Zoie with her kids, Luca and India RoseHow did you get to where you are today?
Today I run Kid & Coe, a company I founded in 2013, but an idea that was a long time in the making. Wind it back a few years to when my husband, our baby and I were travelling the world and we were finding it took a lot of effort to find properties that were truly child-friendly and suitable. Over time, that list was hotly-prized by my friends, and so the idea was born. I drew together a team, partly in New York City and partly in London and began to work with concepts and ideas to bring it together.
It’s been an incredible amount of work – anyone who works in a start up would second that – but it’s great to see it in action and hear from families who we have helped. It’s down to our team really; our founding directors are still with us and we have all stayed true to the course because we believe in what we are building.
Do you get to stay in many of the properties?
Yes, we try and visit as many properties as we can. In 2015 we visited Mexico, Los Angeles and London, and for 2016 we hope to visit Patagonia, Cornwall and Portugal.
Your mum was an air hostess, did you spent a lot of time travelling as a child?
My parents actually met on an airplane, so yes, it was very normal for our family to decide last minute we were going to fly to Paris or Milan for the weekend, as we could fly standby. That kind of spontaneous search for adventure certainly seemed to ignite a spark of wanderlust in my soul. I grew up in Georgia in a fairly rural environment so visiting these very cosmopolitan cities with my family showed me that the world was a vastly wide and wonderfully different place to explore. The idea of stretching boundaries is something I want to pass on to my own children.
And your husband is DJ Sasha. You spent many years organising his schedule, how was that?
Ah, those were the days. I met my husband when I was much younger and my 20s were a blur of travel and different countries and experiences. We didn’t really have a home-base; we just travelled. From a business perspective, it gave me a good foundation in management of complicated logistics, financial management and cross-border affairs.
My mum was an air-hostess and my parents actually met on an airplane, so it was very normal for our family to decide we were going to fly to Paris or Milan for the weekend
Has that changed since you’ve had children?
When Luca, our first child was born, we weren’t quite ready to give up on the adventure and exploration so we continued our touring lifestyle, which is really how the idea for Kid & Coe came about. He does travel an awful lot still, and it is certainly harder with children, but life is nothing if not constantly changing so we learn to adapt and try and roll with it. We also try and view it as an opportunity, and base our own family travels around his touring.
Where do you live now?
We moved to Los Angeles on a whim last year; we’d never spent a good amount of time there and had always discussed trying it out. It was not a permanent relocation and we only did it for a school year. The idea of running companies remotely and as a ‘digital nomad’ is a concept that is really exciting to me. As long as I have a fast internet connection and Skype I can do my business anywhere, which is something I love.
Our team is based in LA, NYC, New Orleans, and the UK and the timezones we all live in gives us a good breadth of coverage. My kids are fairly adaptable and they have friends, family, activities (and babysitters!) in all the destinations we visit frequently. We try and keep routines established, even in the topsy-turvy environment that frequent travel creates.
What does your average day look like?
On a good day, I wake up before my kids and catch up on Skype with anything urgent from our London team. Being in LA is difficult as I’m well behind everyone else in the work day. I drop my children off at their school around 8am; this is the first time they’ve been in the same school and I know mommas everywhere will agree that it makes the school logistics easier.
After drop-off, I head to my office, which is right next to the school, and get stuck in on the day’s priorities. I do try and get some physical exercise at some point, which is tough, but working out is a really great business idea. I have a chance to clear my mind and really focus – and propel myself into the work day, which could bring anything from investor meetings to web development work, marketing strategy and host conversations.
As both my children are at school now and my husband’s schedule is flexible, when he is home with us he’s a very hands-on dad and takes them to a lot of their activities. We all try and convene for family dinner as much as possible and when they are in bed, I check into my emails so that our team has what they need from me to hit the next day running.
Turning my emails off on my phone has been a huge help for me. I try to check in with myself and attempt to be present in what I’m doing – at work and at home
How do you find the balance of work / life / motherhood?
My job can be demanding as most jobs are, but I’m extremely lucky that I set my own schedule. Some of my friends work corporate jobs and it’s really difficult for them to try and juggle kids and school. Something usually has to give; one partner has less of a demanding job, or roles shift seamlessly between parents.
I’ve recently discovered turning my emails off on my phone has been a huge help for me. Anything urgent is relayed via Skype, and it means when I sit down to my desk, at my computer, I’m able to answer what needs to be answered or take the appropriate action at the time. I try and check in with myself and attempt being present in what I’m doing – that means that when I’m at work, I’m there and committing to it completely; when I’m having a chat with India Rose, I’m not checking my iPhone for emails, and when I’m with my husband, I am trying not to multitask.
We try and carve out dedicated time to discuss the boring practical things that need to be discussed so they don’t chip away at the time we get to spend together. I try not to be slave to my phone with is something we all struggle with. I ask myself, does this need to be dealt with, this second, or can it wait? And at the end of each work day, I try and outline things of utmost importance that need to be done the following day. It’s not perfect, far from it, but I’ve loosened my own expectations a lot and it has helped.
What kind of mum are you?
An excellent one, in my own right. We all are…There is a lot of laughter in our house, we are very affectionate with family bundles and tickle fights and we try and discuss emotions, being grateful, being kind to others, all that good stuff you learn in primary school which is really all you need to know.
What has been the biggest surprise about motherhood for you?
The consistency of change: the minute you get over one period of your child’s development, something big and different is around the corner. The knowledge that this too will pass is both empowering and bittersweet.
What can we look forward to from Kid & Coe?
We are really excited to start testing out different accommodation options, like our new home exchange concept, along with offering hand-picked hotels. We are honoured to continue collaborating with awesome companies and are committed to working with and highlighting inspiring families from within our community.
We will continue to pick out the kinds of places we would take our own kids! We want to be the trusted brand for family travel and stay true to our mission of inspiring and helping families to get out there and explore.
For more about Zoie and Kid & Coe check out kidandcoe.com
