The Purposit Way

Hi, this our first blog post!! My name is Johanna Kollmann – mum of 2 young boys and the founder of Purposit. I’m very excited to have a place where my husband Mario and I can write about our experiences as parents, share stories with other mums and dads and discuss ideas on how we all can give our children – and other less fortunate kids – a more fulfilling, exciting and happy life.

In our first post we would like to share how we came up with the idea of Purposit. While this is quite a long story, I attempted to summarise it below so you can get a glimpse of our journey so far:

The idea of Purposit came about…

… when I was pregnant with our first son in 2014. As first time parents-to-be, Mario and I found ourselves reminiscing about our own childhoods and the memories most precious to us and how they helped shape our personalities and values to this day. We both came to the conclusion that the most valuable memories & learnings came from experiences – travelling, being outdoors and spending time with loved ones – rather than from material things.

Sure, we also had our favourite toys and no doubt the right toys will always play a role in the development and learning process of children. However, maybe we didn’t need all the toys we had – although we probably didn’t have much compared to today’s standards. Looking around and speaking to friends with young children, we realised that many of them felt overwhelmed by the number of toys their kids have. Many of our friends admitted looking at their child’s room and wondering ‘wow, do we really need ALL this stuff?’.

The trouble was that, while some of these toys would hopefully make their way to charities and orphanages, sadly many would just be thrown away over time.

This was (and still is) a big concern for us, not only because we live in a world where materialism and consumerism are more pronounced than ever before, but also due to the harmful impact that all waste – including plastics and chemicals from toys – has on our beautiful planet (and consequently the lives of our children and grandchildren).

As the pregnancy advanced…

… we found ourselves discussing baby names and trying to make a lose plan on how we could give our child as many exciting and life-enriching opportunities and experiences as possible. We thought about big milestones and occasions like university or overseas exchange-programs, as well as art and musical lessons to foster creativity. We also thought about gifts that would be fun and useful to help explore the world, like a bicycle or a skateboard.

We quickly realised that to be able to provide for these ‘meaningful gifts’ – especially the big ones – we would have to start saving ASAP. Ideally, we’d get our family and friends to help us on the way, but how to actually do this was the big question.

After the birth of our first son we received many baby gifts. Whilst all these presents were well intended, several were duplicated or did not reflect our values. Some friends and relatives asked us what we wanted or needed because they did not know what to buy.

So we started to put together the pieces of the puzzle. Suddenly it all made sense. What if there was a way of channelling the money that was going to small and sometimes unnecessary (or even wasteful) gifts towards more meaningful gifts and life experiences whilst also making gift giving easier for friends and family?

That was the beginning of a 3-year adventure, which culminated with the launch of Purposit last month.

3 years later, we now have 2 boys… and Purposit!

Of course, my husband and I are biased to talk about Purposit. We put our careers on hold to pursue this project, which is very dear to us. With the help and feedback from friends and relatives, we designed the website and app with the intention of using it for our own children.

We believe that no one has better intentions towards children than their own parents (or caretakers). We are very much aware that, due to life circumstances, different parents have different needs and visions for their children’s future. What all of us parents have in common is our determination to make the lives of our kids as enjoyable and fulfilling as possible. Therefore, we decided that parents should be able to choose whatever gifts imaginable they see fit for their child.

It was important to us that the platform would feel personal with a clear connection between the gift contributors and every child they are connected to. It also had to be secure and private so our children are not exposed in any way. Parents (or primary caretakers) are 100% in charge of their child’s profile; managing gifts, events & photos and inviting contributors.

Finally, we wanted to create something that would make everyone involved more conscious about what they buy/give and the implications to our environment. For our children to experience those amazing life gifts that the parents selected, we have to make sure that we preserve our precious nature and environment.

And that was just the beginning…

Still new to parenthood, we find it scary but also exciting to think about how our actions and values will impact the development and character of our children. We tried to incorporate some of our values – for our kids and our planet – into the platform. Hopefully parents and friends who share some of our views and values will enjoy Purposit as a useful and friendly tool. Even for those who decide not to use it, we hope that it provides food for thought and ‘gifting with purpose’ grows beyond Purposit.

Are you still there with us? Good, that was a long post.. I promise to keep them shorter going forward! More importantly, we would love to know what topics you would like us to discuss in future posts. Also, feel free to share your own experiences with us. The more parents get involved, the better!