When I first began searching for safe, natural, vegan baby products for my family, it was 1998 and I was pregnant with my first child. I quickly grew frustrated with the limited options; I found a thing or two here and there, but had to purchase from dozens of online stores to get what I needed.

I remember very clearly a meeting I had with my boss during this time. It was in the third trimester of my pregnancy, just after I had moved my office to my home so I could maintain my 50+ hours/week schedule. I assured my boss I would maintain my managerial duties after my baby was born, and be back at work full-time within a week!

When the time came, my daughter was born by an emergency C-section. As so many of you have discovered when you became parents yourselves, children have a powerful way of changing your priorities. Within weeks after Sara's birth, I gave notice to my boss because I realized that my duties as a mother were far more important. Both my husband and I agreed our daughter would get the best care by receiving my full attention.

Unfortunately, we quickly felt the pressure of trying to survive on one income. We knew it was best for our baby to have her mommy at home, but we needed to pay our bills. As a new mommy, I was passionate about all things that I knew were best for my baby--breastfeeding, co-sleeping, organics, babywearing, natural health. Combining my personal ethics with my desire to fill the big gap that I saw in the baby market, I sought to create an online store where customers could buy a wide variety of natural, organic, vegan baby products easily and inexpensively.

When I drafted the first business plan for KidBean.com, it consisted of three core requirements:

First, every product had to be vegan.
Second, every product had to be safe and natural (natural fibers--certified organic whenever possible, and recycled materials would be the focus).
Third, the store had to be like a department-store in its offerings, so that customers would have options for sizes and colors of individual products as well as options for different lines of products (so customers could choose among several kinds of baby shampoo, for example).

I also firmly believe in supporting fair labor standards and other small business. I choose USA-made products whenever possible, and will NEVER carry a product that was made with sweatshop labor.