1. Our Family, The Thomas Ohana

We’re the Thomas Ohana—adventurers, creators, and a family rooted in the spirit of Hawaii. Little Kea was born out of our son Kea’s early days spent in Makiki, Honolulu. Surrounded by the sounds of the city—trucks, buses, and engines—his fascination with everything that moves grew, inspiring us to create products that celebrate his curiosity. Our products reflect the culture we love and the adventures we experience together as a family. Little Kea is a reflection of our family’s journey, and we’re excited to share it with you!

3. Our Character

Little Kea is modeled after our son, Kea. The above image is the actual reference photo we used to create the Little Kea logo and character, which you’ll see throughout our products. The character of “Mom” was designed in a similar way, using Kea’s mom as the inspiration. Even the imagery in our designs is based on personal photos we’ve taken.

At its core, Little Kea reflects the relationship between technology and our personal contributions. While we use AI in our process, every design is rooted in our family’s experiences and memories, creating a blend of innovation and personal connection.

If you’re interested in learning more about how we use our photos and technology to create these designs, or if you’d like to try it yourself, please email us at contactlittlekea@gmail.com. We’d love to share more

2. Our Process

At Little Kea, we believe in embracing the future, which is why we’re proud to be an AI-first company. We know this approach isn’t for everyone, and we want to be upfront about it. All of the imagery for our products is created using AI, with reference images drawn from our own life. The text in our books, however, is written by Kea’s mom, keeping a personal touch in everything we do.

We have our own reservations about AI, but the reality is, we couldn’t have brought Little Kea to life without it. Much of the creative process happened while Kea slept in one arm and we designed with the other. In fact, the entire imagery for Big Trucks was created from an iPhone while Kea was between 1.5 and 2.5 years old.

We also believe AI will play a major role in the future, and we want to understand our place as humans as the technology evolves. We want to model this awareness for Kea because he—and all children—will grow up as AI natives, in a world where AI has always existed.