Next Door Mom building a business with her daughter-Meet Susan Goldman of Cre8ive Crayonz
Hey Goddesses!
I've always been inspired by the stories of mompreneurs starting a business out of their kitchen table, and Susan is one of those amazing moms that I'd love you to meet, because she decided to do it with her little daughter.
A contagious smile and a child's heart is what make Susan a bliss to interact with, and that amazing vibrant energy flows into her colorful non-toxic crayons that make the perfect gift. They'll keep kiddos blissfully busy, but I have to confess I snatched some to use as photography prompts and home decor because they rock!
I grabbed the opportunity to ask Susan a few things about her business and here are her answers, coming straight from the heart-enjoy!
-Susan, hi! I'm so glad to have you here! Tell us a few things about your company and how it came to be-especially regarding your little one getting involved.
I was furloughed from my job in the fashion industry that I was at for 7.5 years in the beginning of the pandemic (March 29th). This allowed me to be present for my daughter who was in pre K at the time and didn’t have a lot of zoom schooling. She would pick themes (like animals, painting, etc) every day and I would find different activities to do to fit that them. One day she chose crayons, so we read the book The Day The Crayons quit and made crayons (found out how to do them on Pinterest). We wrapped the crayons we made that day in tin foil (we didn’t have wrapping paper easily accessible at the time) and gave them to her friends. They LOVED them. About a month and a half later I woke up in the middle of the night thinking what could I do with the rest of my life and I thought- I could make crayons! No one in our area was making them and Hoboken is such a family oriented and supportive community so this was the ideal place to start. My daughter was SO excited! She became our cre8ive Director and helped to pick out the initial molds and color combinations. As the business started to grow and we had requests to ship our products I finally decided to open our Etsy shop at the end of October. My daughter now helps to pop out the crayons from the molds, inspects the crayons so there are no imperfections, helps to style the products for pictures, and loves to be on camera talking and coloring with them.
-Take us a bit behind the scenes-How do you decide on a future product? Does your daughter get actively involved?
We are just turning 9 months old so we haven’t gone through a full year of shipping and knowing what people want at different times of the year. We have decided on future product based on the seasons and on customer requests. For instance- we came out with our Spring flower box recently because I wanted to offer crayons that reflected the season. Our customers constantly request items and if I don’t have what they want then I will search many different channels to try to find a mold that suits their needs-happy customers are at the heart of our business.
-What do you do to remain sustainable and non-toxic?
We use new and recycled brand name and non-toxic crayons in our product. Many people have given us their old crayons and my daughter collected some at school as well. We will then use those when making our personalized crayons. There is no waste. If we have a crayon that wasn’t up to Jessie’s high standards, we will remelt it and reuse. Also, our confetti color way is made from 100% recycled crayons that we have collected. You never know what color will come out on paper when coloring with them!
-What is your bigger vision? Your 5-year dream?
I would LOVE to have a separate space to cre8 our products and to have an employee to help me. Currently I do all of the peeling of the crayons, cutting, melting, and packaging by myself (although my husband and daughter help sometimes with that). I'm excited- within my first year I have done some wonderful collaborations and would love to have many more people and companies to collaborate with. Also working in the fashion business for years, I know how important small businesses and specialty stores are, so I would love to build up my presence and sell to more specialty stores than I currently am selling.
-Next to a founder, you’re a mom. Here at Next Door Goddess, we believe that every mom has the right to bring out her beauty and feel gorgeous. What are your thoughts on that? Do you get all sparkled up or are you cozy and relaxed?
When I lived in the NYC years ago I was always sparkled up however moving to Hoboken and working from home for the past 8 years has allowed me to be cozy and relaxed. Unless it is date night, which I love to get dressed up for, you can find me in leggings and either a t shirt or sweatshirt- comfy and cozy.
-Do you have a favorite Next Door Goddess piece and how does it make you feel when you have it on?
I LOVE the red earrings I have. The color wakes me up and I feel happy and cheery when I’m wearing them
You can check out the amazing cre8ive crayonz
- On the mom-daughter duos' website www.cre8ivecrayonz.com
- On Instagram:@cre8ivecrayonz
- On Facebook:cre8ive crayonz
- On Etsy: cre8ivecrayonz.etsy.com
Let your creativity flow and support a mom-owned small business, while keeping your kids entertained off-screen...Can't get any better than that!
Wanna get the feeling Susan taps into when she puts her Next Door Goddess earrings on? Check our earrings collection out on the link below!
SHOP YOUR PAIR OF UNFORGETTABLE EARRINGS
I hope you enjoyed my talk with Susan as much as I did! There's always a light of hope and resilience built within us, all we have to do is access it like Susan did, get on doing the hard work and keep growing!
Let me know, how did you feel reading Susan's story?
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