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Jaq Jaq Bird

Brand · Kids and baby

Meet Grace, the heart behind Jaq Jaq Bird®. The company's founder and creative director is a proud Chicagoan, a mother of 3, and a Korean-American. Jaq Jaq Bird® began without a plan: just a small vision and an even smaller amount of money. 20 years later, Jaq Jaq Bird is a thriving small business backed by a hard-working team with devout customers around the globe. Family Expansion Jaq Jaq Bird began when Grace's family bought a tiny bungalow while stationed in Washington D.C. Seeking more space to accommodate their growing family, Grace and her husband hired a contractor to build an addition. However, the week before their third baby was to make his arrival, the phone rang: it was the FBI. Shocking News They were then given some shocking news: the contractor they had hired was a fraud, had embezzled their savings and left the family with no functional kitchen to feed their kids. With their savings depleted and Grace nursing a newborn, a six month period of chaos ensued as her husband began frantically working 12 hour shifts in an effort to finish the renovation work himself. Innovating to Survive Dining out became a necessity for survival, but Grace's three children were not engaged by the generic children's menus and crayons at restaurants, usually tearing them to pieces and making a mess. Determined to have peaceful family meals as a much needed respite from the chaos of life and renovation, Grace invented the Chalk Mat, now well-known as the Doodle It & Go erasable mat, in 2005. Like Jaq Jaq Bird's mats of today, it was a flexible, travel-friendly design featuring a placemat on one side and surface to doodle on with chalk on the other. National Exposure