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Meet our founder

Our founder, Liz Rawlinson, answers your questions from instagram including how she started gus + beau, the highs and lows and what is coming next.

I started my e-commerce career at the incredible department store Liberty and then went on to work at L'Oréal, notonthehighstreet.com and Anya Hindmarch.

I started gus + beau whilst on maternity leave from Anya Hindmarch.

I was on maternity leave with my son, Gus, in 2018. He was at the age where he wanted to be on the floor all of the time and kept rolling over and bumping his head on our wooden floor!

I started looking for a foam jigsaw playmat which wasn't a multi-coloured alphabet version. I couldn't find one! So I decided to design and manufacture one myself. The rest is history...

My first son, Beau, was stillborn in 2016 when I was 38 weeks pregnant. You are unable to prepare yourself for such a life changing event and at the time I didn't think I would ever recover. It is true that I am forever changed and what Beau has given me is immeasurable.

I was lucky enough to have my rainbow baby Gus a year later and then Jerry in 2019.

It is very rewarding being able to say Beau's name every day.

My number one goal when I started my business was to be able to take my sons to school and pick them up when the time came. Having my own business gives me the flexibility to do that.

Whenever I am tagged in a customer photo of their child on one of our playmats, I feel a big surge of happiness. I still can't quite believe our playmats are in homes all over the UK and Europe!

I would have to say our new Rainbow design. It is a very special design for me as it is for my rainbow babies, Gus and Jerry, and for all the other rainbow babies out there!

It took me a while to release a rainbow design as I wanted to make sure I got it right. We launched in April 2023 and are so pleased you love it as much as I do.

Shop Rainbows

Have any questions for Liz?

Email us at hello@gusandbeau.com or send us a DM on instagram