"For me, success is all about striking the perfect balance between business, home and my relationships with friends and family."
In today’s fast-paced world, nurturing a strong bond between parents and their infants is more important than ever. Elina Furman, the founder of Kahlmi, is making a significant impact in this area by introducing the first baby massager designed to soothe infants and strengthen the parent-child connection.
As a 2022 JPMA Innovation Awards finalist, Kahlmi offers a natural way for parents to bond with their children while providing numerous health benefits, such as improved digestion, decreased fussiness, and strengthened immunity.
Driven by her own experience with postpartum anxiety and her son’s colic, Elina became a certified infant massage therapist and instructor, ultimately creating Kahlmi to spread awareness about the benefits of baby and child massage in the US and beyond.
By bridging the gap between ancient parenting traditions and modern innovation, Kahlmi empowers caretakers to foster a deep connection with their children and help them reach crucial developmental milestones.
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We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Elina Furman: I am the founder of Kahlmi (the first baby massager that soothes infants and strengthens the baby/parent bond). A 2022 JPMA Innovation Awards finalist, Kahlmi is the first soothing and interactive massage and bonding tool tailored to the unique needs of parent/caretaker and child.
It helps to improve digestion, decrease fussiness, strengthen immunity, promote body awareness and many other benefits but in a natural way that allows parents to bond with their children.
After suffering from postpartum anxiety while my firstborn son had colic, I set out to help other parents dealing with the same situation. I became a certified infant massage therapist and instructor and was inspired to create Kahlmi to help educate and bring awareness to baby and child massage in the US and beyond.
Baby massage helps build baby’s brains, increases growth, and improves sleep naturally. It also helps alleviate common baby ailments like teething, constipation, gas, and restlessness.
If you were in an elevator with Warren Buffett, how would you describe your company, your services or products? What makes your company different from others? What is your company’s biggest strength?
Elina Furman: Kahlmi brings ancient parenting traditions that are science-backed to modern families using new innovation and technology.
Our main hero product is the first patented Kahlmi baby and child massager. By creating an educational platform and a massage enhancement tool, Kahlmi bridges the knowledge gap to help parents and underserved families embrace this evidence-based practice performed for thousands of years worldwide.
As the first handheld baby/child massager on the market, Kahlmi’s mission is to empower caretakers to provide a deep and lasting connection with their children, while helping them meet developmental and cognitive milestones, while allaying both theirs and the child’s anxiety.
What advice do you wish you received when you started your business journey and what do you intend on improving in the next quarter?
Elina Furman: I spent a little too much on prototyping the 1st unit with a company.
And while I was happy with some of the aspects of the design, I realize now I could have saved some money by working with freelancers since it was my sketch that was ultimately designed.
The design I was given was not ready for manufacturing and had to be reconfigured with a factory in order to be viable for production.
Online business keeps on surging higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for the year to come and how are you capitalizing on the tidal wave?
Elina Furman: Yes, direct-to-consumer shopping and brands are growing very fast. I have always been in the direct-to-consumer space having learned everything I know while growing another baby company client to $35 million in sales.
There is a lot more competition out there than there used to be in capturing a consumer’s attention. Also, paid media ads have been harder to scale since the iOs update, but there are many tactics I am using to grow the business. Organic social media continues to be our biggest sales generator. I have over 700K followers on IG and Tiktok.
One of my main goals with the Kahlmi brand is to continue using education and awareness campaigns through organic Reels and videos to attract new customers and build awareness around baby massage
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as THE real challenge right now?
Elina Furman: Right now, we are seeing challenges with the supply chain and cost of goods. Once I get my costs down and develop a strong inventory forecasting system, I can leverage more digital marketing and forecast my sales better.
Also, for me, sourcing and producing new products is another big challenge I will be facing this year. It takes time to create a quality product and an even longer cycle to get it just right. I plan to release 4 more products this year that will cement the Kahlmi brand as a leader in the baby wellness space.
The other big challenge is education. I am working to develop courses and other digital education products to help parents learn and embrace baby massage in a consistent, intentional way.
In your experience, what tends to be the most underestimated part of running a company? Can you share an example?
Elina Furman: For me as a mom founder, I am always struggling to balance the daily responsibilities of the household and children with the needs of my business. Time is always the biggest challenge and I am always working on coming up with efficient ways to get everything done while trying to be available for my family.
For example, my day has to end at 3 pm when I start the driving for after-school activities. I have started to work outside the home on weekends and leaving kids with Dad for a bit so I can complete the endless list of to-dos that pile up every week. It’s an ongoing challenge.
What does “success” in the year to come mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Elina Furman: For me, success is all about striking the perfect balance between business, home and my relationships with friends and family.
I am also excited to release my book next year that will educate parents on holistic baby care taking practices and solidify my position as a wellness expert in the baby space.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Elina Furman for taking the time to do this interview and share her knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Elina Furman or her company, you can do it through her – Linkedin Page
Disclaimer: The ValiantCEO Community welcomes voices from many spheres on our open platform. We publish pieces as written by outside contributors with a wide range of opinions, which don’t necessarily reflect our own. Community stories are not commissioned by our editorial team and must meet our guidelines prior to being published.
