About Us

HELLO! I am Melissa Insley. Wife, mom, creator of Sailing Llamas. I get a lot of questions about why I started this and especially how I came up with the name of our store.

Prior to having kids, I kept very busy. I was up at 0430 (4:30AM) every morning and to bed around 2230 (10:30PM) each night. My day was packed with Cross Fit, working full time for the Army National Guard, cooking, playing with my dogs, reading for personal development, and usually more working out. 

I gave birth to our first child in February 2024 and while on maternity leave my solid packed daily routine completely shattered in all the best ways. Odd as it may sound however, I found myself getting bored most days. Not knowing what I 'should' be doing. My daughter slept A LOT when she was a newborn, as most do. Due to healing, all my typical workouts were put on complete hold. I found myself on the internet more often than I was used to. Assuming I would be able to find exactly what I was dreaming up in my mind, cause come on, it's the internet. But, just as I had realized in the past with other things, just because I think about it doesn't mean it is actually out there. As you can probably guess, baby clothes was high up on my search list those days. I found many things that were nice and cute but I struggled to find designs that truly inspired. And so, Sailing Llamas was born.

Coming up with the name Sailing Llamas took some time. I knew I wanted to start designing baby onesies but I didn't want a name that screamed baby because it would be hard to grow from there. I tried out a myriad of names I thought up and for the most part, they were all already taken. I was sitting on the couch watching my new baby only have interest in this dark grey, small, dangling llama. She was in one of those baby chairs that rocks and there was also a light grey cactus that she gave zero attention to. It was at that moment that 'llama' stuck in my mind. Another time playing with her we had a long accordion folded, black and white picture toy that we would show her to help with eye development. When I showed the picture of the boat, she always got so happy about it. Smiling, trying to reach for it. Yet, she didn't do this with ANY of the other pictures. After that began the process of my idol mind making combination after combination of 'llama' and 'boat' until Sailing Llamas popped in there. And it stuck. 

Fast forward to March 2025. We had our second child in February 2025 and were making a massive move from Alaska to Colorado. Up until then, I didn't put much effort into the business. Now with 2 kiddos and still struggling to find clothing that I was looking for, I decided to put full efforts into making this into an awesome brand. I redefined my niche for designs, from things I just like at the time to honing in on STEM, education, health, a seasonal/holiday collection, Patriotism, and food. We are also making strides in being able to do all production from home. I have been using print-on-demand companies for all fulfillment but I felt left out of my own business. With having all production in house I will also be able to offer faster shipping, personalization of products, and have a say in which products I want to use. Sidebar, one of the print-on-demand companies decided to stop selling one of the products I sell a lot of. Not cool. 

As of today, we are expecting our third baby next year (2026). I hope to continue to grow Sailing Llamas and be able to stay home with my babies. Thanks for checking us out and if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or just want to say hi, head over to our contact page and let us know or check out our Instagram @sailingllamas.