From the word milieu
The social environment in which things take form. A milieu is made up of people, emotions, attitudes, cultural backgrounds, etc. that shape a person.
Our Mission
We exist to spark the curiosity and confidence of the next generation by building up kids’ identities, interpersonal skills, and relationships.
That’s why we touch on vital life topics designed with insights across generations from educators, therapists, and parents, to industry leaders.
Learning Made Fun
Learning should be FUN! Diving into vital life topics is best when it’s easy, simple, and fun for children. This is why we combined an immersive story and interactive activities to activate a child’s superpowers (i.e. what makes them unique). MILLU provides all the necessary materials, tips, and extended activities beyond the kit.
Building Healthy Foundations
Our kits help children build foundational healthy mental habits. We bring up topics of emotional regulation, growth mindset and teamwork to help support a child’s emotional wellness. Learn more about how our product is rooted in neuroplasticity research.
We co-create with our community!
After interviewing hundreds of people, we observed that many challenges we face today could have been alleviated by more intentional time with safe adults in childhood. We believe that creating safe spaces to talk through life questions and passing down intergenerational wisdom is vital to healthy development in a child’s life. Our MILLU makers are therapists, educators, industry leaders and everyday families. We asked over 100 people our “Golden Question”:
Many responded with: "If I knew_____ it would've helped me so much in life."
This is how our kit ideas are developed! We follow a human design thinking process, leaning into a spirit of prototyping and innovating continuously for the best possible experience for you. We believe in our mission because the life foundations of our children rely on the quality time spent with adults that matter to them the most.
Founder's Story
Our story begins with our parents.
Growing up, Sena had full-time working parents that immigrated from Korea. Putting food on the table was the priority (understandably so), but they weren’t equipped with the time or resources to spend intentional quality time with their kids and to talk about important life topics with them. Through many trials and now restored family relationships, Sena came up with the idea for MILLU based on a collective generational narrative: there are so many topics she and others wish they knew when they were younger.
Sarah’s mom was a full-time stay at home mom. She made the difficult decision to be a SAHM based on her own desire for her parents in Indonesia to have been more present in her life growing up. Sarah saw how her mom put away her college degree to invest intentionally in her and her younger brother. It resulted in a healthy sense of identity for Sarah when entering college—something surprisingly rare in the Gen Z soul-searching generation. She also saw her mom become an empty nester and the aftermath impact of the sacrifice of parenting on a person.
For both situations and through both founders’ stories, we knew we weren’t the only ones witnessing these family stories. How could we equip families to be present with their kids? and How do we ensure kids have a healthy foundation in life?
After years of seeing this pattern in families after her international humanitarian work, Sena came up with the idea of MILLU in the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic. We wanted to find a way to make it extremely easy for parents to break away from the screens and monotone life routines, and instead spend family time with purpose, imagination, and fun.
We’re grateful to walk alongside the families and educators who build up a kid’s identity, interpersonal skills, and relationships!
