What a genius idea!
Jasmin Smith, a business consultant, created a vending machine that exclusively sells baby products.
According to Runway Girl Network it all began when the Alaskan mother of twins realized she had run out of diapers during a trip to the mall. Smith said she “ended up buying blankets and underwear to put on [the twins] until [she] was able to get diapers.” The entire ordeal made her research ways to get emergency baby supplies. After stumbling across a similar design in Australia, Smith decided to create a vending machine specifically for baby supplies.
Smith recalled the story saying, “I found a woman in Australia who had created a diaper vending machine. But I thought I could do that and add other supplies parents might carry in their diaper bags. I’m an experienced traveler with my kids too, but things happen. I want this machine available to make [parents] feel more at ease. So that’s how Baby Vend was born.”
Baby Vend carries an array of products for the little ones including wipes, pacifiers, thermometers, teething rings, a nose suction device, and of course, diapers. Smith, a resident of Alaska, said the business market there is a different world and it actually made getting started easier for her. “Our population is so small that businesses actually talk and network regularly, especially those of us of color,” she said.
The 32-year-old ended up reaching out to a friend of hers who works as a concession manager at the local airport to place the first of her vending machines there. She said the airport was the perfect idea for Baby Vend. “In Alaska, we fly everywhere, because we are not a driving state. And because Anchorage is our largest city, everyone goes through here regularly.”
Smith is already pretty well known in her city, running her own consulting firm, The Business Boutique, and being named one of Alaska’s “Top 40 Under 40 by” the Alaska Journal of Commerce in 2017. She is awaiting her final permit from the airport to install the first machine but hopes to get it up and running before the holiday season. Smith also has expansion ideas for the machines in the near future, adding a website locator for the machines, and projects rapid growth for her latest business venture.
“I’ll test this for a year and see how it goes. I want to have tangible results before we expand. We eventually want to be in as many airports as possible so we can be there for parents anywhere,” Smith said.
Congratulations Jasmin! We hope to see Baby Vend at all the major airports very soon!
Photo Courtesy of Baby Vend/Facebook/Black Enterprise