More than two decades ago, Shazi Visram had a vision to change the way we approach children’s health. In 2003, she founded the baby food brand HappyBaby Organics, which revolutionized access to organic foods for little ones in the U.S. She sold the company to Danone in 2013, and stayed on as CEO until 2017. The hugely successful company was a tough act to follow. But just a few years later, in 2021, Shazi debuted her next brand, HealthyBaby, which aims to create a new standard for all baby products. While ostensibly the company is focused on providing the greenest, safest diapering experience out there, Shazi says HealthyBaby is about much more than that. “I actually describe it as a platform for health and wellness for today's new families,” she tells Westport Lifestyle. “I see this really big opportunity to touch parents and babies in their daily lives with products that keep them safe, but also information that can help them be as proactive and enriched as possible, coinciding with the time each special moment of development unfolds so rapidly during the first three years of life. It's a mission-driven business. It’s a developmental health brand disguised in diapers.”
It might sound like an unusual pairing, but as Shazi has learned, the two couldn’t be more related. “A baby's brain is developing and becoming itself during the time that they're in diapers,” Shazi explains. “And diapers happen to be the first consumer product that touches a baby's skin. It's the first thing that touches a baby's skin besides you.” Disposable diapers are most frequently made with super absorbent polymers, often derived from petroleum, and they may contain other potential ingredients of concern like phthalates. HealthyBaby is on a mission to make diapering as safe and green as it can be. “It really requires someone to challenge the status quo to make the products safer, better, and with more and more high performing bio-based materials which actually reduce carbon in our environment versus contribute to it,” she says. “That’s how we get to a truly biodegradable diaper to replace the number three item in our landfills.”
There’s a simple reason Shazi wanted to be the one to do all this: she was inspired by her own experiences as a parent. A mom of two, she lives in Weston with her husband Joe, daughter Asha, 8, and son Zane, 14, who was diagnosed with autism at age two. “I've had a deeply intense experience with a neurological disorder in my family,” she says. “My son's autism is really profound. And it quite literally snuck up on us as a diagnosis. It was beyond challenging to see his development halt and, if anything, regress.” It’s why setting expectant parents and babies off with the best possible start became a passion. “Zane is a special gift. I do believe he is here for a reason, and I want to honor that and make sure that I can support other parents,” Shazi says. “Because it is really challenging. If you look at the bigger picture, you see that developmental health issues are prevalent and rising. There are newer studies that are constantly confirming my big thesis, which is that if we focus on supporting preconception, pregnancy, and the first three years of life, we'll see immense rewards in the developmental health of our children. If I don't use my own experience to address that in a proactive, positive, and solutions-oriented way, then I feel like I'm wasting my time here.”
So yes, HeathyBaby is more than diapers and wipes. This is literal— as of press time, in addition to many products in the works, they also sell the most meticulously crafted prenatal vitamins on the market, created with the doctors of the Neurological Health Foundation, as well as a full suite of microbiome-friendly, gentle, plant-based skin care as part of their movement against microplastics — but it also speaks to the mission-oriented details Shazi works to incorporate. The diapers, which are sold on a monthly subscription model and as part of a nationwide rollout with Target, are the only that meet the rigorous standards of the Environmental Working Group. They include every ingredient used to make them on the package (they are the only diaper in the U.S. that does) as well as age-and-stage based information tied to the size diaper in the box. For example, newborn diapers contain heartwarming distillations of research on the importance of bonding during the timeframe— things like “playing with you teaches me to love and trust others” or “your love builds baby’s brain” or “my favorite place is in your arms, looking into your eyes.” These aren’t just sweet messages, they’re scientifically-backed, helping arm parents with information in a way that doesn’t feel overwhelming. Monthly emails about your subscription also contain developmental information, like a primer on the four-month sleep regression from renowned developmental pediatrician Dr. Stephan Cowan, who has worked with Shazi and her family for over a decade. “Having a new baby in today's world is really hard,” says Shazi. “You wouldn't think a diaper company has anything to do with sleeping or mental health, but to me, everything fits together holistically.” The goal is to democratize access to parenting information. “I've researched to the moon and back and have curated what I feel are enlightened resources for the next generation,” she says. “And it's not just me, it's me and [my husband] Joe. Joe is this super special needs dad, and he is half of our parenting pro-team. We need to rely on dads to be there for us and understand what's going on.”
One thing Shazi and Joe have learned as special needs parents is that therapeutic tools for kids with developmental differences are useful to all kids. “My perspective is that those therapeutic approaches benefit every single baby,” she says. (One example: HealthyBaby is working on a “baby’s first toothbrush” modeled after a talk tool used in speech therapy.)
From Happy Baby to HealthyBaby, this next chapter is really a culmination of Shazi’s entire life’s work. “There’s so much trust and love that comes along with creating products that really make people happy.”
SIDEBAR: Shazi’s Parenting Resource Guide
Local (and local-ish) lifelines
Dr. Stephan Cowan
“Developmental pediatricians in today’s environment are a must. Dr. Cowan is my mainstay.” He leads HealthyBaby’s video series, The Wow and The How, which cover developmental milestones and interactive exercises to serve as a proactive way to support development.
Dr. Reed Wang
“He’s the most incredible fertility acupuncturist. He supported me through my whole fertility, preconception, and pregnancy journey with Asha, and then even postnatally with treatment and care. It’s my way of implementing self-care in my routine.”
Super Troopers New Canaan
“They have therapeutic [horeseback riding] classes [for children with special needs]. What they do is create a safe space for a child to learn in. In a busy world, that’s hard to do. But somehow, around the horses, everyone is more calm.”
An IEP
“It's an individualized education program if your child has any support that's needed based on a diagnosis. A lot of times, parents avoid getting a diagnosis because it feels like stigma, but that needs to go out the window so we can work towards the support needed for children to grow and thrive in an academic setting.”
Author Jane Green —and 2020 Westport Lifestyle cover start— writes about her dear friend Shazi Visram
Shazi Visram is so much more than a sum of her parts. An entrepreneur (who Barack Obama described as "not only an outstanding businesswoman, but also a leader that all of us can emulate"), a visionary, and most importantly a mother.
But not just a mother to Zane and Asha, the loves of her lives, she is a mother hellbent on a mission to improve developmental outcomes for all of our babies.
A few minutes with her is all that’s needed to cut through the noise and distraction to get straight to the heart of the issue. Her brain is brilliant, but it is her heart, her loyalty, and her very sharp humor that makes her so refreshing, so completely unique, and such a wonderful friend.
When we met, there was an instant sense of knowing each other, of accepting and appreciating each other’s quirks and idiosyncrasies, the things that sometimes make it hard for women, particularly working women, to fit into a homogenous world.
Whether Shazi is sinking Yuzu Sake Bombs at Kawa Ni, running a board meeting, or running down a beach in Puerto Rico, Shazi is a queen of manifestation. If she thinks it, it will come. She may be tiny, but she is mighty that way, and a bada** in every area of her life (especially when it comes to Sake bombs).
She cares about her family, the people she loves, and creating a safer, healthier world. Those of us lucky enough to call her a friend just stand back and watch in awe.
There is, and will only be, one Shazi. All of us should be very glad that the girl who grew up in a motel in Birmingham, Alabama has the vision to keep changing the world in all the right ways.