I had given birth to my first child in October 2010. It was my intention to return to my full-time job once my 4-month maternity leave was up. Yet the thought of being away from my son for 8+ hours 6 days a week was making my stomach churn.  I desperately wanted to find a way to create income for myself without having to leave my son.

How It All Began

Thanks to a family trip to Texas for Christmas 2009, I realized that baby equipment rental companies were a ‘thing.’ Rather than having to buy baby equipment for a 2-week vacation, I could simply rent the items that I needed. What a revelation that was! And that was when my wheels started to turn. Was there such a service in Los Cabos? 

As luck would have it, there wasn’t and so I set about creating Baja Baby Gear. Fascinating Fact - I originally wanted to call it Cabo Babe-Ease - but alas that didn’t make the final cut! ;-) 

By the end of January 2011, Baja Baby Gear was open for business. 

Creating A New Niche

To my knowledge and extensive research, there were no other baby equipment rental companies around in Los Cabos (or elsewhere in Mexico) at that time. So when trying to configure a pricing model for my various equipment items, I researched average price points of existing baby gear rental companies in high-end travel destinations that were comparable to Los Cabos like Florida and Hawaii.

In terms of marketing efforts, I became a walking-talking advertisement for Baja Baby Gear - it wasn’t uncommon to see me handing out postcards out of my diaper bag during a Mom’s and Babies day at the pool. I would talk to as any hotels and travel agents as I could, in addition to branding my own truck and my husbands. 

Beginner's Luck

It was challenging to introduce a completely new concept into a market like Los Cabos. Some people at the time didn’t necessarily believe that there was a high demand for such a service. It was one thing to rent things like cars in Los Cabos and entirely another to rent cribs, strollers or toy boxes. Yet, almost from the first day I opened, the phone began to ring. And it hasn’t stopped ringing since.

Our inventory offerings have increased exponentially over the years and I’m proud to say that our per day rental rates have remained more or less the same since day 1.  

My Company Motto

Baja Baby Gear's standard motto has always been to be the best place to rent baby gear in Los Cabos. That means that we must have the highest standards in equipment, service and customer care at all times. COVID-19 has served as a reminder of just how important it is that we stay true to our company values. 

Growing From Strength To Strength

Over the years, Baja Baby Gear has provided full-time jobs, supported other small business and charities, donated countless articles of baby gear to those in need, provided a much-needed service to thousands of traveling families and been a reliable way for me to stay home and raise my children. Baja Baby Gear has created a new niche within the Los Cabos travel industry and it fills me with pride to see fellow service-based companies join me in our shared goal of making traveling parents lives easier when they come to Los Cabos on vacation.

Mom-preneuring

I remember the early years of the business when I single-handedly delivered multiple cribs, toys, high chairs to various vacation homes all around Los Cabos, with one or two of my babies in the back seat. Or the nights when I would get a call at 8pm from a desperate Mom at a hotel who needed a crib at the last-minute. My patient husband would gladly step in and take care of our baby while I hopped in the car and sped off into the night.

Thank You To EVERYONE

When the orders I received were so big that I couldn’t fit all the baby gear AND my baby/babies in the car at one time to complete the delivery, I was so grateful for neighborly helping hands who helped keep an eye on my children so I could deliver on time.

There were times when all hands on deck were required to cover the holiday season madness. Even my own parents and in-laws have been enlisted to help prep orders and I sincerely thank them all for their help.

10 years on, things look a little different. I’m so thankful to have an incredible team who handle the day-to-day duties of the business with ease and professionalism.

Highs & Lows

There have been many highs, and of course some challenging lows. Hurricane Odile in 2014 put the business to bed for almost 4 months and most recently the COVID-19 lockdowns, when Baja Baby Gear was forced to shut down for the guts of a year.

Yet through even these most difficult of times, all my staff have remained in full employment. I’ve used these periods of austerity to recalibrate the business and encourage my employees to make the most of the down-time.

I can hardly believe that 10 years have past and Baja Baby Gear is still in full swing. 

Premium Service & Customer Care

Why has Baja Baby Gear stood the test of time? I believe that it’s in part thanks to the reliability of the service provided. Ever prompt and professional, travel agents and destination management companies know that we will deliver at the time and place we promised. We deliver exactly what was ordered. We guarantee satisfaction and accept accountability when rare hiccups happen.

Absolute Gratitude

I recently got some anniversary messages from people who I suppose would be considered ‘early adopters’ of my business concept. Some of them were local concierge staff, others small-business owners, realtors, loving grandparents who had second homes in Los Cabos. Little did you know at the time, you gave my children constant access to their mother throughout their infancy.

You helped me to create change in other peoples lives. Your willingness to take a chance on an unknown small business made a long-lasting, positive change for many families, but especially my own. From the bottom of my heart, a sincere thank you for taking a chance on a random Irish girl back then. 

Special thanks to Susie Albin-Najera, who somehow stumbled upon my little business idea in 2011 and wrote about it online. Susie, thanks to that one publication, you unknowingly lent credibility and support to my start-up and helped countless families have an enhanced travel experience in Mexico.

The Dream Team

Thank you to Aranza and Andres, who are the backbone of Baja Baby Gear today. With amazing professionalism and exceptional customer care, I am very grateful to you both for always taking care of Baja Baby Gear clients.

Most importantly, I want to thank Nelson, my husband, for always having my back. It takes a village to raise babies, and that same token also applies to small businesses. Without the support of my family, friends, employees and clients, I’m overjoyed to celebrate Baja Baby Gear’s 10th anniversary!

What's Next?

It seemed fitting to give Baja Baby Gear's logo a little upgrade - expect to see the website re-imagined with this new design. Additionally, we have some exciting upgrades coming to the inventory line which I'll share with you later this month. 

Sending all our Baja Baby Gear clients warm appreciation.

Jen