‘Rich mom’ Instagram influencer Chriselle Lim pivots from fashion to education with Bumo Brain – and online classes are not cheap

Before Los Angeles went into lockdown in the United States, fashion influencer Chriselle Lim and her friend Joan Nguyen were planning to open a chic little spot in the Los Angeles neighbourhood of Century City. It was supposed to be a space for parents to gather to work, or have coffee with friends, while their small children were being entertained and educated on site.

But then most businesses shut their doors and malls closed, including the one where Lim – who refers to herself as “your rich mom” on her Instagram and TikTok accounts – and Nguyen, who runs an educational services company, were going to open their space. So, like so many other people, the duo had to change their plans.

On May 18, Lim and Nguyen launched Bumo Brain, the virtual version of their original idea, allowing families from anywhere in the world to give their preschool-aged children what Nguyen describes as a “best-in-class experience”.

Membership to Bumo – which means “parents” in Korean and is designed for kids aged three to six – includes a monthly box filled with supplies. Every day, a child logs in, participates in a hands-on or sensory activity using the products in the box, and receives feedback from a teacher. For a higher fee, they also get twice-weekly live classes.

For Lim and Nguyen, who between them have four children ranging from 18 months to five years old, Bumo Brain is something they wished they’d had when they first became mothers. Lim remembers having to entrust the care of her child to someone else so she could continue her work, and being overwhelmed with parental guilt.

“I felt like our options were slim to none,” she says.

Clearly, she wasn’t the only one – once Lim and Nguyen settled on the idea of Bumo Brain, Lim put the word out to her 1.3 million Instagram followers.

“All of a sudden, people were adding their names to our waiting list,” Nguyen says. “We were being contacted by people in Senegal, a rural village in India, a remote part of North Dakota in the US. Before we knew it, we had 1,000 people on our waiting list from 50 countries.”

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The programme isn’t cheap, and increases in price depending on where the student lives as a consequence of the higher shipping costs to deliver the box of materials. For those choosing the Jumpstart track, monthly tuition costs start at US$199 in North America, rising to US$299 in Europe and US$349 in Asia.

The Success track, which includes live teacher-led classes – plus access to a small group of “cohorts” so the kids can foster friendships – starts at US$599 in North America, rising to US$749 in Europe and US$799 for Asia.

There appeared to be little price resistance based on the influx of applications, Nguyen says. In addition, the company is committing a minimum of 10 per cent of enrolments towards scholarships. Students will continue to be accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year – the next intake is July 1.

Despite the prices, Lim says the idea behind Bumo Brain is to democratise quality early education. “Generally, where you live determines what type of education you have. But through a virtual school like this, we can break that cycle. We initially thought of this because of our own needs as parents. But we find that we’re solving a problem that many families have.”

Lim says she expects that the real world version of Bumo Brain will still open in Los Angeles – when the time is right. In the meantime, she has applied the skills she has gained as a prominent influencer to help shape the visual look of the box, its contents and the platform.

“Although a lot of my followers first started following me for fashion and beauty, they are also young mothers and can relate to this problem,” Lim says. “So, even though it seems far apart from what I usually do, it actually makes sense. It was a seamless transition. My forte is marketing, it’s something I’ve done for other brands. It’s my responsibility to make things look attractive on the front end. We need to dial up the consumer experience – that is what they are looking for.”

The business partners have a long-term plan in place. The lockdown, after all, isn’t going to last forever. Eventually, schools will open and parents will start to feel comfortable again sending their kids to day care or nursery school.

Nguyen says that even when things start to normalise, Bumo Brain will remain an option for parents who want to keep their children close at hand.

“Parents would need something like this, with or without the pandemic,” she says. “And a lot of parents need it now – they homeschool their kids anyway, and need a better curriculum. There is a world beyond the pandemic where Bumo will exist.”