A loving eye – Burleigh family business that’s making home technology safer
In 2022, parents Brett and Karen Willi introduced the world to TweetyCam: a digital baby monitor that relied on bluetooth not WiFi. Two years on and after a chorus of rave reviews, they’re bringing their skill for parenting tech tools to the kitchen.
Thanks to the rise of home technology like camera baby monitors, today’s generation of parents experience an unparalleled peace of mind.
However the rise of these tools has given rise to a new cyber threat. As recent warnings from the government have revealed, some WiFi-connected baby monitors run the risk of cyber attacks and hacks. It was this growing concern within home safety tech that led parents Brett and Karen to launch their own baby monitor business, TweetyCam, in 2022.
“It was born out of this personal need as parents,” shares Karen. “We had just had our first boy, about five years ago. We were looking for baby monitors, and we just couldn’t find what we really wanted.”
“We were kind of worried. Most baby monitors were using WiFi and were a hacking risk, so we just decided to kind of look into it, and see if we can put one together.”
TweetyCam is owned and operated by Brett, Karen and Karen’s brother, Sylvain Mitault. The trio have created a unique type of baby monitor technology that relies on bluetooth instead WiFi and allows multiple cameras connected to one monitor.
“We’re very entrepreneurial – all of us in the family … we all have tried a few ventures before, so it’s kind of really enabled already to kind of try things by ourselves,” says Karen.
TweetyCam has since become a well-loved staple in family homes across the country and beyond – even winning the Product Review Award this year.
“I think it has resonated because we are parents. We’ve been in their shoes. We’ve been through it. So we understand,” shares Brett.
“I still feel like it’s a pinch me moment every time I hear parents on social media saying that TweetyCam is the best baby monitor on the market,” adds Karen.
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The family have made their home in Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast, where their businesses are based.
“We found it’s the perfect place for work-life balance. The lifestyle here is amazing for us,” says Brett. “It’s so community based. When we started off, we had so much positive feedback and support from people, locals, like our friends and family there.”
“That really helped us build this,” adds Karen. “There’s so much infrastructure with playgrounds … It makes meeting other parents in a relaxed environment easier because we work so much to communicate and talk with parents.”
It was this community foundation that empowered them to take the leap into home technology and create the tool the market needed. “If it wasn’t for the Gold Coast, we probably couldn’t have pushed as hard, to be honest,” reflects Brett.
Due to the success of TweetyCam, the family decided to launch a new business this year with the unveiling of Kiddo Kitchen. With a diverse range of innovative, user-friendly kitchen tools, Kiddo Kitchen seeks to help make meal prep simple for busy families.
“We’re just hoping that we can make much of a difference with Kiddo Kitchen to people in the kitchen as what TweetyCam has been able to do,” explains Brett.
Beyond this new business, TweetyCam is looking to expand into the international market.
“We’re very excited about the idea of helping parents overseas, outside Australia. In saying that, we are just very cautious of not expanding too quickly, because obviously we want to make sure that we keep the quality product and consumer support, which I think is one of the reasons we stand out so much,” shares Karen.
Brett adds, “It’s very good to know that we can make a difference in parent’s lives. And every time we see this kind of feedback, it’s great. It doesn’t really feel like work at times.”
