so well that parents will buy them for, you know, their friends who are pregnant. Or, you know, moms will buy it for their daughters. Or, you know, we’ve got hospitals who have been using Baby Shusher and NICUs for 10 plus years with babies who they’re born addicted to opioids or they have congenital heart defects, and they’re spending months upon months in intensive care units, having surgery after surgery. People are using Baby Shusher in so many different environments. It’s an agnostic product that actually works. You
Max Branstetter 15:03
actually hinted at earlier, but with the doggy Shusher. But I think one of the things that, well as I hinted at, you hinted at, is that it’s not just Baby Shusher anymore. Like actually, you kind of have, like, this umbrella of Shusher products, and so there’s the doggy one. There’s multiple types of baby, your kid ones, yes, can you speak to, like, what? Well, at least at the time of this recording, like the main products that that looks like and like, what? What’s involved in this strategy of exponentially shushing.
Charlotte Wenham 15:36
So obviously we’ve got the OG shush you know, the cornerstone doggy Shusher was our second product. Because we had a lot of people saying, hey, you know, we’ve, we’ve been using Baby Shusher, and it works on our dogs. So people were turning it on and sitting it on top of the crate, but the dog could get a hold of it and knock it around. So we actually made one that’s almost an egg shape with that’s weighted at the bottom. So if a dog knocks it, it writes itself back up again. It’s smooth. It doesn’t have any corners or anything that, you know, those evil little doggy teeth can pour into that I’m re experiencing at this moment. So yeah, doggy Shusher. But we also had a lot of feedback that people were interested in a night light and something that they could have at the bedside. So we’ve got the Firefly, which has got an orange glow light, and we did that specifically so that we wouldn’t have any of that blue light spectrum that if you’re trying to go to sleep, it’s counterproductive to have a blue light in there. So we’ve got that. It’s also a USBC charged unit too, so you can plug it in at the bedside, have it on gently in the background with a nice little soft glow light. And it’s very small. It’s really cute. So there’s that also the sloth so sound module inside a little plush. Because a lot of kids, you know, as they get older, they like having a little friend that they carry around with them. It’s soft, it’s soothing. It’s got little Velcro. We can’t call it Velcro. It’s hook and loop, but it’s that hook and loop that doesn’t scratch, so it’s nice. It’s not going to, you know, scrape up baby’s skin or anything like that, but still really strong. So you can put it on the side of the crib, or hook it on to strollers or whatever as well. And then we’re expanding out. Got a few new products that are coming in the range as well. So watch the space. Follow us, you know, like, comment, share, yeah,
Max Branstetter 17:52
all the CTAs is the office just constantly shushing. Is that what you’ll hear if you’re walking around?
Charlotte Wenham 17:57
No, no, because then everyone just falls asleep, and we don’t, it works too well. It works far too well. But we’ve also got a range of health products as well, because my background is in ER nursing, so I know that if you can’t breathe, you’re not sleeping. So we’ve got a range. We’ve got a small nebulizer, some saline products as well.
Max Branstetter 18:27
So let’s talk even more unusual products, because, and I say unusual in a good way, clever and differentiated products, and we’re not actually talking about those products. This is the definition of how to butcher a segue. I’m just gonna continue rolling with it. Let’s talk about more unusual things. Because your products are so unusual, this actually doesn’t have to tie to the business or the brands at all. This is more about you as like a person. What is a weird talent or party trick you have that really doesn’t impact work at all, but you’re
Charlotte Wenham 19:04
gonna I have a strange ability to figure things out
Max Branstetter 19:10
that sounds incredibly useful.
Charlotte Wenham 19:12
Okay, one example of this, I do not like heights. I am scared of heights, but I skydive for fun. Oh, because I figured out how to make it not about the hype. So I think that’s a weird talent that not many people have, but I think it’s something that if you can figure out how to trick your own brain, you can achieve a lot and have a lot of fun along the way. How
Max Branstetter 19:40
did you trick your own brain when it comes to that? Well,
Charlotte Wenham 19:44
I initially thought, you know, what is it about the height that I don’t like? And then my brain went, Oh, I might fall. Okay, so what is inherently scary or dangerous about falling? Well, it’s the landing. Yeah. Okay. So what is it about the landing you don’t like? Well, you might get hurt. Okay. Is there a way that you can control the quality of that landing? And if I have a parachute, then I can do that. So there you go. There’s a quick what is it four step way of figuring out how to get over a fear of heights so you can jump out of planes.
Max Branstetter 20:22
That’s the improv. Uh, yes. And it’s like the over, over and over again. But a bit arguably, even more importantly, how many times have you been
Charlotte Wenham 20:32
skydiving? Only a couple of 100. Oh, my God, it sounds like a lot. Really, you really tricked your brain.
I really did. But in the context of people that I know, that’s not a lot,
Max Branstetter 20:43
oh my god, so it’s a whole skydiving community down in Texas, huh?
Charlotte Wenham 20:47
Oh yes, there is absolutely Big Sky
Max Branstetter 20:50
Country, all right. What is a pet peeve you have something that, like, really, it’s minor detail in life, but just like, annoys you a little bit
Charlotte Wenham 21:00
unnecessary complications, hence, baby, sure. Yes, yeah. Why? Why add five things if two will do the trick.
Max Branstetter 21:10
That’s a great thing to love fire. Do you have an example of that, like, around the house, or, like, uh, hobbies
Charlotte Wenham 21:15
wise, there probably is, but there’s not one that’s bouncing into my brain right now. There’s not one simple enough. There’s not one simple enough. That’s the other thing that I’m really good at is over complicating things, which is, love simplicity.
Max Branstetter 21:28
It’s a the best kind of paradox there. Yes, absolutely. All right. And then what is a quirk you have, like friends family, somebody calls you out for just a little bit quirky about your personality, but it’s who you
Charlotte Wenham 21:42
are. I can make things very weird.
Max Branstetter 21:46
Please, please make it weird. Whatever
Charlotte Wenham 21:51
I can just, I can just find, I can find the humor in almost anything. So I’m the person that will see someone trip over, and part of my brain is like, Oh shoot. I hope they’re okay. But the other side is going, he that
Max Branstetter 22:09
was a great Hehe,
Charlotte Wenham 22:12
yeah, I’m good at those.
Max Branstetter 22:17
Let’s see if I can top the previous segue and how terrible it was, let’s hehe, our way through rapid fire. Q, a, okay, we’re gonna wrap up. I need to stretch right. Please do you might need to bring a parachute. All right. You ready for it? All right, let’s go. All right. Let’s get wild. I saw that you are a big yogi. What is the best yoga
Charlotte Wenham 22:43
pose of all time? Shavasana, because I can lay down. Is
Max Branstetter 22:47
that the one that’s like, just looks like you’re laying down, totally laying down,
Charlotte Wenham 22:50
totally laying down on your back, corpse pose,
Max Branstetter 22:56
all right? And then another, I mean, I mean, you’re a person of a bunch of crazy cool hobbies. So, like, we could, this could just be the hobby rapid fire, Q, A, but photography is another one that, yes, that popped up. If you could, like, go back in time and go back to wherever you were taking your favorite photo of all time. Where would
Charlotte Wenham 23:15
that be? Probably the west coast of New Zealand, around Franz Joseph. There was one particular day that I was there. It was really, was really kind of gloomy and cloudy and stormy, but it was absolutely beautiful. And I don’t think I got nearly enough photos. I only got a couple 100.
Max Branstetter 23:38
So can you say the name of that again and like, what type of place it is,
Charlotte Wenham 23:41
Franz Joseph, it’s on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It’s got a lot of like glaciers and rivers, and it’s just a beautiful, beautiful, isolated part
Max Branstetter 23:55
of the world. And on that note, course, I couldn’t resist to ask more about New Zealand. And actually, Sam, my cousin, who we mentioned, well, who I mentioned, but very, very kind of you to mention, too, Sam and Matt for their honeymoon, which Dane and I actually met at their wedding. Their honeymoon, they did, like, three weeks in New Zealand and Australia. So it’s actually, it’s all come full circle here. But on the New Zealand note, from a I know you can kick me out, but from a tourist standpoint, what is like something tourism wise, that New Zealand does hands down better than anybody else.
Charlotte Wenham 24:27
Oh, adventure tourism, hands down.
Max Branstetter 24:31
I’m sorry I’m starting to pick up on the skydiving thing here now. Yeah, yeah.
Charlotte Wenham 24:36
Well, when I go back, I’m going for one of my mom’s kind of landmark birthdays, and we’re going and doing what’s called the bungee swing. Oh my Oh, you’re you’re tethered up and hooked into this huge swing, and then you just swing down through this cavern. And I am so looking forward
Max Branstetter 24:56
to it. Oh my god. Like my brother’s done stuff like that. And there’s a video of him online somewhere that it was really cool when he did it. But also, like, scared my mom to death with the bungee how he kind of, like, jerks your body some, but that’s something I’ve always been terrified of. It’s like, I’m fine with heights. Actually, it’s not the heights, it’s the something about the rope with a giant swing like that, and then the I get dizzy kind of easily, so that one, that one scares me. But what’s, what’s your like mind over matter? Tip for, I mean, clearly you’re excited, but for doing some sort of giant bungee swing like that, how are you convincing your mom, or anybody else going?
Charlotte Wenham 25:34
Well, I think I actually got a little bit of my adventurous streak from her, she rides motorbikes, and when she came over to visit, she went skydiving. Like she’s she’s not been someone to not do something, because it might be a little bit scary, but I think my biggest if someone wants to do something and it’s only fear that’s holding them back, then just do it scared.
Max Branstetter 26:01
Words To Live By. Words to adventure by. There’s qualifiers on this one. You can’t say skydiving and you can’t say anything that you did in New Zealand. Okay. Other than that, what’s the best adventure you’ve ever done?
Charlotte Wenham 26:15
Oh, see now this is a difficult one, one thing that we do on family holidays. Now that the boys are a bit older, we always find somewhere to go horse riding, and we always find somewhere to go zip lining. And for one of my birthdays a couple of years back, my husband took me to Finland and we went horse riding through like six foot deep snow on these big finish horses. And that was pretty incredible. I think that that’s one that just sticks with me as being quite unique and fun and a little bit adventurous, because I used to be absolutely petrified of horses as well. After a horse riding accident. It
Max Branstetter 27:01
sounds like you’re you’re a like magician at conquering fears,
Charlotte Wenham 27:09
maybe, maybe not. But I figure I’ve got two choices. I either do it and enjoy it, or I don’t do it and then wonder what it might have been like. And I’d rather not wonder.
Max Branstetter 27:21
Well, I’m wondering how big those horses are, because you said it was like six feet
Charlotte Wenham 27:27
of snow, yes, yeah, they are pretty. They are big. Think about kind of Clydesdale type horses, if you know what, they are, just big, solid, hairy, muscular, Finnish horses.
Max Branstetter 27:41
Yeah, the Budweiser is famous for the old commercials with all the Clydesdales. But yeah, yeah, beautiful horses. Absolutely. What is your best advice for being a vegetarian in Texas,
Charlotte Wenham 27:55
Denton has some really good vegan restaurants.
Max Branstetter 27:59
There are so many more vegetarian and vegan restaurants these days. Same thing with other food, either preferences or requirements, like gluten free. Now I feel like it’s like every restaurant has good options there too. Last one, what is the most creative use or non traditional use you’ve ever heard of? For a Shusher,
Charlotte Wenham 28:20
I’ve had a lot of people joke and say that they use it on their husband. How did I know that was but I have actually seen a video where someone walked into their lounge, the Shusha was on. Their partner was asleep, the baby was asleep and the dog was asleep, just panning around, and every living creature is asleep. So I think it just it talks to the universality of Baby Shusher.
Max Branstetter 28:52
What a wonderful quieting and calming and soothing note to end on. Yeah, Charlotte, thank you so much. Just love what you do, and all the whole Shusher line, especially right now, the Baby Shusher. And thanks for making time for this, but also sharing all your adventures. And I feel like conquering a fear right now, so you got me ready to skydive through a brick wall. Yeah, let’s Yeah. Where’s the best place if anybody wants to, like, buy or learn more about Baby Shusher or Shusher as well as if they want to connect with you online, where’s the best place for them to do those things?
Charlotte Wenham 29:25
BabyShusher.com hit us up on socials at Baby Shusher, but we’re available pretty much anywhere you want to buy it, so Amazon. We’re in store at Target and in store at Walmart as well.
Max Branstetter 29:39
Awesome, wonderful. And then last thing, final thoughts, it could be a quote more, not that you haven’t given words to live by, but more words to live by, adventure motto, whatever you want. Send us home here,
Charlotte Wenham 29:51
like I said before, just do it scared. It’s okay.
Max Branstetter 29:57
Still scared about that bungee swing, but love the. Baby Shusher, thank you Charlotte for coming on wild business growth, sharing your wild story, and thank you wild listeners for tuning in to another episode. If you want to hear more wild stories like this one, make sure to follow wild business growth on your favorite podcast platform and subscribe on YouTube for the video versions. YouTube is @MaxBranstetter You can learn all things podcast production at MaxPdcasting.com there you can also sign up for the Podcasting to the Max newsletter, and until next time, Let your business Run Wild…Bring on the Bongos!!
