Elina Furman is a Certified Infant Massage Instructor with over 15 years in the baby products industry. She is deeply passionate about spreading awareness about the importance of infant/child massage and earned her infant massage certification after talking to many parents who were confused and bewildered about how to perform baby massage.
In June 2022, Elina officially launched Kahlmi, the first bonding and massage tool for babies/children using Acu-touch technology and gentle, low-frequency vibration to help families connect, calm, and comfort. Elina educates other business owners on way to maximize their social media marketing’s impact, tips for a successful product launch, and more.
What is Kahlmi all about?
Kahlmi is the first wellness brand for families. 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 science 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.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your company.
As a new mom, I wished I had known about the role that touch and massage plays in establishing the connection between mom and baby. My son suffers from anxiety and had colic as a baby and I wish I had been taught about the importance of baby massage. Our first year was one of the hardest of my life and I know had I learned baby massage, it would have made it much easier.
As a seasoned baby industry veteran and consultant, I have helped and scaled many baby brands and created new categories in the juvenile products space. I have 15 years of experience as a consultant, marketer, and expert in the baby/child industry, during which time I launched and scaled baby companies from $0-35 mm and have been widely documented in industry publications.
After a two-year sabbatical, I decided I wanted to develop a mission-based company around baby massage, mindfulness, and wellness and became a certified infant massage instructor. I designed the first patented baby massager that fosters interactivity and connection while allowing parents to quickly and easily begin the massage journey.
What would you say are the top 3 skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur, and why?
The top three skills are:
- Humility: Someone is already doing something similar to you. It’s important to get out of your own way so you can really absorb advice and lessons from companies doing what you want to do well. Even as a marketing expert, my goal is to keep an open mind, adopt new technologies, and learn every day. There is no room for ego when it comes to being a good entrepreneur, just growth and learning.
- Fluidity: While it’s important to have a general vision and plan, it’s also important to stay fluid to market shifts and consumer sentiment. Staying nimble and being able to pivot will go a long way when you’re creating a new category.
- Customer-focused: I worked at many companies who didn’t value customer feedback and experience as much as I would have liked. Your customers are the foundation of the house you are building and listening to them on social and via customer service is the most important aspect of launching a new business. Without them, there is no business.
What valuable advice would you give new entrepreneurs starting out?
My top tips are:
- 1. Delegate smaller tasks and find inexpensive contractors through sites like Upwork.
- 2. Start: Do small things every day to move your company forward, and eventually, you will see progress.
- 3. Be Patient: If you have a big vision, limited resources, and many demands on your time (family and children), expect that it will take longer, and try to be ok with that even if you want to move faster.
What are your plans for the future, how do you plan to grow this company?
I am continuing to build my social media platform. All of my early growth is due to organic growth on social (250K on IG and 475K followers on Tiktok). I plan to launch my YouTube channel and grow through education and courses, while releasing new innovative products in the baby wellness space. That coupled with a strong email program and social ads.
How do you separate yourself from your competitors?
Fortunately, I am the first-to-market product creating a new category in the baby industry, so we don’t have any competition.
What were the top three mistakes you made starting your business, and what did you learn from them?
I spent a little too much on prototyping with a company. And while I was happy with some of the aspects of the design, I realize now I could have worked with freelancers since it was my sketch that was ultimately designed and the design I was given was not manufacturable and had to be redone completely in order to be viable for production.
Tell us a little bit about your marketing process, what has been the most successful form of marketing for you?
Social media growth through Reels has been key. I grew my brand on social to 700K followers across TikTok and Instagram via Reels and education.
What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
My own doubts and insecurity. When you’re launching a new category in an established industry, it’s very hard to validate your product. I had a lot of confidence issues, but overcame them as I got more and more positive feedback from physical therapists and parents who used the massager. Reviews are the one thing I look for when validating my product and when parents say it’s a game changer and one product they can’t live without, I knew I had a winner on my hands. Also, the medical community buy-in was so important to building my confidence.
If you started your business again, what things would you do differently?
I wouldn’t do anything differently. I have taken a slow-to-grow approach since I’m not gunning for a quick scale or exit, which so many entrepreneurs do. I want the company to be mission based and to do a lot philanthropically to help the neonatal community and to build awareness through education, and that takes time. I am happy with the pace at which I am growing.
What are the top 3 online tools and resources you’re currently using to grow your company?
My top online tools are:
- Prodport: This is a new company that allows you to optimize your product page easily for maximum conversions.
- Asana: For overall organization in my business.
- Klaviyo has also been pivotal for emails.
What’s a productivity tip you swear by?
Do the hardest, most annoying thing you have on your to-do list first every day. And then the rest of the day will go much easier.
Can you recommend one book, one podcast, and one online course for entrepreneurs?
I am not a fan of courses, books, or podcasts. I love reading case studies of successful e-commerce businesses and the tools they use to scale. I also spend a lot of time talking to entrepreneurs in my space to exchange ideas and partner with. I am part of an e-commerce support group with a fantastic group of women running their own successful companies and it’s been amazingly helpful.
What helps you stay driven and motivated to keep going in your business?
Customer reviews and the mission are always first and foremost for me. One mother wrote in to tell me that her baby who had a stroke at birth was going through so many therapists and the one tool that helped them most was the Kahlmi baby massager. That was one of the most validating and rewarding motivators to keep going. Also, just hearing from parents that the Kahlmi massager helped their baby with colic, teething or sleep is so important. I am passionate about baby development and making sure families have time to connect in a deeply impactful way using massage.
What is your favorite quote?
My favorite quote is:
‘If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.’
Things always change in business and life!
