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Tom was featured on Oprah and talked about how Suri loved her Lady Bug shoes. Can you imagine Katja’s excitement when she saw this? The show will re run today so be sure and set your DVR’s if you are working. below is the Interview I did with her:
CQ: Katja when did you start http://www.skimbaco.com:
Katja: I opened Skimbaco.com in
february 2006. I have been a stay at home mom since my oldest one was
born, she is almost nine now, and I had been helping moms to find
unique products for their children for a few years before that, and
wanted to continue the same but now just in a larger scale. I also
wanted to help all the mompreneurs and small businesses to get their
products known. My mission from day one have been to spread sunshine,
make children happy by offering cool products, but also make moms
happy knowing that they are not just purchasing great products, they
are also supporting small business owners, mainly mompreneurs, by
doing it.
CQ: What does Skimbaco mean?
Katja: Skimbaco is a word I made up. I wanted to learn more about branding
and wanted to have a name with zero google results the day I started.
Skimbaco means “skiing in Colorado”, “skimba” is a Finnish slang word
for skiing and “co” is for Colorado. When I started the company, we
lived in Colorado, and skiing is what we are as a family are
passionate about. But as you know, my products have nothing to do with
skiing - and Skimbaco’s deeper meaning really is “enjoy life, do what
you love to do, live life to the fullest”. Skiing in Colorado is just
one thing I am passionate about, and the “Skimbaco Lifestyle” is
enjoying life whether it’s skiing in Colorado or shopping in New York
City, enjoying life one day at the time. And as my company’s mission
says, I want to encourage people not just to enjoy life, but also
spread sunshine and pay it forward as they do.
CQ: How did you get to send Tom/Katie/Suri the gift basket?
Katja: They say we have a six degree separation to everyone, but I am lucky
enough to have a two degree separation to Tom Cruise, we have a mutual
friend. My friend wanted to gift Tom Cruise and his family during the
Holidays and I helped him to put together a gift basket of beautiful
products from my store. DeAnna Cochran made some custom jewelry for Tom
Cruise’s entire family and I also included some fun stuff like
personalized underwear for Tom and Katie from Blume Girl. One
of the products in the basket was the cutest little pair of ladybug
shoes, which are the Suri’s Ladybug Shoes”,Little Ladies Mary Janes by Monkey-Toes
CQ: What’s it like having one of your products being shown on Oprah?
CQ: If you could have another item featured on the Oprah show what
would it be and why?
Katja: I would say it’s one of my exclusive necklaces by DeAnna Cochran, because part of the proceeds go for charities and I am passionate about
helping people. Oprah actually inspired me to ask DeAnna to design a
Ladybug necklace after the Tom Cruise interview. I felt really blessed
about the feature and since the product was ladybug shoes, and
ladybugs are believed to bring luck in many cultures, I wanted to pay
my ladybug luck forward. I suddenly was receiving a lot of press and
people were noticing me and I asked myself what would Oprah do - and
she would pay it forward. So that’s what I wanted to do too. I started
Ladybug Landings - offering PR help for other mompreneurs and
bloggers, and it has kept me busy ever since. The proceeds of my
Ladybug Necklace and ladybug gear make it possible
that I’m able to help others also for free. I offer PR and social
media consulting and the first hour is always free.
CQ: What has being on the Oprah Show done for your site Traffic?
Katja: After the show aired, the traffic tripled, and so did the sales for a
while. But at the same time while this was a huge success to my store,
I realized that my real passion was not being a retailer, but doing
the consulting and helping other mompreneurs, indie designers and
bloggers. I haven’t actually even officially launched my site Ladybug
Landings yet, I have been so busy helping people and doing consulting
and blogging. I am actually planning on closing my store soon, due the
fact that I want to focus on helping others to reach their goals. I
guess you could truly call that as the Oprah’s touch - she inspired me
to pay it forward even more than I had before.
Katja’s Short Blurb about the Shoes!:
Oprah will be interviewing Tom Cruise in his Telluride home on
tomorrow’s Oprah Show. It is a rerun from last May, but if you didn’t
see it then, check out at least the first 10 minutes of the show. It
is so exciting, Tom Cruise is showing cute ladybug shoes form my
friend Katja’s store Skimbaco.com for Oprah!
Katja is one of the Walmart’s Eleven Moms with me and she sent the Monkey-Toes ladybug shoes for Suri last Christmas.Did you happen to watch Oprah interviewing Tom Cruise on Oprah Show
today? Did you see the cute ladybug shoes Tom showed Oprah in his
gorgeous Telluride home? The shoes are from my friend Katja’s store
Skimbaco.com, and Katja sent those shoes for Suri. Katja is part of
the Eleven Moms campaign with me and I even had an opportunity to ask
a few questions from her.If you want to get Suri Cruise’s shoes for your little one (they make
the cutest Christmas gift!), they are called Suri’s Lady Bug Shoes.
About the Author
Consumer Queen has written 2132 posts on ConsumerQueen.com.
Melissa Garcia AKA The Consumer Queen is a Walmart Mom, Savings.com Deal Pro and All You Savings Star. Melissa is also the Internet Marketing Manager for AdvancePierre Foods.
