Should You Start A Doll Line? How This Photographer Started A Doll Business With Zero Experience In The Toy Industry
Joeydolls is known as the wolds most diverse asian dolls. The intricate clothing and variety of skintones celebrates the beauty of Asian heritage and culture. Now available in 19 stores across the world, you may be surprised to know that this thribing toy business was founded by 1 powerhouse mom. The brand has won three awards for its effort towards creating more inclusivity and diversity during a period of Asian-hate, has just paired up with five new retailers to make its diverse, award-winning dolls more readily available to the public.
“Children from all corners of the globe to feel confident in their own skin and know that they deserve love and acceptance"
- Samantha Ong
Meet Samantha Ong, the creator of Joeydolls
Before she became the mastermind behind Joeydolls, Samantha Ong studied commerce in University, working in the financial industry as a result for 10 years. From there, began her own business as a wedding photographer for 10 years and managed to run a successful and thriving business- that is until the COVID-19 pandemic hit. During the pandemic, she created her incredible Joeydolls, award-winning dolls that are loved by many today for their celebration of various cultures and ethnicities, inspiring creative play, and a love for one's heritage. Awards include the Mom's Choice Awards Gold, an aware acknowledging the dolls' exceptional design, quality, and educational value for children, as well as the NAPPA Awards, an award that recognizes North America's Best Product, highlighting Joeydolls' innovative approach to promoting diversity in toys.
Why Samantha Created Joeydolls
Once the pandemic hit, Ong was forced to pivot her plans as she was faced with clients suddenly canceling 2 years' worth of contracts. During this time, Ong was on the seach for dolls for her daughter Joey, while there was also an increase in anti-Asian hate.
Growing up in Australia, she had loved cute and fun dolls, but had noticed that while she played with these blonde-haired dolls, she found herself unconsciously wanting to have blonde hair and blue eyes like them. This led her to realize how the lack of representation in the toy industry can impact children's self-perception and sense of belonging in the world - and she wanted to fix that. Ong wants "children from all corners of the globe to feel confident in their own skin and know that they deserve love and acceptance."
In response to the anti-Asian hate and lack of representation in the industry, Ong was motivated to help children feel proud of their identity and help foster a world of inclusivity and diversity. In fact, even though on her launch day there were many hiccups, such as emails not going through, her business venture proved successful and inspiring as many people still rallied to buy Joeydolls on that day. Now, Ong has been successful in the industry for the past four years and has officially partnered with five new retailers to make these incredible dolls more readily available to toy lovers.
Where To Buy Joeydolls
Joeydolls are sold both on the Joeydolls website and speciality toy stores, though 76% to 100% of their sales are online sales. Their latest retailers are:
USC Pacific Asia Museum - Located at the University of Southern California, this museum now features Joeydolls in their giftshop, enhancing their mission to celebrate the arts of cultures of Asia and the Pacific Islands.
Selfmade Something - Based in Ward Centre, Honolulu, Hawai’i, and founded by Krystal, a mom with a passion for inspiring children to reach their dreams, Selfmade Something offers a curated collection of design-forward toys, apparel, games, and activities meant to motivate children to explore their interests and reach their dreams.
Flour Atelier - Founded by Chrisell and Evelyn in San Diego, California, Flour Atelier offers custom and exceptional cakes for every celebration- and now feature Joeydolls too!
Moonlight Books and Gifts - For unique finds and vintage treasures as well as products from local makers, this store in Dragon City Mall located in Calgary's Chinatown is a delightful destination.
J-Town Toronto - J-Town, located in Toronto, is a cultural hub celebrating Japanese heritage and community, and will now feature Joeydolls, to help inspire cultural appreciation and foster connections among visitors.
For a complete list of Joeydolls retailers, click here!
Their Top Marketing Strategy
Joeydolls' top marketing strategies include keeping their audience in the loop with regard to the process of their journey. This includes a good amount of social media marketing, especially Instagram where they have 12.2k followers and 524 posts, going back to their first post on January 27, 2021. Originally, the posts were inconsistent, sometimes being weekly, others daily, and sometimes no posts at all for months.
Starting in 2022, however, the posts became more consistent, with multiple posts being created per week. There was also a good amount of use of the stories feature, where Ong would communicate with her audience by posting Q&As, reviews by customers, and the behind-the-scenes process for creating her toys. She even posts videos of her toys in action, with children playing with them in various ways in the Play highlight on the Instagram page! Now, the Instagram page is alive with communication from her consumers, even featuring polls regarding future toys!
image credit: Samantha Ong
Expanding on this, they also feature on their website ways for various collaborations to take place, such as social media campaigns, blog features, product reviews, and giveaways with influencers, as well as collaborations with retailers, and their educator's program to get their toys into classrooms so the effects of their inclusive nature can be reaped!
Their Email List
While a good portion of their marketing efforts are focused on social media, a significant chunk is also from their solid email list marketing. By having an email list featuring 5000-9999 people, Joeydolls is advertised to many people. To generate sales, they incorporated their email list by sending monthly emails to those listed, and have found that most of the time, this effort does prove useful. In fact, due to all their marketing efforts and hard work, Joeydolls had a revenue of $100k to 500k just last year!
Toy Trade Shows
So far, Ong has only done one toy trade show, which cost her $1750 to exhibit her collection and another $1400+ for gas, hotels, and other expenses.
Samantha Ong's Favorite Resources for Beginners
For businesses similar to hers, Ong recommends listening to the Toy Coach Podcas: Making It In The Toy Industry, a collection of inspiring and educating stories and information by Azhelle Wade, featuring many toy industry experts. Click here to listen to Episode #1: 5-Step Process to Unlocking Great Toy Ideas!
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Conclusion
Samantha Ong's persistence and passion serve as a reminder of how a person can take the challenges and problems they see in the world and turn them into incredible opportunities that bring more positivity into society. Her passion for creating a brand that finally had diverse and inclusive toys helped close a gap in the toy industry while also empowering children and other creators to embrace their heritage. If you're a creator like Ong and want to bring your ideas to fruition, we recommend reading "The Toy Manufacturing Process from A to Z: A Comprehensive Guide by the Toy Coach" where you'll find all the information you need to get started running in the toy industry!
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