Grace, the founder of Jaq Jaq Bird, started her company out of necessity rather than ambition. In 2005, her family was living through a renovation crisis, leaving them without a functional kitchen just before their third child was born. With her husband working 12-hour shifts to complete the construction himself and Grace nursing a newborn, the family ate out frequently. The generic children's menus and crayons at restaurants did little to occupy her three young children, who would tear the p
Grace, the founder of Jaq Jaq Bird, started her company out of necessity rather than ambition. In 2005, her family was living through a renovation crisis, leaving them without a functional kitchen just before their third child was born. With her husband working 12-hour shifts to complete the construction himself and Grace nursing a newborn, the family ate out frequently. The generic children's menus and crayons at restaurants did little to occupy her three young children, who would tear the paper to pieces.
Grace began designing reusable, travel-friendly drawing surfaces that could withstand the chaos of dining out with small children, giving her family a few moments of calm during an otherwise turbulent period. That early invention grew into Jaq Jaq Bird, a name inspired by her youngest child's attempts at speaking Korean ("jaq jaq" being the sound a bird makes). Twenty years later, Grace still leads the business.
