Female Founder Name: Portia Makoma

Business Name: MAU Mask + OAT Baby Club

Industry: Health, Baby/Kids, Green Consumer Goods, E-commerce

Instagram Handle: @__portia | @maumask | @oatbabyclub

What inspired you to start your business?

My journey with MAU Mask began when I decided to live in Bali. I had been traveling through SE Asia for a year and the pollution was starting to affect my health. I couldn’t find effective, aesthetically pleasing protection masks, so MAU was born. MAU products protect travelers venturing through polluted areas and megacities to freely enjoy their outdoor activities and commute without fear of breathing highly polluted air nor damaging their skin.

I love our planet and ecological matters are very important to me. OAT Baby Club was inspired by my amazing friends who birthed beautiful babies in an ecosystem that we are failing. OAT exclusively offers sustainable, eco-friendly, slowly and ethically made baby essentials, produced by fully female-owned brands. Babies deserve a natural start and raising an eco-conscious child can start with the choices you make for them.

When did you start?

MAU was founded in 2019 and OAT in 2021

Why this specific industry?

My previous companies were service-based, exploring e-commerce seemed like a challenging next step.

What obstacles did you face starting up, and how did you overcome them?

I’m happily an introvert and find networking exhausting. Not being ‘connected’ and outgoing made me believe that getting clients and customers would be a challenge, and it was, but that forced me to really define the company’s niche, find its community and offer the best services/products. Once I found a small loyal community, they told their friends and the introvert behind the company became a non-factor.

What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned since starting your business?

Being flexible! With MAU, the industry changed so dramatically in 2020 the best way to stay above water was by intentionally flowing.

Why work for yourself when there’s stability in working for others?

There is no stability in life and especially not in others. Life is thankfully filled with a million seasons and we hopefully embrace changes. I’ve chosen the instability that I find to be most interesting to me.

What is the one characteristic that you possess that has helped make you so successful?

Tenacity

What’s your guiding business philosophy?

“If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you’ll find an excuse.”

At what moment did this venture become real for you?

The first sale from a complete stranger is always the best! It seems so small but it’s almost always the first thing you remember when you think back to when you started, and when you started is really when it became real.

What is the most challenging part about being an entrepreneur?

Personally, it’s asking for help as well as releasing/delegating when I do receive it. Because so many decisions are made solo, and likely because of my personality, it’s challenging to hand them over and trust that the love and work ethic they need to grow will be given to them. Hope that makes sense. A work in progress...

What makes it all worth it?

It’s an incredible experience to directly see the significance of your work in the world. Also, the ability to be able to choose how I spend my time will always be worth it.

What advice do you have for someone just starting out?

To be brave. Be courageous enough to take more risks aligned with your goals despite the certainty of success. And to just start.

How do you define success?

My definition of success is broad and has changed over the years as I and my priorities have. What has stayed consistent is impact. If what I’m doing has a positive impact on another, then the work is successful.

What did you do differently from the rest of us?

How great is it that each of us gets to experience and explore life differently and pour all those learnings into each other?

What do you believe is the female founder effect?

Inspiration. Representation truly matters, when our community grows, it inspires more of us to explore and accomplish our dreams.

What do you believe is the most impactful and immediate action society needs to move closer to Generation Equality goals?

Ensuring a quality education for all. This doesn’t just solve the job issue but also health, human rights, and gender equality.

Which woman has positively impacted you in your career/business? And what is the one lesson she taught you?

My friend, Jessica De Carlo, started out as my boss when I was freelancing and deciding if I could actually start a company. She was the first young, female entrepreneur I met who was so aligned with my values/lifestyle, and our aesthetics just synced. She was the first person I met that I could relate to who was successfully, unapologetically doing her own thing, and that gave me the courage to do my own thing. And the biggest lesson she taught me was exactly that, to do my own thing, my way.

What is your superpower?

I care about everything! The wording, the little details, the positioning, the colors, the emails, the customer journey, feedback... Wouldn’t say I’m a perfectionist but I love and care about everything.

What centers you?

Hours in nature!

What is your next adventure?

Stay tuned :)

Best advice for female founders

Priorities are self-governed.