Hoya Entrepreneurs Transform the Baby Gear Industry Through Sustainable, Affordable Solutions

Imagine a more sustainable future where each piece of baby gear is loved by multiple families, and parents have the flexibility and savings to choose the best quality products for their children. That is the vision Alli Cavasino (MBA’22) and Natalie Poston (MBA’21) are turning into a reality through their company, JoyLet. The entrepreneurship duo founded their company while enrolled in Georgetown McDonough’s MBA program and have since turned their baby gear rental concept into a full-fledged startup. 

To celebrate Mother’s Day, we spoke with the JoyLet founders about their company’s mission, the role Georgetown McDonough played in developing their business, and how they plan to disrupt the traditional model of baby gear ownership to better serve parents and the environment.

Give us your elevator pitch for JoyLet. 

JoyLet is a premium baby gear rental company that envisions a world where every piece of baby gear is loved by multiple families. JoyLet is disrupting the traditional model of baby gear ownership by offering parents the ability to rent gear that babies and toddlers quickly age out of like bassinets, swings, bouncers, specialty strollers, and more. JoyLet gives parents flexibility, savings, reliability, and is better for the planet – all without the hassle of long-term storage or disposal. 

What inspired you to start JoyLet while at Georgetown? 

Alli was working at United Rentals, the world’s largest equipment rental company, when she got the idea for JoyLet during her commute. When Professor J.S. Gamble asked everyone to pitch a startup idea during the first class of the Lean Startup course, Alli knew it was the perfect opportunity to incubate her idea. Natalie then joined the team and in conjunction with other classmates, we built the business plan and pitch deck. Following the course, we both knew that we wanted to bring the idea to market. 

How did your experience at Georgetown aid in launching your startup? 

The Georgetown MBA program was essential in helping us get this business off the ground – we met in the MBA program, built the business plan in the Lean Startup course, have leveraged the McDonough community throughout our journey, and received our first sources of funding from Georgetown Entrepreneurship’s Bark Tank and Georgetown Entrepreneurship Challenge. Most recently, we received funding from the Georgetown Angel Investor Network (GAIN) by placing first in the Georgetown Entrepreneurship Alliance Alumni pitch competition during John Carroll Weekend in Nashville, Tennessee. 

You both pursued Georgetown McDonough’s MBA Certificate in Sustainable Business. How did you utilize your sustainability curriculum while building JoyLet?

Professor Vishal Agrawal has been a huge help to us along the way. He leads the MBA Certificate in Sustainable Business and we’ve taken many of his classes. From the start, we knew we wanted to incorporate impact and sustainability into our business; we worked under Professor Agrawal in the Sustainability Practicum class to research different delivery and packaging methods for JoyLet. He continues to be a resource for us.

What do you want parents to know about your company? 

We founded JoyLet to give parents more joy and less stress when preparing for a new baby. JoyLet takes the guesswork out of selecting gear that babies and toddlers quickly age out of by only offering premium brands like MamaRoo, Snoo, DockATot, BABYBJORN, and more. 

What is next for JoyLet?

JoyLet is planning to serve more families in the mid-Atlantic, starting with the greater metro Washington, D.C., market. JoyLet is focused on spreading the word to local parents.