Catherine Cervasio
Founder of Aromababy

There is no greater love than a mother’s love for her children. While being a mother can change your life completely, it can also inspire you to do new things and explore avenues that will lead to good fortune.

That’s what Catherine Cervasio did in 1994 when she was pregnant with her first child and started Aromababy, an organic and natural baby skin-care line that’s now exalted by celebrities like John Trovolta, Princess Mary, Jamie Oliver and Kate Moss to name a few.

Catherine developed the Aromababy concept which would set the standard for baby goods worldwide and most importantly, natural, organic-rich baby skin care.

“I’ve always had a strong interest in natural health and well-being and completed a diploma in aromatherapy and massage. I was trained as an Infant Massage Instructor and worked in the area of product development of skin care products. With Aromababy, I wanted to offer natural baby products at a hospital level so that parents would have a choice in the type of baby care they want to use,” she said.

After 22 years, Aromababy is now sold in hospitals and highly recommended by midwives. It has also received numerous accolades in both Australia and overseas.

Some of the awards were the My Business Awards, Micro Business Awards and the Gift Awards. She has received many nominations for the Telstra Business Women’s Awards over recent years, received a Highly Commended (Export) and a Highly Commended status in past Australian Achiever Awards.

Aromababy achieved a Highly Commended Award in the Export Entrepreneur of the Year division of the My Business Awards recently and has won Iparenting Media Awards in USA for several products.

Of course, all these did not just come easily for the mother of two as she slowly worked the business from a small start-up to an international exporter that is setting the world standard for safe and natural baby products.

“In the first few years, the challenge was to educate customers as there was no other product like ours. We kept on growing and started exporting to the Middle East five years into the business. When we were approached by a Korean company, that presented us a big opportunity to export to Korea and signing the multi-million dollar contract catapulted the business even further.”

Aromababy then ventured to Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and smaller parts of Europe. The biggest break was a few years ago when the business started exporting to China. But Catherine wanted to take the trade slow and steady as exporting to China is usually thought of as a get rich quick method. She worked to get the brand licensed there so that it could be sold in retail outlets.

“I’ve visited Shanghai a number of times and it’s a beautiful clean city. I’m also learning Chinese a little now as it’s really important to communicate and embrace other cultures and understand the people you’re doing business with.”

In addition to Aromababy’s therapeutic-grade aromatic product, there is also the aroma-free products that are essential for the baby’s first few weeks of life, as studies show that bland, unscented product or simply water to be the best and safest. “This range only has pure essential oils that have been specifically chosen and blended synergistically not only for their therapeutic properties, but to delight the senses and soothe the soul,” explained Catherine.

母亲的爱让一切皆有可能。作为母亲后会让人生彻底变化，但也可激发创新思维和探索路径，并将引导美好运势。

1994年，Catherine Cervasio怀了第一个孩子，同时启动开发”爱乐湄(Aromababy)”有机和天然婴儿护肤产品系列品牌。而这个婴儿护理品牌甚至赢得国际名流或巨星如John Trovolta, Princess Mary, Jamie Oliver 与Kate Moss等高度赞扬追捧。

引发Catherine开发爱乐湄的概念是将婴儿用品设置为世界性标准，关键是完全天然、富含有机质和纯净的产品。

“我对于自然保健拥有浓厚兴趣，并完成了相关芳香疗法和按摩学位。接着受训为婴儿按摩导师，还有进行护肤品开发工作。创立爱乐湄的初衷是想通过医院供应天然婴儿产品，父母可以选择给孩子们更纯正自然的护理。“22年后，爱乐湄除了在医院热销，还获得助产师的力荐，在澳大利亚和海外获奖无数。

这些奖项包括MyBusinessAwards，微型企业奖(Micro BusinessAwards)及GiftAwards。同时近年来她多次获得Telstra Business Women’s Awards的提名，受到出口部门的高度赞赏，并曾在澳大利亚成就大奖中荣获最佳推荐。

爱乐湄产品在MyBusinessAwards所属的出口企业家赢得高度推荐奖，其中一些优质产品获得美国Iparenting Media Awards的权威肯定。

当然，对于2个孩子的母亲来说，这些名誉来之不易。从最初小规模开发扩展至出口国际业务与符合世界标准安全天然婴儿产品。

“开始的几年，我们面临的挑战是市面没有类似的产品，必须向客户消费者提供说明导向。过后我们持续增长，并且5年后出口到中东。直到与一家韩国公司接洽，也是契机的突破点，出口到韩国并签署价值数百万元的合同，业务呈现大跃进。”

接着品牌也打入新加坡、香港，台湾和欧洲小部分区域。其中亮眼的成绩单是在几年前，正式拓展中国市场。即使中国市场常被认为是快速致富的商业通道，但Catherine却讲求放慢速度，稳打稳扎。她首先取得品牌执照授权，在零售点打响销售战。

“我多次到访上海，一个美丽而干净的城市。我也在学习中文，对于开展业务来说，了解商业对象，深化交流和融合文化是非常重要的。”

她说，除了有机治疗级芳香产品，也提倡无香产品，这是为出生数周的婴儿所配制的精粹朴质产品。研究证明，平淡，无味无香的物质或简单的水显得更精华和安全。而这个阶段范围特意挑选协同混合的纯正精油，不仅拥有治疗特性，也可使感官愉悦和抚慰心灵。