Life and Work with Deileta Kamhunga

Today we’d like to introduce you to Deileta Kamhunga.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Deileta. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
As a mother of two little ones, now ages 3 and 1, I set out on a journey to build a business that we could all one day be proud of. I remember graduating from college still confused as to what my next steps would be. It seemed like everyone around me had it all figured out. Or at least they knew what direction they were heading. Then, there was me. The girl who wanted to do it all. The girl who finished two separate bachelors degrees within four short years just to have options. The first generation college grad that studied abroad twice, joined a sorority (Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.) and married my college sweetheart. My resume was diverse, I dabbled in a few things, nearly completed a masters degree and yet I still had no clue what my profession would be. All along, I knew I loved children and families. So, when I had my own children it all started making sense. I realized the highest level of creation is children and because parenting can be tough, I set out to create baby products that could help support parents along their journey. I wanted to make sure their everyday parenting tasks were easier, more convenient and simplistic. The joy on a mother’s face when she learns about our Ultimate Parent Backpack is just priceless. Knowing that someone finally designed a bag to accommodate her twins or large family makes us know that we’re fulfilling our mission. Our company is new, but we have dynamic products and some incredible ideas for new products to come. Being in business for one year have already been an awesome journey and this is just the beginning.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
This journey have been far from smooth. Between my husband and I, we had no mentors, no one to guide us, no previous experience, nothing. We made some decisions that weren’t so great. Spent lots of money and plenty of time that probably could’ve been used elsewhere. However, we would have never learned not to touch the fire had we not seen the flame. In other words, I think in the world of business, there’s no such a thing as failing when you’re learning along the way. Every week gets greater. We learn so much each month. We meet more and more people that give us advice and tips. And we appreciate opportunities like this one to encourage and inspire others. If it was easy, everybody would do it. Everyone can start a business, but not everyone can finish one and we are determined to keep going.

I am a stay-at-home-mom now work from home mom with our business. I handle 80% of business-related matters while also tending to my children. This is hard! But it can be done. There are lots of sacrifices but I choose to believe that hard work pays off. As a SAHM my girls are my priority, then there’s the business. The truth is, well my husband kinda get the remaining energy but he understands that this is a new season for us. He supports my grind and he helps where he can.

People often think that as soon as a business is established that money will flow overnight. That’s so false. When we hit the green light, we wanted it to rain dollar signs but we were humbled so fast. It takes time and marketing is sooo important. You’ll figure things out along the way. Once we identified our target shoppers, our niche and what works best for us, things finally started flowing. But it took us at least a year to reach just that point. I can go on and on but the most important thing to remember is to do your best because your best is enough.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Elev8ed Cre8ion – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
Okay, so, we sell baby products for families: 

1. Ultimate Parent Backpack (it’s not just an ordinary diaper bag). It’s three bags in one: XL diaper bag, laptop bag, and personal bag. It’s perfect for traveling families due to its large capacity and tons of storage. It’s also the perfect bag for large families and parents of multiples (twins – triplets, etc).

Altogether, the bag is big enough to fit everything the baby or children need, plus everything the parents need. It’s designed to be the ONLY bag needed for a family. We wanted to minimize the amount of bags a parent might need to carry outside the home so we created the Ultimate Parent Backpack. It has a large capacity and is slightly larger than your standard backpack and it’s still durable and super comfortable when full. The UP Bag is water resistant and comes with a luggage strap to be placed right onto a suitcase. It checks all the boxes for modern bags like stroller straps, unisex look, wipes dispenser and it even has a credit card and phone pocket built into the shoulder strap to keep those two important things readily available when on-the-go. Many people without small children buy the UP Bag for their traveling trips, sport events and more. It’s literally the Ultimate Backpack for Everyone.

2. Lil Wuv Bug Diaper Caddy Organizer:

It’s a storage tote that can hold all of a babies essentials. With diapers and wipes being the most common items to keep in a caddy, other smaller items like nail clippers, lotions, creams, thermometers, onesies and etc. are perfect to too. Moms and dads find that keeping these kind of items in a caddy makes parenting so much easier because they never have to worry about where they are. The caddy becomes a base for babies important stuff. Well, besides the milk. 

We believe that every home needs a caddy and we encourage parents to add our caddy to their Amazon baby registry by just searching Lil Wuv Bug.

There’s a wealth of academic research that suggests that a lack of mentors and networking opportunities for women has materially affected the number of women in leadership roles. Smart organizations and industry leaders are working to change this, but in the meantime, do you have any advice for finding a mentor and building a network?
First, I’d highly recommend scheduling an appointment with a SCORE Advisor. They are absolutely phenomenal in helping to direct businesses in the right direction. Many of the things our advisor recommended were the first step kinda tips which we were already aware of from trial and error, so I recommend first meeting with an advisor when the idea is still in the mind to ensure all steps are properly carried out.

Once that’s done, it’s sooo important to network. I highly recommend attending events that cater to your target population. For us, I took the girls and attended baby related events around the valley. We started off as ticket holders (enjoying the giveaway and shops) and then we turned into vendors and exhibitors (hosting the giveaways and selling our products).

Majority of our progress came from networking with other mom made businesses who willingly shared information because they know what it’s like to be a new small business. And if you are someone who don’t like talking to people or engaging with customers, it’s so important to have someone on your team that does. So, get out there and network. Join vendors events and local shows that suit your business targets because you’ll learn so much more every single time. 

Thanks for reading my story. Please follow our journey on social media and enjoy 20% off of your purchase of The UP Bag with code: VOYAGE20

Pricing:

• Ultimate Parent Backpack (UP Bag) $125
• Lil Wuv Bug Diaper Caddy Organizer $15.00
• Bundle: $135

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.elev8edcre8ion.com
• Email: info@elev8edcre8ion.com
• Instagram: Elev8ed Cre8ion
• Facebook: Elev8ed Cre8ion
• Twitter: Elev8ed Cre8ion
• Other: https://youtu.be/2RWZnyuSd5k