After COVID-19 robbed her of her photography business, Newcastle mother-of-five Leanne Murner was forced to get creative.
Passionate about the environment, Australiana and early childhood education, she combined her skill set to launch 5 Little Bears in early 2020.
A range of timber educational and sensory resources with an emphasis on Australian themes, 5 Little Bears sells products handmade locally in NSW.
Five would soon prove a lucky number for Leanne with the mother-of-five taking home five awards at the 2020 AusMumpreneur Awards this month.
Not only did she place first in the AusMumpreneur Business Pivot Award, and first in the AusMumpreneur Author of the Year category but Leanne also won top honours in the AusMumpreneur Sustainable Product Award category.
She placed second in the Women’s Business School Student of the Year award and third in the AusMumpreneur Making a Difference in Education Award.
“It has been such an honour to be recgonised for all my hard work and determination,” Leanne says.
5 Little Bears is not her first dabble in small business.
In 2016 she launched Personalised Keepsakes, a Toronto-based business specialising in Australian made memory boxes, cremation urns, custom wine boxes, corporate gifts and photography packaging.
And while it continues to be successful, Leanne felt there was still something missing.
“My main business was servicing the wedding industry that was closed due to COVID,” she said.
“5 Little Bears was just a start up, only selling to the early childhood market until we found ourselves selling to parents who were home-schooling and needing products to entertain their children while in lockdown.”
Overawed by its success, Leanne gained the confidence to try something new.
“We started to receive requests to offer wholesale to new retail customers, with no one being able to import,” she said.
“In the space of a few months, we had closed one business and scaled [down] our other.
“Having such a huge demand for Australian-made and Australian-themed products I found myself also becoming an author, producing books teaching children about Australia.”
5 Little bears is now an international business, distributing to USA, Canada, Singapore, and Taiwan.
“We love that our Australian made and themed products are so well received overseas. You can’t help but feel a wave of pride when you get an order from an international supplier who loves your products,” she said.
Leanne has since published three of her series of six books, inspired by her adventurous boys.
The books contain facts about Australian native plants, Indigenous culture and wildlife.
She has also since co-written ‘Back Yourself’ , combining the inspirational stories and expert advice of 27 women in business sharing life changing stories about what can happen when you learn to back yourself.
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