RAMONA DE JESUSCURTIS ON BUILDING HER KIDS CLOTHING BRAND FROM THE GROUND UP

So, to begin, how old were you, where were you and what was your situation financially? I was 38 years old when I gave birth to my son after many years of trying to start a family. I felt blessed to have him. We were a beautiful happy family. I could not have been happier. I was in a good marriage and even though money was always tight we survived. I worked full time in a New York City hospital at night. I always wanted to create a business for myself. I desired to go into the children's clothing line because of my love for children.

Wow, that is beautiful. So, you kind of answered this but if you'd like to go into more detail: What was the catalyst that made you take the plunge into this industry? What was the situation that encouraged you to give this a real shot? While I was thinking about creating the children's line I had to place it aside when my son was diagnosed with autism. At that time there was not much information as there is now. It was a difficult time for us as a family. We had therapists in my home working with my son for almost 40 hours a week. I felt a sense of loss, tiredness, frustration and so many other emotions. This is where my direction for the clothing line changed. I wanted to create something that will look good on the children but serve as a visual reminder to parents on how to provide the best care for their child through information. This is when K.i.D Clothes was created. K.i.D is an acronym for knowledge information and direction. I wanted to educate empower and inspire parents to be the best parents they can be through clothes. I wanted to educate parents on things like: What is the right position to lay their babies down to sleep at night to reduce the risk of SIDS? How to stop a baby from crying? What are the milestones for newborns, infants and toddlers? Everyone knows that babies do not come with instructions. Until now. As our slogan says, "Now your baby DOES come with instructions".

Ha! I'd like some instructions. You are very strong willed, you know that? Beautiful story. So, tell us the story of your first legit customer, how did you find them and what do you attribute as the reason why they chose to buy from you? We were on social media about three years before we actually launched. We were spreading the word through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We also had a blog which is now part of our store online called kidclothesblog. We always tried to provide content that was valuable information for parents. We provided giveaways, had trivia games, and virtual baby showers. We launched K.i.D Clothes in 2019 and continued to work on getting the word out on our clothing line. I remember at a business networking event I attended (a seminar on) how the company coke cola sold 25 bottles of coke in their first year. This made me not give up and continue on knowing that success was right around the corner. One day I was revamping the website when I discovered something that caught my eye. It was a notification stating I had a sale. I jumped and leaped for joy. I felt like I finally had something to show for all my hard work.

God if this isn't inspiration! Tell us the first five steps you took to make your dream career your reality.

a. When I first came with the idea I immediately had a logo created for my clothing line to establish my brand. b. I worked on a business plan to help me start up the business. c. I started to spread the word about the clothing line to parents, new moms to get feedback. d. I read books and educated myself on running a business. e. I leaped. (aka Take action, just do it.)

Now that we have the five steps, is there anything you would say was a hurdle to you getting started that someone in your field may want to avoid? Because of lack of funds I did not reach out to get a business coach or mentor much earlier. There are so many available resources out there that you should not feel you should do everything by yourself. There are free entrepreneur courses or accelerator class to help you get the knowledge and understanding to help you start your business. There are organizations that offer free business mentors like SCORE that help someone who is thinking about starting a business to someone who wants to scale it and bring it to the next level.

Good advice! What sets you apart from other kids clothing brands? K.i.D Clothes stands for Knowledge, Information and Direction. We empower parents with baby care information that is placed directly on our products to help parents deliver the best care for their child through clothes. For example: Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is one of the leading cause of death for children in the U.S under the age of one. We offer a shirt that reminds parents to lay their babies on their backs to sleep.

We have a breastfeeding shirt. If parents have the opportunity to breastfeed they would be offering so many benefits to their babies. They will provide them antibodies that fight off viruses and bacteria, lower their risk for asthma, and respiratory illness. They suffer fewer ear infections, and lower their risk for diabetes and obesity. We have a "hug me" shirt. We want to encourage parents to hug their babies more. Hugging your baby will not spoil them. There are studies that show that hugging your baby develops their brain, makes them grow. So we want to encourage parents to hug their babies more.

This is amazing! You have a very unique take on kids apparel. I wish you immense growth in the coming months. For future customers how can we connect with you? You can visit K.i.D clothes at www.kidclothes.info

We are also on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, The K.i.D podcast on Spotify and iHeart radio, and YouTube channel "Kid TV".

If you enjoyed this interview, visit the K.i.D Clothes website and support small business today!