Media Release:

Meet the Founder of Australia’s Biggest Baby & Kids Market

Like many new mums, Anne Lewis had a great idea to save money and reduce waste by recycling small and large baby and kids' products.

Most parents swap with friends and family and leave it at that. But Anne took the idea and launched a one-off market involving hundreds of people. Entering her sixth year of organising Markets, 2009 will see over 100 market days across six Australian states and territories, which will attract over 100,000 shoppers and 7,000 stallholders - all parents like Anne.

What drives Anne to challenge herself, to make her idea a reality and then make it the best and biggest market of its kind in Australasia?

A clue to Anne's spirit and competitive drive is a childhood spent travelling the world, watching her father compete in hot air balloon races. A young champion horse rider in her native Germany, fluent in four languages, Anne saw every hobby and part-time job as an opportunity to push herself and create something special.

"In Germany I worked as a waitress, then in catering, then I started managing events", she says. "I always loved creating events people would enjoy, and had an instinct for what would be successful."

Having seen the world, Anne was keen to continue her travels once she finished studying - and Australia was her first choice.

"I'd spent a month with my parents crossing Australia from Perth to Sydney in a hot air balloon during Australia's bicentennial year", she says.

"From the big cities to the red centre and country towns, I just fell in love with the people here, how open they were, and the space and opportunity in Australia. I've seen so many countries, and I know how great life is here.

"So fifteen years ago, as soon as I finished my business studies, I couldn't wait to get back here, and flew to Melbourne to study tourism at RMIT. Then I met my husband, Adrian, and I've stayed ever since!"

Anne completed her tourism degree at RMIT, then spent six years working as a research analyst for in the exhibitions and events industry, before having her first child, Mathilda.

"I loved working as a research analyst, and I learned a lot - but I'm not really an academic sort of person, my strength is my instinct", Anne says.

"Creating Baby & Kids Market used the skills and experience I'd built up in Germany and Australia. But it was based on a gut feeling, that what I and my friends wanted was something parents across Australia would really enjoy and value.

"When we held the first Market in Hawthorn Town Hall in 2003, and I heard women on their mobiles telling their friends ‘they had to get down there, they wouldn't believe how good it was', I knew my instinct was right.

"From that day I've really thrived on the challenge of trying to make the Market bigger and better all the time.

"I've found a great small team to make sure we keep standards high across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the ACT. We are starting new sites all the time, we are looking at New Zealand, and we are using bigger venues as the Market gets more and more popular."

She's the quintessential working mum, juggling overseeing almost 100 markets a year, talking to her team, partners, media and potential sponsors, marketing and being a mum to Mathilda (seven years old), Isaac (six years old) and Abigail (two years old).

"I started this because Adrian and I didn't want to waste the thousands of dollars we spent when Mathilda was born, and we could see the value of recycling when we had Isaac. I knew other mums and dads would feel the same - would want to save money, reduce waste and recycle if they could rely on the product quality being high", Anne says.

"And I'll keep driving myself, and this idea, because it is meeting a real need among parents. Interest rates, financial pressures on families and growing concerns about sustainability make the Baby & Kids Market even more relevant now than when it started.

"I don't know how big this can get, but I know it's a great concept people love, I know it's growing fast, and I'm certainly up for the challenge of pushing ahead and seeing how far we can take it."

For more information please visit www.babykidsmarket.com.au.

Mum Zone Release Date: 20th January 2009

Back to Media Releases