Today we’d like to introduce you to Rita Ho-Bezzola.
Hi Rita, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Piper + Enza is a passion project – inspired by my experience as a mother during the pandemic, unable to persuade my then two-year-old to put on a mask and unsure of how to explain it to her in a developmentally appropriate way.
One day on our way home from the park with her bawling over the mask, I wondered if it’s so challenging for me to talk to my healthy child about a simple practice, how do medically sensitive children understand and cope with much harder, ongoing medical experiences? As I dug deeper, I discovered this amazing group of professionals—Certified Child Life Specialists—and the tools they use to help children and families cope with often difficult and invasive medical procedures.
I started building my network with Certified Child Life Specialists, Early Childhood Educators, Child Psychologists, Authors, and Illustrators – and created Piper + Enza – where fun and stories meet the icky sicky feelings we all inevitably have to go through.
What an amazing journey this has been – we’re just starting out, but to know that our cause resonates with so many people – parents and healthcare providers alike, has been a dream. I can’t wait to continue to help families and children reimagine their relationships with health and medical care – and feeling empowered and confident on their healing journey.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
This specific entrepreneurial journey has been such an incredible masterclass on life in general. Two things that can keep me up at night are 1. expanding my network that didn’t exist before in this field and 2. self-doubt.
As someone who worked in a family business most of my life, I never felt compelled to build my own network—until now. And the learning curve has been steep! I have been burnt a few times – but also have made incredible connections. Finding allies and trusted partners has been so instrumental in propelling our cause forward.
For me, self-doubt as an entrepreneur occurs as often as breakfast. Things like: “Do I have what it takes?” “Is the problem that I’m trying to solve something that all parents experience?” “Will we be able to reach the families who need us the most?”
What helps me persist in these moments of self-doubt are the excited messages we get from parents or pediatric healthcare providers who have newly discovered Piper + Enza, who are grateful for what we are aiming to do, and who see the incredible need for these resources to be available on a wider scale.
We got this!
As you know, we’re big fans of Piper + Enza. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Piper + Enza is a children’s book publishing/media company writing stories and provides resources for families around health and medical experiences and topics. We believe healing begins with sharing stories!
We work closely with child development experts (in ECE, Child Psychology, Child Life Services, and other pediatric healthcare providers) along with acclaimed authors and illustrators – bringing some of these inevitable experiences (and often difficult topics) to families. We want to normalize these conversations, make them into bedtime stories, so we can all feel empowered and confident when these things happen – often without warning.
We have been recently featured by LA Times, Nasdaq, and Motherly – and soon we will be launching a Kickstarter Campaign with one of our most ambitious projects – The Big Book For Kids – aimed to deepen the connection between parents and young children. (Learn more about this at kickstarter.piperandenza.com)
You can find us on our website piperandenza.com, and follow us on social media platforms for events and updates @piperandenza. We host Teddy Bear Clinics, Child Safety Seat classes and other children’s health-related seminars around the Greater LA Area. Reach out to us if you want us to come to your community!
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I love all the cultural happenings in our city – we love the Hollywood Bowl in the summer, the theatre at Pantages, the Taco Bike Tour we did once through Boyle Heights, and everything else in between. I love the diversity in this town. I love the food, the language, the art. It makes me feel connected and alive.
Honestly, there is not a whole lot I can complain about living in SoCal. But I can definitely live WITHOUT the traffic! Over 90 minutes to go 30 miles to the west side? Yeah..that probably tops the list of my least favorite thing!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://piperandenza.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/piperandenza
- Facebook: facebook.com/piperandenza
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/piperandenza.com
- Twitter: twitter.com/piperandenza
- Other: kickstarter.piperandenza.com
