Dubs started as a lockdown project with my daughter, inspired by a desire to get kids outside, having adventures and caring about the planet. What began as an idea for a cartoon series somehow turned into an award-winning children’s footwear brand!

We realised the kids’ footwear industry was fundamentally broken. Shoes that aren’t designed for growing feet, mountains of waste from constantly outgrown trainers, and a shopping experience that parents and kids dread.

So we set out to do things differently. We create ridiculously comfortable, sustainable and sensory-friendly trainers, designed specifically around children’s feet rather than scaled-down adult shoes. Add AI-powered foot scanning, machine-washable designs and a circular resale programme, and we’re rethinking the entire experience of buying, wearing and outgrowing kids’ shoes.

Most of our new customers currently come through organic social media, word of mouth and a little paid advertising. We’ve built a really loyal customer base, particularly among parents looking for comfortable, sensory-friendly footwear for their kids.

Ideally, I’d love to see more customers discovering Dubs through organic search, AI-powered recommendations and referrals from other parents. We’re a small brand competing against some enormous names, so anything that helps the right parents discover us without needing a massive marketing budget is a huge opportunity.

I’ve effectively handed over a huge chunk of research, analysis and strategic problem-solving to AI. As a founder running a business alongside a full-time job, it’s become my unofficial second employee. One minute it’s helping me analyse customer behaviour, the next it’s challenging my business strategy or researching potential investors.

What I’ve tried handing over, but keep taking back, is my voice. AI is brilliant at making something sound polished and professional, but sometimes it polishes all the personality out of it! We’re not just trying to sell kids’ shoes; we’re trying to build a community of parents who share our beliefs about childhood, adventure and doing things differently. That needs genuine human connection, not perfectly crafted AI-generated content. I’ve learned that the messy, emotional, slightly imperfect human stuff is often what connects with people.

I’d love to say yes, but the honest answer is that we don’t have enough data to know yet! I suspect AI-powered discovery will become increasingly important, particularly for parents searching for solutions to specific problems, like finding comfortable shoes for neurodivergent children. That’s where I think brands like Dubs have a real opportunity. Rather than competing with huge footwear brands on advertising budgets, we can potentially be discovered because we’re genuinely solving a problem.

I’d tell them to stop thinking of AI as just a tool for writing social posts and start treating it like an extra member of the team. Use it to challenge your thinking, understand your customers, solve problems and do things that would otherwise require time, money or expertise you simply don’t have.

I’d also make sure your brand is discoverable by AI, because I suspect the way people find and choose products is going to change dramatically.

What would I ignore? The obsession with automating absolutely everything. Just because AI can do something doesn’t mean it should. Particularly in a business like ours, where we’re trying to build a genuine community of parents. Use AI to free up more time to be human, not to replace the human bits that make your brand worth caring about.