The Spot-light is on: Monkey Beanz

Today, we are chatting with Julia, the mom behind Monkey Beanz, whose business grew out of a desire to stay at home with her daughter and stay connected with Thailand's culture and people after moving from Thailand to the U.S.. Here, she talks about how she got started in her business and shares how she juggles family and work at home, and more!


Who is Monkey Beanz and what is so unique about the products you sell on your website? Where are you located?
Monkey Beanz is a fair trade focused importer of top quality kids’ clothes and toys from Thailand. Our handmade toys and nursery décor are all made from cloth using bright colors and creative ideas to engage children rather than battery operated plastics. We choose toys and décor that allow children to use their imagination in order to entertain. Our clothing line is a fresh take on kids’ clothes. We design clothes and choose fabrics that are hip and modern yet very play-friendly. We often have grown ups wanting our designs made in their sizes!

How did you come up with your business name?
This was, by far, the easiest part of starting a business! Before our first daughter was born we referred to her as “bean” since we chose not to find out the sex. After she was born, her active personality soon transformed the nickname into monkey bean. When we first started talking about starting the business, it just fit perfectly.

When and why did you decide to start your own business?
We first started thinking about it when we began planning our move from Thailand to the US when our oldest daughter was about a year and a half. It felt very important to me to be a stay at home mom and also to maintain a connection to our Thai family and culture. When my husband’s visa was approved to move here, we started thinking, “How can we bring some of Thailand to families in the US?”

We figured out very quickly what kind of business we wanted to be – one that supports, not exploits, Thai people. One that embraces that our products are made with such skill and love by Thai citizens, not hides that “Made in (insert third world country here)” label. One that is proud of each of our products and excited to bring them to our customers.

How did you get started?
It has been a long and bumpy and very challenging journey. We had already discovered the great local Thai company that creates the cloth toys and nursery décor we sell so that part was fairly easy – we just bought some samples to take back with us. The clothing line has literally become like our third child and has gone through many of both the good and bad developmental stages. My husband, Bee, is an artist (and I am quite clear about what I like and don’t like!) so we just started talking and sketching to design the clothes. We have worked with various seamstresses from Bee’s home village in the south of Thailand to make our ideas come to life. Some relationships have worked, others have not but we have tried to take it in stride knowing that even those that didn’t succeed for Monkey Beanz at least succeeded in supporting a Thai woman with a family and not a factory. Nuung is the woman who now runs the show producing our new summer line and she is an amazing woman, mother and seamstress. She has helped us create a line that I am incredibly proud of and still makes me giddy every time I get to show it off to someone new.

What motivates you to keep your business going?
My family, without a doubt, and my absolute belief in our vision for Monkey Beanz. There have been times since moving to the US when I questioned whether we could pull it off. Yet, every time I had doubts, or was just incredibly stressed out and tired, I envisioned the success of Monkey Beanz, the satisfaction that we created this on our own, that we were helping out Thailand, that we had truly found a way of bringing the two cultures of our family together as a means to support ourselves. I just couldn’t pass that up and I have always believed it would happen; I just was never sure how long it would take us to get there!

Do you have a particular product that is a best seller on your site?
Our mobiles are really popular baby gifts. A mobile is usually on every parent’s list for the new baby and babies truly do love the colors and shapes on Monkey Beanz cloth mobiles.


How do you advertise your business? Which methods proved successful/effective?
Since the market for children’s products is huge and our advertising budget is at the opposite end of the size spectrum, we rely mainly on word of mouth to get ourselves out there. We participate in local markets and events and try to get ourselves into local publications as often as we can. As a mom, I am involved in various local mothering communities which are always a great resource. We also have several local women’s business networking groups which are an invaluable place to learn and promote.


How do you juggle family and work at home?
I’m not sure that I have found the answer to this question yet! I do try, not always successfully, to put my family first so at times when I’ve noticed my health and patience really suffering I have taken breaks from the business. Towards the end of my second pregnancy last year, I was becoming very run down and finally listened to family telling me that the business would be waiting for me in a few months but this pregnancy and the birth of our child were a one shot deal. This is advice I have a hard time following but try to keep in mind during the WAHM juggle/struggle.


What advice would you give to moms seeking to become a WAHM?
I think most WAHMS would agree that you really must love what you do and know why you are doing it. There will be challenges but as long as you can keep your goal and your vision in mind, you will be able to get past the hurdles. Also, use your resources. We have had endless hours of help from local business counselors, friends and family who are accountants, lawyers, photographers, marketing and PR agents. If people offer their help, use it!!


Current promotions/specials at Monkey Beanz:
Our new summer line is starting to arrive this month and we are offering discounts on items purchased before their arrival date. Also, we are continuing our hugely discounted samples sale in which everything is under $20.


Visit Monkey Beanz at: www.monkeybeanz.com



(Note: All images courtesy of Monkey Beanz. Please respect their work and do not copy and/or alter their images. Thank you! )