Interview: Lily Yeh, Little Loving Hands

Interviews BMP Magazine (2)

When Lily Yeh, Founder, Little Loving Hands left the corporate world as a  VERY successful Vice President because she was missing a sense of fulfillment and doing something she loved and that had impact.

Little Loving Hands is a monthly subscription services that provides pre-packaged children craft kits for a cause. Our mission is to provide a fun and educational method for parents and caretakers to engage children in learning about the importance of being kind and giving back to others.

Within each kit, we provide not only the materials for the craft project that is sent back to a charity when done, but also documents and other fun items to reinforce what the children are working on and how they are helping others.

 

What was your “aha” moment?

One day, my children asked me what I did since I spent so much time at work. They were 3 and 5 and I knew that whatever I answered wouldn’t make sense to them nor did they really want to understand at the time, but at the same time I was “ashamed” of what the real answer was.

At the same time that I got this question from my daughters, I was working on a side project to allow them to be involved more in charity and helping others. I quickly realized that I was missing my calling and should be shifting my focus full time on that. And there you had it.. “AHA!”.

 

Target Audience:

Our target is any caretaker – moms, dads, aunts, grandparents, nannies, teachers, etc that have children in their lives who they want to engage in giving back to the community and learning the importance of helping others. We have been reaching them through social media, word of mouth, and of course, great mom blogs!

Greatest Success:

As a fairly new brand, we are proud of how quickly we are growing our subscriber base. More importantly, we are proud of the wonderful feedback we are hearing from parents and kids as well as the charities we support.

 

The other day a young customer of ours said “Making these crafts makes my heart happy. Can I do this everyday?”. Every time I open a craft that is sent back to us and see the love and care that was put into it, my heart melts. When I delivered a craft the other day, I was told the recipient was so grateful that there was someone out there that took time to care for them. Last, but not least, is the fact that now when people ask my daughters what their mom does .. they answer with “My mommy’s work helps other people help”.

Biggest Challenge:

Reaching moms and others that would want and need this service and product. As a small business, it’s hard to compete with those that have larger marketing dollars to expand their reach. Our challenge has been having the opportunity to share our product and mission.

Overcoming the Challenge:

We’ve been working with some top local influencers including mommy blogs and receiving some coverage on local news. The power of word-of-mouth is very strong in the mom community.

When you imagine success, what does it look like?

Success to me is having a large base of subscribers that are actively taking steps to engage their children in giving back and helping others. I am looking forward to getting more and more pictures and stories about the impact it’s making on both those that receive the crafts and those that make them. I am also hoping to make enough profit that I can use to do more good including a big goal of mine to open orphanages abroad.

What steps are you taking to achieve your goals?

I am pouring my heart and soul into this company and doing what I can to spread the word. I am working to make sure that I provide excellent service and products so that people value what we are offering and understand the importance of it.

What PR+ Marketing activities have you done and what were the results?

I’ve been working with local media and mommy bloggers. The results have been up and down. We see a spike and then it dwindles. We need to continue to have more activities so that we can get the word out.

How do you manage family and business?

Is there such a thing? 🙂 This business was inspired by my two daughters and I’ve involved them in everything along the way. You’ve never seen a three year old unpack thousands of glue sticks like my youngest daughter. They are constantly watching what I’m doing and working on and I try to explain everything to them so that they understand what we’re doing.

I also make sure that I’m still always present in their lives. I’ve never missed one of their weekend classes or school events.. granted, I may be punching holes in 1000 cards for our kits while sitting and waiting for them, but I’m there and I’m committed to them along with the business.

What advice do you have to fellow mom entrepreneurs?

Don’t underestimate the amount of work it takes and that it’s going to be YOU that needs to keep it going. You’ll have your doubts along the way, but you have to find the drive within to make it what envision.

What have you learned about yourself being an entrepreneur?

I’ve learned that I am my biggest critic and that I am sometimes overly optimistic.

If you could wave a magic wand and be given anything to help your business right now, what would it be?

Exposure! I need my story to reach others and in the masses.

What is your favorite go-to resource, tool, book, app and why?

My husband. He’s a successful entrepreneur and more importantly a very level-headed and logical person that approaches every situation in a thoughtful manner. He provides me the encouragement needed, but also candid feedback and keeps me grounded.

Our site has more information: www.littlelovinghands.com. Here is a link to our official FB page and a short video that talks more about what we do. Here are some other blog reviews of our kits: Cool Mom Picks: We were actually named as one of their top 2015 “toys”!

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