Creative Flair Meets Practicality – Let’s chat With Mimi Kwa; Founder And Designer TigeRoy and Little Grommets- Encore

TigeRoy talking money box eats coins and notes sits in the background.

TigeRoy daily planner tags clip onto bags. Very clever!

As I walked around the ‘Life In Style Gift Fair’ looking for new and exciting products to showcase, I met Mimi Kwa, founder and designer of Little Grommets and TigeRoy. I immediately wanted to stop and talk to her about her products because she engaged with me, she smiled and I wanted to know more. I loved hearing the passion in her voice and the inner beauty she portrayed with her warm and welcoming nature.

Mimi is an inspiration to all, with a successful career in media and her own business. She cleverly saw a gap in the market when two of her four children having had grommet surgery needed a way to keep their ears dry under water. This was just the start for Mimi – her creative side was unleashed and she didn’t stop there. I spoke to her to find out what happened next…

 Mimi, tell us a little about your background before launching Little Grommets and TigeRoy?

 I have a background in television – I worked for ‘A Current Affair’ for many years and I read the news on the ABC.  I had grand plans for a long career in journalism but then I had a baby and decided I wanted to be at home to work around family. We actually ended up having four children and to allow us to have what we think is a harmonious balance between work and family, I had to come up with some ideas about how I was going to stay home. It so happened that two of our four children have had grommets surgery and we couldn’t find anything to keep their ears dry when they were swimming after surgery. In the end my husband said, “Why don’t you design something?”

 I had a background in design because I studied architecture before going into journalism, so I designed an earband for children, who’ve had grommet surgery, and that’s how Little Grommets started. And then from that process of design, I had to go into production, source a factory, import it and then get it out into the marketplace, essentially retailing it and wholesaling it to businesses. Going through that 101 course in retail opened up a whole world of possibilities for us and I had so many ideas that had been swirling around in my head for years, particularly around having children. So next I designed a maxi bib, which is a giant bib that covers the baby’s lap so that it catches everything, and I designed some bag tags for children’s school bags so you can remember what you pack each day.

 It was just so liberating and empowering to be able to have an idea and understand how to get it from inception onto the shelves of a shop and then into the hands of the consumer.  To go to a birthday party and to see one of our products in the child’s home (with the parents not knowing that this is our family business), is such a thrill. And it’s so satisfying to know that we actually created something that’s changing or influencing people’s lives in a positive way. We might not change the world but if you can make a little bit of difference, why not?

 Little Grommets is a standalone business and we have another business called TigeRoy. I still do my TV stuff on the side, so I’m still able to do what I’m passionate about. I do Brand Power television commercials now and I’m hosting a new ABC TV program called ‘Opportunities Australia’ so I still keep my hand in. I do love it. I also do corporate videos.  But at the same time I’m able to be creating and designing and trying very hard to take our small businesses, Little Grommets and TigeRoy to that next level.

 We are growing the Little Grommets ear band and earplugs. We’re now selling in the UK, Europe, Canada and also across Australia and New Zealand.

Mimi Kwa founder TigeRoy and Little Grommets

Mimi, John and the TigeRoy kids.

 At what point did you realise it was time to outsource some of the daily tasks?

 We are still a small business that is basically being managed from my kitchen bench although I do have a study now!  I have a designer working for me and an office manager, who comes in a couple of days a week as well. I got to a point that many small business owners do, where I realised you can’t do everything yourself. It was those nights of being up at one o’clock in the morning and knowing I still had three or four children to get up and get ready for school the next day. I realised I couldn’t keep going like this, I had to start delegating. I think the hardest thing any business owner faces is that idea of letting go of something and delegating to somebody else.

 I think that the idea of control is hard to dilute or let go of because it’s your business and they’re your ideas. It’s your money essentially that you’re investing into it so it is very difficult psychologically to delegate. But it is also difficult financially when your business is starting out to make that investment and to make that decision that you are now going to pay somebody, who’s an expert in that field, to do that job. I think and I hope in the long run (because we’re still in that transition phase from me doing everything to now delegating to a couple of people) that it will pay off because it’s an investment and it’s a risk.

 How has your journalism background helped you in business?

 Enormously – because I know how to write a press release. I know from the other side what I as a Journalist found helpful when people would send me media or press releases. I have an understanding of what people in the media want, from a newspaper interview to a blog interview to marketing my product. I’m still learning, I’m certainly not an expert but my media career has helped me be confident when dealing with other people within the media.

 How have you used social media in your business?

 I’m trying to lay the foundations to get it right when it comes to social media because whilst I’m very antiquated when it comes to these things. I realised and I recognized that my customers and my retailers operate in that space and that is just the lingua franca of the way commercial business is today.  So you either run away from it screaming or you embrace it with open arms and think okay I’m open to learning about these things. My office manager is in her twenties and she is just perfect for the role of Media and PR or social media because she knows how to interface with Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram and connect them all together.

 Having a cohesive and coherent brand, which is what I’m trying to work so hard to achieve, is very important.

So focusing on your message in terms of your branding is so important because that is how you’re interfacing with the marketplace. What is important to me is that people see my Little Grommets logo and they know what it means and what it stands for – high quality, reliable swimming products. We started with one idea, the ear band, but we have now branched out into so many other offerings. When people see the TigeRoy brand they know that it is children’s products and inventions and that I’m not just inventing or designing another t-shirt, I’m actually trying to do things with a twist. Do things differently, things that people find practical and helpful, or just entertaining, but something different.

 Mimi, you have many brands within your stable are they marketed separately?

 Absolutely, Little Grommets and TigeRoy for all intents and purposes are viewed as completely separate brands and people can be forgiven for not knowing that it’s the same founder and director of those companies. It’s important that we keep them separate because they have very different offerings. Little Grommets is focused on swimming and outdoor activities and Tigeroy is focused on inventive children’s products. There is some crossover with a couple of products and there will be some cross-promotion between the two. At the same time I’m very conscious that people who are only interested in swimming products or my retailers and stockists, who are only selling swimming products, are not interested in the money box from TigeRoy. So in terms of our social media and marketing, I have to work hard to be conscious not to cross-pollinate to the extent that it annoys or frustrates people because they’re receiving some marketing material for a product that is completely irrelevant to them.

Creative fun; TigeRoy house to decorate.

TigeRoy outdoor beanbag so much fun to lounge around.

Mucking around the back yard.

These little fellows say 25 funny things

TigeRoy maxi bib catches everything.

What are some important lessons you have learnt in business?

 Patience. I think we all have this sense of immediacy these days, with social media and the Internet. We become impatient because we want everything now.  When you’re shipping orders, for example, and you expect it’s going to turn up on your doorstep the next day and, although sometimes it does, that gives you a false sense of what is possible and reasonable and realistic to expect. I think our expectations have changed so much these days. Through developing a product and having a relationship with people overseas in China (where I get most of my products made), what I have come to understand is that you have to have patience. My timeline might not fit in with their Chinese New Year or with their factory scheduling and it doesn’t matter how much I stamp my feet, I’m just a small fish in an enormous ocean and I have to be patient.

 The other thing that I’ve learnt is to be compassionate. I’ve just learnt to relate to people on a more authentic and human level. For example, when I worked for ‘A Current Affair’ which was for the majority of my TV career, and when I was a news reader, which was a very privileged role, I always tried to be authentic with people. I always tried to show compassion and to get the story right but with deadlines every single day, I didn’t always have the luxury to sit down with somebody and really connect with them. I just had a job to do. Each relationship in my TV interview career was short term, at least for that day; it was for five minutes, for that hour, that day, that story.

 In my business life now, my relationships are long-term. I have a long-term relationship with my stockist, so I need to understand their business and understand what they want from my business. I have to work on that relationship, so I’m learning to do that. It’s not just the immediacy of one phone call and do the interview. It’s about investing in the future of that relationship for the sake of the business and also because it’s very satisfying to have these connections with people. It’s not always emailing, it’s wonderful to be on the telephone and have a conversation.

 It’s all about connections with people and if you can also do something which you’re passionate about and love doing, you’re so lucky and you can just tick that box.

For more information on stocking these products www.tigeroy.com and www.littlegrommets.com