MILLU
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.
Parenting is so hard. The amount of sacrifice, countless hours of driving to and from soccer practice, not knowing how to uniquely aid your child, and parenting guilt… It’s a beautiful yet heavy burden.
How do we know?
Because our parents lived that story in two very different ways.
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 can we help parents be equipped 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.
Enter MILLU. Our kits use concepts of play therapy, neuroplasticity (the science of our brain changing through habits!), and social emotional learning (think skills for leaders of the future) to help the next generation have holistic flourishing.We gamify deep concepts through our lovable characters—The SuperCrew from the Uniqueverse—and rich storytelling that make tough conversations around identity, community, and culture much easier and more fun.
But we don’t just stop there. Our kits are a place that allow parents and caregivers to express their inner child—to play, grow and learn… Together with their child.
Our Mission
Our mission is to design memorable quality time for families, making it easy for busy parents to share empowering connection with their children.
As founders of MILLU, we know our parents did their best for us - balancing work, life stressors, and packed schedules. They sacrificed so much, and quality time was tough to carve out! We created MILLU kits with our own parents in mind…
Quality time with your child is life-changing (and brain-changing). Abundant research shows this! But in the busyness of today, it can be so hard to make space for focused intentional time with your kids. You’re busy doing so much for them but that often comes at the expense of being without them So: MILLU’s mission is to help you recapture time with them.
Here’s how we do this:
Our Village
You need support as you parent your kids! They say: “It takes a village to raise a child,” so MILLU has created a community of loving parents, educators, industry leaders, and therapists. This is your “village” behind the creation of every MILLU kit! We call them our “MILLU Makers.
We asked our village the “GOLDEN QUESTION”:
What is something you know now that you wish you knew when you were younger?
Their wisdom-packed answers are the foundation of our kits. We believe in the power of intergenerational wisdom being passed on to give the next generation a head start. We take real-life experiences from industry professionals, therapists, educators, and everyday parents, spinning their victories and learning points to be a fun, immersive adventure you embark on with your child.
But you might be wondering: what do MILLU Makers believe about raising a child?
3 Pillars
Our MILLU-makers believe in 3 pillars for raising a flourishing child:
- Embrace a healthy identity
- Engage positively with your community
- Shape a better world
