She’s someone who’s been there, done that — and now she’s working to help others thrive in their parenting experience.

Mari Leong started cloth diapering her own children after her grandmother’s recommendation, and quickly realized all the natural benefits of the reusable option.

“As soon as I started, I learned about how cloth diapers are great in so many different ways — be it environmental, financial or gentleness on the baby’s skin — and found my passion building for them very quickly,” she said. “I believe using cloth diapers can turn a mundane parental task into an empowering tool for all parents.”

In January 2019, Mari launched her California-based small business, Petite Crown, providing premium quality cloth diapers using a buy-one-give-one model. She decided on a charitable business model because she had noticed so many parents struggling to afford diapers for their little ones.

“I started this company based on my strong belief that no parents should have to choose between food and basic necessities,” Mari said.

To get started, Mari said she researched diaper banks that specialized in cloth diapers and stumbled upon Jake’s Diapers.

“Jake’s Diapers was most transparent about where the diapers get donated to, how often and how many,” she said. “I really enjoyed reading the introduction posts about the charities who received the donation from Jake’s Diapers as well – it showed the connection that did not end once the donation was made, and the stories felt much more personal and it was easy to see that (Jake’s Diapers) truly cared about this cause.”

Using cloth diapers gave Mari an extra sense of control as a parent, and now she gets to share that experience with her customers as well as the people we serve.

“When motherhood felt so out of control at times,” she said, “taking out the clean cloth diapers from the dryer felt oddly soothing and it reassured me that I still had something under control.”

Jake’s looks forward to watching Petite Crown grow and continuing in a partnership to serve families in need.

About this feature: We regularly share stories from our business partners in this Business Buddy Spotlight to highlight the great ways other organizations are doing good work alongside us. We appreciate these community partners and have a larger impact because of them. Is your organization interested in helping out? Contact Katie at [email protected].