Meet Alka, Chief Product Officer

Sometimes, the best ideas aren’t born in boardrooms. They’re born during the quiet, overwhelming moments of parenthood.

I’m Alka, an IT professional, a mother, and the Chief Product Officer of KENZU.

In 2022, our daughter, Rishita, changed our lives forever.

Like many modern families, both my husband and I worked in the IT industry. Our jobs often required us to travel to client locations, and with no family nearby to help, balancing work and parenting became one of the biggest challenges we had ever faced.

I wanted to give Rishita the very best start in life, but I constantly found myself asking the same questions:

What should she play with? Is this toy right for her age? Is she learning anything from it?

Like many parents, I turned to online marketplaces and bought highly rated, trending toys. At first, she would be excited. But within a few days—or sometimes even minutes—the excitement disappeared.

Some toys were too simple, so she lost interest quickly. Others were too difficult, leaving her frustrated. Many flashy electronic toys entertained her briefly but didn’t keep her engaged in meaningful play.

More importantly, I realized something else.

The toy wasn’t the problem.

The problem was that I didn’t know what my child truly needed at her stage of development.

That realization changed everything.

I stopped searching for “the best toys” and started studying child development. I immersed myself in age-wise developmental milestones, open-ended play, independent play, sensory learning, and research-backed, age-appropriate activities.

The more I learned, the more I understood that children don’t need hundreds of toys.

They need the right experiences at the right time.

As a working parent, I also realized another challenge: even after knowing what was best, finding the right materials, planning activities, and staying consistent required hours of research every week—something many parents simply don’t have.

That’s why we created KENZU.

KENZU isn’t just a box of toys.

It’s a thoughtfully designed play system that removes the guesswork from parenting. Every kit is curated around your child’s developmental stage, helping parents spend less time researching and more time creating meaningful moments with their children.

Today, every KENZU kit reflects the lessons I learned as a mother who once felt overwhelmed, uncertain, and determined to do the right thing.

If KENZU can make even one parent’s journey a little easier—and one child’s play a little more meaningful—then our mission is already worthwhile.

– Alka