Moms on Monday :: Cause Haun of See Kai Run

We know you are well aware of.. and the {adorable} collection they offer for tiny feet. I like to know more! And I know you do too. So, I asked some of my favorite questions that I ask every week to mompreneurs...this time to Cause Haun, the mama and woman behind See Kai Run and this is what she had to say...

iknowamom :: Tell us about the story behind See Kai Run. Once the idea struck, did it take a long time for it to come to fruition?

cause :: The thought occurred to me after my son, Kai, had received some shoes from China with extremely flexible soles. I then noticed that after the soft soled booties, there were no truly comfortable "real" first shoes that made that transition easier. Intuitively as a mother, I knew that the very cool-looking, but very stiff-soled Italian shoes were not good for my son's feet. As I took a further look around the market, I also noticed that there weren't any children's shoes that looked as cool as I wanted them to, without flashing lights or soccer balls on them. When I came back home, I went around to several retailers in the Seattle area who went crazy for the prototype I brought back. On my family's next trip to China (my husband is from China), we looked for a manufacturer and it was divine intervention. The manufacturer was in my husband's hometown, had very small minimums, and put out a very high quality product. After that, I took the samples to stores. It was the storeowners, many of whom are also moms, that gave me advice on how to launch the product. They told me about tradeshows and so I went to my first tradeshow only a month after I had our shoes. At that first trade show, a well-established sales representative (who also worked for Zutano) asked to represent my line. It all fell into place very quickly! It took about 6 months for See Kai Run shoes to hit the stores.

iknowamom :: What was your career/background before becoming a mama & a business owner? Did you have any formal business training?

cause :: At the inception of See Kai Run, I was working as the director of a before and after school care program. Prior to that I worked in the international education field, mostly with non-profits placing international exchange students in volunteer American host families. I do have a BBA in International Business, but besides that, I've had to rely on instinct rather than formal business training.

iknowamom :: What was the biggest obstacle in your launch of See Kai Run and how did you overcome it?

cause :: Actually launching See Kai Run was amazingly smooth. The biggest obstacle at the beginning was overcoming my fear of failure. In order to do that, I forced myself to focus on the present and not what See Kai Run could be (or wouldn't be) in the future. My husband and co -founder was sure that See Kai Run would become wildly successful, but I had to ignore those expectations or I would have made myself too nervous to cold call retailers!

iknowamom :: What was the best piece of advice you received when you were starting the business?

cause :: One great piece of advice was to hire for your business six months into the future. By the time you realize you need the extra staff, you won't have time to train them.

iknowamom :: What has been the best thing about owning your own business?

cause :: Oh, there are so MANY things. The most important is that it's allowed me to spend more time with my sons, Kai and Ocean. Not that I haven't worked crazy hours, but I've been able to work around their schedules. The other amazing thing is that See Kai Run has allowed me to realize that I do have a creative side to my personality. Designing the shoes has been a wonderful experience. And overall, owning my own business had reinforced to me that a person can do anything that they enjoy doing. Nothing is too difficult or mysteriously complicated. It just takes the desire, the right attitude, and a little luck (which I think we help to create for ourselves)!

iknowamom :: Can you suggest any valuable resources (books, magazines, websites) that helped you along the way?

cause :: The industry magazines, Earnshaw's, Footwear News, and Hudson's have helped me to learn the industry language, culture, and players. Online, it is helpful to subscribe to all the baby product newsletters to see upcoming trends and new companies.

iknowamom :: What is your favorite way to take a break from the business?

cause :: When I'm taking a break from the business, I'm focusing on my family. It's a constant challenge to balance the two. My boys are 2 and 5 now, a wonderful time, and so I spend extra time with them when I can. And when my husband and I get away, we try not to talk about the kids or See Kai Run - definitely a challenge! But I'm not complaining!

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GIVEAWAY :: Enter to win a pair of {adorable} shoes from See Kai Run. Reader's Choice - pick any pair from the See Kai Run or Smaller collection. To enter, post a comment on this post - tell me whether or not you untie your shoes when you take them off {I don't}. Enter by Tuesday, September 9th at 10:00 pm (pst). If your contact information is not linked to your google account, don't forget to leave your contact information in your comment. (If winner does not come forward within one week, a new winner will be randomly selected.) Or you can check back on Wednesday, September 10th to see if you won! Anonymous comments will be ignored/removed. One entry per person, please. Good luck!!