Despite spending an otherwise wonderful several days away with her husband and three kids, the most poignant memory Kelly Guerra still carries from an Orlando vacation eight years ago was what happened on the way home: an unexpected hourslong layover, a sobbing 6-month-old and a depleted diaper bag.
“I was out of everything. I had maybe a couple wipes, but I had no diapers. I had nothing to feed [her]. It was incredibly stressful. You pop into all those little stores expecting something: nothing,” said Guerra. “I was walking up and down the terminal, trying to soothe her in any way possible. And then on the flight, [my baby] just cried.”
In the time since, Guerra has continued seeking out resources for parents in similar circumstances. Finding nothing but a gap in the market, this mother decided to invent her own solution: a vending machine full of the necessities for traveling with little ones. Now she’s working to launch the business wherever it might help families stay moving.
“There are vending machines for dogs, there are makeup vending machines. There are headphones,” she said. “All you want to do in life is to comfort your baby, and when there aren’t any options to help you do that, it’s incredibly stressful. I just couldn’t figure out for the life of me why that need still persists today.”
Guerra, an advertising and marketing professional, said that she lacked the energy and resources to make it happen quickly, but that the idea never went away.
“I felt like if I just continued to get older, without even trying, I would have been kicking myself,” she said.
She credits that persistence, her husband’s encouragement, and a chance meeting with business mentors for keeping her on track.
“First and foremost, it was an idea because I was a mom struggling, and then it turned into a business,” she said. “I think the biggest takeaway for me was just not giving up. I've wanted to give up many, many times, I will be honest, but my husband was very supportive and was like: ‘We can't give up. We’re so close.’”
Along the way, she got connected with Lambert St. Louis International Airport Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge, who shared that the idea resonated with her right away because of memories of traveling with her own family.
“There's so much thought that has to go into, ‘What do I need if I'm traveling with young children,’” she said. “The last thing you want to do is have screaming children or lack something on an airplane that you forgot.”
But Hamm-Niebruegge stressed that even good ideas that land on her desk have to navigate a lot of red tape, such as vendor contracts and other agreements, to get into the airport.
“I explained to her that it's never easy. It's not just, ‘Here, come plop your machine and we're set to go,’” she said.
In yet another waiting period in a story sparked by an unexpected delay, it took about three years from Guerra’s initial approach at the airport for her Go Baby vending machine to become operational. It’s now up and running in Terminal 2, near Starbucks.
“It's been a while, so that tells you the process of how long this is, but I was so impressed with her determination and her stamina to say I believe in this,” said Hamm-Niebruegge. “It’s beneficial to moms and dads traveling with young children, so I give her so much credit for sticking it out.”
Guerra and her husband stock and operate the machine. When it comes to numbers and return on investment, Guerra said that sales so far have been above and beyond expectations.
“I am thrilled that it's here. I'm thrilled that it's working and the people are finding it valuable,” she said.
Now she hopes the idea takes off and she gets the chance to send Go Baby to more locations — maybe additional airports, or other popular destinations around the St. Louis region that are popular with families, but where even getting to a gift shop to purchase extra essentials might be a bit out of reach.
She hopes even those who never have to use a Go Baby machine will register the need for a little more empathy and support for families on the go.
“When there's babies getting on a plane and they're crying, instead of being rude or condescending to the parents, it's important to have some understanding, and realize, oh, OK, that it's very difficult,” she said. “It's just not a soda or a chip bag that you need to get out of a vending machine. These are little beings that we have brought into the world, and there are just instances in which you just don't have what you need.”
