An Interview With Gemma Gaisano Ng, Co-Founder of No Reception Club
Today we are thrilled to feature Gemma Gaisano Ng, Co-Founder of NO RECEPTION CLUB. Gemma is a mother, wife, lover of travel, and mompreneur. Learn more about Gemma and her mission to perfect traveling accessories for families and how to get your hands on these coveted travel bags (at a discount!) and much more!
Introduce yourself, your family, and brand.
My name is Gemma Gaisano Ng, and I'm one of the co-founders behind NO RECEPTION CLUB, a travel essentials brand I started with my husband Daniel a little over a year ago! Our mission for NO RECEPTION CLUB is to inspire other parents to unplug and go on adventures with their little ones. We aim to help parents do this by creating travel bags that are intelligently and elegantly designed to ease the journey. We live in San Francisco and have one child, our son Emmett, who just turned two years old!
What inspired you to start No Reception Club?
Daniel and I have been together for nearly 15 years, and we've been fortunate in that travel has always been a significant part of our relationship. So many of our best memories together were on trips we took together! When we became parents to our son Emmett 2 years ago, we took him on countless road trips and flights -- that is until the pandemic hit. During these trips, we loved unplugging as a family and excitedly watched him explore and open up to new people and environments. The only downside to these family adventures was surviving the car rides/flights. We found ourselves helplessly digging through bags, losing items, struggling to change diapers in tight spaces. Our absolute love of family travel with Emmett, combined with our frustration with the limited products available to make it easier led us to found No Reception Club. I‘ll add that Daniel and I had for years wanted to start a business together, but it wasn't until we were parents that we knew exactly what kind of business we wanted to start!
Why is the representation of fatherhood equally as important in marketing to modern parents?
From pregnancy through early parenthood, I have often felt that while things are improving, the focus on motherhood in marketing is so disproportionate to the focus on fatherhood. I personally feel that so many products, especially bags, are being created and marketed with only one kind of parent in mind: a mom with a more traditionally feminine or "cutesy" aesthetic. These kinds of products are totally fine, but we need options and diversity. I think it is so important that we create products and market them in a way that represents all parents, which includes fathers -- and this is definitely what we tried to do with both the Getaway Bag and the Sidekick. I think this representation subtly but in a real way affects how society as a whole perceives the roles and responsibilities of fathers, mothers, and caregivers in general. Specifically for fathers, I think being able to see oneself in marketing can be pretty encouraging and remind them they aren't alone in fatherhood! I have felt so supported by so many mothers I know and encouraged by a lot of mom-focused media I consume. This level of support and media, while growing, does not exist in the same way for fathers.
How has launching during a pandemic affected your business - positives and negatives?
I love this question! I would say one positive has been working from home -- I have loved being able to spend the extra time with my son during the workday, and I would never trade this time even though it meant making up for many hours in the evenings! However, to be honest, I think it has been more challenging than anything to start a business during a pandemic. The product development process certainly looks longer as we needed to spend a lot of time waiting for the shipping of prototypes back and forth from our incredible factory in Vietnam. Almost all of our meetings had to be done in masks and socially distanced. I will say we were extremely lucky to have found amazing Bay Area-based creatives to collaborate with -- from our product designer to our illustrator, to our photographer, models, product stylist, and everyone involved in our local photoshoots! Even though we were in masks and socially distanced when we met, it was so great to still be able to work in person with such exceptional people. We're very lucky to live in an area filled with so much talent.
What makes your bags so unique?
No Reception Club's bags are unique because they're packed with innovative features to make family travel so much easier while remaining modern and sophisticated aesthetically. We pushed the boundaries of organization, accessibility, versatility, and capacity in ways never seen before in a diaper bag, and without compromising on style or comfort.
The Getaway Bag's standout features are:
Instant Side Access: While most backpacks are designed with top access, the Getaway Bag is designed to be primarily opened from the sides -- making it easier and faster to retrieve what you need!
Flexible Organization System: Say goodbye to digging through a black hole. The Getaway Bag’s 2 adjustable “shelves” velcro securely into the main compartment, enabling parents to create 2 or 3 sections in varying sizes, depending on the trip or child’s needs.
Odor-Resistant Emergency Compartment: Accidents, spills, and diaper blowouts happen. The Emergency Compartment at the base of the Getaway Bag is odor-resistant, waterproof, and created to contain “mess” from everything else.
Parent Pockets: Dedicated exterior pockets are placed throughout the Getaway Bag in the hood, front, and back panels to store and separate everything Parents personally need for the journey.
Getaway Bag
“The Sidekick” simplifies diaper changes on the go, and its standout feature is a discrete back-pocket that holds diaper wipes -- the magnetic closure on this pocket means that wipes can be retrieved one-handed. It also fits perfectly into the Getaway Bag’s Essentials compartment.
The Sidekick
Anything else you’d like to add?
Our products will only be available for a limited time during our Kickstarter campaign! Our campaign runs from July 13th, 2021 to August 15th, and during this time only we will be offering special one-time-only discounted prices off our regular retail!
And finally, where can we find you?
Kickstarter Website: Kickstarter
Instagram/social: @noreceptionclub
