In 2005, Susanne Budofsky’s triplets turned two, and she found herself missing the stage when they were infants content to stay in a bouncy seat. Having left her career as an advertising executive to be a stay-at-home mom, she soon found that taking the kids to the supermarket was more challenging than a trip to a client on the opposite coast. More often than not, she’d have to chase her children around a store to keep them from pillaging the aisles and clumsily knocking over displays.
To Susanne’s frustration, besides her clumsy 80-pound stroller, which her kids had learned to get out of by now, she discovered that there were no products available to help her keep her kids close by and out of trouble. (Using a toddler harness, as if her children were domestic animals, was out of the question.) Taking matters into her own hands, and with the concept of a modified preschool walking rope in mind, Susanne headed to Home Depot, picked up some rope and duct tape, and began to cobble together what became the first prototype of Hold-On Handles.® Oh, it wasn’t pretty—but it worked. Her children always held on, and the Budofsky clan started conquering errands with much greater ease. The triplets are now eight, and Susanne proudly shares that the rope was a vital part of everyday life until they were about five years old.
Susanne cherished her experience with her triplets so much that she became certified as a postpartum doula, specializing in the care of newborns and multiples, and helping families adjust to their new lives. Her idea for a walking rope was well received by many of the moms she worked with, so, encouraged by the support, she reached out to a former advertising client now living in China, who also happened to be a mother of twins. This mom thought she was onto something, and introduced Susanne to her friend and former associate Robyn Spritzer, a marketing director in New Jersey with a long and successful career in packaged-goods marketing and innovation.
In 2008, Robyn delivered her second and third children—twins—and found herself in need of a break from a full-time career. It was during that break (if you can call being home with three kids a break) that Susanne and Robyn met, and discovered they shared the perspective that getting around with young children in tow was one of moms’ greatest challenges. Finding it horrifying to leave the house with the twins in car seats and a toddler chasing shiny pennies, Robyn needed something to attach to the stroller for her toddler to hold onto, something sleek enough not to clutter the stroller, but cute enough that her daughter would want to hold onto it. The two women immediately began brainstorming, and Hold-On Handles was born.
Susanne and Robyn were determined to create a walking rope for up to three children that could also act as a stroller accessory for just one child. So they designed a versatile, pragmatic product that performs in both capacities, but that’s attractive and fun so that kids want to hold on. After a year and a half of research and development, Susanne and Robyn’s Greater Than One Kids company launched Hold-On Handles at the 2010 ABC Kids Expo to great acclaim. Hold-On Handles are now distributed in the US, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia. As exciting as their early success has been, though, Susanne and Robyn say that the most gratifying part is when they receive feedback from moms from all over who say that Hold-On Handles have made getting around with kids in tow far easier and more enjoyable.
