10 Years of The Keiki Dept

Letʻs just start with, we weren't supposed to make it this far.

When I started The Keiki Dept, it was a passion project. Something I did on the side, after a long day of teaching and around naps and bedtime. I had a plan to go back to teaching. The idea had an end date built right into it: I'd run this little thing until my kids got into Kindergarten, and then I'd go back to the classroom.

That was the plan....did I follow it??? Sort of. we kept adding kids to our family and my 5 year plan kept getting extended.

How it started

It started because of my oldest son.

I was going to local markets, looking for keiki clothing that actually felt like like it represented us...but I wasnʻt finding what I was looking for. What I found was either tacky aloha print or generic designs that barely scratched the surface of what Hawaiʻi actually is.

So I bought a sewing machine, went to YouTube University, and decided, if I can't find it, I'll make it. My grandma used to watch me sew at her dining table and talk to me about how I learned to sew and how I used a button and not the foot pedal. I would sew with a baby on my lap and we would spend time together. She was my biggest supporter from day 1.

But itʻs funny that most of the businesses I have become friends with started with a story like that, they saw a gap in the market and took that chance and had that can do attitude. 

The seasons I wanted to quit

I won't pretend it was easy.

There were so many seasons I wanted to quit — more than I can count. The kind of seasons where the numbers didn't make sense, where I was exhausted, where going back to a steady paycheck felt like the responsible thing to do.

I am always shocked when people say things like "I donʻt know how you do it" or "you are a supermom" because I honestly donʻt feel that way most times. There is no balance of being a mom and biz owner, and there are days where I feel like I can do it all and other days where I feel like the load is impossible. But the one thing I have is sheer determination, some might call it stubbornness. 

Even in my darkest days of post-partum, I kept going. When times got hard, I kept going. When things seemed impossible, I kept going. I kept going for them and to show them that you can build something if you have a passion for it.

I didn't get here on my own

This is the part I want to say clearly, because it's true: I didn't get here on my own. My ʻohana was always there — from the early days of sorting fabric, flipping bibs, and stringing elastic to helping me at all of our in-person events.

But also with me was the network of small business owners I met along the way. People who showed up, shared what they knew, and reminded me I wasn't alone in it. That community is one of the best things this whole journey has given me.

If you are thinking about starting a small biz, networking is so important. More important than I realized early on and developing those relationships with other biz owners is the best thing you could do. 

Some of my closest confidants are biz owners turned friends that I can bounce ideas off with. I am so grateful to have my hui of biz friends like Tanya Uyehara of Lahaʻole Hawaiʻi and Kea Peters of Kākou Collective that I can call if I ever need anything.

I was at a conference recently when someone shared a statistic from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: about 50% of small businesses make it to year 5. Only 35% make it to year 10.

I sat with that for a minute. Because somehow, here we are.

Where we are now

10 years. Still here. Still making pieces meant to be worn every day, treasured, and passed down.

What started as a way to put our culture on my own keiki has become a way to do that for families across the islands and beyond — keiki who get to see themselves and their home in what they wear.

This milestone isn't just ours. It belongs to our ʻohana, to the small biz friends who walked beside us, and to every single customer who helped us get here. Every print you wore, every gift you gave, every comment and order and bit of aloha along the way — that's what got us to 10.

I never dreamed I'd be standing here. But now? I can't imagine it any other way.

What's next

June is our celebration month, and this is just the beginning. We've got more to share all month long — so stay close.

From the bottom of my heart: mahalo for being part of the story. 🌿

— Leilani