Today we’d like to introduce you to Irene Kang.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, how did you get started?
My story started when my son was born. We are a Chinese-Korean American family, and we want to share our heritage language and culture with our kids. In 2020, my son was one year old, and his daycare closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. We were in San Francisco, and I had my dream job in Energy, working with school districts and transit agencies to electrify their fleet and reduce GHG emissions. In addition to our jobs, my partner and I began to care for our toddler full-time at home. It was a challenging time for us. We moved to Austin in July 2020, when I decided to leave my job and start a sabbatical to focus on my son. During that time, I pursued two parallel paths that would merge to become my current company, Spark Collection bilingual books and toys. The first path was finding out what I wanted the next step in my career to be. Something about leaving your job, moving cross-country, and signing a two-year lease in an apartment you didn’t see, in a city you didn’t know, makes you feel like anything is possible. I decided to reflect internally and took a course called Designing Your Life based on a friend’s recommendation.
The second path was teaching my son Chinese and Korean now that he suddenly began to talk. I searched everywhere for books and resources. To my surprise, it was tough to find accessible, high-quality, and engaging books in Asian languages. I realized that books in languages other than English are not widely available and accessible in the U.S. Although 20% of people in the U.S. speak more than one language fluently, only 1% of children’s books published today are bilingual, with even fewer in Asian languages. My two paths merged, and the idea of Spark Collection bilingual books sparked inside of me. In November 2020, I wrote the first draft of my now-published book, My Favorite Gift. I met my illustrator, Adriane Tsai, and we began working immediately. I launched a Kickstarter to help fund My Favorite Gift in July 2021, which was fully backed in two days, selected as a Kickstarter Project We Love, and received pre-orders worldwide. I packaged and fulfilled all 600+ orders in a week just in time for them to arrive for the holidays. Each book was gift-wrapped with confetti because the small details matter. Since then, I have published three titles in three bilingual editions: Mandarin, Korean, and Hindi. We will publish our fourth title and launch two language and culture toys in 2024, so stay in touch and follow us!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
*laugh* Have you ever met anyone who said yes to this question? Entrepreneurship is full of bumps and turns. It’s what you do with the struggles and unexpected that define your journey and where you are today. I have had numerous challenges along the way, from the very beginning until now. When I had the idea of Spark Collection books, I had a lot of self-doubt. I didn’t know how to start a business or where to begin. Am I crazy to start a company during a pandemic? It seemed like a giant leap of faith. During one of the talks with my partner, I remembered a mug I had gifted him; it said: “What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?” I would start this company. That’s when I decided to go for it. Launching my company and debut book on Kickstarter was another big challenge. The campaign was entirely bootstrapped and self-created. Leading up to the launch, I was so nervous I could barely sleep or eat. I was putting everything out there. What if no one likes it? What if it doesn’t resonate? When I clicked the “I’m ready to launch” button to make my Kickstarter campaign live, I felt nauseous. Text messages started coming in, stories shared on Instagram, a phone call, “WOW IRENE! This is amazing!” I burst into tears from overwhelming emotions. Since then, it’s been roll with the punches. Global supply chain disruptions were a big challenge. During the launch of our Korean books, the shipment was delayed by a few weeks, which coincidentally made them arrive during the birth of my second son. I came home from the hospital to fulfill our Korean pre-orders with the help of my family! Lastly, as a one-woman self-funded business, it’s challenging to find the time to “do it all,” from writing, product design, development, marketing, finance, sales to operations. It’s the nature of it and what makes it fun.
We’ve been impressed with Spark Collection, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart?
Spark Collection bilingual books and toys are thoughtfully designed to make learning language and culture fun and meaningful. Our books are available in Mandarin, Korean, and Hindi with special features such as big lift-the-flaps, dry-erasability for tracing and writing, and free companion audiobooks by native speakers – you have the reading, writing, and listening all in one book. The book text also has romanization to assist non-fluent speakers. With a mission of increasing diverse representation, our books feature an Asian protagonist named Coco in everyday relatable stories. Our stories have bright illustrations centered around family, environmentalism, kindness, and perseverance. Responsible business and environmental sustainability are important to me, so our books are made out of 100% recycled paper and FSC-certified paper. Being a part of our local Austin community is also important to me. I have donated our books to more than 15 schools, community centers, and libraries. I love visiting schools to host bilingual storytimes and share my experience as an author and creator. I am an avid supporter of local creators and small businesses. I also love being a part of the AAPI community, such as partnering with the City of Austin Asian American Resource Center to host an intergenerational event and being a part of Austin’s inaugural Asian Creator House and AAPI Night Market during SXSW. The community response to Spark Collection’s books and mission is the most meaningful. When I hear words such as “This is exactly what I’ve been looking for” and “Thank you for creating this,” when I meet readers and hear about how our books have brought them joy and touched their lives, it makes the journey, despite all the challenges, so worth it.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those just starting.
Talk to as many people as possible in the space you’re pursuing. Talk to people who have lived that life and gone on that journey. Find mentors and friends. I truly believe that you go faster by yourself, but you go further together. People relationships are important, so try not to say no to an opportunity where you could meet someone. Don’t be afraid of failure, but have a plan and learn from each bump. Be scrappy and creative. And have a sense of humor. You have to enjoy what you do.
Pricing:
- Books: $20
- Toys: $various
- Author visits: Contact me!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sparkcollection.
com - Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/ thesparkcollection - Facebook: https://www.
facebook.com/ thesparkcollection - Linkedin: https://www.
linkedin.com/company/ sparkcollection - Youtube: https://www.youtube.
com/@sparkcollection
Image Credits
Cathy Sunu Photography, Kelly Zhu Photo
