Welcome to Chicago North Shore Moms Meet a Mom series where we feature our local mamas – what they’re up to personally and professionally. To date, we’ve feature just under 100 women, woah mama! This week’s Meet a Mom feature is the lovely Glencoe mom and art teacher, Kim Bloomberg! Kim doesn’t skip a beat. Learn about Kim’s pivot from jewelry designer to mompreneur with her recent launch of Art Beat Box!
Hi Kim! Where are you from originally?
I grew up in Dix Hills, New York and moved to Glencoe, IL from New York City ten years ago.
How many kids do you have, ages?
I have two kids, ages 12 and 14.
You were a jewelry designer for 18 years. Why did you decide to leave this calling?
I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Illinois and a Master’s Degree in elementary and middle school teaching as well as a K-12 art education certification.I ran my jewelry business for 18 years! I started making jewelry as a way to relax after a long day of teaching. I completely shut down my jewelry business around a year ago to focus entirely on teaching and building and growing Art Beat Box.
Awesome! We love a good ‘pivot’ story. Please tell us more about the Art Beat Box!
I am a local art teacher and I have been teaching art on the North Shore of Chicago for the past ten years. Prior to that, I taught in Atlanta and New York. Art and teaching are two of my passions and Art Beat Box is a perfect marriage of the two. Art Beat Box is an online order art box kit for tweens through adults. We like to say 9-99 years of age but we have customers much younger. All of our projects are unisex and contain all of the materials, supplies and instructions to create a project from start to finish. We pride ourselves on putting out a premium product with the kind of supplies I love to use in my studio. For example, our tie dye kit uses professional grade dyes that do not fade like most of the big box brands. This was a result of my own determination and research to find the dyes that were used in professional garments.
How did you go about launching Art Beat Box?
Last summer, when I began planning to launch Art Beat Box I decided to partner with my cousin, Randi Jakubowitz. I knew that I needed a partner who knew how to grow and scale a business and Randi and I had often discussed going into business together. Randi knows the ins and outs of growing a business and I am the creative who creates and sources the projects. Randi formerly grew teams and helped to scale Seamless, Grubhub, Havas and other start-ups. Together, we are a perfect team.
We started with a soft launch at the beginning of the year, however, our e-commerce site officially went live in April and the rest is history! I am incredibly grateful for the loyalty from the moms on the North Shore who have always supported me and cheered me on not only by hiring me to teach classes, parties, and workshops, but by word of mouth recommendations.
We love that you’re giving kids a fresh, creative outlet! What can kids expect out of each box?
All one project art beat boxes ($35) have enough high quality supplies/materials (we pride ourselves on this) and instructions to make and create the project masterpiece. Some art box examples include: tie dye soap box, tie dye box and our marbled clay box). In addition, we launched a “camp-in-a-box” experience ($150) for this summer. Each camp box includes 5 art projects, supplies, materials, instructions and access to a video tutorial. Some of the camp projects have been acrylic pouring, wall hangings, mosaics, diy board games, and many more). We always say that these boxes are not just for kids, they are for anyone ages 9-99. If you are looking for a fun and creative virtual corporate event, Art Beat Box could be a possible solution too!
Is this a one time box or a subscription?
It was very important to me that we offered more than just a subscription service. Although we will also offer periodic subscriptions for a few month commitments (we offered a June-July-August subscription this summer), we will always offer new and exciting stand-alone projects. We currently have “camp-in-a-box” availability for August!
How do people sign up if they want to participate?
If people want to purchase boxes, the best way is to order online at www.artbeatbox.com. If people want to order boxes for corporate events, camps and parties, email us at [email protected] so that we can support you in customizing the project (if needed) and can ship the boxes out in larger quantities.
Do you want to offer our readers a special discount?
Yes! We would like to offer discount code Northshoremoms5 to get $5 off each box and will also include free shipping anywhere in the United States through 7/31/2020. Offer valid while supplies last.
When is the last week of the art box being offered?
The Art Beat Boxes are ongoing. We will continue to add new projects to the site, so keep checking and follow us on social! The Camp boxes are “while supplies last” and have been selling out each month. Be sure to buy your August camp boxes now! Based on the demand this summer, we will continue to create new experiences for the Fall and Winter. We know families need screen-free fun these days and want to bring smiles to everyone’s faces!
