In this exclusive CanadianSME Small Business Magazine interview, Camryn Turner, Founder and CEO of Pinchy™, shares how her journey from bioengineer and corporate strategist to parent entrepreneur inspired a unique solution for on-the-go families. Drawing on both technical expertise and business acumen, Camryn balances her corporate strategy role with nurturing Pinchy™ into a thoughtful brand that addresses the real-life challenges parents face—proving that even small, everyday solutions can spark innovation and connection.
Camryn Turner studied bioengineering at university before beginning her career as an engineer at a medical device start-up, where she co-invented several patent-pending technologies. She later completed her MBA at University of Toronto and transitioned into management consulting, before joining a technology company in its corporate strategy team. During maternity leave after the birth of her daughter, Blaire, Camryn founded Pinchy™, a stroller accessory brand created to solve the everyday challenge of walking a dog alongside a baby stroller.
Your journey from engineer and consultant to entrepreneur is inspiring. Can you share how your technical and business background helped identify a simple daily problem, turning it into Pinchy™ and a new venture?
I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur, but I never had that “aha” moment to spark an idea worth pursuing. Pinchy™ is not at all what I imagined my first venture would be. My background is in healthcare and technology, so I thought it would be something tied to that experience. Instead, it came from a very real, overlooked problem I faced as a new mom. On stroller walks with my dog, my hands were full – pushing the stroller, holding the leash, and tending to my newborn. Carrying a dog poop bag wasn’t realistic, and tossing it into the stroller basket felt unhygienic since I use it for groceries and my baby’s things. When I looked for a solution, nothing practical existed. My engineering background gave me the confidence to design something functional, while my business experience helped me evaluate the market, protect the idea, and map out a path to launch. Pinchy™ was born at the intersection of those skills and lived frustration – proof that the best “aha” moments don’t always come from chasing trends, but from solving small, everyday problems that truly need fixing.
What unique challenges did you face developing and launching the Pinchy™ clip, especially as a new mom creating something during maternity leave?
Developing Pinchy™ as a new mom came with some unique challenges. Maternity leave is already a whirlwind of caring for a newborn, recovering, and figuring out a new routine. On top of that, I was squeezing in product development whenever I could, which meant sketching ideas during nap times, sending emails late at night, and testing prototypes on our daily stroller walks. Time and energy were my biggest hurdles, but the problem I was solving was so present in my daily life that it kept me motivated. Every walk reminded me why Pinchy™ needed to exist.
Even though I had experience inventing in the past, this was my first time turning an idea into a business. I had to learn about manufacturing, packaging, fulfillment, and patents in a completely new way, while also managing the realities of being a new parent. On top of that, I was bootstrapping everything while on maternity leave with no salary, so every decision had to be thoughtful and resourceful. What helped was being surrounded by other new parents because I basically had a built-in focus group. I could test the idea with people going through the same challenges, and their feedback gave me confidence that Pinchy™ solved a real problem worth pursuing.
Can you walk us through how the Pinchy™ clip works? What features set it apart from other solutions for parents and pet owners, and how does it simplify stroller walks?
The idea behind Pinchy™ is simple: I needed a more convenient and hygienic way to deal with dog poop bags while pushing a stroller. Between steering the stroller, keeping the dog under control, and looking after my newborn, I didn’t have a free hand, and tossing the bag into the stroller basket wasn’t an option since I use the basket as a shopping cart and it’s often full of baby stuff.
Pinchy™ clips onto the stroller basket or frame and holds the bag outside the basket, close to the ground and away from you and your baby. Unlike household clips or stroller clips meant for muslins, Pinchy™ is specifically designed for this purpose. It’s large enough to fit securely around a stroller basket or frame, strong enough to securely hold the bag, and it includes a built-in bag dispenser so you’re never caught without one. What makes it unique is that there isn’t another solution designed for this problem. The closest alternatives are hooks that attach to the dog leash, but those don’t work with a stroller because the bag swings back into it. Pinchy™ fixes that by keeping the bag secured in a discreet, hygienic spot where it’s out of the way. It’s a small change that makes stroller walks less stressful and a lot more enjoyable.
What has been the initial response from parents and pet owners, and what impact do you see Pinchy™ making on their daily routines?
The initial response from parents and pet owners has been overwhelmingly positive. The most common reaction I hear is, “I can’t believe this didn’t exist before.” Another thing I hear often is that people currently toss the bag into the stroller basket, but almost everyone describes themselves as “cringing” when they do it because it feels wrong for a dog poop bag to be sharing space with everyday items.
What I love most is seeing how quickly people “get it” once they see Pinchy™ in action. It solves such a specific pain point that anyone who’s been in that situation immediately understands the value. The impact may seem small, but removing that one little stressor makes walks feel noticeably more enjoyable. I see Pinchy™ becoming an everyday accessory for families with both a baby and a dog, helping parents feel more organized and in control, and letting them focus on what really matters: spending time with their kids and pets.
As Pinchy™ grows, what advice or encouragement would you offer fellow entrepreneurs balancing work and family life in the small business world?
My biggest piece of advice is to give yourself permission to make progress in small steps. Balancing work and family life means you rarely have long stretches of uninterrupted time, so I learned to move things forward in nap-time bursts or late at night. Even sending one email or sketching one idea counted as progress, and those little wins added up over time.
Funding Pinchy™ myself while on maternity leave with no salary pushed me to be extra resourceful and deliberate with every choice I made. You don’t need to have everything figured out or perfect from the start, just enough to test your idea and see if it resonates. Having other parents around gave me people to bounce ideas off and test the product with, which helped me stay confident in the direction I was taking.
Entrepreneurship with a young family isn’t easy, but it’s rewarding when you’re building something meaningful. My encouragement would be to lean on your community, celebrate the small milestones, and remember that the pace might be slower, but the journey is just as worthwhile.
