Jim Walsh is a father of three, freelance creative, and the co-founder of Bold Baby—the Australian startup challenging throwaway nursery design with the world’s first fully customisable cot. Launched during Melbourne’s lockdowns with his partner Megan Cooper, Bold Baby was born from chaos and conviction: parenting three young kids, working agency hours, and prototyping a product they knew could change the game.
In this interview, Jim shares how he handles the messiness of startup life, why belief is the best buffer against burnout, and the hard-earned lessons he’s learned about switching off—even when your business feels like a fourth child.
What does a typical day look like for you now, especially juggling the demands of a new startup and family life?
I’m the house alarm clock. I get up and go from room to room to wake our three girls. Then I drive them to school. It’s my favourite time of the day. We play music, sing, and laugh together on that car journey each morning. It sets me up nicely for what’s to come! I have two jobs right now – a freelance creative role, working pretty much full-time and everything Bold Baby outside of regular work hours.
So my days are always packed full. Because we’ve just launched, it’s a super busy time, so I try to get out of the house (yeah, we work from home too) as much as I can. We live rurally, so just stepping outside is an instant break from stress or intensity. Evenings are busy, and most days I work into the night. There’s no sugar coating the startup life.
Launching a business during lockdown must have come with serious pressure—how did you manage stress and avoid burnout during that period?
I’ll be honest – I didn’t avoid it. Like most people, lockdown was one of the most stressful periods of our lives, and I just tried to deal with whatever came my way.
Megan suddenly became a full-time teacher to our three kids, juggling multiple curriculums, platform logins, and kids who were adjusting to a whole new way of life. It was chaos. Meanwhile, I was working as a Creative Director for a Melbourne ad agency, trying to keep campaigns running and pitch for new clients while navigating the brand-new world of working from home.
At the same time, Bold Baby was deep in development and needed constant input. I remember one night in particular – I was working on a pitch for a major Australian brand when my boss called me at 2 am to discuss the presentation that was happening later that morning. I also had a manufacturer call scheduled for 4 am to talk about the cot. I genuinely didn’t know when I was going to sleep.
If there was ever a pressure test for believing in the idea, that was it.
My advice? Only start something you truly care about. Something you believe in completely. Because you will face enormous pressure, and there will be moments when giving up seems like the easier path. The only thing that gets you through it is belief.
What’s been the most unexpected challenge in bringing Bold Baby to life, and how did you navigate it?
I had never considered the impact on my mental and physical health. Because you’re deep in it, totally committed to it, and want your idea to succeed, sometimes it’s hard to see how all-consuming it has become. You’re even overstepping work boundaries that you had previously set for yourself. Megan is great for keeping me in check – the voice of reason that gives me a good talking to if I’m neglecting myself. The analogy I’d apply here is it’s like boiling a lobster… It’s so gradual that you don’t notice it happening!
As a founder, how do you set boundaries between work and personal time, especially when your startup was born out of a very personal need?
Honestly, it’s something I’ve had to learn the hard way. Our business is very personal – It’s literally our fourth baby, and we want the best for it, so it’s very easy for the lines to blur between work and personal time. At the start, I didn’t really have boundaries. I felt like I had to give everything to the business to give it the best chance.
Over time, I’ve realised that protecting my time and energy is part of building something sustainable. Now I try to switch off in the evenings – whether that means going for a walk, being with the kids, or just staying off devices for a while. Megan helps keep me in check too; she’s better at switching off, and we try to support each other in making space for life outside the business.
I don’t think it’s about rigid rules, especially in the early stages of a startup. But it is about intention. You have to be aware of when the business is taking over, and make conscious choices to step back, even just for a moment. I feel it’s always gonna be a work in progress, but I’m getting better at it.
What advice would you give to other new parents trying to balance raising a child with building something of their own?
Draw clear boundaries and try really hard to stick to them. Relationships with family and friends are everything. Surround yourself with good people who support you and your goals, and are willing to give you feedback, even if sometimes it’s not what you want to hear! Time away from the work is just as important as the work itself.
