Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n\n- Allie and Hunter Taylor launched baby carrier brand Mab\u0113 in November 2023.<\/li>\n
- The husband-wife founders funded their first product order with their own savings rather than raising outside capital.<\/li>\n
- Mab\u0113 framed its product around helping parents feel confident, hands-free and able to keep pursuing their routines and ambitions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
For Hunter Taylor<\/a>, the story of Mab\u0113<\/a> goes back \u201cto the very beginning of time.\u201d In other words, it starts in fourth grade when he met Allie Taylor<\/a> for the first time.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cI was always in love with Allie,\u201d he tells Entrepreneur<\/em>. \u201cI just knew that she was my soulmate, that we could do anything together that we put our minds to \u2014 I felt like we could tackle the world together.\u201d<\/p>\nThe childhood sweethearts got married and, in 2022, became first-time parents. They quickly found a glaring gap in the market for baby carriers.\u00a0<\/p>\nAllie (left) and Hunter Taylor (right). Credit: Mab\u0113<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAllie was the first to notice the problem. She had trouble finding a carrier that was both functional and fashionable at an accessible price point.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She mentioned it to Hunter several times, and he finally went looking for baby carriers himself. He quickly found that there was a gap in the market in terms of price point, aesthetics and messaging components. He also couldn\u2019t find a product that checked all three boxes. <\/p>\n
\u201cI just remember in that moment feeling so convicted that we were the right people to do this,\u201d Hunter says.<\/p>\n
They were set on writing a different story for new moms<\/h2>\n
By early 2023, the two agreed that they wanted to create a premium baby carrier. Allie also saw an opportunity to reshape the conversation around what it meant to be a new mom. They decided to call their brand Mab\u0113<\/a> (pronounced maybe), and their brand name and logo are inspired<\/a> by the monarch butterfly.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cOur mission is simple: Provide a baby carrier that looks and feels incredible,\u201d Allie wrote in a September 2023 Instagram post<\/a>. \u201cOne that empowers you to continue doing everything you love, so you can keep chasing your dreams (whatever they mab\u0113) with your hands free, and your baby in tow.\u201d<\/p>\nHer desire to start the brand was also personal: She tells Entrepreneur<\/em> she remembers feeling \u201creally overwhelmed\u201d as a new mom. <\/p>\n\u201cI felt like everyone was just telling me that I\u2019m gonna lose myself now that I\u2019m a mom,\u201d Allie says. \u201cI was determined to write a different story, and I wanted to continue being who I was as a person in addition to being a mom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carrying her baby changed the game<\/h2>\n
Allie says that carrying her baby in a carrier was \u201cthe ticket\u201d or the \u201cunlock\u201d for her to have the confidence to do the things she used to do. Instead of having to worry about carrying around a car seat or a stroller, she could simply carry her baby on her chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe confidence that I had from wearing my baby on my chest was just unmatched,\u201d she says. \u201cHowever, the carrier that I had was just not the cutest thing. As a new mom, you already are not always feeling your very best. Then you layer on ugly baby gear, and it doesn\u2019t help you feel better about yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Creating the product<\/h2>\n
The Taylors believed in the product \u2014 enough so that they invested hundreds of thousands in personal savings to bootstrap the brand. <\/p>\n
To start, they identified manufacturers already experienced in making baby carriers. From there, they went through a months-long sampling process, testing fabrics, adjusting design details and rejecting early versions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first one we got was terrible,\u201d Hunter says.<\/p>\n
They continued working with manufacturers until they felt they had a version worth taking to market. The process moved relatively quickly: They came up with the idea in March 2023 and launched in November of that same year.\u00a0The brand\u2019s signature Monarch Carrier<\/a> is designed to look more like a stylish accessory than utilitarian baby gear and is priced at around $129. <\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/10\/The-Monarch-Carrier.-Credit-Mabe.jpg?w=1024\")
The Monarch Carrier. Credit: Mab\u0113<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nTalking to the mom<\/h2>\n
The product was central, but Mab\u0113\u2019s growth strategy also depended heavily on Allie\u2019s ability to create a brand voice that stood apart from traditional baby-product marketing. She focused on a customer\u2019s identity and aspirations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI acted like a big brand from the very beginning, even though it was just me behind my phone doing all of the posting,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
In the early days, she tapped people in her hometown and small-business circle for help. A friend helped build the website. Another took the brand\u2019s initial photography. She also built an Instagram account and an email list before launch.<\/p>\n
Its marketing message was crafted to speak to mothers as individuals rather than as extensions of their babies. Allie says she regularly asks if a piece of content will resonate, help a customer see herself in it and make her feel something.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of saying something along the lines of, \u2018Our carrier has three carry positions and is safety certified, and this is the fabric and this is all the different features of it,\u2019\u201d she says, \u201cI\u2019m talking to the mom and saying, \u2018Look what you can do when you put this carrier on.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
That could mean a stay-at-home parent moving more easily through the day or an entrepreneur building a side hustle with a baby on her chest. The product benefits still matter, but Allie sees them as secondary to the messaging.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like selling them who they can become and what\u2019s possible if they believe in themselves and if they feel confident,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
The messaging gained momentum. At the time of the interview, Mab\u0113 had 176,000 Instagram followers<\/a>. The founders say social media and word-of-mouth drove initial demand.\u00a0<\/p>\nSelling out in a minute<\/h2>\n
Today, Mab\u0113 has grown into an eight-figure business in under three years, and its products recently landed at 1,700 Target stores<\/a>. In 2026, the company is on pace to grow its revenue by more than 40% year-over-year.\u00a0<\/p>\nMab\u0113\u2019s early rise with customers was also unusually fast. The founders disclosed that their first launch sold out within two hours. Later, shoppers kept asking for preorders, so they decided to test it for their third launch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hunter remembers thousands of people waiting on Mab\u0113\u2019s website before the preorder began.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce we opened the preorder, orders started to roll in, and we sold out,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The result was startling: Mab\u0113 sold thousands of carriers in under one minute, generating about $500,000 in revenue.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe took all of that and put it back into production,\u201d Hunter says. \u201cThat solved a lot of our cash flow problems without having to take outside funding.\u201d<\/p>\n
They chose to maintain quality \u2014 even at a loss<\/h2>\n
Fast growth also tested the company\u2019s commitment to quality. During Mab\u0113\u2019s first Black Friday sale in 2024, the founders discovered that a batch of fabric did not have the texture and feel they wanted. The issue was not a safety concern, they say, but it fell short of the brand\u2019s quality standards.<\/p>\n
The company could have waited for customers to complain and replaced only the units connected to those complaints. Instead, it contacted affected customers proactively and sent replacement carriers to everyone at no cost.<\/p>\n
The company replaced a few thousand products, a decision the founders estimate cost around $250,000.<\/p>\n
For a young company coming off its biggest sales period, it was a difficult financial and logistical decision. But the Taylors viewed it as an investment in a long-term brand relationship rather than a short-term expense.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe customer first,\u201d Allie says. \u201cIt was always about the customer; it\u2019s always about their satisfaction and making sure that we gave them the experience that they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hunter added that he never intended Mab\u0113 to be \u201ca short-term sort of cash grab.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to build a dedicated business to make people feel empowered with the product and the brand that we\u2019re building,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n\nKey Takeaways<\/h2>\n\n- Allie and Hunter Taylor launched baby carrier brand Mab\u0113 in November 2023.<\/li>\n
- The husband-wife founders funded their first product order with their own savings rather than raising outside capital.<\/li>\n
- Mab\u0113 framed its product around helping parents feel confident, hands-free and able to keep pursuing their routines and ambitions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
For Hunter Taylor<\/a>, the story of Mab\u0113<\/a> goes back \u201cto the very beginning of time.\u201d In other words, it starts in fourth grade when he met Allie Taylor<\/a> for the first time.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cI was always in love with Allie,\u201d he tells Entrepreneur<\/em>. \u201cI just knew that she was my soulmate, that we could do anything together that we put our minds to \u2014 I felt like we could tackle the world together.\u201d<\/p>\nThe childhood sweethearts got married and, in 2022, became first-time parents. They quickly found a glaring gap in the market for baby carriers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
For Hunter Taylor<\/a>, the story of Mab\u0113<\/a> goes back \u201cto the very beginning of time.\u201d In other words, it starts in fourth grade when he met Allie Taylor<\/a> for the first time.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was always in love with Allie,\u201d he tells Entrepreneur<\/em>. \u201cI just knew that she was my soulmate, that we could do anything together that we put our minds to \u2014 I felt like we could tackle the world together.\u201d<\/p>\n The childhood sweethearts got married and, in 2022, became first-time parents. They quickly found a glaring gap in the market for baby carriers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Allie was the first to notice the problem. She had trouble finding a carrier that was both functional and fashionable at an accessible price point.\u00a0<\/p>\n She mentioned it to Hunter several times, and he finally went looking for baby carriers himself. He quickly found that there was a gap in the market in terms of price point, aesthetics and messaging components. He also couldn\u2019t find a product that checked all three boxes. <\/p>\n \u201cI just remember in that moment feeling so convicted that we were the right people to do this,\u201d Hunter says.<\/p>\n By early 2023, the two agreed that they wanted to create a premium baby carrier. Allie also saw an opportunity to reshape the conversation around what it meant to be a new mom. They decided to call their brand Mab\u0113<\/a> (pronounced maybe), and their brand name and logo are inspired<\/a> by the monarch butterfly.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur mission is simple: Provide a baby carrier that looks and feels incredible,\u201d Allie wrote in a September 2023 Instagram post<\/a>. \u201cOne that empowers you to continue doing everything you love, so you can keep chasing your dreams (whatever they mab\u0113) with your hands free, and your baby in tow.\u201d<\/p>\n Her desire to start the brand was also personal: She tells Entrepreneur<\/em> she remembers feeling \u201creally overwhelmed\u201d as a new mom. <\/p>\n \u201cI felt like everyone was just telling me that I\u2019m gonna lose myself now that I\u2019m a mom,\u201d Allie says. \u201cI was determined to write a different story, and I wanted to continue being who I was as a person in addition to being a mom.\u201d<\/p>\n Allie says that carrying her baby in a carrier was \u201cthe ticket\u201d or the \u201cunlock\u201d for her to have the confidence to do the things she used to do. Instead of having to worry about carrying around a car seat or a stroller, she could simply carry her baby on her chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe confidence that I had from wearing my baby on my chest was just unmatched,\u201d she says. \u201cHowever, the carrier that I had was just not the cutest thing. As a new mom, you already are not always feeling your very best. Then you layer on ugly baby gear, and it doesn\u2019t help you feel better about yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n The Taylors believed in the product \u2014 enough so that they invested hundreds of thousands in personal savings to bootstrap the brand. <\/p>\n To start, they identified manufacturers already experienced in making baby carriers. From there, they went through a months-long sampling process, testing fabrics, adjusting design details and rejecting early versions.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first one we got was terrible,\u201d Hunter says.<\/p>\n They continued working with manufacturers until they felt they had a version worth taking to market. The process moved relatively quickly: They came up with the idea in March 2023 and launched in November of that same year.\u00a0The brand\u2019s signature Monarch Carrier<\/a> is designed to look more like a stylish accessory than utilitarian baby gear and is priced at around $129. <\/p>\n The product was central, but Mab\u0113\u2019s growth strategy also depended heavily on Allie\u2019s ability to create a brand voice that stood apart from traditional baby-product marketing. She focused on a customer\u2019s identity and aspirations.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI acted like a big brand from the very beginning, even though it was just me behind my phone doing all of the posting,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n In the early days, she tapped people in her hometown and small-business circle for help. A friend helped build the website. Another took the brand\u2019s initial photography. She also built an Instagram account and an email list before launch.<\/p>\n Its marketing message was crafted to speak to mothers as individuals rather than as extensions of their babies. Allie says she regularly asks if a piece of content will resonate, help a customer see herself in it and make her feel something.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of saying something along the lines of, \u2018Our carrier has three carry positions and is safety certified, and this is the fabric and this is all the different features of it,\u2019\u201d she says, \u201cI\u2019m talking to the mom and saying, \u2018Look what you can do when you put this carrier on.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n That could mean a stay-at-home parent moving more easily through the day or an entrepreneur building a side hustle with a baby on her chest. The product benefits still matter, but Allie sees them as secondary to the messaging.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like selling them who they can become and what\u2019s possible if they believe in themselves and if they feel confident,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n The messaging gained momentum. At the time of the interview, Mab\u0113 had 176,000 Instagram followers<\/a>. The founders say social media and word-of-mouth drove initial demand.\u00a0<\/p>\n Today, Mab\u0113 has grown into an eight-figure business in under three years, and its products recently landed at 1,700 Target stores<\/a>. In 2026, the company is on pace to grow its revenue by more than 40% year-over-year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mab\u0113\u2019s early rise with customers was also unusually fast. The founders disclosed that their first launch sold out within two hours. Later, shoppers kept asking for preorders, so they decided to test it for their third launch.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hunter remembers thousands of people waiting on Mab\u0113\u2019s website before the preorder began.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce we opened the preorder, orders started to roll in, and we sold out,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n The result was startling: Mab\u0113 sold thousands of carriers in under one minute, generating about $500,000 in revenue.<\/p>\n \u201cWe took all of that and put it back into production,\u201d Hunter says. \u201cThat solved a lot of our cash flow problems without having to take outside funding.\u201d<\/p>\n Fast growth also tested the company\u2019s commitment to quality. During Mab\u0113\u2019s first Black Friday sale in 2024, the founders discovered that a batch of fabric did not have the texture and feel they wanted. The issue was not a safety concern, they say, but it fell short of the brand\u2019s quality standards.<\/p>\n The company could have waited for customers to complain and replaced only the units connected to those complaints. Instead, it contacted affected customers proactively and sent replacement carriers to everyone at no cost.<\/p>\n The company replaced a few thousand products, a decision the founders estimate cost around $250,000.<\/p>\n For a young company coming off its biggest sales period, it was a difficult financial and logistical decision. But the Taylors viewed it as an investment in a long-term brand relationship rather than a short-term expense.<\/p>\n \u201cThe customer first,\u201d Allie says. \u201cIt was always about the customer; it\u2019s always about their satisfaction and making sure that we gave them the experience that they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n Hunter added that he never intended Mab\u0113 to be \u201ca short-term sort of cash grab.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to build a dedicated business to make people feel empowered with the product and the brand that we\u2019re building,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n For Hunter Taylor<\/a>, the story of Mab\u0113<\/a> goes back \u201cto the very beginning of time.\u201d In other words, it starts in fourth grade when he met Allie Taylor<\/a> for the first time.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was always in love with Allie,\u201d he tells Entrepreneur<\/em>. \u201cI just knew that she was my soulmate, that we could do anything together that we put our minds to \u2014 I felt like we could tackle the world together.\u201d<\/p>\n The childhood sweethearts got married and, in 2022, became first-time parents. They quickly found a glaring gap in the market for baby carriers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nThey were set on writing a different story for new moms<\/h2>\n
Carrying her baby changed the game<\/h2>\n
Creating the product<\/h2>\n
Talking to the mom<\/h2>\n
Selling out in a minute<\/h2>\n
They chose to maintain quality \u2014 even at a loss<\/h2>\n
Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n
\n