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This mom's baby care brand revolutionized the industry. Now celebrities like Hilary Swank swear by it.

Even as a child, 48-year-old Shazi Visram understood the importance of taking on challenges and learning to overcome them. She watched her immigrant parents build a successful motel in Alabama and then other businesses, sparking an entrepreneurial spirit that spurred her to change the baby care industry.

After earning her MBA from Columbia Business School, Visram founded her first company, Happy Family Organics, in 2006. Their mission began with bridging the gap in healthy, natural foods for babies. It soon became the fastest-growing organic baby food brand in the country, according to Business Insider. In 2013, she sold the company to the multinational food company Danone for $250 million.

The deciding factor in her decision to sell the company was her young son Zane's autism diagnosis. She continued to grow the company as CEO, eventually stepping down a few years later to focus on supporting Zane's development.

In 2018, she founded a second company – HealthyBaby – motivated by her research and personal experiences as a mother. Officially launched in 2021, the company offers products for healthy child development – an Environmental Working Group verified organic cotton disposable diaper, plant-based baby balm and prenatal vitamins – all produced through clean supply chains.

Her health and sustainability-focused brand attracted investments from many notable startups, including Spanx co-founder Sara Blakely and Honest Tea co-founder Seth Goldman.

HealthyBaby founders Shazi Visram and Hilary Swank.Chris Sojka for HealthyBaby

More recently, she attracted the interest of actress Hilary Swank – new mother of one-year-old twins – who endorsed the products when she had her children and eventually joined the company as chief innovation officer.

Know Your Value recently chatted with Visram about her entrepreneurial and parenting journey, revolutionizing the baby care industry, working with Hilary Swank and more.

Below is the conversation, edited for brevity and clarity:

Know your worth: Tell us about your upbringing and how it influenced your approach to life and business.

Visram: Growing up in Alabama in a motel run by my incredible pioneer parents was humbling, unique, and full of character and entrepreneurial lessons. I experienced such a real and different part of the United States, where rebirth is necessary to progress, stories are valued, and people work hard to make a living and maintain their sense of humor.

I think I felt the same way as I watched my parents use ingenuity to overcome the endless stream of challenges. I expect to be challenged daily and look forward to the growth that comes with it. And when I don't feel challenged, I create something new to learn from.

I even enrolled in a boarding school on the outskirts of Birmingham so I could study more freely. It was one of the most life-changing early decisions that showed me that I was fully capable of forging my own path.

Know Your Worth: How has your son's autism diagnosis affected your business?

Visram: Any parent who receives a diagnosis for their child goes through a period of suffering and then must take action to support and improve their child's development.

My son's diagnosis was shocking since he typically develops by the age of two. By the way, he is the most beautiful, magical and happiest person who overcomes challenges with grace every day of his life.

But in our search for answers about what could have more proactively influenced his outcome, I've realized that there's so much we can do to prepare for the most productive and enriched lives possible when we have babies.

His extreme hypersensitivity to almost all sensory input opened my eyes to the elements that parents need to consider if they want to improve their children's outcomes.

For example, the slightest bit of fragrance irritates him and gives him a headache, so obviously fragrance is out. Tags bother his skin, which is why our diaper pants have seams on the outside and are super soft.

Even dyes contain additives that we don't want on our babies' skin. That's why we developed a simple white diaper without urine streaks. His sensitivities shed light on areas of concern, particularly when one in six children receives a developmental diagnosis.

His diagnosis has really empowered my family to put health first in every decision we make. My life experiences inform my business, so HealthyBaby is the culmination of much of that learning and ethos.

The environment in which our babies grow up is very important in shaping their health and development. I see an opportunity to transform the diaper industry to improve the environment for every baby who wears a diaper 24/7 for the first three years of life. This is also the time when the brain and body develop rapidly.

Know your value: You want to create a new standard for all baby products. What was the biggest challenge and biggest reward?

Visram: Since there is no standard for products like diapers in the US, I think we had to set the bar very high and then be the first to meet it. The challenge is that our world has relied on what I call “chemicals of convenience” for so many years that we as a society have become accustomed to harnessing the power of certain materials.

The challenge is to maintain the same level of performance but use safe, healthy and clean materials. This is not easy, but definitely possible.

HealthyBaby has done this with an Environmental Working Group verified diaper where we use less material for better absorption and avoid 2,800 banned chemicals linked to human harm that might be found in the production of other diapers.

Know Your Worth: How did you decide to work with Hilary Swank?

Visram: This actually happened organically. Hilary is an avid researcher, and while preparing for the birth of her twins, she researched every product she brought home when it came to diapers and skin care.

She found us organically because we truly are the brand that puts babies' brains and bodies first when making products.

I was pleased to hear that she was a customer and had posted a video about us on social media and it took many months before we finally met. We hit it off immediately and realized we really had the same mission.

What I like most about Hilary is that she is powerful, not only in the way she communicates, but also in the way she thinks. She wants to create change and is passionate about anything that requires a fight. It was a no-brainer to bring her onto the HealthyBaby team and I'm sure she and I will do a lot together in the future as we share a passion for sustainability, women's health, maternal health and of course infant health.

Know Your Worth: What is your biggest piece of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Visram: Every entrepreneurial journey is different. Even this journey with HealthyBaby is radically different than my journey with HappyBaby, but what I share with entrepreneurs is the question of whether you are truly passionate about what you do.

To be one successful Being an entrepreneur is very difficult in today's world. Being an entrepreneur is actually quite simple, but financial success requires a thorough assessment of marketability, creating a differentiated product or service, a sensible financial plan, the ability to attract and grow a world-class team, and the resources to do so the daily challenges that come your way, including the need to sometimes completely pivot and change course.

My main advice is to dig deep and understand what you are passionate about and what motivates you before you start this journey.

Know Your Worth: What’s Next for HealthyBaby?

Visram: Our HealthyBaby diapers are expanding nationwide to Target, which I'm really proud of! Target is particularly close to my heart because I believe it can drive consumer change in America.

We just launched our first Environmental Working Group certified newborn diaper, which is smaller and more challenging.

We also launched SmartyPants, an alternative to open diapers and a sensor-friendly, soft and absorbent alternative that babies and toddlers really love because it's so comfortable.

You sleep better and feel better. I look forward to continuing to commercialize and grow the business, but what I'm most excited about is the opportunity to be a part of parents' lives during such a formative time.

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