Press

Children are losing 'play.' Moon Mi-sung, CEO of Noldahm, emphasized that after-school hours for children are becoming distorted. After kindergarten or school hours end, children have nowhere to go. Parents search for safe childcare services. Ultimately, children head to private academies. Today's children have no experience of running around playgrounds with friends. Noldahm is an O2O (Online to Offline) service that connects parents requesting play-based childcare with university student sitters who have passed internal screening. Among services, one-on-one visiting play has the highest demand. Since launching its first service in July 2015, the number of customers has grown to 13,000. There are 2,700 university student sitters working with Noldahm. The company has also received support from Yoon Min-chang's Investment Foundation, which invested in DotFace and Weekly Shirts. CEO Moon said that 'playing well' is a very important experience for children. We met CEO Moon, who wants to return playtime to children who have lost play, at Noldahm's office in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 14th. ◇ "If 20-somethings raised by working moms help other working moms..." CEO Moon became interested in management as soon as she entered university. She participated in management classes and formed team projects with friends. To gain experience, she took a leave of absence in 2014 and got a job at a startup. She worked at 2 startups for about a year. CEO Moon joked that 'the nightmare of taking leave' started from then. She keeps postponing graduation while operating the business. She is both an entrepreneur and a student. The idea of earning money while doing valuable work crossed Moon's mind. In 2015, CEO Moon ventured into the social enterprise, or social venture sector. She joined a social enterprise and academy under Underdogs to conceive business ideas. While listing various social problems, the topic of 'working moms' came up. "We in our 20s were also raised by working moms, and we will also become working moms raising children. A connection to working moms emerged. Business ideas came up like university students doing cleaning during free periods or delivery services of childcare products for first-time mothers. Many ridiculous ideas were also discussed. Then we had a roundtable discussion with working moms about the business model. We heard advice from mothers: 'Why would a university student clean the house? It's better to play with the child during that time.' My own experience came to mind. I grew up playing with my younger brother. I felt the concept of a play sitter could be commercialized." At the time, CEO Moon recalled that the concept of 'play-based childcare' was unfamiliar, so feedback on Noldahm was unexpectedly positive. However, there were difficulties. As a university student startup team, they were satisfied with merely launching the business. Since most were university students and those on leave of absence, they didn't put their all into the startup. CEO Moon said she always feels regret about 'herself.' She is whipping herself both in the past and now to fill in her lacking capabilities. Noldahm previously focused more on university student sitters to verify identity and confirm definite affiliation. From July, it plans to expand participation to include general adult sitters. The most requested age group for childcare is 3-4 years old. Ages 3-4 is when children first learn to communicate and when they are most actively running around. Parents overwhelmed by this seek out Noldahm. Elementary school lower grades mostly request team childcare services. "University student play sitters basically go through document screening and face-to-face interviews. This is for safety. We receive police permission and verify criminal records for crimes such as sexual assault. Secondary evaluations including personality indicators are also conducted. After that, they must complete 2 hours of education on Noldahm's play content and handling emergency situations. Three female managers mainly manage the sitters and children. All three are women with career interruptions who have been collaborating since the early days of the business. They teach us a lot from the mothers' perspective among young executives. They help communication between university student sitters and parents." CEO Moon directly served as a play sitter and felt the temperature of the field. She fully understood the difficulties university student sitters face. How would a university student barely in their 20s understand children's language and behavior? To solve this problem, CEO Moon created play guides and content with a professional childcare teacher. Three months ago, she also hired personnel for play content. ◇ Play content is Noldahm's strength... 'This year, expanding services across Seoul, Gyeonggi, Incheon, and Busan' Noldahm's differentiation lies in 'the attitude toward children,' according to CEO Moon. She also emphasizes how to treat children to university student sitters. Most adults recognize children as beings who need to be taught. However, children should be understood as already complete, potentially-rich beings. They should be supported and allowed to find their own answers. The play content created by Noldahm is based on this principle. It helps university student sitters and children learn collaboration, competition, and expressiveness while playing together. This is why it differs from simple childcare services. Play is Noldahm's weapon. "University student sitters who actually participated in Noldahm say it's harder than expected. Usually people think of TV programs like 'Superman is Back,' but playing with children is very difficult work. Of course, sitters suited for it enjoy working at desired times, earning good hourly wages, and playing with children. At first, parents worried about whether their child could become close with a university student. When university student sitters trained in Noldahm education play well with the child, parents are delighted. Since they are university student sitters, parents are sorry that schedules are somewhat flexible." CEO Moon defines Noldahm as both a social venture and a young organization. She started the startup because she wanted to find connections between social problems and job opportunities for young people. CEO Moon said she wants to balance business and values. She added that solving working mom problems while operating the business well is necessary to create a healthy and young organization. "Some might dismiss this as something said by those who don't know well, but I believe most childcare services are tailored to mothers. Childcare is arranged around mothers' work hours..."