This week, we chatted with Schoanna Daswani and Roshini Daswani Kewalram, co-founders of Milk it Baby, a high-end baby product brand in Hong Kong. Schoanna was born in India and raised in Hong Kong and had always appreciated different cultures. She took Hospitality and Tourism Management as a major in University, which led her to build her own luxury baby product brand with her sister Roshini Daswani Kewalram. Also born and raised in Hong Kong, with a degree in Graphic Design from London, Roshini is an international influencer focusing on fashion and lifestyle and co-founder of Milk It Baby, now based out of the Middle East.’ The sisters shared with us their personal story and forward-thinking design ideas.
Could you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?
Schoanna: Born in India and raised in Hong Kong, I have a strong appreciation for international cultures and world travel. Naturally, I majored in Hospitality and Tourism Management which led me to build my own luxury travel management company, allowing me to make some of the world’s most incredible bucket list experiences accessible to many. Some of my most cherished and valuable learning moments have come from traveling around the world with my family and I wanted to make sure that experience was possible for every family, even through this pandemic.
Which is how Roshini and I ended up creating our beautiful play mat collection through Milk It Baby, featuring our favourite landmarks, food and cultural elements from our home city – Hong Kong and some of our other favourites – LA, London, Paris and more! It truly is a one-of-a-kind playtime and bonding experience for parents and their little ones, exploring the world from their very own living rooms!
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What inspires you to start Milk it baby?
Roshini: I am a fashion and lifestyle influencer @roshinidaswani and co-founder of @milkitbabyshop . I flew back to Hong Kong to deliver my first child with my family in Hong Kong and got stuck there for a year because of the Covid restrictions in place and ended up being away from my husband who was in Bahrain at the time. During this trip, I was constantly on the hunt for educational and aesthetic baby products that matched my style but was unable to find anything suitable. Leveraging off Schoanna’s ( co-founder of @milkitbabyshop) background as a luxury travel consultant, we combined our love for aesthetics and travel to design products for all those millennial mamas so that they can love and live our brand phrase: “Playtime Just Got Trendy!”
We launched our beautiful silicone bib collection with a range of beautifully subtle colours, perfect for making those mealtimes super chic and most of all, mess-free! We also designed our own range of teether toys inspired by healthy & trending dishes from around the world (eg. our matcha latte teether is an absolute favourite among the mamas!) And of course – our best-selling collection: travel-inspired and reversible play mats that come in a range of city map designs – Hong Kong, London, LA, Paris & more!
How do you balance your work and family life as an entrepreneur？
Roshini: This is a struggle to balance because everything feels real time running at bullet train speed. I never feel that there are enough hours in the day, but what really helps is having a routine in place. Dedicated time is set for running the daily and weekly tasks with time carved out for solely my business and family so I can stay on top of things to be more effective as an influencer. Flexibility is also key because that random day my daughter doesn’t go to preschool can really throw a wrench in my entire week. I also find that every morning putting some thoughts in for quick daily-goal setting helps a lot. It allows me to see more clearly if I’m forgetting anything important or what needs to be done as a priority. I set 3 tasks a day as a minimum that have to be accomplished no matter how small or big the goal of the day may be. It gives me a sense of satisfaction that helps build the future and my mental well-being.
What does your typical day look like?
Schoanna: Interestingly enough, running your own company often means there isn’t really a “typical” day per se (which I actually love and appreciate.) Every day is an adventure of its own – I can be sitting for hours in the office one day, dealing with delivery crises another, and sometimes even just taking the day to re-asses, reset and recharge, and those sometimes turn out to be some of the most productive days, believe it or not.
Just like Roshini, the company’s co-founder, the one thing that I do every morning though, is goal-setting. I always like to start the day with a clear vision of my objectives for the day and/or week. Followed by a strong cup of coffee, of course. On to the tasks for the day, which could be anything from brainstorming creatives, updating our business socials, brand strategising with the company partners, client and vendor communication, so on and so forth. And as much as I can, I make it a point to get myself out of the office and fit in a workout before the day ends, whether it’s personal training, a bit of boxing or if I need something a little more relaxed, then a yoga session at home. Once I’m home, I’ll try to shut off work-wise but with growing a new company, it never stops. So I constantly try to remind myself to strive for that work-life balance.
How do you make yourself happy and ritzy in life?
Schoanna: Before the pandemic, the answer to this question would always be traveling and exploring a new place is what makes me the happiest. But to live is to adapt and it’s honestly amazing that I get to channel what I love to do most, into my work; designing and creating new play mats for Milk It Baby, featuring some of my favourite cities around the world, like Paris and a couple of new gorgeous ones coming out super soon!
Other than that, I would say it’s always the small things in life that keep me going – quality time with my husband and the family, curling up with a good book, rewatching old movies, a cosy yoga session & without fail, a great cup of coffee will do wonders.
