Babies Show Their Sense of Humor Thanks to This St. Louis Mom
Erin Kao's son Tate, 1, wears a onesie called Toot-Toot Train, part of his mother's clothing line for babies.
By Nicole Plegge
A crawling baby. A joke between his parents. That's all it took to inspire one busy mom to start her own successful infants' clothing line.
Erinn Kao of Manchester recently launched the Web site www.lolbabydesigns.com, a website offering whimsical and hilarious onesies that let any baby's inner comedian make an early appearance.
Featuring sayings like "Drama Queen" and "3 a.m. Alarm Set," LOL Baby Designs has introduced Kao's creativity and sense of humor to an online market.
"The business idea really began when watching my second son crawl," said Kao, mom to Maddox, 3, and Tate, 1. "My husband and I thought it would be funny if he had a license plate on his bottom as he crawled around the room. I thought about it a few months later and decided I should go ahead and try the idea online."
Kao took on her new endeavor with the same detail and hard work she brings to her job as a pharmacist. From performing Internet research to checking out books on starting a business, Kao did extensive planning before launching her site.
Explained Kao, "I went looking for available Web sites before I finalized my business name. It's extremely important for a business to be identifiable and have the same name as its Web site.
"I then went ahead and opened checking and credit card accounts, registered my business name and started pricing wholesale vendors and local screenprinters."
In addition, Kao believes networking was essential to growing her business from a local site to a national player.
She became involved with Business Networking International to learn from other business owners and expand her professional contacts – something she recommends highly to other women starting their own businesses.
"If you've got a business idea, try to find someone to talk to who has started a similar business. That's where you'll get the best advice. Learning about the benefits they reaped and the mistakes they made are worth gold."
Today, Kao is looking at growing her business both online and in local boutiques while continuing to balance her time between her full-time job and her family.
She's currently researching the best avenues for marketing her business to new customers nationwide while planning an expanded line of clothing for toddlers and young children.
While starting a clothing line can be a lot for someone to take on, the results have been worth the endeavor for Kao. "The best thing about my business is that I get to be creative and use my imagination. I love creating something that other people can enjoy. Even if it doesn't pan out, I've really enjoyed the challenge."
This story appears in the Fall issue of St. Louis Kids Magazine. To read about another Mom Who Is Making It, click here
Erinn Kao with her husband Tim and sons Tate, 1, and Maddox, 3.
