This week my guest on the podcast is Stephanie Mensah, the founder of Bibinee Dolls. Bibinee Dolls are a range of early years soft diversity dolls, which help to encourage learning through play and positive representation.

Stephanie’s business launched at the beginning of this year, and she has already achieved great things, getting stocked at Very and Littlewoods. Stephanie explains how her children’s own experience at nursery inspired her to create this range, how she went about manufacturing the dolls and ensuring that they met safety standards. 

Stephanie explains how customer feedback has informed the development of her range of products which now also includes clothing and accessories. Most of all Stephanie is just a really inspiring person to listen to  - she shares what drives her, what inspires her and how she has navigated setbacks. It really is an episode packed full of positivity and inspiration. 

Listen in to hear Stephanie share:

• An introduction to herself and her business (01:25)
• Her range of dolls and what they look like (02:49)
• How her children’s experience at nursery inspired her to create the dolls (06:40)
• Making sure the dolls were usable and durable for very young children (11:38)
• Finding a manufacturer to work with (13:57)
• How her mum inspired her with her own business (16:08)
• Overcoming setbacks and what keeps her going (17:36)
• Finding stockists (20:09)
• Her experience at Trade Shows, The Baby Show (23:51)
• Customers reaction and learning that there is a wider market for the dolls (25:15)
• Challenging gender stereotypes and responding to customer requests (27:02)
• The process of getting safety certifications for toys (32:50)
• Their sustainability policy and what this involves (36:26)
• Her number one piece of advice for product creators (40:14)

USEFUL RESOURCES:

Bibinee Dolls Website

Bibinee Dolls Twitter

Bibinee Dolls Facebook

Bibinee Dolls Instagram

Toy World

The Baby Show

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Mentioned in this episode:

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Welcome to the Bring Your Product Idea to Life podcast.

2

This is the podcast for you if

you're getting started selling

3

products, or if you'd like to

create your own product to sell.

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I'm Vicki Weinberg, a product

creation coach and Amazon expert.

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Every week I share friendly, practical

advice, as well as inspirational

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stories from small businesses.

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Let's get started.

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So today on the podcast, I'm speaking

to Stephanie from Bibinee Dolls.

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So Stephanie creates early years

soft diversity dolls, which help

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to encourage learning through

play and positive representation.

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I came across Stephanie online, loved her

products and invited her onto the podcast.

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I was so glad she joined me.

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We just had a fantastic conversation.

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Um, I was actually really surprised

because before speaking to Stephanie, I

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didn't realize how new her business was.

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And when she talks to you about

how much she's done, um, in the

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last few months, I think you're

going to be as amazed as I was.

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So it was a really, as I say, it

was a really great conversation.

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Stephanie has such a clear vision.

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She's so passionate.

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She talks a lot about the inspiration for

her dolls, the process of creating them.

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And I think there is so much

that we all can learn from this.

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So I would love now to

introduce you to Stephanie.

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So hi, Stephanie.

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Thank you so much for being here.

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Stephanie Mensah: Hi, Vicki.

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Vicki Weinberg: Can you start by

giving introduction to yourself, your

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business, and what you sell, please?

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Stephanie Mensah: Yeah, of course.

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So my name is Stephanie, uh, Mensah.

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Um, I'm 44, mum of two.

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Um, I currently reside in London, so

I'm in South London at the moment.

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My background is in project management,

so IT, procurement, um, management,

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um, nothing related to what I

do, but, uh, that's, uh, that's

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what I kind of do at the moment.

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Um, in terms of my business, I

currently, um, make early years,

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diversity, soft plush dolls.

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Um, the reason why I started

the business, um, is three years

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ago, I had my, my two children.

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Um, And the nursery that both of

my children go to, um, doesn't

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have much diversity within the

nursery when it comes to their toys.

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And I thought it was very important that

this be something that they have exposure

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to, especially since myself was growing

up, um, in the seventies and eighties,

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there wasn't anything like that out there.

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Um, and I really wanted my

children to have the opportunity

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to have that representation.

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Um, so that's, that's really

the background as to why I

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kickstarted the business.

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Vicki Weinberg: That's amazing.

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Thank you.

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Thank you so much for sharing.

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So if anyone who hasn't yet looked

to your website, which of course

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we'll link in the show notes,

everyone can go and have a look.

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But if anyone who hasn't looked or maybe

driving can't look right now, can you

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just, um, tell us a bit about your dolls,

some of the dolls in your range, what

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they look like, just describe them for us.

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Stephanie Mensah: Yeah, cool.

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So, um, we have a few series

in terms of the dolls.

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So we launched with the Mabel doll,

uh, Mabel doll series, and that

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consists of four dolls, um, who all

have, uh, four different outfits.

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Um, the story behind Mabel is actually

they're named after my late mum.

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Um, so originally I'm

from Ghana in West Africa.

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Um, and I thought it was really

important to have dolls that represent

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a cultural influence as well.

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So two of the dolls wear, um, one, um, one

fabric, which is called kente, which is

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normally worn by, um, royalty in Ghana.

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So it very much linked into or synced

into the whole of the idea of being a

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princess, kind of like a Ghanian princess.

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Uh, and the other fabric is Ankara, which

is commonly worn in West Africa as well.

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Um, and then growing up, I've

always been into fairy tales.

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So I've always loved unicorns.

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I thought, well, why don't

we do a unicorn doll as well?

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Um, and then we also have, um,

another doll, which, uh, wears hearts.

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So that's the Mabel doll series.

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Um, and then obviously having my son, um,

I realized that there wasn't much, um,

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black or brown, uh, boy dolls, especially

within the soft doll marketplace.

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Um, and so I created two, um, boy

dolls, one which is called Rhys

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and the other one which is called

Kojo, which is named after my son.

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Um, and, um, uh, Rhys is, uh, has

a dinosaur, um, top because my son

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is just besotted with dinosaurs.

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We watch that all day.

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Um, And then Kojo is wearing a

tracksuit, which says Little King.

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Um, growing up his dad really,

um, tries to put a lot of positive

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affirmations in him to let him know

that, you know, when he grows up, he

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can become anything that he wants to be.

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So it was important for us to

reflect that within the dolls.

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One of the tops says little

King on his tracksuit as well.

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Um, and then speaking to, um our friends

and family and just going out and

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really doing a lot of market research.

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We also introduced, um, Amira,

who is, um, Islamic doll.

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So she's wearing a hijab.

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Um, and it was really based upon the fact

that within the black community, obviously

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there's a um, Muslim, uh, is a large,

uh, religion within the Black community.

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There wasn't any dolls that reflected

that, um, and so we thought it'd

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be great for us to introduce that

into the collection, um, as well.

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Um, and then we, we actually launched a

doll in, um, February at the Baby Show

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and a large part of our audience had

really said that, um, had come from a

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multicultural background, so a mixed

heritage background, and they had also

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felt that there weren't any dolls that

reflected mixed heritage, um, children.

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So it would either be Caucasian or, um,

from an Afro Caribbean, um, background.

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So we created Zara.

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Um, so Zara and Reece are

our two mixed heritage dolls.

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So that's the collection so far.

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Um, and then we're hoping to release

Sky who will be our neutral doll.

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So for either a boy or a girl.

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That's amazing.

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Thank you so much for talking us

through that because I've obviously

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been on your website and seen your

dolls and they're beautiful by the way.

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Vicki Weinberg: Thank you.

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And so it's, yeah, I think, I thought it

was really important for you to explain

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to people so they can just understand

the range of dolls that you have.

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Um, and thank you for explaining

how that's grown as well.

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Um, we're going to go back

a little bit if that's okay.

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So Stephanie, you mentioned that you had

your, was it your daughter you had first?

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Stephanie Mensah: My son.

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Vicki Weinberg: Your son first.

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And then was that, was that this

inspiration for thinking that

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you wanted to create your dolls?

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Stephanie Mensah: Yeah.

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So we, we actually, so, um, we

had to change nurseries, um,

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uh, about six, seven months ago.

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Um, and we were really restricted in terms

of what nursery we could put him into

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because his old nursery had closed down.

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Um, all of, uh, you know, quite suddenly.

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Um, and we had done the

settling in day with him.

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And in that particular nursery

that we had, uh, got into, there

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was only one, um, one other, uh,

black child within the nursery.

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Um, and immediately all the children

there were like, oh, is that your brother?

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That's your brother.

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And it was really, really innocent

because to them, they had seen another

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boy with a similar skin tone to the

boy who's currently within the nursery.

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Um, and then when we had a quick look

around, we realized that actually there

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wasn't much diversity within the nursery.

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So immediately, that's the reason why the

children had associated my son with the

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other little boy that was in the nursery.

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And so we did some research into it.

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Um, and we we said, you know,

for us, it was really important

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that children from early years.

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So there's a lot of dolls on the

market at the moment, plastic dolls,

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but they really start from an age

group from, I would say maybe five or

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six years upwards, but it was nothing

that really targeted early years.

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So from birth, um, and looking into it,

we noticed that children really start

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to grasp, um, identification of, you

know, where their eyes are, nose are,

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the colour of their skin, their hair,

really from the age of one years old.

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Um, and this is what we wanted to do,

to introduce it to families and to also

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introduce it into child care facilities.

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And that's really where

the idea, uh, was born.

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So it was from that little comment

that, that child had made in the

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nursery that made us just realize that

actually this is a common problem.

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And then when we spoke with quite a few

mums and my friends, um, who may have

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moved to slightly more, um, remote areas.

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We were coming up with the same

thing, that there isn't really

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much representation there.

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Um, and also that the children who

were not, um, of Black heritage

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actually welcomed having dolls

of a different colour as well.

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Um, and so that was really,

um, great to find out as well.

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Vicki Weinberg: Thank you

for explaining all that.

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And I think until I had my own children,

I actually didn't notice how early

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children pick up on these things.

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I just assumed that

little children didn't.

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And it wasn't until I had my

own that I went, oh, actually

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kids pay real attention.

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And they notice what people look

like and they notice who looks like

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them and who looks different to them

and all of these things they do.

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And I really assumed that

little kids wouldn't and didn't.

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Stephanie Mensah: Yeah, I mean, there's

a common analogy that says, you know,

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children are blind to colour and, um,

I think that the correction that people

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want to say is, children don't see race.

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So there's no such thing as

racism when you're a child.

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There's differences,

but there's not racism.

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Um, and in fact, I mean, my

son, his best friend is, um, uh,

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white and he has ginger hair.

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So that's, you know, and that's

his closest best friend of all.

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Um, but it's important for us to be able

to teach our children the differences.

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So, and it's not just skin colour.

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I mean, it just so happens, obviously

we've created dolls that represent the

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black and brown community, but there's

lots of other diversity issues out there.

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There's, um, children with disabilities,

there's, um, different skin, um, skin

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disorders that children may have.

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Um, you know, there's so many other

variances and it's important for us

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to teach children that to be different

um, is, you know, is, is fine, um, and

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to educate them on that so that they

don't grow up not having that empathy

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for people who are different to them.

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And I think that's for us one

of the key messages that we

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want to really send out there.

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Vicki Weinberg: Absolutely.

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And then I think there's also probably the

side of that it's really nice for a child

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to have a doll that they feel represents

them as well from a really young age.

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Because as you say, I've seen lots of.

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So, um, there's definitely more

diversity in the plastic kind of

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dolls aimed at older children.

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Stephanie Mensah: Yes.

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Vicki Weinberg: But yeah, I think

until I came across your brand,

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I don't think I've seen a brand

for newborns that, that does that.

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Stephanie Mensah: Yeah, that not a lot of

people, if anything, I don't want to put

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myself on a record, but we've done some

market research and it's very limited.

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There are soft black and brown dolls

out there, but again, you know, they're

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very kind of, um, more for presentation.

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So to look really nice in the nursery,

whereas when we created our dolls,

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we wanted them to be really durable

because, you know, if kids are like

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my daughter, for example, they're

going to be tugged, dribbled on.

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Um, they're going to go through it.

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And it was really important that when

we create the dolls that we could

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you know, we made sure that they

weren't really there for presentation

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purposes and that a typical one year

old would be able to use the doll.

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Um, and also we made it

machine washable as well.

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Um, because, you know, my daughter,

she'll get Weetabix on her soft

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dolls, you know, like literally

I'm washing every single day.

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So it was important for us to make

sure that we could machine wash it.

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And it was a good enough size as well,

um, so that it could also just be used

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as not just a doll, but a comforter.

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Um, so I don't know about you,

but in terms of my daughter.

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So, she slept with us for a long time.

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Um, we still have instances

where she comes to sleep in our

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bed and she's 14 months old.

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And so transitioning her from the big bed

to her own bed was an ongoing process.

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And so what we did was we introduced

one of the dolls to her so that it

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became more of a comfort so that

now when we put her into her cot,

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she's sleeping with one of the dolls.

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And, you know, when she wakes up all of a

sudden, she doesn't feel that she's alone.

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There's a doll next to her to give her

that comfort and soothe her back to sleep.

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So yeah, it was overall,

um, uh, a process there.

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But yeah, you're absolutely right.

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There isn't a lot on the market at all.

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And that's one of the reasons why we

really want to drive awareness and and

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get it into the big stores as well.

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Vicki Weinberg: Yeah.

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And we'll talk a bit that a bit more

about that later if that's okay.

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So you've spoken a lot about what your

dolls, and I can tell so much thought and

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care has gone into the design of them.

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Um, can you talk a little

bit more about that, please?

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Because I think it's amazing

you had such a clear vision.

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You knew what you wanted your dolls

to be and how, and all of this, but

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how did you go from having that vision

and those ideas to actually having

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your, your physical product there?

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Because that's quite a process.

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And you've done it

reasonably quickly as well.

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Stephanie Mensah: Yeah, we did, we did.

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Um, a lot of research.

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So as you said, you know,

we knew what we wanted.

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Um, I knew, or I guess I could

say I knew what I didn't want.

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So I'd seen what was on the

market and I didn't want that.

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So I wanted to make sure that

I had the complete opposite.

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So we, we went on the rampage.

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We looked at various, um, distributors.

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So I already had a design in my head.

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Um, I reached out to a couple of,

um, illustrators, um, who created the

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designs based upon the ideas that I had.

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Um, and then from then I

went into various platforms.

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So I actually reached out to companies

who already produced soft plush dolls,

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and I ordered a few in, and then I sampled

it myself to see the quality of them.

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I washed them several times, just to

make sure, and then based upon that, I

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then reached out to them and said, look,

I would like to customize my own doll.

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Is this something that you can do?

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Or is this something you'd be,

um, willing to work with us on?

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And a few of them said no, you

know, we only do our own brand

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dolls, we don't customise.

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Um, and then I was lucky enough

to get two that said that they do.

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Um, and so we then, um, did the

designs but the two, one still

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wasn't quite working out right,

and then the second one was just

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perfect, and so we went with them.

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Um, so it was a bit of, it was a

bit of a process, um, and obviously

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when you're creating a doll, it's

proofing it, sending samples, making

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sure that we're happy with it.

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Um, and we went back and forth

a few, a few times until we got

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it to where we wanted it to be.

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Vicki Weinberg: That's brilliant.

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And yeah, I'm, I feel like you definitely

sound like a sort of person who just

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decides to do something and goes for it.

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I mean, there's a lot to be said for that.

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Stephanie Mensah: Yeah, well,

I should say it's not my first

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business, um, that I've done.

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Um, I actually come from a family of,

um, I wouldn't call it small businesses.

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So my mum has, you know, ran several small

businesses in the past when I was young,

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I'd walk with her door to door to houses.

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She would do, um, you know, somebody

would buy items from her and then

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they would lease it from her.

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So I kind of got the sales angle from her.

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Um, and she'd always said to me,

you know, if you, if it's something

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that you're believing that you're

passionate about, go for it.

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Um, if it fails, just try

again or just change the model.

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Um, but don't give up, you know,

if you've got the idea, see it

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through as far as you can do.

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Um, and then, you know, you're

going to come across challenges.

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Um, and that's what sometimes the

challenges are, is what allows

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you to know whether you have

an actual good business idea.

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Um, if it's going too well, sometimes

that's a bit of a sign, but um, you

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know, you need to have those obstacles.

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You need to have other people and

companies challenging your idea

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for you to know whether you've

made the right decision or not.

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Vicki Weinberg: And have you had

many challenges out of interest?

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Stephanie Mensah: Yeah, so

I've, I've had knockbacks.

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So certain platforms that I thought,

you know, would jump at the chance

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of, um, this particular product

have said, no, it's not for them.

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They don't feel they have the

marketplace or the audience for it.

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Um, and I guess you have that inner,

you know, that, that, that inner self

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that says, okay, well, I'm going to

show you, you know, look at me in,

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you know, two, three years time.

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Um, but then at the same time, it's also

understanding that your business or your

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product isn't going to be for everybody.

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Um, it may only be for selected

stores or selected audience.

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Um, and that's okay.

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You don't have to create

something that appeases everybody

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or that everybody wants.

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But you need to create something

that a big enough audience will want.

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So, obviously, you can make

some profit and income from it.

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And I think it was just realizing that,

um, because, you know, when I had my first

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few knockbacks, I took it personally,

quite personally, um, and I thought, you

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know, have I made the right decision here?

310

Should I have changed this?

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Maybe should I have done, um, dolls

that reflect all races instead of

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just doing black and brown dolls.

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So you really start to question

your idea and your motive.

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Um, and then it's just kind of

sitting back and reflecting on why

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you did it, um, what you're trying

to achieve, what your goal is, and

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then really stay in the course.

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Vicki Weinberg: And I think you're

right as well, that your products or

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nobody's products will be for everyone.

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Um, and it's, but I think that's

sometimes a hard thing to realize, even

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though I think most of us know that.

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But I think your first real

reminder of that can be a bit of

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a, feel like a bit of a setback.

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Stephanie Mensah: Yeah, yeah, definitely.

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And, you know, I mean,

we do pop ups as well.

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Um, so we've recently started doing

like little pop ups, market stalls.

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And again, you're not going to get,

it's not going to be for everyone, but

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then when you do, like, I could do a

pop up, maybe it might be quiet for the

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first few hours, and then I'll get this

little girl running up to the stall,

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and she's like, mummy, daddy, look

this doll, I really, really want it.

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And then just that look

alone, just reinforces, I know

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I'm doing the right thing.

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And then it just pushes you

to continue what you're doing.

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Because I know I made her day.

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So I know she walked away that

day, not expecting to see our

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doll, saw it, fell in love with

it, and now that's her best friend.

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And...

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For me, that's an achievement.

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Vicki Weinberg: That's lovely.

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And let's talk a little bit about

stockists if that's okay, Stephanie.

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So is finding places to stock your

dolls, was that always part of your plan?

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Stephanie Mensah: Yes.

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So when I created this, um, I always

knew that I wanted to do B2B sales.

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Um, so business to business.

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Um.

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Again, I do want to obviously maintain

the business to consumer side.

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Obviously that's where

the passion comes into it.

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Um, but the, my business plan was

always in order for me to create that

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awareness and to reach a wide marketplace.

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Um, I felt that the products would

be suited to, uh, businesses and it

350

could be either a boutique business or

it could be more mainstream business,

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um, to allow them to have the dolls

within their facility so that it

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could reach their audience as well.

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Um, so that was always on my, uh, agenda.

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Vicki Weinberg: And how have you

gone about finding stockists?

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Stephanie Mensah: Um, good old internet.

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Um, back in the day it was yellow

pages, but we won't go there.

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Um, but yeah, the good,

the good old internet.

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Um, and, uh, Instagram

has been a great, um, aid.

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Uh, pint, uh, pinterest.

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I never think I'm saying it right.

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Um, and it was just looking at each, um,

stockist or retailer, looking at what's

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currently stocked within their stores

at the moment and just seeing would my

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dolls be a good fit for their store?

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Um, will it create the, uh, attention

or the awareness that we're looking for?

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Um, so yeah, so that, that's literally

part of our daily activities as we'll

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look at um, toy, uh, toy magazines.

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So we look at Toy World quite a lot.

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We'll go into the internet,

we'll do research, um, and

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then we'll look for stockists.

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And then we'll approach them

directly either via Instagram, um,

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or we'll reach out to them via email

or even just a simple phone call.

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Um, I think sometimes we forget the

basic, so, uh, networking and, you

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know, creating that relationship and

just picking up the phone and calling

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somebody and having a conversation, it's

just as powerful as using social media.

375

Um, so yeah, that's,

that's really what we do.

376

Vicki Weinberg: And you're right.

377

It is really nice because so

for, I know even with our friends

378

and family, sometimes it's so

easy not to pick up the phone.

379

So I can see that that

probably would go down well.

380

Stephanie Mensah: Yes.

381

Yes.

382

And I think sometimes they're taken aback

because they think, oh, they called me.

383

But I think what I had to remember

is a lot of the, so my stockists

384

are a mixture of old and new.

385

So some of them, you know, they've been

running these, uh, either gift stores

386

or toy shops for many, many years.

387

So they've seen, they've

gone through the whole cycle.

388

And so they're very used

to how things used to work.

389

And I think they appreciate, you know,

that one to one, um, um, connection as

390

opposed to, um, you know, an email or

Instagram, because sometimes, I mean,

391

I met somebody on Saturday, on Saturday

and, um, he said to me, I'm going

392

to, he said, I'm going to Insta you.

393

I said, what does Insta mean really?

394

Because I don't know, this

is something new to me.

395

Um, but you know, he said, you

know, he'd had to adapt to how

396

things are going at the moment, but

he very rarely checks his emails.

397

He doesn't do it.

398

He just doesn't know how to do it, but he

will check his text messages, for example.

399

So I think it's just understanding,

um, your stock issue audience and

400

the right method of communication

that will best suit them.

401

Vicki Weinberg: Yeah,

that makes a lot of sense.

402

And you mentioned earlier on that you

were at the Baby Show earlier this year

403

when you launched your latest doll.

404

So how, how did that go?

405

Stephanie Mensah: Yeah, so

that was actually the launch.

406

So we launched in February this year.

407

Um, when I tell people, they're like,

well, yeah, we, uh, so we, or I should

408

say we did a soft launch in December.

409

To see if the business model really works.

410

So we did a soft launch in December,

and that's when we thought, yeah, this

411

is really, really going to do well.

412

And then we did the official launch.

413

We registered the business, did

official launch in February,

414

and the baby show was in March.

415

Um, and it was, it was scary to go

into a big environment like that,

416

because I think for us, it was a true

test of whether do we have something

417

that will relate to a varied audience.

418

Um, and I'm not sure if many of your,

um, your, uh, members know, but obviously

419

the Baby Show is, uh, an annual event.

420

So there's four that

happens throughout the year.

421

We chose to go to the one in Excel.

422

Um, which happened in March, and

it's a three day event, and it's

423

really targeted towards, um, new

parents, um, or existing parents.

424

So, you come, you can get to look at

some of the products that you normally

425

see online, you can get to test it, um,

and then you can meet companies like

426

us, who are brand new into the industry.

427

Um, but we got a really good reaction,

um, and that's what made us realize

428

that actually, although our dolls

are black and, uh, black and brown

429

dolls, it's not just for the black and

brown community, it's for everybody.

430

Um, we had a lot of parents who were

not from the, uh, Black Heritage who

431

came up and said, I want my child to be

able to know that there are differences.

432

Um, and at the moment, my child only

has dolls with blonde hair, blue eyes.

433

Um, and we want them to know that there

is a, uh, you know, there's a variety.

434

And in fact, their best friend

is, is, um, a black girl or their

435

best friend is an Asian girl.

436

And, you know, so for them, it was really,

really great and refreshing to see.

437

Um, and then for the parents who are

from a black and brown community, it was

438

like, oh my God, where have you been?

439

Um, I've been looking for

something like this for so long.

440

I really want my daughter or my son to see

himself or herself in a positive light.

441

Um, and I, and this is

just, you know, everything.

442

And so that really cemented the idea

and then from then we've just been

443

going from strength to strength.

444

Vicki Weinberg: That's amazing.

445

And I also, I didn't pick up on

this earlier, but I was actually

446

thinking that even having boy dolls,

I think, is, is another difference.

447

Because I remember my son being

two and wanting a baby doll

448

and wanting a boy baby doll.

449

And I was really surprised that.

450

And this was like a hard, but baby,

but I was actually surprised at how

451

little choice there were of male

baby dolls at the time as well.

452

That really surprised me.

453

I, I assumed that dolls

were of both genders.

454

Stephanie Mensah: Yeah.

455

No, I mean, it's funny that you should say

that because when we, we launched it at

456

the baby show and I think the issue you

have is, um, there's a lot of stereotypes.

457

So, you know, as soon as somebody is

having a boy, or they find out their

458

gender is going to be a boy, immediately

they're either linked to playing with

459

dinosaurs, trucks, you know, everything

is already kind of paved out for them.

460

And we had a lot of really

interesting conversations with

461

not mums, funny enough, but dads.

462

So a lot of dads were very hesitant

to have their child playing with a

463

doll, because they saw it as a doll.

464

Um, and we, you know, we spent a lot of

time, and that's why I think sometimes

465

these shows are really great, because

when you're, if, if they were online

466

they would never have this interaction,

um, but face to face you're able to

467

really break it down to them why it's

important that whether it's a boy or a

468

girl that they have the, they have access

to be able to, um, have imaginative

469

play with a doll that represents them

you know, that, that looks like them.

470

That is also a boy.

471

Um, but yeah, that there's,

there's a lot of stereotypes.

472

A lot of the dads were very against,

no, I only want my son to be playing

473

with a car and I don't want my son.

474

And you know, the mums were like, no, and

some dads gave in and some dads were very

475

headstrong and, you know, we're like,

no, it's, it's, it's not going to happen.

476

And I think because of that, that

has influenced manufacturers.

477

Um, and toy makers out there as well,

because they immediately, you say

478

a doll and it's linked to a girl.

479

Um, and so for commercial reasons,

the industry has focused more of

480

its time producing girl dolls.

481

Um, as opposed to boy dolls.

482

Um, because it just doesn't want to

go through that whole convincing, I

483

guess, if you want to put it that way.

484

Um, but we, when we released our

girl dolls, our mums were upset.

485

They said, you know, but where's the boys?

486

I want one for my son and, and that's

what really pushed us to, um, we weren't

487

going to release a boy until probably

towards the end of the year, um, you

488

know, for financial reasons, because

we were, you know, we had a lot, a lot

489

of stock, um, and, you know, we did our

focus groups and they said, no, we want

490

our boys, um, and they are doing so well.

491

Vicki Weinberg: That's

really good to hear.

492

And I do wonder whether, and I guess

that possibly things will start to

493

shift over the next couple of years.

494

Stephanie Mensah: Yeah, 100%.

495

And that's, that's the reason why we

actually created Sky as well, because

496

Sky is our gender neutral doll.

497

Uh, and we found that actually when

we was at the baby show, um, you

498

know, some of the dolls that we had

there were very much girly fied.

499

So, you know, they were wearing

pink or purple, which, you know,

500

typical kind of girly colours.

501

And parents were coming back

and saying, I'm actually tired

502

of seeing pink and purple.

503

I want to see a different colour.

504

I want to see a neutral colour.

505

And so we decided to come up with

Sky, which was gender neutral.

506

So it didn't matter whether

it was a boy or a girl.

507

It was just a baby doll and

they could play with it.

508

Um, and I think that...

509

that really intrigued parents as well

and they were really happy about that.

510

Um, and you know, that's, we

haven't released it yet, but we've

511

got it on pre order and that's

received a lot of interest as well.

512

Vicki Weinberg: That's

really good to hear.

513

And so are these shows out of

interest, purely out of interest

514

for anyone listening, considering

doing, doing something similar.

515

Are they also good ways to find stockists?

516

Do you get buyers and

people like that attending?

517

Stephanie Mensah: Yeah, you get a few.

518

So usually on day one, so Fridays are

usually, so it's usually Friday, Saturday,

519

Sunday, um, for the big trade shows.

520

Um, so Fridays are usually meant

for, um, your influencers, social

521

media influencers, your stockists, so

it's typically more of a quiet day.

522

So you get to have really

good conversations.

523

Um, I think it's also great because

you get to meet other baby brands,

524

um, or other brands within your

marketplace, um, that you could

525

potentially collaborate with.

526

And I think that's something that

people also forget as well, but

527

I mean, we, we recently did a

collaboration with the food, um, a

528

baby food brand called For Aisha.

529

Um, and it went really,

really, really well.

530

Um, you know, we are marketing

to the same audience.

531

We just have two different products.

532

So it was, you know, why don't we

just come together, do a campaign,

533

do a giveaway, um, and then get,

um, uh, followers from both of our

534

audiences following each other and

then gain more followers that way.

535

Um, and so yeah, if you do decide

to go to any of these events,

536

I mean, do your research first.

537

I would always say attend

one as just a normal person.

538

So I had attended the baby show when I

was pregnant with my, uh, with my son.

539

Um, so I knew what it was about.

540

Um, I knew what to expect.

541

Um, and so if I hadn't have

done that, I'm not too sure if I

542

would have gone forward with it.

543

Um, so I'd say, well, let's do

your research first as well before,

544

because they can be quite expensive.

545

So, uh, you want to make sure

that, you know, it's going to

546

have the right audience for you.

547

Um, and it also allows you to decide what

products you're going to take to the show.

548

And, um, you know how your

marketing is going to be as well.

549

Vicki Weinberg: That's

really great advice.

550

Thank you.

551

I have another question specifically

about toys, if that's okay.

552

Because obviously toys, particularly

if they've been given to newborns,

553

have to meet certain, I don't know how

to say it, requirements, legislation.

554

They need to be certified

basically, don't they?

555

Stephanie Mensah: Yes.

556

Vicki Weinberg: Um, how.

557

How do you go about that process?

558

And is that, is it like really hard?

559

Um, I'm asking because I feel

like it's, it's something that

560

can sometimes intimidate people.

561

Stephanie, you don't seem like someone

who does get intimidated, which is great,

562

but, um, it would be great to have a, just

hear a little bit about how you went about

563

that and what your experience was because

I think there might be people listening

564

who would really find that reassuring.

565

Stephanie Mensah: So, again,

it's, it's a lot, it's, it's, it's

566

research, so it's looking at other

toys which are in the market.

567

So, we, we actually went on to Amazon

first, so we know that to trade

568

on Amazon, you really have to have

everything in order, um, because, or

569

even to trade in a big retailer, um,

because they're putting themselves

570

at risk of trading your product.

571

So, they need to make sure that

it's passed all the relative checks.

572

So we looked at, um, we weren't ready

for Amazon when we first launched.

573

We're on Amazon now, but we looked

at what are the requirements that

574

Amazon want from, um, a manufacturer

from a, from a brand basically.

575

And it was a long list and we said,

okay, let's, let's start targeting to

576

make sure that we have all of this.

577

So once we knew what was required,

we then went to the manufacturer

578

and said, this is what's required.

579

Do you meet this?

580

Can you get this?

581

Um, and they literally

started ticking off the boxes.

582

So we learned that in order for our

product to be to trade with in within

583

Europe, they need to be CE certified.

584

They also need to be UK CA as well.

585

Um, and we also know that because of

the market, um, the audience, so the

586

age range that we are targeting, they

need to be fully, um, tested for any

587

toxins, uh, within the dolls as well.

588

So from the fabrics that are being

used, uh, that are being used.

589

Um, and so again, our manufacturers

were really great because they had

590

all these testings and they had all

the requirements and, um, they kind

591

of made our jobs a little bit easy.

592

So we didn't have to go and look, um,

get, uh, you know, an EA, EAN or SKU,

593

um, codes that was all provided for us.

594

And that was part of the cost of

them producing the dolls for us.

595

So I guess maybe we, we pay a slightly

marked up rate for our dolls because

596

it includes all of those checks.

597

Um, but if you were somebody who makes the

dolls yourself, so we design our dolls,

598

but we don't hand make them ourselves.

599

It's handmade by our manufacturers.

600

Um, you would need to, you know,

have this list and then, you know,

601

it will show you if you go into gov

uk, it actually tells you that to

602

trade, whether it's a doll or any type

of product, what you need to have.

603

Um, and then it's just

following those steps.

604

Vicki Weinberg: That's really helpful.

605

Thank you.

606

And I think you're right that if

you're working with a manufacturer,

607

presumably they should be doing all

of these things already in order to

608

manufacture uh, toys in this example,

so they should be, I mean, it would be

609

worrying if they weren't up to date.

610

So I think that's good to hear, but you're

right, if you're making your products

611

another way, then yeah, you definitely

need to be clear on what's required.

612

Stephanie Mensah: Yes, exactly.

613

Vicki Weinberg: Um, I'm going to change

subject just a tiny bit if that was

614

okay, Stephanie, because I want to talk

really quickly about sustainability,

615

because I saw on your website that you

do have a sustainability policy and

616

there are certain things you're doing.

617

I just thought it'd be nice

to talk about that a bit.

618

Stephanie Mensah: Yeah, of course.

619

Um, so for us, um, you know, part of our

research and developing the dolls is, you

620

know, we're quite big on sustainability.

621

We really wanted to make sure that

the dolls were eco friendly as well.

622

Um, and it was important that

the dolls were made in an

623

environment, um, which supported,

you know, equal rights, equal pay.

624

Um, and so these are all the

things that, you know, when we

625

were looking at manufacturers,

that we took into consideration.

626

So I guess it may have made our journey of

finding the manufacturer who's producing

627

our dolls a bit longer because we wanted

to make sure that it passed all of this,

628

but it was very important to us that it

contains those elements, uh, as well.

629

Um, in terms of how

the dolls are produced.

630

So the dolls are made using polyester,

but we use recycled polyester

631

fillings for the, for the inside.

632

And then in terms of packaging, we're

very conscious in terms of recycling.

633

So we make sure that all of

our packaging is biodegradable.

634

Um, and that was one of the reasons

why, when we created the dolls, we

635

made sure that everything was Engraved.

636

So all the features are engraved.

637

We don't use plastic, um, uh, eyes or,

um, yeah, we don't use any, anything

638

plastic on the dolls, um, because

they, they don't decompose as well.

639

Um, uh, basically.

640

Um, so we're trying our best, I mean,

moving forwards, obviously as a small

641

business, sometimes it's hard to really

utilize everything when it comes to

642

trying to be sustainable because then

your, your price range just pushes higher

643

and higher and obviously we want the

doll to be marketed at a price that is

644

affordable for most families, um, the

majority of families, um, but moving

645

forward, it's definitely something that

we want to continue to push, um, and

646

we're hoping that we may be able to

launch dolls which are fully recyclable,

647

um, and biodegradable, um, and we can

use materials that, uh, you know, a lot

648

more friendly to the environment as well.

649

Vicki Weinberg: That's amazing.

650

Thanks for explaining all of that.

651

Um, I love how clear you are on

everything that you, that you want.

652

I should also point out to everyone

that we're recording this in very, very

653

early June and you launched in February.

654

So you've come, you've done a lot.

655

Stephanie Mensah: Thank you.

656

Thank you.

657

I think, I think it's because I'm

just so passionate, you know, it's,

658

it's myself and my husband who run the

business, just so passionate about it.

659

Um, and I just think there's

such a, you know, there's a

660

gap in the market, uh, for it.

661

And, you know, I think when you're,

when you release something and your

662

audience or your customer and your

client base continuously tell you how

663

appreciative they are, it's there.

664

It just pushes you,

drives you to to continue.

665

And, uh, we, we just have so many big

plans for the brand moving forwards

666

that, yeah, for us, you know, every

time I talk about it, I have a smile

667

on my face because I'm just excited

about how the future is going to look.

668

Vicki Weinberg: Good.

669

And so you should be, I

think it is really exciting.

670

And I've got one final question,

Stephanie, if that's okay, which is

671

what was your number one piece of

advice for other product creators?

672

Stephanie Mensah: Oh, where do I start?

673

I think I mentioned

some of this earlier on.

674

So, um, use your environment around you.

675

So your friends and your family, um,

you know, when, when I first launched

676

products, I reached out to friends and

family just to get their, just on it.

677

What do you think?

678

Um, I actually sent out, um,

probably about 10 to 20 actually,

679

to friends and family for free.

680

Um, I just wanted their children

to be able to play with it.

681

Just get that feedback from them, um,

whether good or bad, just let me know.

682

Um, and I got, I got

a mixture of feedback.

683

I had people say, oh, it's too expensive.

684

Or, um, can it do this?

685

Or can you do this colour?

686

Can you do this hairstyle?

687

And, you know, some, you can, some

of the feedback you're able to take

688

on board, and obviously you can, um,

change it or reflect it in your end

689

product, and some of them, you know,

sometimes you have to park it for now.

690

I never say disregard it, um, because

that, again, feedback is feedback.

691

It may not be feedback that you want to

hear right now, um, but it's feedback.

692

So maybe all you need to do is just

park it for now and then in the

693

future, um, look into it at some point.

694

So I guess for me, anybody who's

considering launching a product, use

695

your, um, community or your family

around you, your friends and family,

696

just to get an idea of what you know,

what they think about the product.

697

Um, uh, and then I think, I don't

think you're ever going to be

698

certain about the decision that

you're, uh, uh, that you've made.

699

I don't think you're ever going to be,

uh, concrete, but I think as much as

700

you can, if you have a plan, try and

stick to the plan as much as possible.

701

Try not to deviate.

702

It's very easy to try and have your

fingers in lots of pies because you're

703

just eager to kind of, um, I mean,

somebody said to me, you know, if

704

you're going to market, choose two

main marketing mediums and focus on

705

it because there's so many social

media marketing, um, uh, avenues.

706

There's so many paper, you know.

707

I said to somebody the other day,

do you do, do you read blogs?

708

And they said, blogs?

709

What's a blog?

710

It's all about podcasts now.

711

It's like, oh, well.

712

Um, so I think.

713

Don't try and do too many things all at

once at the same time, because you'll

714

either burn yourself out, or you won't

be able to, um, fully present yourself

715

in the correct way within that medium.

716

So try and just, you know, pick

a select few, focus on that.

717

Um, and not obviously, hopefully if things

go well, you can then develop a team.

718

And then obviously, you know,

it then becomes a full blown,

719

um, business moving forward.

720

So I think that those

would be my two key things.

721

You use your audience around you, um,

and just try and remain focused and not

722

try and do too many things at a time.

723

And I guess I'll add one more.

724

Be patient.

725

Have patience.

726

Yeah, have patience.

727

It may not happen today or tomorrow.

728

I mean, we do a lot of PR.

729

We send a lot of PR press releases.

730

And for every 50 we send

out we may get one response.

731

Um, but just keep going.

732

It doesn't mean that

it's the wrong method.

733

It just means that that person

doesn't need your product right now.

734

But they may need it at some point.

735

Um, so just keep going, have

patience and keep doing it.

736

Just keep going strong.

737

Vicki Weinberg: That's such good advice.

738

All of it, everything you said, I

completely agree with Stephanie.

739

Thank you so much.

740

Stephanie Mensah: Thank you.

741

Vicki Weinberg: Thank you

for everything you've shared.

742

Stephanie Mensah: Thank you.

743

Thank you so much.

744

Vicki Weinberg: Thank you

so much for listening right

745

to the end of this episode.

746

Do remember that you can get the

full back catalogue and lots of free

747

resources on my website, vickiweinberg.

748

com.

749

Please do remember to rate and review

this episode if you've enjoyed it

750

and also share it with a friend

who you think might find it useful.

751

Thank you again and see you next week.