Founder of organic cloth diaper company to give campus talk

Contact: Alyssa Benson
Photo of Christy Malone.

Malone

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—The founder of Smart Bottoms Inc., an organic cloth diaper company, will be the next speaker in the Entrepreneurship Forum speaker series at Western Michigan University's Haworth College of Business.

Christy Malone will speak at 8 a.m. Friday, April 10, in 2150 Schneider Hall. The event is free and open to the public and begins with breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Reservations are required and can be made by calling (269) 387-6059 or at wmich.edu/business/e-rsvp. Free parking is available in the Fetzer Center lot.

Smart Bottoms Inc.

Smart Bottoms was born in 2010 when Malone discovered that her daughter was allergic to the finishing chemicals used in other cloth diapers. While searching for cloth diapers made from organic materials, Malone discovered that she wasn't able to find a modern product that suited her family's needs.

Smart Bottoms diapers are made from organic fabrics, and all products are 100 percent American-made in facilities in Michigan and Arkansas. Since starting the business, which included producing and selling the diapers on her own, Malone has grown Smart Bottoms' availability to families worldwide. Today, Smart Bottoms sells products at specialty retailers in the United States and in more than 10 countries, as well as through online retailers.

Prior to founding Smart Bottoms, Malone founded and owned Mom-to-Mom Sales Inc. She sold the company to Kohler Expos Inc. in 2012.

About the Entrepreneurship Forum

The Entrepreneurship Forum is a monthly series sponsored by Educational Community Credit Union and hosted by Western Michigan University's Haworth College of Business to bring stories of entrepreneurial success to the greater Kalamazoo community. This series is devoted to entrepreneurs and unique stories of startup success. To learn more about the series, visit wmich.edu/business/entrepreneurship-forum.

For more information or to RSVP, contact Alyssa Gapske at alyssa.t.gapske@wmich.edu. To suggest an entrepreneur who should be considered for the series, contact Stacey Markin at stacey.markin@wmich.edu

For more news, arts and events, visit wmich.edu/news