Meet Kelly Clement, a former middle school educator who now tutors test prep for students preparing to enter specialized middle schools and high schools. At the end of her lessons, she would often hand out homework assignments to supplement the students' learning but felt terrible assigning them because she saw the assignments as dull and unreliable. Seeking out something more engaging and beneficial for her students, she took a chance as she leaped into the toy industry with the latest introduction in her line of products, "Watermelon Math".

Meet Kelly Clement and Watermelon Math

Kelly Clement is an educator and now a toy designer, who is passionate about improving education. She worked as a middle school teacher until 2011, when she was offered a tutoring job in London. She stayed there for the next 10 years, transitioning from classroom teaching to becoming a test prep tutor for students entering specialized middle schools and high schools.

Now that Kelly was focusing her energy tutoring students for a higher level of education, Kelly looked for way to support her cause. Seeing a lack of engaging and effective test prep resources, Kelly took it into her own hands to create Watermelon Math. Kelly’s goal when designing this product was to offer a better quality learning experience for children in test prep, unlike the dull conventional ways of learning. When deciding on how should she go about bringing this product into existence, she came across the idea of making them into study flashcards. The flashcards would contain math vocabulary and colorful illustrations to better engage the students using them.

She opted for a design that would pop out at you and present itself as a friendly, and fun to use study tool. Kelly accomplished her design goal by using bright colors, bubbly fonts, and even creating characters out of mathematic operation symbols. Kelly cleverly designed the box cover with playful colors, and her slogan “Surprisingly Sweet Test Prep” along with her mascot who is a watermelon filled with mathematic operation signs. Other than the illustration on the box and cards, Kelly also mentioned the amount of time she put into choosing the material of the box and cards themselves because she wanted to create just the right look and feel when you use her product. After all the planning in the design, and product idea, Watermelon Math is making test prep surprisingly sweet.

Kelly Clement's Marketing Strategies

When starting up Watermelon Math Kelly was unsure of how and where to start, but luckily for her, she had been adding people on LinkedIn in all sorts of fields that she thought might help her learn more about the toy creation industry. Doing this Kelly expanded her network of resources, including her contact with Azhelle's webinars and her Toy Creators Academy.

The original plan that Kelly had in mind when she had created Watermelon Math, was to sell it on Amazon and just let it create a steady trickle of income. Instead, she ended up placing her product in 2 retail stores with the help of Azhelle and the TCA community. On top of that Kelly also has her website, where she offers her test prep services, and is also where you can purchase Watermelon Math.

Having her company, MindMine Education is a key component of Kelly's future plans. It allows her to develop new products with their own unique branding and identity, while still being linked under the same company. This connection strengthens her marketing efforts, making it easier for consumers to recognize and trust her products as part of the MindMine brand.

On Kelly's website, she prominently features the awards her product has received, which helps to convey its success and quality. These accolades serve as major symbols of validation from reputable organizations, boosting consumer confidence in her product. For instance, she received an accreditation from 'The Good Play Guide,' which endorses her product as well-received by both children and adults for educational use. This endorsement not only enhances her product's credibility but also positively impacts sales by reassuring customers of the product’s quality and effectiveness in providing education.

What sets Kelly’s flashcards apart from other study options out there is their quality. As a product designer, you must find a way to make your product stand out among hundreds of similar ones out there. She values her decision to work with the manufacturer of her choice because the quality of the cards, as she describes, "Just makes you want to touch them" ~Kelly Clement. This high quality helps her stand out among other study options on the market. In addition to the colorful and fun designs of her flashcards, her decision to maximize the textile pleaser when handling them makes her product so much richer.

How does Kelly Clement manage her time?

Now that Kelly runs her own brand, she can no longer allocate time to working in school classrooms. During the year’s first half, she concentrates on expanding her tutoring services to coincide with school admissions. In the latter half, she dedicates more time to developing her brand and creating new products. She envisions her next product to be more vocabulary or writing-related, contrasting with Watermelon Math, and expanding her reach in the educational toy market.

Kelly’s Advice to Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Having a community of like-minded entrepreneurs is a great thing to have. She comments on how the TCA community and Azhelle have provided her with a lot of support she needed to get her brand off the floor, whether that being informational resources, personal connections, or other business opportunities.

As of 07/2024 Watermelon Math is available at:

Website: https://mindmineeducation.com/product/watermelon-math-isee-test-prep/

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