How does a daughter’s simple wish become a full creative enterprise?

Osayi Lasisi didn’t set out to launch a product line. She set out to find a brown plush doll for her daughter.

When that search came up empty, her daughter didn’t just get disappointed and move on. She said, let’s make them ourselves.

And that’s where everything started.

In this conversation, Osayi shares how Pocketlings was born, what it’s like to co-build a business with a 10-year-old, and the lessons that have emerged from just figuring things out as they go.

Highlights

Your idea doesn’t have to be brilliant.

Pocketlings didn’t start with a market analysis or a brand strategy.

It started with a kid who wanted something she couldn’t find.

“She couldn’t find brown plush dolls and she decided she wanted to start selling them.”

That’s it. That was the spark.

And it’s a good reminder that the ideas closest to our real lives, the ones rooted in genuine need, are often more powerful than the ones we manufacture trying to be clever.

Research is a skill.

Before anything was ordered or designed, Osayi asked her daughter to do the research: manufacturers, price points, competitors, and profit margins.

Not because she needed her daughter to do the work. But because she wanted her to build the skill.

“I asked her to research manufacturers and how much it would cost. She would find similar dolls and the pricing and then we’d discuss it.”

That’s real-world learning.

And it produced real-world results. Her daughter came back with data. They made decisions together. And the business became something they both owned.

You can’t learn everything before you start.

There’s a version of this story where they spent months researching the perfect doll size before placing any order.

They didn’t do that.

They started with the size her daughter wanted. And only after shipping real dolls to real customers did they realize a smaller size would have been easier to manage.

“There are some things that we understood better after we started.”

That sentence says it all.

Not everything can be researched in advance. Some knowledge only comes from doing the work.

Quitting can be a strategy but it must be intentional.

Osayi brought up Seth Godin’s concept of the dip:

The hardest moments are often the thing separating the people who figure it out from the ones who walk away before they get the chance.

“Quitting is always okay. My only thing is, if you’re going to quit, you want to decide to quit. Not because it’s hard. Because you’ve decided to quit.”

Decide with intention. Not with exhaustion.

Building in public means learning in public too.

One of the unexpected gifts of starting Pocketlings has been the conversations it opened up.

Other parents started asking how they could give their kids the same experience. That led Osayi and her daughter to libraries, to workshops, and to community entrepreneurship sessions for kids who want to build something of their own.

“We didn’t think we were going to be doing that when we were starting out with just dolls.”

That’s how it usually goes.

You start one thing and it opens a door to something you never planned for.

Closing Reflection

Osayi’s story isn’t just about dolls or books or tween period journals.

It’s about what happens when you take a child’s idea seriously.

When you let them research, make decisions, deal with real world problems, and experience what it means to build something from nothing.

And it started because a girl couldn’t find a doll that looked like her.

There might be people who want to steal your idea.

What I'm finding, though, is that execution for each person is different and nobody has your story.

Yes, talk to people who are trusted and trustworthy, but don't let that fear that someone might take your idea keep you from getting the solution that you actually need to move that idea forward.

Because, you know, everybody has ideas, and oftentimes we all have very similar ideas.

But in the end, it's about what the work you're willing to do to put that idea out there and to keep executing.

Welcome to the Standout Creatives, where making money and creating meaningful work go hand in hand.

You're already passionate about what you create.

Now let's turn that passion into a standout business.

Marketing your work doesn't have to be overwhelming.

It can actually amplify your creativity.

I'm your guide, Kevin Chung, and this podcast is your roadmap to creative business success.

I'll show you how to turn your unique talents into a business that truly represents who you are.

Let's get started.

Hey, and welcome to another episode of the Standout Creatives.

And today I'm on Osai Lece.

Osai, can you tell us a little bit about yourself, the work that you do, and how you got into it?

Hi.

Hello, everybody.

Thank you so much, Kevin, for having me on.

Like you mentioned, my name is Osai Lassisi.

I have been a B2B growth strategist and marketer for a little over 13 years now, almost 14 years, and it's been so much fun.

I have a lot to talk about that, but I'd say Most recently my 10 year old was looking for brown plush dolls and she couldn't find them and.

And she decided she wanted to start selling them.

And so we went through that whole process and she's like my number one client now.

And so we sell Pocket Links dolls and books, but yeah, that's.

That's me so far.

Great.

Did you have any idea that you would be creating a product and books based on that product, or was this just like something that was completely driven by your daughter?

It was completely driven by my daughter, but I have some.

Some experience with books, so it just kind of made sense.

And we work on the books together, but the whole idea behind making sure that kids feel included, making sure that kids feel awesome was really her.

So she picked the color, she picked design, she like all of those things, and it's been a lot of fun.

Yeah.

What, what kinds of stories does you.

Did your daughter like that inspired her to kind of create this sort of thing, or was it something where she wasn't finding the stories that she wanted to hear, so she decided to do something for herself.

So what's interesting is that so far, it's really been around the journey that she's going on, right?

Like, journey of life in general.

So what we started with were affirmation books.

And I thought it would be great to have affirmation books for.

For much younger audiences.

And she wanted affirmation books for, like, her age group.

So we created two books.

One is an affirmation book.

It's an ABC book, but it's like, hey, I am adored.

So kids love those books.

The parents and educators read the books to the kids, and then kids recite them.

And then we work together to create ones for older kids and with bigger words, obviously.

But she was like, we needed to be like puzzles and games and stuff like that.

And we've seen a lot of kids really like them.

They pick up the books and they're just kind of like, they start trying to solve the puzzles, and it's just been fun.

And then another product that we recently launched is a period tracking journal for tweens.

So it's like realizing a lot of young ladies, myself included, we didn't really understand what the period.

What our period was about in our menstrual cycle and stuff.

But we've been learning more and more.

And so with my daughter, she was really comfortable about the conversation, but I was seeing that a lot of her friends were not comfortable about it.

Some were really scared.

And so some of the resources we used, we love them, but it was kind of missing that piece around tracking yourself and knowing.

Knowing yourself.

So anyway, that's a long way of saying that different ideas have come about, just like the different experiences we've had so far.

We're like, why don't we create a resource to support kids or parents?

And.

And yeah, my daughter loves drawing and she expresses herself with that.

And then we come up with ideas together and we launch it and see how.

How it works out in the world.

That's.

That's so cool that you can take your interests and just do whatever you.

You can with them.

A lot of people will be frustrated by the fact that they don't know how to do something.

But I think for the most part, everything that we can do can be figured out within reason.

Like, especially in the creative realm, if you're.

You think you're limited because, oh, I don't know how to create a book, or I don't know how to create a dollar.

Um, those aren't things that necessarily need to stop you.

Yeah.

And I'd say that's one of the biggest things that I'm hoping my daughter continues to learn throughout this.

Just learning that you can figure out anything if that's something that you want to do.

Because in this day and age, yes, there are some things that you'll need a bit of a budget for, but for the most part, you can research it and find a way to get it done and make it uniquely yours and go from there.

But I think that's.

That's a skill that I've acquired over the years, just realizing that you can figure it out.

And so I'm hoping that that's also something she's learning too, because she has an idea and I'm like, okay, go research it and then we'll figure it out together.

And she's been pretty amazing at doing that.

Great.

What was the first thing that came up as part of this Pocket Links project?

And how did you kind of make it come to life?

I guess.

Yeah.

So when she came up with the idea of creating dolls, she at first wanted to sew the dolls.

And I was just like, you've never sewed anything in your life.

And I mean, I can sew a bit, but just more thread and needles.

I wasn't comfortable putting that out there.

So the first thing I wanted to do was to also test her commitment to the idea.

So I asked her to research manufacturers and, like, how much it would cost us.

And so she was doing a lot of research.

She came up with a few manufacturers as ideas and the potential.

And then I asked her to also research just like the industry, like other dolls, like, what is, what are the price points and stuff, because this is something that she was more familiar with.

And then of course, I supported her with some of it, but she, she went out there and she would find similar dolls in the pricing.

And then we discuss it, like, so do you think we can sell the dolls around this amount, knowing that this is how much it will cost us?

And.

And what do you think there?

And stuff like that.

So at first she wanted to make her doll's price a lot lower, but it was just not going to be feasible because we're just starting and we only do small batch production.

And so we also had to discuss how do we make ourselves stand out since we're not going to be the cheapest option, but what else can we do?

And so we've had quite a few conversations There where she's having to solve some problems.

Oh, I love the fact that you can turn it into so many lessons to be learned and ways to think for yourself.

Because I think school, the way that school is taught, especially in the younger ages, you're not taught to think for yourself.

You're taught to learn facts about things or you're turn taught, you know, here's like the basics, the very basics of anything, but there's no real world application to any of the stuff that you're learning.

Yeah, yeah, you're right.

Because a lot of school is just, I need you to give me the answer that I want.

But in real life, there are so many answers.

There's so many ways to get to where you want to get to get to.

So, I mean, like with the dolls, one option was for her to take sewing classes, and eventually we'd get there.

Maybe another option was to partner with someone who's already sewing or a larger manufacturing company, you know, so there were different options.

And then we got to decide together on what we will do for now.

But of course, it's not forever, so we can change our minds later.

But I just.

I really like the idea of her realizing that, yes, in math class or English class, your teacher has an answer that they want you to give them, but in real life, it's not always like that.

Like, it's not just like, this is the right answer.

And I think that's where a lot of us as grownups, we have anxiety, right?

Because when it's time to make a decision, we think, I don't know what's the right decision, and I'm too afraid to pick one.

And sometimes you just need to pick one, right.

And then keep going and you'll figure it out along the way.

Way.

Yeah.

It's.

We're always looking because I think school taught us to do this.

We're always looking for, like, the perfect solution or the.

The right one, right path to where we want to go.

But I don't think anyone can say what is going to work and not going to work.

So the fact that you were both open to experimentation and, you know, just starting where you can at that very moment, this is the best thing that we can do.

And obviously things can evolve from there.

So it's just like, how do we figure out the easiest way and the quickest way for the most part, to get things done instead of worrying about, oh, in the perfect solution, I would have, you know, a giant manufacturer shipping thousands of dollars.

But that.

That's not Like a realistic goal when you're first starting out.

Yeah, yeah.

And I really like that idea of figuring things out by starting because we could have spent a lot of time just researching and researching, but there are some things that we understood better after we started.

So, for example, the dolls are 30 centimeters.

So they're.

They're quite.

They're quite a big size, like a teddy bear size.

So that's our largest doll.

And then we have a 25 centimeter, and then we have a 20 centimeter.

Now, if I were to go back in time, I probably would have wanted us to start with a smaller, smaller size.

Like, it would be easier to ship.

But this was the size she wanted.

This is the size that, like, kids liked, you know, because they can carry them and all of that stuff.

And so that's what we started with.

But I don't think we could have easily known that until we started.

And then we're, like, dealing and navigating shipping issues.

So there's just some things that I also talk with people about this, where you want to research, you want to get all the answers, but sometimes you won't get those specific answers because life is nuanced.

And there'll be some things that you won't figure out until you're in it and then you can navigate.

As long as you realize that you can figure things out.

Yeah, there's everything.

Every new project that you go into has an infinite number of unknowns.

And our only way to figure those things out is to just start somewhere.

Because if we allow ourselves to wait for those situations or to know enough information to do anything, we're not going to do anything because we're just going to allow this idea of all this information that we need to learn stop us.

But at a certain point, you need to stop learning and start just like.

Like experimenting, doing, and just, you know, work your way.

How do I get one doll right before I do anything else?

Is there a way that a company can ship me, like, a sample of a doll or something?

Right.

And go from there?

Just start figuring things out piece by piece, instead of worrying about the whole picture and knowing everything?

Yeah.

And that's it.

Like, there are so many great ideas that I hear from people, but they haven't stopped, started.

And so there isn't much you can do to support them because they just haven't started.

And so I'm always like, what is the simplest thing you can do to start?

Because as you start, you also attract other people who can help you.

So, for example, because we had started and we were talking about things.

Someone recommended that we put the dolls on a website where you can do bulk purchasing instead, like that.

And so I never heard about that website.

And so we put it on there and we've gotten a bulk purchase order.

So that was fun.

But those kinds of things, when you're just talking about it as talking about what you're trying to do as an idea, people can't really support you because they're not sure how to.

And I think that's where we kind of miss out on some opportunities.

Yeah.

The more that we have something tangible or, you know, at least conceptually as complete as we can get without going overboard, because there's always a point of like, okay, that's too much and we're not there yet.

Yeah.

The more that you can show people that you have something to offer, the more likely they are to be able to help you.

Because if you're just talking ideas, how can somebody support you with an idea unless they're, like, extremely experienced in whatever area you're talking about.

Yeah, yeah.

And even just that, nobody's experienced in everything.

Right.

So it's also taking everything with a grain of salt because somebody might be really experienced with E Commerce or some with digital marketing and some with bulk purchases or selling to the government or whatever.

So you take everything with a grain of salt, but give them the opportunity to share whatever knowledge that they'd like to share with you and then just keep going.

And I think that's the thing.

Of course, there's always the.

There's a time when you need to let go and say, okay, maybe this is not the direction for me anymore.

And that's fine.

Quitting is always okay.

My only thing is, I've learned over the years that if you're going to.

You want to decide to quit not because it's hard, but because you've decided to quit.

And I know that sounds interesting, but because I. I find that we quit when things are hard, but we haven't actually decided that, oh, I'm going to quit, you know, on this thing, it's just because it was hard.

And sometimes right after that hard moment, that's when you get that breakthrough.

But you'll never know.

If you just say, oh, because it's hard, it means it's a sign.

It's not supposed to.

Supposed to be.

Yeah.

I'm sorry.

Yeah.

I think we just need to work through the things that we really want versus, you know, some things you will decide you don't like.

Because you have experience in them.

And that's when I think quitting makes sense.

It's when you've given the thing a chance and you didn't give up right away the first time you hit an obstacle.

Because we're going to hit obstacles in everything we do.

Right.

Nothing goes as smoothly as you want it to, so how can we work through those obstacles?

And is it a big enough of an obstacle to really prevent us from moving forward?

Yeah.

Yeah.

So good.

And I think Seth Godin's book the Dip was the first time I read that book.

It was so powerful for me because he just mentioned that the dip is where we lose a lot of people, but we need to look at the dip a little bit differently, where the dip is kind of what separates people, not necessarily the reason for you to stop doing what you want to do.

And so whenever I get to that challenging moment in the work that we're doing, even with pocket links, I have to remind myself that maybe we're in the dip.

Maybe this is a version of the dip.

And so do I still want to keep going?

Am I still enjoying this?

And then I'll keep going, but if I'm kind of like, nah, I gave it five years.

I said I was going to give it five years, and I'm quite done, then that's fine.

You move on, and that's okay.

Quitting is also a great strategic plan.

If you use it as a strategic plan.

Yeah.

And not just because it gets hard.

Because everything, I think, gets hard unless you're extremely lucky.

And even then, I think people who have a lot of success at points feel it's really difficult because you are always aspiring for.

For something more, something bigger.

Even if it doesn't make sense for you, well, we'll keep on striving for more.

So you got to figure out what it is exactly that you want.

And, like, instead of, like, a goal, what is the end result of all the work that you're trying to do?

Is it you want to have freedom of, you know, finances, or you want to spread a message?

Because every goal is different and requires different amounts of, you know, sticking to it, right?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

And a mentor once told me this, that sometimes we're so quick to pivot that we don't give people enough time to even catch up with us and our ideas and learn to trust us in this thing that we're doing, because we've been marinating over it.

It's our business.

24 7.

We're thinking about it 24 7.

But everybody else has their own problems, their own concern, their own things that they're working on.

So just because you've put it out there and you've done that for a couple of years or months, you might think, ah, nobody cares.

But you just might need to give people a little bit more time to kind of catch up to the idea, because they're not as obsessed with your idea or with your product as you are.

Yeah, I think that's true.

And the fact that sometimes we're way ahead of the curve, right?

Our ideas too far into the future.

And it just needs, you know, the right opportunity or the right environment or the right, you know, circumstances for people to recognize, like the uniqueness or the power of it.

Sometimes we're.

We can see the thing, but we need to help other people see it, or we have to wait until the world is ready to receive it.

So true.

So true.

And then sometimes we need to wait for technology to catch up so that we can provide the item or the resource in a way that's more financially feasible.

Right.

Like, there are some things that people try to do on, you know, whether selling books and they weren't as successful, but now that you have print on demand, it's definitely more accessible, so.

Or even without the Internet and having the Internet or.

And I know some people are.

They, you know, are against AI, and to some extent, we really need to be careful about it.

And then there are some things about AI that's making the work that we do a lot simpler, a lot quicker.

As long as you use it well, right?

You use it for your research, and then you check and you confirm and you make sure that those kinds of things that maybe you would have had to go to the Library of Congress or something like that to do your deep research, but now things are more available.

And so with technology, some of the ideas in the past that were not quite as feasible or wouldn't be as financially lucrative can be now.

Oh, yeah, that's especially true, like you said, with things like creating your own thing and having it be available.

Because before you had to go through, let's just take books, for instance, any of the big publishers to get your thing done.

Or else it's not really possible because, yeah, you either have to find a really small print place that does it for you, or you have to, you know, convince these people to take a chance on you.

So the.

Just the amount of hurdles you had to go through was just too much to do yourself.

So you either had to be really persistent about it or you had to wait for the moment in time in which something can happen.

I think if your idea is worth being in the world, it will come up.

You'll find your way to make it happen, even if it requires, like, sitting on the idea for a while or whatever it might be.

And a good example of that is, like, a lot of the modern movies that people had ideas for back in, like, I don't know, 30, 40 years ago were not possible because just the technology did not exist to bring it to life easily.

But now that things have evolved, those stories can be told in the way that people envision them in their minds,.

For sure.

And I. I love that.

I love that example with movies because people did their best, but some of those movies we look at now, we're like, oh, my goodness, that is obviously not space or something like that.

And then you compare with the kinds of movies they.

They create now.

And.

And so it's also that tenacity to just use what you have available until you have something better available, you know, and just keep going.

Yeah.

What age did your daughter start working on these projects?

Yeah, so she was nine, going on 10.

So essentially it was getting to her birthday and she was going to turn 10, and she was coming up with her lists.

So anyone who has kids knows that they have these lists for their birthdays, and you're just kind of like, whose money are we using for these.

These gifts?

You know?

So she was coming up with her list and she wanted a plush doll, and she couldn't really find the brown cute ones.

Like, I think she found one, but she couldn't really find more.

And so she was like, this is ridiculous.

Like, why, you know, I can do this.

So that's where.

When it started.

And she kept talking about it, and I wasn't really sure she was serious because it's a lot of work, right, to bring that into the world.

But sometimes, you know, we have ideas and then we move on.

But she wouldn't.

She just wouldn't move on.

She just kept talking about it and talking about it, and then I said, okay, do that research and then do a presentation to the extended family.

We'll go on Zoom and, you know, we'll do that.

She was like, yeah, she's willing to do that.

So she.

She created her slide deck with Canva.

It was the cutest thing.

And then I helped her to, like, add some numbers about the industry and.

And stuff like that.

And she presented it to the extended family, and they had questions and she responded.

And so it was.

I was like, okay, she's committed.

And I mean, it's been interesting because we've created quite a few products and she keeps having new ideas.

And so I'm just here to also support her in being patient as well.

Like, we don't have to launch everything you have immediately.

Right.

We can kind of stagger things and see what resonates.

And then there are some things that we might consider no longer offering if we're seeing that people are not as excited about them just to, you know, cut inventory and stuff like that.

But, yeah, I don't know why I keep answering your questions in really long formats, but she started around 9, and she's 11 now.

And so it's been.

It's been a few years, and we've just been having a lot of fun.

I know.

I love the details behind the stories because those are the things that make your idea worth telling.

Right.

It's.

It's those relatable moments of how things came to be that oftentimes separate you from.

Here's like a mask manufacturer of somebody that, oh, they're just taking advantage of the fact that someone was selling this thing on Etsy and they just want to make money because that was a popular thing and they're doing it for super cheap.

That's the difference between somebody that's a small creator doing it for a purpose versus, you know, just a company trying to make money.

So true.

What was the result of creating the first doll and what was her reaction to seeing this.

This thing come to life?

It was so exciting because we did the prototype first, so we sent the.

She drew the dolls.

Sent them.

We sent them to the manufacturers, and then they created the prototype and they sent them them back to us.

So it was so exciting when we unboxed the first prototype, and immediately we had some feedback for them and things that we could improve upon.

It was just.

To her, it was just amazing that you can think of something and you can bring it to being.

And then what was even more fun was when people started paying for these items.

So it's kind of.

Kind of like, I think this is a lesson that I'm also always trying to learn, which is that you can really make money doing what you love.

Like, you can really fund your life.

You don't have to have a job and you're miserable and.

But then you enjoy your life somewhere else.

Like, it can really be a cohesive thing.

I mean, some people enjoy that.

The different type of work where they.

They just do work on one side and then they have their fun on another side.

And if it works for you, that's fine.

But I found that it's always great when you enjoy the work that you're doing.

And I'm always learning this.

And I'm glad that she's getting to learn this because something she did that was really interesting, that was all her idea.

When we go to, like, vendor opportunities and we're selling the dolls and we're selling the books, she now puts a sign up that says, I can do a drawing.

I can do a portrait of you in this anime style.

And you give me.

I think the first time she was like $5.

And then the next time was $10.

And we always get someone who says, yes, please draw me and I'll pay you that money.

And I just thought that was so amazing because I was nervous that nobody was going to pay for this.

And I was like, maybe I'll pay her to draw me just to keep her encouraged.

But random people that we don't know are like, yeah, this is amazing.

Please draw us, or draw my kids or something like that.

And so that has also inspired me to know that if you're willing to put your creativity out there, somehow, God, the universe will connect you with people where what you're offering is a solution to those people.

Yeah, I think we, especially as adults, I think we just assume the worst of things until.

Until we start to see success.

We are like, we're just assuming the worst could possibly happen.

But as a kid, you have this hope and this feeling that things will work out.

And oftentimes they do.

And it's only because you're willing to put yourself into the position for it to work.

Does it work?

Otherwise it's never going to work because you don't do it.

So I think it's always incredible to see when somebody is willing to put themselves out there, their work out there, their ideas or creativity out into the world, and people are responding.

And I think a lot of that, even if they're not extremely interested in the drawing itself, I think they're there to support young creators, creativity and all those sorts of things.

They might be both, but I think sometimes you can just support people because you believe enough in their idea or their.

Their willingness to, you know, put themselves out there.

Yeah, and there's so much truth to that, because a lot of what we buy is not just about the product.

Yes.

There's some things, right, like we need food, we need water.

Yes, we have to get that.

But a lot of what we Buy is because of how it makes us feel or how it makes us think about who we'd like to be.

Right.

Like how we position ourselves in the world.

And so sometimes we might say, no one's gonna buy this product.

And sometimes it can be a self fulfilling prophecy.

But sometimes if we're just willing to put it out there, someone might be interested.

Not because it's the greatest thing they've ever seen, but maybe they just want to continue to encourage you or maybe they've decided they want to support a black artist or a female artist or whatever it is.

So for example, we got a grant not so long ago.

And when the grant started, it was originally for young black men.

But this was the first year they opened it up to young black women.

And I didn't know they were opening it up.

I just saw that the grant was available and they were like, our preference is young black men.

I was like, I'll just try, let's see.

Because any additional income helps us to kind of offset set with our, you know, with, with our ball, with the micro orders that we do and just make it a bit more affordable for kids.

Or sometimes we use that to give, to do giveaways and stuff.

And so we got the grant and it was so amazing because it was unexpected and we were just like, wow, what if we hadn't tried?

Right?

What if we had just excluded ourselves because, because we were like, eh, we don't think so.

And so that's kind of what inspires me about this journey and what I really hope, I really hope my daughter sees because sometimes I'm doing a lot of that work behind the scenes because she's still a kid and she's a student and she's busy.

But I really want her to see that things can really come together for your good.

Right.

If you are committed to doing the work.

And it's been a lot of fun because the way things kind of open up and then the way you figure out that oh, this opportunity exists and stuff, there's so many things that I didn't even know existed until we started on this journey.

And I've been in business for over 13 years now, but I've learned so much in the last couple of years.

Yeah, it's so great that it's just a learning opportunity for everyone.

So there's so many lessons I'm sure that you've learned through this process that you had no idea about, especially around the fact of like manufacturing, like creating books and all these things.

Those are experiences that you would not have had if she didn't have the willingness and desire to make this dream come true.

I think everyone that can learn from those opportunities, it's just better for everyone, right?

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah, for sure.

Like, manufacturing was not something I was ever interested in because I was just kind of like, it's so much work.

How do I know, you know, which company I can trust and all of that?

And because we are doing smaller orders, it's not.

We couldn't really find a manufacturing company close by because here I'm based in Canada, and most of the manufacturers here need like a thousand units as the minimum order quality, quantity.

And we didn't have that for, like, one item.

We could give you a thousand for multiple items.

So we needed to go a little bit further away into their options in, like, India and China and stuff like that.

And so I really had to kind of learn and trust that, you know, things would work out.

And so just going back to what you said, it was amazing.

Like, so much learning, so many frustrations.

But it continued to build that skill within me that whatever it is, I can figure it out and we'll just keep going and we'll keep getting better and, you know, try to have fun along the way.

Yeah.

What was the research process like for your daughter?

Because obviously, when you're first starting this out, you don't know anything.

How do you figure out what you need to learn?

And how did she discover all those things that she needed for that presentation?

The first thing was just finding manufacturing partners and seeing how much it would cost to create the first prototype, and then how much it would cost to create your bulk order of whatever their MOQ was.

And so I asked her to find a few options.

I think I just asked for, like, maybe three options.

And then she went out and then for places where she couldn't just go online and put some items together and get the quote automatically, where she had to send an email and stuff like that, then I would support her with that.

So we did that.

Then after we got a few quotes.

Quotes.

The other thing that I wanted her to do was to kind of do the math there.

Like, does this make sense?

How much would we sell the dolls if the.

You know, this is the price point?

Because, of course, the prototype was a lot more expensive.

But once we get to the bulk order and all of that stuff, the profit margins.

So she was learning about profit margin and what that means.

So that was another thing she researched and whether it made sense to order from different locations, shipping, all of that.

And then I think the other thing that I had her research was competitors and what that means.

And so we were able to discover together different competitors, what people like about the different competitors, what they don't like, and then use that insight, however we could.

And then.

So those are a few things.

And she's still researching things because right now she's working on a comic book, you know how, like graphic novels and stuff like that.

So she's been working on that.

She's researching because she's really trying to improve her drawing skills.

And so she.

In her.

She has all these sketchbooks where she's like practicing drawing the eye or practicing drawing fingers and stuff like that.

So just researching and trying to figure out her own style.

But.

But I think it's just been an opportunity for her to just really zone in on something and go deep and then figure out what she wants to do with that knowledge.

That's great.

How did you.

How does she balance the.

The business of all this that she has so many great ideas that she wants to work on with stuff like school and other activities that she wants to do.

And what do you see the difference between, like, schoolwork and business work and whether or not she can, like, concentrate on both at the same time?

Yeah, so it's been.

It's been interesting.

There are times when, for example, we had the opportunity to showcase at the airport and she kind of had to miss school to do that because the first day was kind of a half day, but it was a weekday.

So there have been times, times like that.

But for the most part, I found that because it's her own thing, it's a lot more exciting for her than school.

And so it kind of brings a spark to the rest of her life and schoolwork and all of that stuff that she doesn't necessarily get with just regular schoolwork and stuff.

So I think that's one thing that I'm encouraged about that it's actually helping her figure out just life and enjoy her life.

And then another way we try to create a boundary where we can is having more of our activities on the weekends and kind of planning things around what's important to her and her schedule at the moment.

She's not like a student.

Student athlete.

She does play some sports here and there.

But I do believe if she was a student athlete, then there would be all of that pressure as well.

But yeah, I think it's always a juggling act, like all the time deciding what we.

What will be best for her or best for the family.

But, you know, every day we try to figure it out.

And then another thing I'm always trying to, to manage is knowing that the Internet can be an interesting place where some people can be mean.

And so trying to figure out how to also manage that for her.

So a lot of the back end stuff, a lot of the social media stuff, I'm handling it just to kind of still protect her dignity and protect her privacy, because I don't want her to look back and be like, oh, you know, I wish I hadn't done that, or I, you know, these people made fun of me here and so I never want to, or those kinds of things that could be so traumatic, but they're not.

Even she doesn't necessarily need to be part of that.

So.

But when, when possible, I, I, you know, I encourage her to engage and then I ask her.

If she's willing to engage and be a part of it, great.

If she's not, that's okay too.

So sometimes when we go to vendor events and she's a tween, so she might be interested in participating and talking with people, or she might not, and she might decide, oh, I want to wander around and, you know, go do other things.

She's a kid.

And so I have to be, like, respectful of that.

But, you know, I also remind her that this is also her project, so she also needs to be responsible in some ways.

But it's always a balancing act.

Being like, she's my boss, but I'm also her mom, so we're always trying to figure things out.

Oh, that's, that's so amazing.

I think projects like this are really cool because there are so many life lessons built into it.

And these are life lessons that you would not learn at all if you hadn't picked up this, you know, this project, this business and all the stuff that comes with that.

There's, it's just a great way to learn about how the world works, like how business works and how you balance life.

So it's not just, oh, this is how you run a business.

It's also like, oh, if I want to go do this other thing, you have to make sacrifices, or I have to figure out how to schedule myself so that I can do all the things that I want to do, but I can't do everything all at the same time, right?

Oh, for sure, for sure.

Yes.

It's been such a great opportunity for her to, to learn some life skills.

And it's been interesting because just talking to some other parents about the work that We've been doing.

They're like, oh, I'd love to.

I wish, you know, I had the opportunity for my kid to learn that as well.

And so I started talking to libraries about the opportunity for us to come and do, like, an entrepreneurship session and, like, some communities, stuff like that.

And.

And so now that's one of the things that we do where we go to libraries, and then kids who are interested or their parents who are interested, sign the kids up, and then we have a session where we just kind of talk about our journey and talk about as much about their own business ideas and just like, the whole process for them and let them know that it's very doable.

You.

Yeah, there will be some things you need to figure out.

Figure out, but you can do that.

And so we're finding, like you just said, that we've been learning a few skills, and now we're able to share that with other families.

And it's been a lot of fun because we didn't think we were going to be doing that when we were starting out with dolls.

And here we are now doing, like, entrepreneurship workshops with kids.

So.

So that's been fun and rewarding as well.

Oh, yeah, that's really cool that you have been able to not only work on the project itself, but you're now encouraging all other people who might also be interested in doing this sort of thing and teaching them really, that things are possible if you have the time and the willingness and resources to be able to do that.

Because not everybody has all of those things, but obviously there are ways to work around things like, oh, did you know that there was a grant that we won because we put in this application, we're willing to do this work.

So everything is not straightforward like you would expect it to be.

And here's all the things we learned along the way that you might be able to learn from so you don't have to go through all the pain or the mistakes.

Because I think we all make mistakes on our way to figuring out what it is that actually works.

Yeah, Yeah.

I mean, why don't you make new mistakes, right?

Like, learn from our mistakes.

So you're not making the same mistakes, but you make new mistakes.

But yeah, it's been really encouraging because you get to talk to these kids and sometimes.

Our last session, we were teaching in this library, and this young lady said she wanted to write some books, and she had the ideas and everything.

And so.

So at the end, I told her mom, like, whenever she's ready, her mom could reach out to me and we can support her in publishing the books because we have a system that has worked for us.

And the mom was like, oh, that will be great.

We will definitely reach out.

And so it's just things like that where people think, nah, it's not possible.

It's going to be so hard.

But we're able to provide them that just as that support.

And then they know that, okay, if I can just create the thing, then somebody's out there who's like, oh, yeah, I've done this.

I can help you get it out there as well.

That's great.

How did you go from a single doll into all these other things?

Because you mentioned all these projects that you now have in the works.

What was the evolution from that first doll selling that, and then how do you continue to create beyond that?

Yeah, so with the dolls, the.

We found out that because we were ordering from China, our current manufacturers in China, it takes a while.

With cash flow, any new designs take a while, and then shipping takes a while, and all of that.

That.

So we were thinking, what else can we provide that's a resource?

And that's when we started thinking about books and the ease of creating those.

And she had all these great ideas of graphics she wanted to create and drawings and stuff.

And so we're like, okay with books.

They're a little bit on a.

At a lower price point, and we can get them out a lot more quickly.

And so let's do that.

And so we started doing that, and then we.

With the trainings and workshops, a lot of parents were just asking us about, like, the life lessons and stuff.

And so we're like, okay, we can do some.

We could do some trainings, but what if we even partner with the library?

And then that way we can also leverage the communities that the libraries have access to, as opposed to.

We're just trying to do these things ourselves.

And so that's where that came from.

So most times it's just like, there's a challenge within the business or there's like a friction point.

And we're like, okay, how do we navigate around this?

Because there's a book.

I always forget the title, but I think it's like the third door.

I haven't read the whole book, but essentially the book just says, if we're always thinking that we have to go through the main door and we have to do things the exact way that's expected, expected, then we'll get frustrated because there's.

There's always a line to the first Door, Right?

The main door.

And there's.

There are always people who understand that system better than you or they were there before you.

But if you can think about any challenge in life, that there are other options that a lot of people won't think about, that's the third door, where it's like, okay, maybe I'll give you a good example that happened recently.

I was taking my.

I had this brilliant idea to take my daughter and her friend to the movie theater.

And we got there.

And because I live in a small town and there's a small movie theater, we got there and they're like, it's sold out.

And there are only two movies for kids.

And they were sold out.

And it was so disappointing because, like, I took time out of, like, work and meetings and.

And the mom.

My.

My daughter's friend's mom trusted me with.

With her and stuff.

Like, everyone is sacrificing for this time.

That actually works.

It might not work another day.

And so I was like, you know what.

What if we can still find maybe one seat somewhere?

What if there is still a seat available?

And so then I went online and I checked, and there were two seats available, but they were in.

They were not together.

And so I tried to buy the two seats, and they're like, you can't buy two seats that are separate from each other.

And I was like, okay, what if I buy one seat individually and then buy the second seat individually?

And so, long story short, we got the two seats.

And then I told my daughter and her friends to talk to the people sitting there and ask if there's some people that are willing to switch or scoot over or something like that.

And they did.

So I wasn't able to join them for the movies.

I thought I'd be able to, but the main thing was for the both of them to have fun.

And so they were able to enjoy the movie.

It was just the two of them, but they found a way.

And so that was like us having that third door.

We saw a lot of families turn back because the sign said sold out.

But we decided that maybe there's another option.

Like, yes, you can't buy the tickets the regular way, but you can buy the tickets a different way.

And they were able to enjoy that.

And so that's what I'm always thinking about with this business with Pocket Links, like, what are some ways for us to get things done that might not be the most obvious way to get it done?

And that's where a lot of the other products and Ideas have come up and sometimes it's challenges that we're going through ourselves.

Like the period planning journal, it was just challenges where I was like, I'm seeing other kids who are not comfortable with their cycle.

And I know growing up I wasn't as comfortable, but I was so determined that my daughter will be comfortable and maybe even look forward to it as part of womanhood.

And I saw that it worked because she had the education.

And so that was why we decided, okay, let's create a resource that, that makes things really simple.

It doesn't go into all the details or anything that parents might be uncomfortable with a stranger talking to their kids about, but just more of learning about yourself.

And so far people have been liking it, but in the end, it's just different challenges come up and we're like, okay, how can we navigate around this without thinking that this is a sign?

Right?

Like, I think that's my main thing.

I don't assume that something that's challenging is a sign that I'm not supposed to be doing it.

I just see it as a challenge.

And if we, and, and challenges don't have to be hit like head on, they can just be navigated around.

Oh, that's, that's so good.

Because I think even that movie theater story is a lesson that you can use in business too, right?

It's not.

Not because there's always lessons we can learn in every aspect of our life.

We oftentimes compartmentalize so much that we don't take the inspiration from one thing and apply it to another.

And I think this third door situation is probably the best example of something where if you look around, wherever you are, whatever you're doing, there's like, there's ways around obstacles and challenges, and sometimes they don't look like what we think they're going to look like.

And we have to be open to the possibility that maybe it wasn't supposed to happen this way, it was supposed to happen this way.

And that's how a lot of innovation actually happens, is you, you see the opportunity that comes up because something didn't work.

One of my favorite examples of this is Velcro.

Velcro was not made to be like this thing that straps and shoes or whatever.

It's used for like some scientific purpose or, you know, stick it.

Notes were supposed to be stronger adhesive, but they were not strong enough to hold.

So people were like, oh, what else can we do with this?

And opportunities like that are abundant and like infinite.

And we just have to be Willing to look around for them.

Oh, yeah.

And it's really important for us not to be discouraged when things don't turn out the way we thought they would.

Because that energy, I mean, yes, you can be disappointed, of course we're human.

Things can be disappointing.

But if we let that discouraging energy sit for so long, we miss out on the other ideas or the creativity that can come out of it.

And so that's where just like, investing in your mental health is really important.

Like, I have.

I had like a mentor.

It was like a mindset coach for.

For a while.

And I have a life coach.

So it's like I have a life coach now, but it's like a business strategy coach.

But it's always nice to have somebody who's challenging these assumptions that you have about yourself, but you don't even realize that you have them.

You just assume that that's the way life works because that's how it's worked for you.

So it's always nice to have somebody kind of reflect that back to you and say, are you sure?

So, yeah, yeah.

I think we're so much in our own heads that we can't see things clearly because we're just too far into the woods to see, you know, everything around us.

So it's always important to have other people's perspectives to help us see the things that we can't see necessarily.

Uh, what does the.

Where do the profits or the.

The money for the sales of things go?

Is she taking money from the project or is she investing it all back into the.

The business or how does that work?

Yeah, so we invested quite a bit for inventory.

Right.

Because with services, it's different.

You know, you offer the service, you get paid, but.

But with products, you need a product to sell.

And so we invested quite a bit into that.

Right.

Now she does take some of the profit just to encourage her.

Right.

Because who wants to just keep working and don't get anything like it's discouraging?

So she does take some of the profit, but most of it is either going back to.

Into the company to make sure that we paid off all.

All the expenses and also to keep the profit margins healthy for the dolls.

We still have some inventory, so if we dip too much into the sales we've made, then the dolls are not as profitable anymore.

So that's why we kind of have to be really mindful.

So long story short, she does take a little bit of any profit that we make.

And while we also keep some of that profit, so that we can keep functioning because she also has new ideas that she wants to come up with.

And so to be able to fund those ideas when they're ready, we need some.

Some money in the bank as well.

Yeah.

What was the process for actually being able to sell these things?

Did you.

Does she help you create the website?

Did you create a website?

Are you using a pretty package platform?

What are you doing on that front?

Yeah, so this is where we've been really privileged.

So because I've been in marketing for so long, I have people in the industry that know how to use different tools.

Our website right now was built specifically for us based on the things we needed.

And I do think about it sometimes.

I'm kind of like, do we want to go to WordPress or do we want to go to any of those other platforms?

But for now, it was created specifically for us.

In terms of the work that she's been doing, we work on marketing together.

You know, we come up with some strategies together.

There are times that she's in Canva creating some tiles that we can use.

And then like when we're creating the books, we're designing the books together as well.

I'm just making sure that it makes sense.

The storyline or whatever we're trying to create makes sense.

There's a structure there and then typographical errors and stuff because, you know, she's still working on her spelling.

She's just 11.

So that.

But in terms of the website, we have some support worth there.

And somebody just like my brother, actually, he's an engineer, so he built the website for us from scratch.

But I mean, he's not just an engineer.

He's also someone that I partner with on different business ideas as well.

We have a business together that we work on together.

So that was really an easy one for her.

We were just like, okay, this is what we want to do.

We're not ready yet, but this is what.

What you can do.

And so the website is still in its infancy.

What you see today, probably in a few months, it'll be different because we keep improving based on the feedback that we get.

We have a photo shoot that we're planning the next couple of weeks.

Once we get that, we're also going to update the pictures on the website, those kinds of things.

It's like we know that we're not where we want to be yet, and so we're just improving when we can and we just keep trying to improve.

Yeah, work with what you have is always like the best advice for People starting out, whatever tools that you can use, use them.

Whatever's at your disposal.

Sometimes it's people that want to do you a favor.

Like if your brother knows how to do it, let them do it.

Like, there's no reason why you can't allow yourself the opportunities through the connections, the people, all the things, you know, because that's the way that like most good things in society work is we lean on the people who can support us to do the things that we want to do.

I think if we're afraid of asking for that sort of things, like from, from our own, like people, how are we going to be able to sell to people we don't know at all?

Right.

I think that's one of those things for sure.

And that's where I say, you know, leverage any privilege that you have.

Because for me, having that marketing background is definitely a privilege.

And then having a brother who's an engineer is definitely a privilege.

Right.

I wish I had somebody who had millions of dollars, but I don't have that yet.

But if you do have someone who has millions of dollars and they're willing to invest in, you don't feel like you need to struggle to prove anything.

Like take the investment and be wise with it, you know, those kinds of things.

I think sometimes we're really harsh on people who have access to privilege.

Now of course there are extremes and there are different conversations for different things.

But like when it comes to business ideas and creating creativity and bringing things to market, sometimes we're really harsh on ourselves because we're like, no, I want to prove that I'm the best.

But as we all know, it's not really about being the best.

It's about doing the best that you can.

Right?

Providing something that's a great resource or a great experience for people and then getting out there as much as you can.

And so sometimes times it's access to those privileged people that can help you to get that get out there as quickly as possible.

Because I know people who might have had the idea.

I actually know people who have ideas to create dolls and create books.

And they're still on the idea because either they're scared or they don't have the experience that combined my brother, myself and my family and stuff like that we have.

And we can kind of move a lot more quickly.

And so whatever access you have, because actually people started reaching out to us now to support them with creating their ideas for their, whether it's like a child centered idea, stuff like that, and we're Happy to support them.

But you never quite know the kinds of privilege that you have because you might be taking it for granted.

But if you have access to some things, then yeah, go ahead and use them.

Leverage that.

Because you'll have enough problems already, so why add to it?

Yeah, I think a lot of the times, especially in the creative space, we feel like there needs to be a struggle for things to be worth it.

But if things can be easier, why not allow ourselves the opportunity to take those?

Because there's so many other ways that things are going to be hard.

So you're going to have to deal with all sorts of difficulty along the way.

So just allow ourselves to be open to the opportunities that present themselves through the things that we know.

What are some things that you brought from your marketing background into this business to help it grow a little bit?

I'd say events.

So one of the things that we're preparing to do is a virtual summit for par parents.

I've been doing virtual Summits for over 10 years now.

So I'm bringing that in and we're moving really quickly.

So that's like one example.

I have in the past helped clients create books.

So we're able to move really quickly with that with Pocket Links as well.

I've in the past worked on websites.

I've also created some websites, but I wouldn't say I'm great at it.

And then I've in the past used canva to create like social media tiles and stuff.

So I was comfortable doing that while still figuring things out.

And I think just being in business and knowing that at least for the level of business that I've done, like, I haven't gotten into like a multi billion dollar, a multimillion dollar business yet.

Yet.

But at least the level of business that I've done helped me to learn that I can figure things out.

And I think that's just the main thing a lot of people are too scared of the fact that things might be challenging, the fact that things might not work out how you thought they would.

But just being so confident in yourself that you can figure it out.

And not a thing of pride or anything like that, but because I've experienced it so many times and I figured it out.

And when things start getting hard, I'm like, all right, I don't know what we're going to do, but we're going to figure it out.

Because we figured it out in the past.

I think that has really been helpful so that I'm able to learn whatever it is I Need to learn or research what I need to research and just get things done.

I think that's probably been the biggest thing.

And being comfortable with that has been truly a gift for us.

Yeah.

I think we all have the capability to do more than we think we can.

And the only way that we know that is because we've done things in the past that said, oh, I didn't know how to do this, but I figured out how to do it.

So what is it that we can do to.

To make our, you know, ideas become a reality versus, like, sitting on a shelf or in our minds or.

Or even if we die, it just goes with us into the grave, right?

Oh, yeah.

And as you know, there might be some ideas that you might think of, and then you do nothing with it.

And then maybe a couple months later or maybe even years later, you hear somebody else with that idea, and you're like, I thought about this thing, you know?

So the ideas will continue to roam around until somebody executes.

So why not you?

At least to the best of your ability, and knowing that you can continue to iterate and make it better and not be so stuck on trying to make it perfect the first time.

Yeah.

Got a couple more questions left.

Do you know anyone else who runs a standout creative business other than yourself and your daughter?

Is there anyone else personally that you think is doing a great job?

Yeah, I mean, I can shout out my brother, brother, devonte.

He is amazing at just, like, being an engineer.

He's super creative.

He loves the work that he does.

He's committed to the work that he does.

And sometimes when we think about engineering, we don't think about creativity, but it really is a lot of creativity because there's so many ways to get things done with engineering.

But figuring out the creative, cleanest, most efficient way to get things done, sometimes you really need to sit down and think about the problem and then, you know, try things out.

So I'd say devonte, I definitely record recommend him.

He's at Pulse Ventures.

Yeah, I think everybody has the capacity to be creative, and this is especially true if you just look at kids.

Kids can do the most creative things you can possibly imagine.

But as we get older and as we get more worried about failure, we stop being as creative.

So I think it's always good to keep that running.

And I think you, your daughter, in this business, especially through these workshops that you're doing at the library, are helping to inspire people to continue to follow the things that they want to do.

What is one extraordinary book podcast, tool, or resource that has had the biggest impact on your journey, or your daughter's journey, for that matter.

Oh, I like that.

I'll say.

A lot of Seth Godin's books have been impactful.

For me, I'd probably say the Dip has been one that I've gone back to several times because it's an easy read.

I think you can read through the whole book in like, maybe an hour or 30 minutes, depending on how quickly you read.

But it's so refreshing to know that you're not alone when things are getting really challenging.

So if you haven't read the Dip or it's been a while, I encourage anybody to pick it up and read it and just make a mental note of like, yes, there's a time to quit, and there's also a time to just stick with things because the challenges are part of the journey.

Yeah, I think Seth Godin is so good at distilling ideas down into, like, the most basic things.

And all of the books are like, I don't know, 100 pages or less.

So they're very easy to get through and digest.

And I think the only reason he's been able to do this is because I think he's explained it that he writes on his blog, like, every day.

And I think the only way that we can distill all of the ideas that we know is to put them down on paper or somewhere so that we can go back and look and see, cross reference, bring all these ideas together.

And it's important for, I think, every creative person to kind of work their way through the ideas by just recording them.

Whether that's typing, writing by hand, you know, recording on video or sound.

And any way that you can do it is helpful.

So true.

You get clarity the more you express yourself.

And then you go back and kind of think through some of those things.

That makes a lot of sense.

Yeah.

What do you think makes a creative business stand out and what it.

What advice would you give based on your experience of running one for other people who are trying to stand out?

Yeah.

I've found that the story is what makes businesses stand out.

Creative businesses stand out.

We often think that our story is not a big deal or it's obvious or things like that.

But because we're human beings, we love stories.

We like to be able to kind of engage with your truth and get on this journey of learning more about what it is to be you.

And so I'd say really getting clear on your story and being comfortable telling your story and Having different versions of it.

Right.

You can have the two sentence version of your story and you can have the multiple paragraph version of yourself story where you go into more details.

But I'd say just, just enjoying your story and giving us the gift of that story.

Right.

Like you're not inconvenience in us by sharing that story, but because we actually get to experience something new and fun by being a part of your journey.

Yeah.

I think that's one thing we overlook as human beings is that story is the thing that really separates us from all the other animals who could have risen up and created societies like we have.

The ability to record and share stories is really the reason why we are the way that we are and we forget that is the thing that makes us unique.

And I think we all just need to be open to telling our own stories because we're the only ones that aren't interested in our own stories.

Right.

So true.

And I mean there is a.

There's a fine line.

Right.

Like when you tell your story, it's also good to be able to and be willing to listen to other people's stories as well.

Right.

Because in creativity you also gain from listening or sometimes you gain even more.

But that willingness to tell your story also has that other part where it's like other people are also interesting and it's great for you to be able to hear their stories as well.

Yeah.

How does your story relate to the people you're telling it to?

I think it's the biggest thing.

It's like, what does your story help other people realize?

Because if we're just talking about ourselves, to talk about ourselves, obviously there's not a whole lot that people are interested in as far as like you specifically.

But how it relates to them is the way that our stories really make an impact.

Exactly.

That's exactly it.

But how will you know what will be impactful if you're not listening?

Right.

So that makes a lot of sense.

Yeah.

Can you give the listeners a challenge that they can take action on right away to start standing out?

Oh, that's such a good question.

I'll say whatever it is that you're thinking about right now or that challenge that you're thinking about, I want you to reach out to somebody to just talk about that challenge.

And you'd be surprised.

You might be like, oh, this person has no business idea or this person, you know, doesn't know about my specific industry.

Of course, reach out to somebody that's trusted because some people don't know how to how to help people in a way that builds them and doesn't like hurt them or destroy their, their desires and stuff like that.

So find someone trusted and just reach out to them with whatever it is you're thinking about, whether it's your idea or whether there's a challenge and, and see what happens from there.

Because you might be surprised at the unique way that they look at the challenge that you have that you might not have even thought about.

Yeah, that's, that's great.

Just an example from your experience is asking your brother if he can do the website like you.

He's able to do it.

You know, this is experience I think everyone benefits from and I think we have to be willing to put ourselves out on the line.

And the worst that can happen is either say no or they don't have like direct experience and they can say what they know about the thing.

But people also know a lot about other people and other projects that other people are working on.

So even if they don't directly know, the people that they know may know.

So there's nothing that's going to hurt in asking for some advice or a little bit of, you know, I.

A little bit of ideas from other people because you never know what can come of that.

Obviously don't be someone that just like takes and takes and takes.

There's obviously a give and take to every, everything.

So just don't pester people with a bunch of questions.

But I think if you have a, like a specific serious question that you want help with, people are more than willing to, to do that.

Yeah, and I mean, I guess I'll also add to that is don't be so nervous that someone is going to steal your idea.

There might be people who want to steal your idea.

What I'm finding though is that execution for each person is different and nobody has your story.

So yes, talk to people, people who are trusted and trustworthy, but don't let that fear that someone might take your idea keep you from getting the solution that you actually need to move that idea forward.

Because, you know, everybody has ideas and oftentimes we all have very similar ideas.

But in the end it's about what the work you're willing to do to put that idea out there and to keep executing.

Yeah, I mean, if you're worried about having the same ideas and somebody just look at movies, just as a very specific example, if you look at Armageddon and Deep Impact, they're the same movie, right?

Exactly.

There's so many movies that it's the exact same storyline and they come out.

The exact same time.

So I think something about the universe says that something needs to come out at a very specific time.

And if it's two different people working on it that happen to have it at the same time, that's just the way that things line up.

It's not like everyone's stealing everyone's ideas.

Yeah.

And it's.

Sometimes it is stealing for sure, but sometimes it's just that the idea came to multiple people in different ways.

I mean, I've.

We've had vendor events where people come up to us and they're like, oh, my kid draws like that too.

You know, and they always wanted to make a book and we didn't know.

And I'm like, okay.

You know, like, it's.

We all have this very similar ideas.

There's nothing that is so unique.

Well, there might be some things that are unique.

There are always exceptions to everybody, everything.

But for the most part, most things have been done before or in the process of being done.

And it's just more of allowing yourself to be creative and allowing others to be creative as well.

Awesome.

Well, aside, this has been amazing talking to you.

I loved hearing about your journey with your daughter and all.

All the work and cool things that you're up to.

Can you let people know where they can find you and keep up to date with all the stuff that you're doing?

Oh, for sure.

First of all, thank you so much for the opportunity.

It's been so much fun.

Like, the time has flown by just.

Just talking and chatting.

So the work that we're doing, you can go to Pocket links dot com.

It's with an S. You know, like I said, my.

My daughter is my boss.

I didn't come up with the name, so.

Pocketlinks.com you'll see it on Instagram.

On Instagram.

We're a Pocket Links as well, so you can find us.

And the parenting conference that's coming up, the parenting summit.

It's summit.pocketlinks.com so please come and enjoy and have fun and learn from all the amazing experts that we have.

We have almost 40 speakers, so it's going to be a lot of fun.

Wow.

And when is that happening?

That's in April 14th to 16th.

Great.

Well, this has been a pleasure chatting.

I'm sure we could have talked for a lot longer, but we both got other things to do.

I'll let you go now.

Thank you so much.

It's been my absolute privilege.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Bye.

Thanks for listening.

To this episode of Standout Creation Creatives.

If you're feeling stuck, let's chat and see how we can help you start standing out instead of burning out.

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Thanks again for tuning in, and as always, lean into your creativity and curiosity.

I'll see you again on the next episode.