Corporate lawyer leaves BigLaw to grow diaper vending machine business
Lawyer Erin England launched Diaper Concierge for those "code brown" emergencies. (Photo by Twinty Photography)
Diaper duty is a task that favors the prepared, especially when out in public. First, there’s the need for a clean, private space. Then there’s the issue of supplies. Wet wipes are critical, and hand sanitizer is helpful.
But there can be no diaper change without a clean, correctly sized diaper. And that was precisely what Erin England, a Dallas corporate finance lawyer, was missing back in 2016 when she faced her infant daughter’s “code brown” in a restaurant bathroom.
That crisis inspired England to develop Diaper Concierge, a business that places touchscreen, credit card-enabled diaper vending machines in public restrooms. Diaper Concierge’s patent-pending machines sell essentials like diapers, wipes and onesies, all priced around $3. For every diaper it sells, the company donates a diaper to the National Diaper Bank Network.
Today, Diaper Concierge, which launched in 2021, can be found in airports, an amusement park and stadiums in the Dallas area. England balances the growing business with her solo practice, where she works with corporations, banks and private equity funds.
This is such a great idea. I can’t believe this didn’t already exist.
That’s actually become my tagline—I couldn’t find what I needed, so I made it. I mean, of all the things you can get from a vending machine—tampons, cosmetics, even $200 Bose headphones—and you can’t get a diaper, a personal care item so essential it’s literally not taxed in about half the states. But it’s not just moms who appreciate Diaper Concierge; it’s dads too. At the big airports, we’re in the men’s restrooms and the women’s restrooms. I tend to get more sales from the women’s restrooms, but I get a higher volume of sales from the men’s restrooms. They go in there and they’ll buy seven diapers and spend more than $20.
Do you ever have people reaching out to thank you?
All the time. Some say, “This was a life saver,” or “I wish this existed when my kids were little.” Other people get really descriptive. I get a message like [that] every three or four days, and I also get questions like, “How can I invest?” “Are you franchising?” and “Can you bring this to Aruba or California?” or wherever. Was it stressful starting a small business while also practicing?
Very. But once I got the idea, I couldn’t let it go. I’d just made partner at a large law firm a couple years before I launched the company, and I think I was feeling a lack of purpose. You strive and you strive, you go to law school, you get the grades, you pay off your student loans, you make that “Capital ‘P’ Partner,” and then you kind of go, “OK, now what?”
And I think motherhood makes you much more aware of your purpose. It made me reevaluate my life and ask, “What am I giving back?” I realized that just being a partner at a large firm was not enough. I wanted something else, and Diaper Concierge became not only my hobby but also my passion.
Were you also thinking it could be your exit strategy?
At first, I was just trying to make it happen. Like many entrepreneurs, I had a delusional sense of confidence that it was going to succeed. I didn’t necessarily know the logistics of which step would come next, I just knew it was going to work and I wanted to keep going, even though it took longer and required more money than I expected. I’ve gotten so many nos and doors shut in my face. They do it really politely—“We commend what you’re doing”—but it’s still a no.
But you eventually got that first yes, in 2021, from Love Field, an airport in Dallas. How did that happen?
Networking, networking, networking, hustle, hustle, hustle. I just had to find a sympathetic ear.
Does Diaper Concierge have employees?
I will have a contractor soon to service our machines as we expand to Houston, Austin and Arkansas, but right now, it’s just me. I do all the restocking, and I’m packaging all the products myself, with the exception of the wipes and hand sanitizer, which I outsource. It’s tedious but not difficult. I assemble the products in the pouches, vacuum-seal them, slap a sticker on them and go put them in the machines, which makes for a really funny visual.
I’d be at my firm all day and then go to the airport, kick off my heels, stuff my suit into my backpack, put on my Diaper Concierge polo and restock my machines. I felt like two different people on any given day, like Clark Kent, and the airport bathroom was my phone booth.
In 2024, you decided to leave BigLaw to establish a solo practice. Tell me about that.
I needed autonomy. I needed flexibility. Now, it’s like I have a lever I can pull each day between my practice and Diaper Concierge—some days are more diapers, some days are more lawyering. I am also enjoying the ability to control how I practice. For example, I charge a project-based flat fee instead of billing hourly. I hated billing time. It was so invasive —I’d be watching Bluey with my daughter and thinking about how each episode is 0.3 hour.
When I left the firm, I initially thought I didn’t want to be a lawyer anymore. I loved BigLaw, but I felt like my career had run its course. I thought, “I’ll just go hawk diapers.” But once I was out on my own, I realized how much I liked the work and my clients. Now that I’m free from the stress of billing, the costs of overhead and extensive conflict-checking, I feel like I have better client relationships and can provide better representation.
Did you grow up wanting to be a lawyer?
No, but when I received a scholarship to attend college, I felt the need to get to the very top. I’m the youngest of three raised by a single mom, and I’m the first in my family to go to college. Our dad was out of the picture by the time I was 9. We got free lunches in school—we were at that level.
Sometimes I look back, and I can’t believe it. My second-year associate bonus was more than my mom made in a year, ever. In the beginning, I was definitely feeling imposter syndrome. I’d be sitting around these giant boardroom tables and people would be talking about things like lacrosse—words I’d never heard before. I remember once a guy was talking about crew, and I didn’t know he was talking about rowing until I went back to my office to Google it.
But at some point, I realized that I belong here just as much as they do. Which is why I never complain about packaging diapers, because I feel so fortunate to be able to do it. Like, I don’t have to do a job, I get to do a job—and I can do it wherever and whenever I want.
Do you think it’s helped your business that you’re a corporate lawyer?
Definitely. There was so much I was able to do myself early on, like my certificate of formation, pay my franchise taxes and do some of my intellectual property work. I can review my own contracts. I also got the company certified as a woman-owned small business. It was a huge pain and very document-intensive, but as a lawyer, I am not scared of hard work. It’s just one step after another, after another.
What’s next? Do you have a dream bathroom location?
Absolutely. It’s Disneyland. That would be a dream come true. They have diaper dispensers, but they’re old, clunky metal dispensers that require four quarters. If that doesn’t get your blood boiling, right? Like, if my kid craps their pants and I don’t have a backup diaper, I am for sure not going to have four quarters sitting around.
I actually went to Disneyland and put my four quarters into the machine—which took some advanced planning, to have the four quarters—and out popped a size 3 Huggies. But how would a parent even know what’s in there, if anything? What if that wasn’t the size I needed? They [Disneyland] don’t get it—or they don’t care. It’s frustrating. Also, who do I talk to about adding a diaper emoji to our smartphones? When you type the word “diaper,” a safety pin pops up. Yet another way that parents are overlooked!
Ultimately, though, I’d love to give diapers away for free. The ideal scenario is what we’re doing at Southern Methodist University’s Ford Stadium. Children’s Health [pediatric health care system] is our sponsor, and they have a whole marketing campaign built around our vending machine, and it includes a promo code to get your products for free. So that’s the true ideal—being able to provide free diapers when and where people need it and helping parents, one diaper change at a time.
This story was originally published in the October/November 2024 issue of the ABA Journal under the headline: “Time for a Change: Corporate lawyer leaves BigLaw to open her own firm and grow diaper vending machine business.”
Jenny B. Davis is a journalism professor at Southern Methodist University, a fashion stylist and former practicing attorney. Her most recent book is Style Wise, a guide for aspiring fashion stylists.
