Founder and CEO of Barefoot Books
Nancy Traversy is the founder and CEO of Barefoot Books, a wonderful and independent publisher of children’s books and gifts that operates in the UK and the U.S. She has managed to create and run the company for the past 15 years while being a mom to four (yes, four!) kids, who are now 10, 11, 13, and 14! In this honest and revealing interview, Nancy talks in depth about the inspiration for creating her company, the many challenges that she and the team have faced over the past 15 years and what has helped her overcome them, and why she thinks that having a mom who is an entrepreneur has been a positive influence on her kids.
Company Website : www.barefootbooks.com
Date company was founded : We began working on the idea in 1992, launched officially in the UK in 1993, and opened a U.S. office in New York in 1998, which we moved to Cambridge, MA in 2001.
Number of employees : Total of 33 - 23 in the U.S. and 10 in the UK.
Financing sources : Friends, family, and founders.
Can you tell us a little bit about your company?
Barefoot Books is a pioneering, award-winning, and very independent publisher of illustrated children’s books and complementary gift products. We were founded in 1992 in the UK and now have offices in Bath, England, and Cambridge, MA, with a small team of 33 fantastic and committed individuals. Since we started our Barefoot journey, we have published over 400 titles and our publishing program now consists of books and gifts for preschoolers, young readers aged 4 through 12 and children of all ages. We believe in the importance of building communities of like-minded individuals who have children in their lives and who also share our core values. These include an understanding and acceptance of global cultures and traditions, an awareness and appreciation of our environment, imagination in a world of too much information, literacy and, perhaps most importantly, a simple love of beautiful art and a captivating story.
