Anyone of my friends that know me…. know that I always use a backpack on the weekend, especially with a toddler, and needing both hands to be free. I think the need for this has become more pertinent with becoming a mom of two, and able to deal with baby and toddler at the same time.

I have been admiring the the Jan Pierewiet leather bags for awhile and was so excited when I saw the launch of their diaper backpacks.

This lovely local brand is run by one awesome Mom Boss – Danica, its been such a pleasure to get to know her, and work with her on a review of her products and sharing her story with you.

Sometimes a product becomes just part of your life – this bag is going to share many special memories with us.

So let’s get to know Danica a bit better….

Tell us a little bit about Danica the mom and business owner:

I am Danica, the momma bear of Jan Pierewiet, 2 beautiful little boys, Dawid who is 2,5 years old and Benjamin who will soon be turning 5 months and FOUR furry children – Johnnie & Bella, our two Scottish Terriers, Hagrid the Great Dane and Jedd a beautiful Border Collie/ Lab x we inherited from my brother and his fiancé when they moved abroad and most importantly I am wifey to an amazing and stupendously supportive husband 🙂

Apart from Jan Pierewiet I am also a photographer. For the past 8 years I have served in the wedding industry as a wedding planner, but after having the babes I decided that I needed some more “home” time to be around for the boys. I would photograph EVERYTHING all day and every day and am REALLY lucky to be able to have had my hobby become a “job”… or part-time at least 🙂

How did Jan Piereweit come about?

Having had babies and realising that, although I love the wedding industry, the long hours were getting to me and that I was not enjoying something I used to be so passionate about. Before Dawid was born I was playing around with the idea of starting a small leather diaper bag business as I so desired a leather diaper bag, but at the stage we just couldn’t afford one. Some time had passed and Dawid was born and the idea twinkled again… This time with the help of my trusty husband and his mama and we made it happen – yay!! It had grown so quickly to so much more than I have ever imagined!

Jan Piereweit is such a cool name – how did you choose it? Is there a special meaning behind it? 

This actually has a cute story… From the get go I knew I wanted an authentic South African name and something that reminded me of my South African childhood. Jan Pierewiet immediately came up, BUT for a while I kept it to myself just to think about it and get a feel for it. A few days later I asked hubby what would he name it given the criteria I had. He took a shower and excitedly came from the bathroom and said “What about Jan Pierewiet?” and I was SOLD!

Tell us about your products? What makes them special?

All of our bags are made from 100% genuine bovine leather and are absolute top quality. The linings are water resistant for those “oopsie” milk spills when taking a cloth and giving it a wipe is all you need.

Is there a story about where the bags are made and the people behind them?

Recently we lost both our front ladies and have had to change to a CMT in Moorreesburg (tried and trusted) until we can get our own little thing back on track 😦

Does Jan Pierewiet have any plans to expand the range this year? Any sneak peeks we can know about?

We are looking at designing a smaller little backpack for toddlers as well as another Momma bag a little more formal for those city slicker moms… But we are still working on designs.

What products do you have in your cupboard to use to clean the bags and can recommend to moms?

All the leather is treated with a spray conditioner from our leather supplier before it is send to their new homes, but Dubbin is perfect -it’s easily accessible and super affordable for when your Jan Pierewiet looks a little “dry”

If we had to look in your Jan Pierewiet bag – what would we find ?

Ha… The obvious wipes, diapers, bum paste, change of clothes and burp cloth… Then I always have sunscreen as Dawid is a real outdoors kid and always wants to play outside, some bottled water, a teether or two and a colouring book and pencils and some Zambuk for insect bites, dry lips and owies.

As a mom boss – how do you juggle running your business and family at the same time?

Both babes attend “school” in the mornings and I try to work on a scheduled and structured day …. This has yet to have proven successful as I still find days that I spend evenings in front of the computer – ha ha! But I try!

If there is one thing you want to be known for in business what would that be?

Great quality and service (does this then count as two?) I work really hard on customer service and sometimes I literally only check mails and reply to a client and all other mails then have to wait until after “Family Time” 🙂

Shop the Jan Pierewiet range here.