‘People pay for value’: How a young mom’s plan to hold passion tight drives her baby apparel side hustle

Coming from a family of business owners, Riley Rhoads knew she wanted to pursue entrepreneurship: starting her own business — but with a goal to help others, the founder of Hold Tight Baby said.

“When I hear people talk about, ‘Oh, I want to be an entrepreneur; I want to start and own my own business and I can make a bunch of money,’ it gives me the ick. I’m like, ‘Please stop,’” Rhoads said with a laugh, speaking with Sam Kulikov, co-founder of Social Apex Media, for a new UMKC Student Venture Series podcast from the Regnier Institute at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

“If you start with a passion and you really want to help people, the money will always come later,” she added, acknowledging the struggles that could come with avoiding an aggressively profit-motivated strategy. “God has a plan for me, and I’m going to be OK.”

Riley Rhoads, a UMKC business student, and her daughter pose with UMKC’s Adam Larson after being announced as the winner of UMKC’s Side Hustle Challenge; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

In November, Rhoads earned a big win at UMKC’s Side Hustle Challenge with the apparel brand Hold Tight Baby — a venture the young mom launched as a business student in the university’s Bloch School. She’s set to graduate in May.

“Once I had my daughter my sophomore year of college, things definitely changed. She sparked the idea for what I’m working on now,” Rhoads explained, describing how Hold Tight Baby evolved out of empathy for her fellow busy mothers. “It’s a brand that supports parents by simplifying the baby clothing experience; reducing the mental load for busy moms like myself, giving them more time to hold their baby and build secure attachments.”

ICYMI: Young mom’s apparel for crawling babies wins best fit for UMKC Side Hustle Challenge

Himself a UMKC graduate and serial entrepreneur with his hand in everything from branding to esports, Kulikov used the podcast to showcase where Hold Tight Baby — and Rhoads’ philosophy — fits into the uniquely American business landscape.

“The free market allows you to create value for society. And people pay for value,” said Kulikov. “So when you’re thinking of people, you’re creating a product that helps them. When you instead try and think of ‘How do I make money?’ you stray from creating value, and you stray toward grift.”

Watch the full podcast below — and click here to check out Kulikov’s interview with Lesly Romo, UMKC’s 2023 Student Entrepreneur of the Year and founder of Golazo.

The Regnier Venture Creation Challenge returns to campus April 25. Students can win $15,000 in awards at the competition.

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