Here’s a perfect example of how one father knew best how to keep his daughters busy, creative, and entertained.
Rainbow Loom® creator, Cheong Choon Ng, a Malaysian immigrant of Chinese descent–who now lives with his family in Michigan–with a graduate degree in mechanical engineering and a background in the auto industry, came up with the idea to weave tiny, colorful rubber bands into bracelets in 2010 in an effort to impress his two tween daughters, Teresa (now 12) and Michelle (now 13). Mesmerized, the girls began to make jewelry for themselves and gifts for their BFFs and kids in their Michigan neighborhood.
“Two years ago my daughters were making rubber band bracelets, and I saw them making the bracelets and I wanted to impress them and show them that their dad could do what they did,” Choon explained. “I came up with a very primitive tool to make bracelets with push pins and rubber bands—but they were not impressed. So I added multiple rows of rubber bands that could be connected together—then they got excited and were making lots of bracelets. Everyone was really happy.”
The craft project went from family fun to a family business when Teresa suggested that her dad sell the looms so others could join in on the activity. His brother, Cheong Yeow Ng, also an engineer and inventor, advised selling the product online. Ng’s wife, Fen Chan, approved the investment of the couple’s entire life savings for production, and Rainbow Loom was born. By summer 2011, it had won the Innovation Honorable Mention Award from the Craft and Hobby Association. “Failure was not an option,” Choon emphasized, as he recalled the long months of constant work on the design concept, producing version after version of the Loom before getting it perfect to hit the market.
“The challenge to me was the financial side of it…my wife and I invested our lifesavings in [Rainbow Loom]. We took all we had and put it in this idea,” he says. “I was working on the design of this concept, and that took me six months. I was constantly working”
Today though, Choon looks at the success and happiness the Loom concept has brought to his family, and to crafty kids everywhere and feels totally satisfied with the results of his hard work.
“The first day that we made the first prototype, I could see how much joy my daughters had,” he recalls. “In the back of my mind I thought: ‘If I’m able to deliver this much to the customers who buy this, I would be happy.’ It’s not about the money when you’re able to deliver the fun. No money can buy that.”
And what’s next for the now-beloved, often-imitated (and even sometimes controversial) Rainbow Loom? Choon says that the company has plans to release a new–likely smaller–version of the tool early in 2014, which will be meant to produce a whole new type of bracelet. “I feel good about it,” he tells us.
Rainbow Loom kits, recommended for kids 8 years and up, are available at rainbowloom.com and at major craft outlets like Michael’s and Learning Express Toys, as well as individually owned specialty stores.
