OUR NAME
We are the Cho family. When my husband and I got married 10 years ago, I suggested he use my maiden name because his was too long and contained many letters that do not exist in the English language. He declined, so I decided to keep it simple and shorten our new family name to Cho.
Moi, on the other hand, was inspired by my younger, 1-year-old daughter Ada. She could only say a few words and one of them was “moi,” which means more – as in more food, water, laughter or play. She was screaming, “moi, moi, moi,” pointing her little fingers to each other, emphasizing her will using sign language.
After a while, everybody at home started saying moi instead of more. It was a new word for the CHO family, and we began smiling every time we said it.
While I was dreaming up names for our new company, I always knew I wanted to include our name somehow. Still, Cho by itself didn’t seem to be enough. There must be more to it, I thought - and that “more” has to be “moi!” There it was, my third baby's name: CHO & moi.
OUR STORY
It all started with an ending.
After my company decided not to work with me anymore, I had no other option but to work from home. I felt betrayed and depressed, I couldn’t sleep, and I had nightmares for months.
Then one day, I decided to give myself closure. I forgave everybody that I was angry with and focused on the belief that every closed door leads to another, better opportunity.
I’ve always wanted to help women who want to be a part of a productive community, who need an opportunity to shine, and who want to stand strong financially and socially.
It was about this time that I decided to launch my own small company and create a Utopian environment for each stakeholder. It would be a company that is all natural, organic, stress- and ego-free, built with trust from the suppliers to the artisans to the customer.
I imagined that we, women, could create priceless products for babies with our hands and with love. These products must be as pure and organic as babies, as well as sustainable in every way in order to leave them a world that they deserve.
I imagined a company where everything is created and operated by women - not because I’m a feminist, but because I know we are the experts of this! Personally, as a mother of two, I have always believed that less is manageable, enough is the best, and more is wasteful.
Babies grow so fast, so I have always bought my children clothes that are designed for longer and multi-purpose use. With this in mind, my close friend Chis introduced me to Hande, who was leading a women’s empowerment movement. It was a perfect match with my lead. All our products are knitted with the best quality, organic cotton yarn that has been GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified.
I then met with Dilara (also through Chis) who helped me engage with a women’s collective in Aydin, Turkey. We worked on our designs for days, and created prototypes. We continue to enrich our product range and provide high-quality, natural and sustainable pieces.
At CHO & moi, our mission is to empower women and provide high-quality, everlasting pieces for babies that they can save for future generations.
Our motto is buy better, buy less; less is more.