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	"Sparks Exist Inside All of Us, Should We Be Brave Enough to Acknowledge Them and Patient Enough to Let Them Bloom!"
The designer's nickname, Cherry, was incepted by her mother who had pregnant food cravings for cherries. After realizing she was too cute to live in a suit and behind a corporate desk in Manhattan, Cherry pursued her passion for design by studying at Parsons and flying to Bangkok on a Fulbright grant to study and consult on microfinanced handicraft/textile groups in Thailand. While there, she met poor village weavers who had trouble selling their handmade textiles and asked Kwunyeun to help expand their market. Though she was inspired by cultural heritage and women being economically empowered, some of the colors or finished products were not cute for the modern, globe-trotting gal. For example, gorgeous silk sarongs in indigenous orange and black colors would only work one day out of the year in the USA, Halloween. Seeing the potential beyond Halloween-chic, Kwunyeun entered into and won a handbag design competition sponsored by the Thai Ministry of Industry with the help of local artisans who wove beautiful textiles in contemporary colors. This success was the foundation for Blumpari, which was incubated while Cherry was in graduate school through the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship and Center for Social Value Creation.

"Sparks Exist Inside All of Us, Should We Be Brave Enough to Acknowledge Them and Patient Enough to Let Them Bloom!"

The designer's nickname, Cherry, was incepted by her mother who had pregnant food cravings for cherries. After realizing she was too cute to live in a suit and behind a corporate desk in Manhattan, Cherry pursued her passion for design by studying at Parsons and flying to Bangkok on a Fulbright grant to study and consult on microfinanced handicraft/textile groups in Thailand.

While there, she met poor village weavers who had trouble selling their handmade textiles and asked Kwunyeun to help expand their market. Though she was inspired by cultural heritage and women being economically empowered, some of the colors or finished products were not cute for the modern, globe-trotting gal. For example, gorgeous silk sarongs in indigenous orange and black colors would only work one day out of the year in the USA, Halloween.

Seeing the potential beyond Halloween-chic, Kwunyeun entered into and won a handbag design competition sponsored by the Thai Ministry of Industry with the help of local artisans who wove beautiful textiles in contemporary colors. This success was the foundation for Blumpari, which was incubated while Cherry was in graduate school through the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship and Center for Social Value Creation.