Today we have Christine Kim on The Mag. Not only is Christine a designer and founder of the baby product line Little Kims, she is also a mother of two and manager of her family’s popular travel account, The Globerotting Family . Learn more about her business and what inspired her to start it, how she balances her family social media presence, her favorite travel destinations and more!

Tell us your story! We’d love to hear a little bit about yourself, your family and your kids brand.

I'm Christine Kim, a mom to a 9 year old daughter and 3 year old son, living in New York. I am a designer who started out my career as a java developer and tech consultant, but knew I needed to find a career that would be more fulfilling that would enable me to express my artistic talents. I went back to school for design, and then later to fashion school to pursue this creative side. I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur too, so I knew that I would create my own company one day. That company came about after becoming a mom, as my baby products brand, Little Kims.

What inspired you to make modern baby products?

While I was in fashion school, I was pregnant with my daughter, and delivered a month after I graduated! After she was born, I had a difficult time finding cute baby products for her. My daughter was a big drooler, so when I did find a cute outfit for her, I had to cover it up with a not-so-cute bib that she would wear all day. These bibs were in almost every picture I took of my daughter during this time. I wanted cuter bibs for my next child, and so the idea to create cute prints on baby bandana bibs came about. Moms and dads receive so much joy from seeing their kids look cute that I wanted these bibs to enhance baby and toddler outfits. After researching and learning about the manufacturing process and finding a manufacturer that could produce organic cotton bibs, I launched my new company with a line of baby bandana bibs while pregnant with my 2nd child!

Since then I've expanded to biodegradable disposable baby/toddler placemats for eating out at restaurants, super soft swaddle blankets, and baby hankies which are often used in my motherland, Korea, but weren't really used here in the U.S. I found a factory that would work with me to design them from scratch to create absorbent hankies that can be used to wipe up little messes or for use during bottle feeding -- a great complement to the bibs!

We’d love to hear your thoughts on managing your family, social media presence and baby brand. How do you do it?!

This is something that is quite frankly a constant juggle. Rather than trying to do all of them well, I set my priorities and make sure I keep them. My family and health always comes first, so sometimes that takes a bigger focus in my life depending on the circumstances. During this pandemic, it has been a time to really focus on family and to get the family foundation to work well - be healthy, build our relationships, and create happy memories during this time. With both kids at home all the time, it has been quite a challenge to find enough time to work, so it has been a time to really re-strategize our schedule and create a rhythm that works for us, one in which everyone's needs are being met.

For social media, I often like to do things in big batches rather than daily posting, as this takes a lot of time and effort. I batch edit photos, and as time allows, I batch schedule and write descriptions to auto post using tools and apps. I pop in and out to respond to comments, but this takes the bulk of the stress off of me. I do have lulls when my personal life requires me to to be away, but as much as possible, I like to batch things so there is at least a week, or a month, or sometimes even 3 months of content ready to go. I operate like this in most areas of my life, so that I can pursue the many passions I have!

My baby brand right now does not require as much attention from me as a corporate job might, which was my goal and intention when I started the company. I wanted a flexible schedule and wanted to run everything online so I could be anywhere, which is very important to us since I love to travel with my family! I have been trying to put systems in place to help me accomplish this. This is constantly a work-in-progress and requires experimentation, but I am grateful for fulfillment services like Amazon FBA and my part-time employees that fulfilled orders from other channels while I was traveling. My goal is to eventually get to a point where I can automate as much as possible with systems and outsource all shipping to an external 3PL company that would make me even more mobile.

As globe trotters, what have been your favorite places to visit as a family?

Every place has been so unique, it is hard to say! I love visiting places that are very different from our own life at home. My personal favorite was a hot air balloon ride in Bagan, Myanmar, a real bucket list dream come true for me! But, if you ask my daughter, she would say things like... Sanrio Puroland in Japan, Hello Kitty Cafe in Bangkok, and Lotte World in Korea. Hahahaha! All things meant for kids.

I also loved visiting Santorini for the amazing architecture and visiting the Blue Lagoon in Iceland! So fun to have your kids with you for these bucket list type places! In the U.S., I really loved seeing Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon in Arizona. Such beauty and majesty! Each place we have visited as a family has created so many memories and an abundance of pictures and videos that helps me capture my childrens' childhood. Without travel, I don't think I'd have nearly as many photos and videos to remember all their funny and happy moments!

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Parenting is not easy, and I believe it's important to do things that fill our tanks so that we have more to give to our children. For me, travel is a big part of that, and I have found that it not only fills me too, but the kids too! They learn so much about the world and love exploring new things! It also gives us many fond memories to look back on and helps us to cherish each moment we have together. Life is different now with what is going on in the world, but we still plan on taking some more local adventures to keep life feeling fresh and exciting!

Anything else you want to add?

Every purchase from my company, Little Kims, helps to support orphans in Uganda that lost their parents to HIV/AIDS, accidents, or were abandoned because of poverty. We currently support 4 different orphanages in Uganda (and growing) to help them feed and clothe the children, send them to school, buy school supplies, and build homes on their properties to house all the children, and buy other basic needs such as sanitary products, sheets and blankets. Their needs are great, and every purchase helps these children and their caregivers support their mission in helping these abandoned children thrive!

For anyone interested in purchasing our products to help to support our cause, you can use coupon MILOWE for a 20% discount on our website at littlekims.com.