In upcountry Maui, there's the quiet town of Pukalani.
But, just off the main drag is a booming business.
Karin Frost has recently become the talk of the town, and in some cases, the world.
In September, her company Ergo Baby Carrier Incorporated went from a business out of her home to a $91million deal with Compass Diversified Holdings which now has an 84% stake.
"But when it got to the last couple of days before the closing, I could see it was going to happen and that's when I started giggling like holy buckets,” said Frost.
She says it all started 8 1/2 years ago after having her son, and she wanted a better baby carrier to tote him around.
So she went to her local fabric store in Kahului and hand sewed what would become an international success.
"I wore him around in paia and people would see me and say oh your baby looks so happy and that looks so comfortable, would you make me one,” said Frost.
And that's when the light bulb went on.
She sewed about 50 of her original designs and soon word spread and she landed her first order of 200.
"In the beginning we were warehousing all of the product under the house, haha, in haiku and shipping out from there and that became clear that was not working so well any longer,” said Frost.
She looked from local to global and moved her manufacturing to China, developing a whole line of baby carriers and accessories.
New moms and dads are now using the structured carrier the world over with distributors in Canada, Australia, Russia and Dubai and sales shipping out about 8,000 carriers a month.
"Never, never couldn't have ever dreamed it,” said Frost.
She says her recipe for success is stamina and good ole' fashion hard work. "So it's been a challenge to stay on top and in the forefront of the marketplace and keep innovating."
