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I come from a truly integrated Danish background. My mother is Danish and my father’s parents were both from Denmark. My family life was all about travel. Between ages 4-6 we lived in Beirut, Lebanon and at the age of 16 I had been to Denmark 13 times, sometimes for a month over Christmas to living several years at a time. I absolutely love the Danish sense of style and design. I lived in France for two years studying the language and culture through a university exchange program and at La Universite de la Sorbonne in Paris . I graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1984 with a BA in French and Danish. Then I lived in Germany for a year and half working as a translator for a German Architect. I used to sit in my office starring out the window dreaming about designing clothes. Because my creative juices longed to be inspired, I returned to the University of Minnesota and graduated in 1988 with an MA in Design from the Department of Design and Apparel. After graduation I designed and created several Limited Edition lines of clothing and produced many high-end commission pieces. I worked three years for a small woman’s clothing manufacturer as their main designer and production manager. Some of the lines I developed under my own label were: Karina, EKKO, Design Karin Frost, and Pacific Mythics.

Another passion of mine throughout my life has been my love for the outdoors. I have been on many extended canoe trips and enjoyed that form of connection to nature but when I moved to Lake Michigan sea kayaking was much more condusive to playing on the big open waters. I followed this passion and became a Certified Sea Kayak instructor and enjoyed giving individual and group instruction. I started a Sea Kayak Center in Door County, Wisconsin and led sea kayak trips in Lake Michigan, Lake Superior and Yucatan, Mexico.

My continued travels lead me to Maui, Hawaii where the incredible diversity of people living on a volcano in the middle of the ocean inspired both my love for nature and international background. Somehow I instinctively knew this was the place I wanted to raise a child. I met my husband two years after moving to Maui and our son, Keala Kaj was born a year later. I was 41 years old when he was born in our bathtub at home.

My husband and I read the book, The Continuum Concept by Jean Leidloff, when I was pregnant and were so inspired by the concept that we integrated much of it into our parenting style. I was convinced that carrying my baby was the best way to usher him into our world. I tried many different carrying devices…front packs, other slings, and backpacks. Some of them worked fairly well and yet each had its problems. So with my design background it came natural for me to create a carrier that incorporates the elements necessary to carry my son for prolonged periods as his weight increased.

As I began to develop the design, local parents would see me carrying my son and ask me to make them a carrier. They in turn gave me feedback as I continued to develop the design. Ultimately, the result is the ergonomically sensitive design I call the ERGO Baby Carrier. It is a carrier that allows parents to keep babies close to their bodies and still have the flexibility of motion and use that so many of my parenting peers were seeking. I was delighted that I could easily carry my son as I did housework, nursed, gardened, shopped, hiked or danced! And he loved being so close to me.

My son is four years old now and although I miss those tender moments of feeling him attached to my body during my daily activities (he still likes an occasional ride), it is wonderful to watch his emerging independence. I trust that our early bonding will strengthen his sense of security throughout his life. I can literally say that The ERGO Baby Carrier changed my family’s life. It has developed into a product and business that allows me to spend quality time with my son and it gives me deep satisfaction in knowing I have created a baby carrier that has brought so much pleasure to so many other parents and children around the world.