Menmin Made

Menmin Made is a stationery and lifestyle brand best known for the Ultimate Journal Bag™, a thoughtfully designed 7-in-1 organizer created for journalers, planners, and stationery enthusiasts. Featuring built-in sticker storage, folders, a pen pouch, and space for journals and supplies, the Ultimate Journal Bag helps creators stay organized wherever inspiration strikes.

Founded by artist Paulina Hoong, Menmin Made creates products that combine functionality, creativity, and joy, helping people spend less time searching for supplies and more time creating.

What inspired you to create your brand and products?

I'm a Chinese restaurant kid — my parents immigrated to the U.S. in 1985 and opened China Restaurant in a small Minnesota town, where we were one of only two Chinese families around. I spent more time at the restaurant than I did at home, waitressing on weekends from the time I was 10. That upbringing shaped everything about me.

I started Menmin Made in 2021 as a way to explore what it means to be Chinese and to connect with my roots. "Menmin" is my Chinese name, so naming the business after it felt like coming home to myself. Art became the way I could finally explore my own heritage — and my goal has always been to make that art accessible to people of every culture and to brighten up any space.

My products grow out of that same creative life. The Ultimate Journal Bag is a perfect example: I created it because I was tired of digging through five different places just to find my supplies. I wanted an all-in-one companion — pin display, sticker storage, folders for ephemera, a spot for your pens, your tools, and your journal — that made the whole process easier and more organized. Made by a journaler, for journalers.

At the heart of it, everything I make comes from the same place: a love of creativity, a desire to stay connected to my culture, and the hope of making people's creative lives a little brighter and more joyful.