Episode #151: Dealing With Mental Health As A Toy Entrepreneur with Marjorie Spitalnik
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Today’s episode is special for two reasons. First, it is the first-ever live broadcast of an episode of Making it In the Toy Industry. Second, today’s guest gives a raw view into all the ups and downs of being a toy industry entrepreneur, how it can affect your mental health, and how to keep going with your ideas even when it seems like things haven’t gone your way.
Marjorie Spitalnik is the founder and CEO of Little Rebels, a popular plush doll collection that seeks to educate kids about historical female figures like Amelia Earhart and Malala Yousafzai. However, Marjorie’s journey to success in the toy industry was full of twists and turns, including a dark period of three months where she was so depressed she could only get off the couch to make sure to take care of her daughter.
Marjorie tells listeners how people who didn’t believe in her product affected her mental health, how she dealt with imposter syndrome, and the unique type of therapy that got her to move out of her depressive episode and into success with Little Rebels. You will also get motivated with the best piece of advice Marjorie has heard in her toy industry journey.
EPISODE CLIFF NOTES
Learn about the unique product idea that got Marjorie started in the toy industry. [00:07:37]
Find out the unique twist that brought Little Rebels shooting into the spotlight. [00:11:39]
Learn about the crushing toy industry rejection that sent Marjorie into a three-month-long depression. [00:17:42]
Find out the type of therapy that finally got Marjorie off her couch and back to working on her toy industry product. [00:25:21]
Learn how Marjorie took valuable feedback to add amazing new features to Little Rebels. [00:29:00]
Find out how Marjorie did her first Kickstarter while learning on her feet. [00:32:51]
Learn about Marjorie’s favorite social media network and why she loves it. [00:35:34]
Find out the amazing things Marjorie is doing with Little Rebels is doing today. [00:38:04]
Learn about Marjorie’s daughter’s own journey with mental health. [00:39:20]
Find out what keeps Marjorie going when she has moments of doubt. [00:43:58]
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This episode is brought to you by www.thetoycoach.com
Visit Little Rebels’ website by clicking here.
Follow Little Rebels on Instagram.
Follow Marjorie Spitalnik on LinkedIn.
Support Little Rebels crowdfunding campaign on ifundwomen.com
Shop Little Rebels on Walmart.com!
Buy Amelia Earhart | Buy Marie Curie | Buy Mary Jackson | Buy Malala Yousafzai
Listen to the FIRST interview with The Toy Coach & Marjorie Spitalnik by clicking here.
Learn more about the Women In Toys Empowerment Day by clicking here.
Download this updated list of 13 toy industry trade shows you should attend to sell your ideas as Marjorie did by clicking here.
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[00:00:00] Marjorie Spitalnik: So I enter a very dark time and I was very depressed. And when, whenever people say, How did it get so depressed? Just because it didn't get the diploma, it's not about the diploma itself, No. Mm-hmm. It's that literally like my entire life dream was being lived and then they took it away just like that. Just because they didn't like something.
[00:00:24] Azhelle Wade: You are listening to Making It in The Toy Industry, episode number 151.
[00:00:29] Hey there toy people Azhelle Wade here and welcome back to another episode of the Toy Coach Podcast, Making It in The Toy Industry. This is a weekly podcast brought to you by thetoycoach.com. You are in for a special treat today, my friends, because we are doing the first ever live broadcast of an episode of making it in the Toy Industry. And today's guest is Marjorie Spitalnik.
[00:01:05] Marjorie Spitalnik is the founder and CEO of Little Rebels. She's also a single mom of an outstanding 15 year old daughter. And after spending over 20 years working in marketing and advertising, MJ noticed something in her textbooks that changed the course of her life. She noticed she wasn't being taught about the achievements of women and only men, so determined to show her daughter how powerful women have also impacted history.
[00:01:33] She created an augmented reality plush line that would do just that. Marjorie is an alumni of the Young Leaders of America's initiative, a program that's created by the US State Department. She has a master's degree in entrepreneurship for kids and youth. She's currently an alumni of the ECLA program of Columbia Business School and a TEDx speaker.
[00:01:54] But today she's most known as the founder and CEO of Little Rebels. Little Rebels has been exploding on the scene lately, but it hasn't all been fun in games, and this actually wasn't the first toy line that MJ ever started, so today we're gonna talk about an important topic, mental health as a toy creator. I'm so honored and excited to welcome Marjorie Spitalnik to the show. Hi Marjorie.
[00:02:18] Marjorie Spitalnik: Wow. Hey, how are you? That was quite of an intro.
[00:02:23] Azhelle Wade: Well, you're quite a person. Welcome to the show. I've, I've literally had so many incredible conversations and interviews with you where I'm like, I need to be recording this. I need to upload this. And honestly, it just never felt great having like, an afterthought of an interview. So I'm glad we're able to do this. Right. Its the right way. So let, let's get started.
[00:02:45] Marjorie Spitalnik: I know. Yeah. I'm excited because actually my very first interview regarding Little Rebels was with you.
[00:02:53] Azhelle Wade: Oh, I didn't know that. Oh, it was amazing. Yes. You can listen to that earlier on my podcast. I think it was like episode of seven or 11. I feel like. Something like that.
[00:03:02] Marjorie Spitalnik: Yeah. It was one of the very first episodes I remember and I remember perfect. Like where I was, what I was doing. It was like, that's, don't stay with me for my life.
[00:03:11] Azhelle Wade: Don't give away all the good stuff to this story. I have a plan for how we're gonna unveil this. Okay. So, first question I have for you is tell me a little bit about your daughter, cuz she inspired not only this line, but another line of yours. And I want you to tell me a little bit about that first line she inspired.
[00:03:30] Marjorie Spitalnik: So, my daughter's name is Luana. She goes for Lulu. And Lulu has always been my inspiration for absolutely everything I do in my life. I'm a single mom, so relationship is pretty close. And she's super creative and fun and always that sparky little girl. And when she was around, I think she was five years old, she came to me with a drawing and she asked me to turn that drawing into something real. And my first reaction was actually to do something digital, like as I was in advertising my designers. And I was like, Let's date a character or something.
[00:04:05] And then I don't know what happened. At some point I said, No, you know what? I don't want her in front of a screen. Like I need her to be playing with something more tangible. So I went online and I looked for very talented seam dresses and asked them for their help and say, Hey, I have this insane idea. Can we try and do this? So I found one, we did the exact same plus as the exact same drawing. Like without, I remember she wrote, I Love You, and the Y was backwards. And when we did the plus, we actually put the Y backwards so it looked exactly like her drawing.
[00:04:40] Oh. And then when I gave it to her and I saw her face and like how amazed she was that something that was in her head actually turning to something real. I said, Okay, so this is the feeling that I wanna feel for the rest of my life. Like, this is what I wanna do. I want this reaction in every single kid. So I posted her on Facebook and it viral and then before I knew it, people were calling me and asking me to make plushies for their kids. And that's actually how I started what it was Teddy Bujo, which in Spanish means.
[00:05:16] And before I knew it, that's how I entered the toy industry, which was insane. You mentioned the US State Department program, like ex President Obama launched a program in which he selected 250 entrepreneurs from all over Latin American, the Caribbean, and they sent us like a month and a half in the US to be trained by high, high end CEOs. Like Richard Branson was one of our mentors. So you, you get, which was insane, crazy. And I was actually selected thanks to that endeavor and I spent six years working with the Yoko.
[00:05:49] Azhelle Wade: So talk to me about this. I believe that this is the same and at the end of this program, you were gonna get a degree, correct? Is that right?
[00:05:56] Marjorie Spitalnik: No, that, that was after actually, so. Oh, okay. That was, I started the business, it was 2014, then I got selected by the Obama program in 2016, then 2018. I saw the opportunity, there was a program that was a massive degrees at Columbia University. Okay. So my entire life I dreamed of going into an Ivy League University. And since I'm from Latin America, for me it was like that big dream. That's never gonna happen. I never thought, yeah, that I could do that as a growing up.
[00:06:33] So I was around 30 something by that time. I don't wanna do the math here. . And so I applied and I won a scholarship thanks to Teddy Bujo to be able to actually do that Master degrees at Columbia. Yeah. And that's how I got in. So, and that's the degree that we're talking about. So mid program. And I don't want, if you want me to keep going with the story.
[00:06:53] Azhelle Wade: Keep going, keep going, keep going. No, keep going. I know where the story's going and it's good. Let's go.
[00:07:00] Marjorie Spitalnik: So the program were there were two years program and you are supposed to work on your endeavor and make it scalable and grow in sales. And like all the masters were focused on your endeavor. So I entered the program with the Yuko, which was my previous endeavor, and then me program, it was half virtual and have onsite at Columbia University as well. Mm-hmm. . So it was around August 2018. I, I, I wanna say 2018, I'm not quite sure. Mm-hmm. And then I was in Uruguay and I was supposed to fly to New York.
[00:07:35] And then the day before I fly a local reporter called me to do like an article on entrepreneurs that are no longer in business. Right. I was like, Wait, what do you mean? Like, I'm still business.
[00:07:46] Azhelle Wade: And for everyone listening, this focus is on Teddy Bujo. Like she was creating Teddy Bujo at the time and working on it while she was in, in this program in Columbia. So then this reporter, for some reason thought this, this brand was out of business. Okay, go on.
[00:08:01] Marjorie Spitalnik: Exactly. I don't know why. And I was like, Wait, who told you that? Like, not only I'm still in business, I'm still selling my plushies, but fyi, like I just want a scholarship to Columbia to do this. And then we were talking and I said on a side, and this is off the record by the way, I wanna share with you an idea that I'm working on. So by that time I started thinking about Little Rebels. That was something that was around on the back of my head. And I started like doing my research and I had, I remember I only had like one picture. I didn't even have the sample with me.
[00:08:35] I just had like the picture of the Delta factory sent me mm-hmm. So I sent it to her and I was like, Just so you know, this is what's coming up. But it's like, Not something real for now. Okay. Yeah. Oh, okay. Okay, perfect. So conversation's over, jump in a plane, go to New York. By the time I turned on my phone, once I land in New York, I had like a gazillion messages. One of them was from the State Department and they were like, We just saw the article on the newspaper. We were wondering if we could tweet about it. Do you have enough inventory?
[00:09:09] Azhelle Wade: Oh, I didn't know.
[00:09:09] Marjorie Spitalnik: And I was like, Wait, what? Like I do one plush per drawing.
[00:09:14] Azhelle Wade: Cause that's what Teddy Bujo was. It was one plush Yeah.
[00:09:18] Marjorie Spitalnik: One drawing. So I never had inventory with Teddy Bujo. And I was like, What do you mean? Like, I, I don't need inventory. So then I, I started scrolling down the messages and the article that was supposed to be like, entrepreneurs are failed. Turned out to be an entire page from the newspaper saying, You are going entrepreneur launches a line of doll inspired in iconic, historic women. Oh, the picture that I sent, Oh, it was the front page of the newspaper. I will never forget that.
[00:09:49] And I was like, Okay, how do I do that? So I got to New York and I must have given, I don't know, I, I don't wanna lie, but 15 interviews to several like local medias talking about something that literally did and not exist, right? Like, they were like, When are you gonna get the dolls in Europe? Why? When can we get them here? So how can we purchase them? And I was like, Well, they're coming back like from six months from now, you have them. And there was something literally did not existed. I cannot emphasize enough, not, Oh my gosh. So I went to the director of the program at Colombia and I was like, Hey, this is what's happening.
[00:10:30] Like, I know I enter with the Ihu, but the truth is it's been six years already. It's not scalable. It's like one drawing, one plus. Mm-hmm. . It's so hard to scale. Mm-hmm. if you don't have like a big investment behind that, you have your own factory, it's not gonna be easy. On the other hand, this is happening, like I just shared this and I gave all these interviews, I have all these orders on something that does not exist. Mm-hmm. , like, can I start a dissertation and, and my degree with Little Rebels instead of Teddy Bujo. Yeah.
[00:11:02] And he was like, Yeah, sure you can go ahead. Mm-hmm. . So he gave me like, the best mentors to work on me in this. And one of them was the ex CEO of Natura.. Natura is a very known beauty brand in Brazil, like very famous. So he was working with me. Then Darf, like an amazing entrepreneur and mentor. Like I had this entire team on Colombia working to develop Little Rebels business plan and to make it real.
[00:11:27] Azhelle Wade: Oh, I didn't know that. So cool.
[00:11:29] Marjorie Spitalnik: It was insane. Wow. I came back to Europe. Why we kept working Then in November, 2019, 2018, that was 2018. We are supposed to graduate January, 2019, so in November we had a call. Check on everything and how is it going. And I was super hyped. I was like, Oh my God, you are not gonna believe this. Like, I just landed that deal with Malala Yousafzai. We can have Malala. And we have Amelia and we have Mary Curie. And I was like super excited sharing all those amazing news with them. Mm-hmm. And she looked at me and I cannot curse here, right? No , I need to take care of my language. OK, no, no. I'm trying to be.
[00:12:10] Azhelle Wade: Oh, I know what you wanna say cuz I almost said the same thing in my email that went out today. Cuz I was gonna quote you. Okay..
[00:12:17] Marjorie Spitalnik: It was like actually what he said to me. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna try figure out.
[00:12:22] Azhelle Wade: We could just bleep it. We'll bleep it.
[00:12:24] Marjorie Spitalnik: Oh yeah. We'll, so this is bleep.
[00:12:30] Azhelle Wade: This is garbage basically. But exactly, garbage that goes in the toilet.
[00:12:36] Marjorie Spitalnik: Nobody. Right. Nobody's gonna wanna buy it. Stop at your drink. You laugh. I cannot even talk.
[00:12:42] Azhelle Wade: Sorry. Sorry.
[00:12:45] Marjorie Spitalnik: So this is garbage. Nobody's ever gonna buy these dolls. Not even the name is original. Like, I hate this. If you don't come in January with your table that's original, what you entered the program with, you are not gonna get your diploma. And I was like, Are you kidding me? Right? Like, we just had this conversation like three months ago, and he put the entire team to work with me. Well, long story short, ever, several screaming, yelling, crying, and all the, the proper things.
[00:13:14] I said, Okay. So he wants Teddy Bujo, who I knew Teddy Bujo was on something that I was gonna pursue, right? But I knew that I needed to show him Teddy Bujo. So I did like this amazing PowerPoint presentation on what Teddy Bujo would look like if we had like a lot of money and investors and all the potential that he had. Yeah. And kept working in silent on Little Rebels. So January came, I flew to New York. I pitch everything I've done. I did my dissertation.
[00:13:44] An hour before the graduation ceremony came, he called me into his office and he was like, You know what? I've been thinking a lot of this, and you were one of our top students, but you are not gonna get your diploma. I was like, Oh my God. What? What do you mean? Yeah, no, unfortunately, Teddy Bujo did not meet the standards that we're looking for, and we cannot afford to have Teddy Bujo's logo on our page. That's what he said. So you are not getting, Yeah. So you're not getting your diploma. And I was like, Wait, I don't understand.
[00:14:18] I'm the one graduating not Teddy Bujo. And I was like, not only I showed you what the could have been with money, but I also created on a site. Entire different company from scratch. Holy. Like, I think I deserve that there. Oh, wow. And he was like, No, that's not gonna happen. And I remember I'll never forget that, like my biggest dream was, and, and this is so silly, especially now that I look back, but like I grew up with that, the fantasy of having like the, I dunno how you call the, the little hat that you guys use on your graduation.
[00:14:52] Azhelle Wade: Oh, the graduation cap? Just the graduation cap. Oh, the tassel.
[00:14:56] Marjorie Spitalnik: And, and the, Oh, the, yeah. Everything. Like, I always dream of like going like this and throwing the hat in the air and all those kind of things that you guys do. And I went to the ceremony because of all my like my friends were graduating, We were friends by that time already. So I remember I was crying my eyes out. I entered the room, that was my little hat over there with that I was not gonna wear, and I saw everybody got the diploma and I came back without my diploma.
[00:15:26] Azhelle Wade: Wait. Oh, so this is, is why when I was writing your bio, we were talking right before this, that you were like, Well, I don't know if I'm technically an alumni.
[00:15:37] Marjorie Spitalnik: Well, I am because one of the things they told me is that you actually like, which, which is, it doesn't make any sense. It was like you graduated, but Teddy Bujo didn't. But I still don't have the diploma, so it doesn't make sense.
[00:15:49] Azhelle Wade: Are you serious?
[00:15:52] Marjorie Spitalnik: Yeah. So I would get the diploma though.
[00:15:55] Azhelle Wade: So. Okay. I have the heartbreaking story. I remember the first time you told it, we were in Vegas at licensing expo and I just, my mouth, which is like on the floor. Yeah. Do you wish, now when you think back at this, at this story that you didn't go back and do Teddy Bujo like he wanted you to, that you just kept and, and pitched Little Rebels at the end?
[00:16:17] Marjorie Spitalnik: I did pitch little Rebels once I was done with Teddy Bujo. I said, by the way, yes. Did this , I think that's what, I think that's actually what isnt him up the most. Ah, that I kept going. Even if he said no, I think that was like, just his breaking point once I, cuz I did pitch the and at the end I was like, if I have three more minutes, I would like to share with you something else that I was working on. Yeah. And I pitched Little Rebels and everything that I did with Little Rebels in those mouths. And I'm pretty sure that hurt his ego or something. Yeah. That's why it came back without the diploma.
[00:16:54] Azhelle Wade: I am so sorry. That is so, it's just so unjust. It's like, and the fact that he even has that kind of power, just one person, I mean, I guess he's prob there might have been a committee that trusted his decision. But how so?
[00:17:09] Marjorie Spitalnik: I have no idea.
[00:17:10] Azhelle Wade: So since I do wanna, I do wanna focus on mental health and, and if this lines up to when we met, please let me know. But after this happened, where were you emotionally, you watching your friends graduate? What happened?
[00:17:26] Marjorie Spitalnik: So that was January, 2019. Mm-hmm. , I came back home completely broken, and it was like, people might say like, This is a silly thing. Why did you get so depressed? Like, I got really depressed. I spent the following three months lying on a couch. I wouldn't even I wouldn't even like stand up to take a bath. Like the only thing that took me off the couch was my daughter and that I had to feed her. And that was it. Like I went, I give her the food, and then I was back in the couch. So I enter a very dark time and I was very depressed.
[00:18:02] So depressed that like regular therapy didn't work. I had to, to go to a hypnosis therapist. Oh wow. To be able to actually leave the trends that I was in cuz medications weren't working and regular therapy wasn't working. And when, whenever people say, How did it get so depressed? Just because it didn't get the diploma, it's not about the diploma itself, No. Mm-hmm. It's that literally like my entire life dream was being lived and then they took it away just like that. Just because they didn't like something, not because it was justified, you know.
[00:18:38] Azhelle Wade: And being an entrepreneur is such a rollercoaster when rollercoaster, like first you're about to be interviewed for being failed for the thing that you're developing the most. Then you're suddenly hailed for something you haven't even started. And then you are suddenly, and then you're suddenly like on this upward trajectory of everyone loves this thing.
[00:18:59] I haven't even started, I better start it. And then suddenly you're just punished for all of it almost. Yes. So I can totally see it's not about the diploma, it's the fact that you went through all of this and then somebody wanted to just like kick you while you were up to the point of, you know, destructions. I, I understand that.
[00:19:16] Marjorie Spitalnik: Yeah. And I, I lost completely faith in myself and what I was doing. Yeah. Like I didn't believe I was capable of doing anything actually, because I was like, what's the point if I build all of this in like a few months for nothing? Cuz that's what I was mentally in at that time. Yeah. Like, yeah. Why should I keep going? Like, I don't wanna keep going anymore.
[00:19:37] Azhelle Wade: And what we have to remind ourselves is you built all of that in a few months. That's like what you should.
[00:19:43] Marjorie Spitalnik: Yeah. Well from August to November. But it, it, like that was the, the foundations of Little Rebels were three months work, something like that.
[00:19:50] Azhelle Wade: So, and that's a thing, like for people, some people that are high achievers, we tell ourselves these story of like, Oh my God, I'm garbage. I can't believe. In, in, I built this thing and then it all just fell apart. And you're like, but we forget to tell ourselves like, I built this thing in three months. I built something in the first place. Like, people don't, people don't normally do that.
[00:20:11] Marjorie Spitalnik: Well, imposter syndrome is something that still I'm very attached to it. It became my very best friend actually. So I'm, I'm struggling to, yeah to make that go away. And I'm not quite sure actually how I got out that place to be honest. Like I do remember a few things that happened that were pretty awesome. So this hypnosis therapist, He used to force me to go like, I have four dogs, I love dogs. They're like my passion. And he used to, and, and Jennifer, in case you hear one, like I have four.
[00:20:42] So so he used to force me to go around the block with one of my dogs and it was like, You have four so just grab one, go around the block just one per time. So it's four times that you're going around the block cuz you have four different dogs throughout the day. And just do that. And it seems silly, but just going outside. Mm-hmm. around the block shaped my mindset. And I remember I was lying on the couch once again, scrolling on Facebook.
[00:21:13] And I see this I, I, I think it was an ad from women in toys saying, Hey, do you have like a toy idea? Would you like to present it like we have Hasbro, Mattel, Walmart. And I was like, Yeah, what the hell? So I applied completely sure that there was no chance I was gonna get selected. Mm-hmm. I just like, I used to apply to a bunch of things. By the way, that's how I got selected with Obama, also with an net on Facebook.
[00:21:40] Azhelle Wade: Oh, my.
[00:21:40] Marjorie Spitalnik: I own a lot to Facebook.
[00:21:43] Azhelle Wade: Don't, don't say that too loud. Mark Zuckerberg will be like, Great pay off.
[00:21:47] Marjorie Spitalnik: Sorry. Yeah, you're, you're right. I didn't say that. So, so I applied and I got selected to go to Dallas in October, 2019 and to the Women Empowerment Day and to pitch all these amazing companies. Mm-hmm. Golia, I don't know. I pitched something. Seven, eight companies, which was amazing. And by that time, the only thing that I had were the four doll samples. Like the app didn't existed, none of the educational contact that we have today existed. So I went there, I, and I was like, What the hell am I doing?
[00:22:25] You had no idea. I never pitch, like I never had to pitch my idea to anybody before. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then they were like, What's your elevator pitch? And I was literally thinking about an elevator. Like there was a lot of things that I had no idea how to do it. Oh my God, I never had to do it before. So I came up with like this booklets where I used to tell the entire story and I had my meetings and then I got the most amazing feedback from every single one of them. And there's especially. I never know how to pronounce his last name, so if he's listening, Adam, please don't hate me. Hottenberg.
[00:23:04] Azhelle Wade: Adam Hocker. Haman. Haman.
[00:23:07] Marjorie Spitalnik: Yeah. I'm sorry. I'm so bad at, I, So Adam.
[00:23:10] Azhelle Wade: I think he's at, he's aware this, but he was at Play Monster then.
[00:23:14] Marjorie Spitalnik: I think he was, He was a play monster at the time. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And I'm not even sure if he knows this. He gave me the most amazing feedback and his feedback was the reason why I added an app to the plushies. And your app is like, Good. It's real good. I was like, I love your dolls. Those are amazing. I think it's a super necessary product. Like do they come with a book? Do they come with a booklet or something that tells me who they are because they're cute. You can look at them at the shelves and they are cute, but we need to know who they are. Mm-hmm.
[00:23:49] So at Dallas I met with Hasin. Hasin he's an Argentinian, he's the developer of, of our app. And I was like, you know what, Hasi I noticed that I need to add content into my dolls because nobody knows who they are. I don't want book. Mm-hmm. . I remember by that time Goodnight stories, Forgers and all those kind of books were kind of in the rice, so I didn't wanna compete with them. Mm-hmm. and Hasi said, Wow, well let's create the app together. So we literally started working on the app at Dallas and three months later we had the app up and running.
[00:24:22] Azhelle Wade: You met him at Dallas?
[00:24:24] Marjorie Spitalnik: No, I knew him already, but we, we saw each other at Dallas. Really? We ran out to each other in Dallas. Oh wow. And we started working on the app while in Dallas. Wow. And then.
[00:24:35] Azhelle Wade: You don't waste any time.
[00:24:36] Marjorie Spitalnik: I met. No, I don't. I'm super anxious. It's possible. And then I met at Dallas. I met the amazing Amanda Go. She is nowadays she's a very close friend, but at the time she was like kind of my godmother fairytale star. I, I don't know how to put her. Like she, she was a life saver. So she also gave me amazing feedback on how to promote it and how to make it like kid likable, I dunno how to build like a real, real toy. Yeah. Yeah. And then we work on the app. And I think it was, yeah, it was, well, March 8th, 2020, I launched the kicker campaign.
[00:25:23] And that's when we met actually. Oh, yes. To raise the funds and produce the first batch of dolls. Mm-hmm. That was March eight, March 13th, the pandemic was declared. Right. And of course, I will never have things easy. Right. And of course, Everybody was concerned about buying toilet paper and frozen pizza. Nobody was actually looking to like back a doll on Kickstarter. So that campaign was extremely hard and I had no idea what I was doing, like, to be honest.
[00:25:53] Azhelle Wade: And you started, you didn't, Yeah. You launched it and you didn't have like a prelaunch runway. You didn't have anything?
[00:26:01] Marjorie Spitalnik: Yeah, nothing. No, nothing. I had absolutely, like everything I know about Kickstarter, I learned after my Kickstarter was over already like , I had no idea what I was doing.
[00:26:11] Azhelle Wade: So wait, I wanna say talking about Facebook, the reason I found Marjorie and knew her Kickstarter was going on and wanted to bring her on my podcast to talk about Little Rebels is because she posted on Facebook and she posted a lot, she posted on LinkedIn. So I saw it the first time. And honestly, I don't know what it was about it. I think your personality came through in your post, not in a, I wanna be friends with her kind of way, but just in a genuine like, I'm a parent that's making something that I think is important, support me here kind of way.
[00:26:42] And in a, this is somebody you felt very like you weren't gonna give up. Like you felt like a very strong, you're here to stay person. So it made me say, Well, I do need someone to come talk about Kickstarter. Let's see how she's doing with her kickstarter. And you, did you fully funded your Kickstarter even though you started late? I did. And had no experience. Insane. Yeah. So how much was your Kickstarter? Do you remember? Was it 9,000?
[00:27:08] Marjorie Spitalnik: Yeah, 10 K. 10,000. No, 10,000. $10,000. And I remember I raised the last $4,000 in the last 48 hours of campaign.
[00:27:17] Azhelle Wade: What? How?
[00:27:18] Marjorie Spitalnik: Which was insane. Yeah. How? Well, I, I'm not even, I don't even know. No, I don't know, honestly, I, I, we did some partnership with other Kickstart campaigns that were going on, so we started giving each other shoutouts. From one page to the other. And that seemed to work a lot. And then I don't know what happened, like seriously, I don't know what happened, but like the last 48 hours were like, I remember being on the computer and seeing like the numbers going up and up and up and up and up. It was like, oh my God, is this gonna stop? I actually raised more money. I raised $12,000. I was asking for $10,000.
[00:27:54] Azhelle Wade: So wait, let me, let's pause because we skipped over something important, especially for our mental health conversation. It sounds like your, your journey kind of went like a sudden spike when you got that unknown coverage and then a fall when you didn't get your diploma. And it sounds like it went back up as you went to Dallas. But that wasn't the case cuz you actually got some, you got great feedback at Dallas, but you actually got something that sent you into another spiral and what was that?
[00:28:19] Marjorie Spitalnik: Yeah, Thank you for that. I, I, I almost forgot that and that was like one of the best feelings I had a few months later. So I was at Dallas and there I was. Super happy with my dolls, like just walking around, showing them off. And then I was outside and this man, and I still don't know his name he approached me and you could tell that he was like an industry veteran. Like he, he had a few, you the vibe. He was working in the Tommy industry.
[00:28:46] He was like the typical guy that I know. It of was like, Show me what you got. And I was like, Oh, I have this, like all said, I have these dos and they did this. And, and another, like once again this Islip like nobody's gonna buy this. Like don't even put an effort on this. You're gonna have them on the shelf next to Elsa, next to Anna and no kid's gonna want this doll.
[00:29:14] Like, don't even go there. And I looked at him with a confidence that I did not have at the time . And I said, You know what? I bet you a lunch that by Dallas next year. Little Rebels is gonna be a huge deal and you've gonna be hurting a lot of us and you're gonna like regret your comments. And he was like, Okay, you're on. So the following year we won the TAGIE's.
[00:29:39] Azhelle Wade: Oh my gosh.
[00:29:40] Marjorie Spitalnik: And we got finalist for the TOTY's award.. Okay. Uhhuh. And. And I went on LinkedIn, which is by the way my preferred social network. Yeah. And I built my entire business thanks to LinkedIn. So I'm super grateful for that. And did hear that LinkedIn and then, so I went on LinkedIn and I shared this story about this woman, this man. And I was like, I'm sorry, I don't even remember your name, but you owe me a lunch. If you're reading this, you owe me a lunch. Then the post went viral, like more than 60,000 people saw that poll. And they started commenting and everything. And among all the comments here shows up, the man saying, You know what? I'm the guy I do owe you a lunch .
[00:30:35] Azhelle Wade: I love that. He, he came forward with it. He was like.
[00:30:38] Marjorie Spitalnik: Love that he came forward also because he could just saw that and shut up and never said anything. Yeah, like just, I, I didn't, like, didn't tag him. I didn't knew his name so he could just go through it without saying anything. But he came through and I was like, Okay, so we'll meet you at Dallas 2020. Of course that did not happen because the pandemic hit.
[00:30:59] Azhelle Wade: And hold on.
[00:31:00] Marjorie Spitalnik: So he still owes me a lunch.
[00:31:02] Azhelle Wade: Somebody in the chat wanted to know about the Dallas Conference. Dallas doesn't happen anymore. Now, New York Toy Fair was moved from February to September, so now New York Toy Fair is gonna be in September. There will be no Dallas. But specifically the event Marjorie's talking about is the Women in Toys Empowerment Day, which will still happen. We're not sure when they're gonna move it to. I actually did a, I worked with them for their last Women Empowerment day and did a pitch series. So look for women in, In Toys Empowerment Day. You can look on my website. We did a, we did a podcast episode. It's worth it all about wit empowerment day. So, yeah. Check that out.
[00:31:35] Marjorie Spitalnik: Yeah, it's truly worth it. Yeah, the entire wit community, it's amazing. So if you have the chance and you're a woman founder, please join. It's, You won't regret it. Yeah. And then.
[00:31:45] Azhelle Wade: You, you blew his spot up on LinkedIn and, and now your entrepreneurial roller coasters back on the Rise. And you.
[00:31:54] Marjorie Spitalnik: Well, yes.
[00:31:55] Azhelle Wade: Yes, yes. Yeah, it was, And then you.
[00:32:01] Marjorie Spitalnik: It was, it was, yeah.
[00:32:02] Azhelle Wade: And then you kept on, you, you did your Kickstarter, you started funding your product and today, like just, I don't wanna ruin it for everybody. Tell everybody like where they can find little Rebels .
[00:32:14] Marjorie Spitalnik: So it's insane as we speak. My dolls are being shipped to Macy's, which is insane. Yeah. So nowadays we are on walmart.com. We're on jane.com. We are at a very own website, which is wearelittlerebels.com. And we just signed two new Rebels who are Gladys Mae West and Gitanjali Rao. And we have a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds to be able to produce them because again, everything we've done with Little Rebels has been a hundred percent bootstrap with no investors behind.
[00:32:48] We are just now looking for investors and partnerships to, to be able to keep growing cuz the demand is growing so fast. Mm-hmm. And I'm like, one of my biggest fear is not being able to actually fulfill the demand. Right. I think that, Everything, most entrepreneurs, biggest fears. So if you're listening to the podcast and you can, and you wanna buy your little re just go buy it from our crowdfunding campaign.
[00:33:10] Azhelle Wade: Yes. Oh yeah. Let share the crowdfund campaign. Here we go. Empowering girls, $1 at a time.
[00:33:15] Marjorie Spitalnik: Two weeks. Yeah. You have all our story there and you have to link on how, That's my daughter. . Well, for the people that are listening to or watching. Yeah.
[00:33:25] Azhelle Wade: So people listening. You can't see. I wanna Yeah, you can see.
[00:33:29] Marjorie Spitalnik: But, well I wanna pause here real quick because you're talking about mental health in the, to industry while we grow our business and everything. And that's something important I wanna highlight. So by the time I started Little Rebels, my daughter was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, anxiety and depression. And she had the hottest two years of her life. Like she was actually hurting herself. I was at the moment, living with my ex-boyfriend. I drop everything and I move out with my daughter just to focus on my daughter.
[00:34:01] So the first two years of Little Rebels we were also trying to figure it out how to help her get better. Mm-hmm. So now, nowadays I can speak without crying because she's doing so much better and she's so happy and she's like, she has her new group of friends and everything, but she's the reason, one of the reasons why I'm always so advocating for mental health and taking the time to actually notice what's going on with you.
[00:34:28] Mm-hmm. , because like, we had no idea she had all this disorder. And pandemic just made it clear, like, I always thought she was in the autistic spectrum. Mm-hmm. , but I had no idea how to diagnose her. And she went so down the road, like she, she was so bad, so bad at that point that I lost my hope and It was very hard to actually pull out little rebels while trying to have my daughter leaving. The suicidal thoughts apart from her. Yeah. I don't that she's doing amazing.
[00:35:02] Azhelle Wade: Oh my gosh. I don't know how you did it. I really.
[00:35:04] Marjorie Spitalnik: Oh, you just keep going. I like, I mean, look at her face. You just keep going. Oh, she's amazing.
[00:35:12] Azhelle Wade: I'm here. I'm.
[00:35:14] Marjorie Spitalnik: You're there. After we met at, at Dallas, cuz I was able to exhibit at Dallas for the first time, which was super fulfilling. Is that the word? I don't know if that's the word, but after, after studying my journey at Dallas, being able to, to actually exhibit at Dallas was like super rewarding. That's the word. Mm-hmm. And then after Dallas, I flew to Denver to meet with our rebel because she's alive, She's a 16 year old scientist and I was able to actually give her, her doll.
[00:35:42] Azhelle Wade: She's a scientist?
[00:35:44] Marjorie Spitalnik: She's an aspiring scientist. She just invented. Oh, aspiring scientist. Okay. She invented I don't, I don't know how to say it. Like something that detects lead in water.
[00:35:53] Azhelle Wade: Are you serious?
[00:35:54] Marjorie Spitalnik: Like she won. Yeah. She won the Earth Prize and she gives workshops on mit, like she's a badass.
[00:36:01] Azhelle Wade: How do you pronounce her first name?
[00:36:05] Marjorie Spitalnik: Gitanjali. No worry. I spent three months trying to learn it. You get her.
[00:36:11] Azhelle Wade: Oh my gosh.
[00:36:12] Marjorie Spitalnik: You're doing well.
[00:36:12] Azhelle Wade: Wow. So, and I am so impressed with the, the people that you get to sign on with your brand. It's just incredible. And we got, we got, we maybe have another one coming soon that we Yes. I'm super excited as well. We have another one time. Yeah, we have, Well you have a couple in works in the works, but we might have gotten one today.
[00:36:28] Marjorie Spitalnik: I do, so yeah, I do. Yeah. Yeah. This is like, the truth is, little Rebels has been like, I think the reason why, I kept going, It is the passion behind it. And why am I doing this? Like without my why? I wouldn't be able to, to keep going for sure. And my why is so much more than myself. Yeah. And like the people that surround me, like my why is to make sure every little girl around the word knows she can be whatever she wants to be.
[00:37:01] Azhelle Wade: So likes that's a great conversation. Like the why everyone says like, you've gotta have your why. And I believe why is important, but as somebody who also gets a mo goes through the entrepreneurial rollercoaster and just says, You know what, I'm just gonna get off. Like, why am I on this rollercoaster? How, how do you stay sure that your why is worth it, you know? For me, I, I have a page on my website that has a bunch of testimonials and as much as it is for people out there to see that students love my program, it's also for me to go back to and, and remind myself like, This is why you do this. Yeah. Like, you know. So what do you do to remind yourself that your why is working that it's worth it? You know, what helps you do that?
[00:37:47] Marjorie Spitalnik: So, one of my favorite things is when parents share with me pictures of their kids with their Rebels. Yes. And what's happening more and more is that our rebels are replacing their lifetime dolls. So they're starting to sleep with the Rebels and they're starting to dress like their rebels. And there's a lot of boys playing with the rebels. Oh. So, , Whenever they send us those pictures, I save them. And I have a folder that it's literally called like Little Rebels. So whenever I'm feeling down and I want to give up, I just go on like that one.
[00:38:22] You're right. It's so cute. So I just go on so that, that picture actually was sent by a mom that she was super hype because she had like the, the vest and, and the, the head and all the goggles from Amil. And she was like, she literally built a plane out of a cartoon box and she's been playing on that plane like for hours. like this is the best gift she have her hat. Okay. I was like, can I use that picture? .
[00:38:46] Azhelle Wade: Well, hold on. Okay. So anyone listening to the episode after we air from the live, go to we are little rebels.com to see what we're talking about, the photo that Marjorie is describing. But now I, and this is where I wanted to go next, like, have you noticed a change in what little girls perceive themselves to be able to be, Because had I had a doll that told me I could be a pilot, I think I would've probably tried to be a pilot. I don't know if I would've been been one, but it for me now as an adult, I'm like, what a cool career.
[00:39:19] Why would I not try that? Yeah, I never thought of myself in that way, but you are making a product that let's little girls think of themselves in that way, and oh, now I'm knowing we have to address why they're little girl versions of the characters too. Okay, so we have a two part. Oh yes. Two part question as well. First part question is, do you see a change either in your daughter or your customers who say, this doll literally is inspiring my daughter to do something different?
[00:39:46] Marjorie Spitalnik: Yes. Yeah, completely. Fun fact, regarding my daughter, she always wanted to be reporter. Oh. And the last year she, she wanted to graduate from Harvard actually, and be a reporter from the New York Times. So if anybody's listening, just reach out. But now, which is amazing, is that she wants to be a marine biologist. Oh. And part of that is because she's been looking for Rebels with me. So we are launching soon we are partnering with another amazing toy company that is called Sure Bodies that they make flush out of recycle plastic. Mm-hmm.
[00:40:25] So by next year we're gonna launch our Little Rebels also done with re recycled plastic. And we are gonna start it withs Earl. So Lulu actually helped me Wow. Look for a lot of information on her, and she was like, Oh my God, I wanna become a marine biologist instead. And I was like, Yeah, sure. Go for it. Like, you can be whatever you wanna be. Yeah. And then parents share with me all the time that like, they're kids after seeing not only playing with adults, but also knowing their stories through the app and through the have Yeah.
[00:40:59] Especially through the app that like they, they go on the videos a lot, so, and they were like, Oh my God. Like my daughter right now, like, there's one of them that, they're two that I love. One of them I actually shared on my LinkedIn a video. She's, her name is Sophie. Mm-hmm. . And she's dressed as a little scientist with her Mary Curie right next to it. So she and her parents, they keep doing this experiments, so I'm pretty sure she'll grow up to become a scientist. Like p you see, I love this. That's amazing.
[00:41:28] Azhelle Wade: But, okay, now we have to.
[00:41:29] Marjorie Spitalnik: Then there's another one.
[00:41:30] Azhelle Wade: Oh, go ahead. Go ahead.
[00:41:31] Marjorie Spitalnik: Yeah, no, no, no. I was gonna take, there's another one that a huge fan of Mary Jackson. So her last birthday party was all set up as NASA theme and everything. Mm-hmm. . And she printed out all the drawings that we have in our app so kids could actually draw them. And she dressed up as Mary Jackson for her birthday. Oh my God. So that's amazing. Like how they can relate to it. And I know, to answer your second question.
[00:41:56] Azhelle Wade: Wait, we were working together. So I'm gonna, I'm looking for, as we're talking a video that I did of. So I'll try to pull that up onto the screen next. Yeah. And yeah, to my second question, why are the dolls, cuz they are little, they're called little rebels. They're designed after iconic real women in history, but they're intentionally designed to look like little girls and there's a reason behind that. What's that reason?
[00:42:20] Marjorie Spitalnik: Yes. So the idea with Little Rebels is not only to empower girls to grow up and become what they can be, but also to relate to them and to understand that Mary Jackson, Amelia, Mary Currie, they were also kids at some point and they were also dreaming of becoming scientists or whatever. So their faces, when you look at them, those big eyes and, and that look alike, they were designed using their pictures when they were. Cause we really want our kids to relate to the dolls and not see them as adults. Like it's easy to make a doll.
[00:42:56] Looking as Mary Currie when she was an adult is a real challenge to be able to actually make a Mary Currie look as a kid. And I think that's why they loved it the most because they look like princesses at some point. Mm-hmm. because they're cute and, and their faces. It's kind of like Disney Princess look alike. Yeah. And they also look like kids, which is, for me, the most important thing. Like, and I, I think that in the design process, my biggest struggle was to make sure they understood their faces, needed to look like kids. So that's where emphasize.
[00:43:30] Azhelle Wade: And I love that. It's so smart. I didn't even think about that as, as a reason, but now we've, since we've talked about your app so much, I'm happy to bring it up on screen. Are you seeing it here? All right. Perfect. Yeah, it's black, but here we go. Okay, so, so I wanna just describe this app real quick. Like, the Little Rebels app is, is in place of a book for, for eco-friendly reasons. Not only just she didn't wanna compete with other rebel books that were out.
[00:43:58] But it was also just, we don't need more paper. Is it necessary? Kids are on their phones anyway. So Marjorie and her partner created this app that you can actually scan a little Rebels doll with your phone and it will pull up the right Little Rebels profile in the app. And there are games and books to read about them in it. So I have a little video here that will show the inner workings of the app. So let's hit play. Mm-hmm.
[00:44:23] Marjorie Spitalnik: That's amazing. See. I, I couldn't hear you. Yeah, we do have, So for those that are just listening to the podcast and are not seeing the app so you can download that if you don't have the doll and you have access to the videos, which are also available on YouTube, but the idea is to share their message. But if you have the doll, Oh, this is so cute. Yeah. And you scan their faces cuz like it works with face recognition, then it's gonna give you access to eBooks. Trivia.
[00:44:52] Azhelle Wade: I think you need to trademark this to like, not face recognition, like plush recognition or something plush.
[00:45:00] Marjorie Spitalnik: Like that trademark that I'm, I'm gonna trademark it right now. As we speak, opening the copyright. And then my favorite feature of all is definitely the augmented reality part of. You get to have the 3D of your doll, like saying hi and waving and everything. And we are now working on adding AI to it so kids can actually talk to the 3D and directly ask like, Hey, Marie, how did you came up with the radio?
[00:45:28] And then like, the 3D will lend. Oh, that's cool. And it also makes sense. It also makes sense because we're developing the TV show. We've been having conversations with Disney plus LATAM for over six months now. So we started producing our animated TV series and it will also interact with the app. So it's pretty cool.
[00:45:50] Azhelle Wade: Ah, this app is amazing. If you're listening, I'm sorry, I will upload the video. Actually no, the video's already live. It's gonna be, it's gonna be uploaded on YouTube. So go to the youtube.com/thetoycoach.
[00:46:01] Marjorie Spitalnik: If you go to Little Rebels, the YouTube from Little Rebels, which is, Oh, you have. Huh. I know slash little. Yeah. You can see how the app works and you also have access to all the videos of all the rebels. Everything is in three different language. Mm-hmm. . There's also, Yeah, so treat quizzes to make sure they understood actually what they, What they saw.
[00:46:19] Azhelle Wade: Yeah. So that was beautiful. I mean, I love your, your app is so well done. It's got trivia baked in facial recognition, and I didn't have a video of the, the 3D doll in the real world because I didn't wanna show my apartment. So that's why that wasn't really, But you have it, you have it on YouTube. If you go, you have it's gonna say hi there.
[00:46:40] Well add all the links in the show notes so we can get some insights. Okay. Let's wrap up this incredible interview today. I wanna ask you my, my closing questions actually, hold on. Let me just check the audience questions. Sure. We haven't seen your comments come in, so we wanna say hello to Karen and Jasmine and AC, who I know had to leave early. Carla did have a quick question and so did Joanna and Erica. Okay. So we have three questions. So Carla's question is, okay, how do you handle inventory?
[00:47:12] Marjorie Spitalnik: Okay. So that's my biggest struggle. Mm-hmm. right now. So I did the kickstart for the first $2,000, which sold out winning less than a year. Wow. And then I got two bank loans to be able to produce the second inventory, which is the one that I have now for $3,000. And now I'm pretty much asking your help with the pro campaign to be able to do more inventory.
[00:47:37] Azhelle Wade: But where do you keep it, I think is her question. Like where do you keep stuff? Like, do you have a three pl?
[00:47:41] Marjorie Spitalnik: Oh, yeah. So originally I used to keep stuck at my home and I'm not gonna scan my office right now because like it's a complete mess, but believe me, there are boxes everywhere. What I did was I partnered with the Warehou in the US there at Dallas. So I'm just shipping directly from China to Dallas. Nowadays the stock and they are sending directly through Dallas every time an order came in. Mm-hmm. .
[00:48:06] Azhelle Wade: Okay, great. And Joanna says, Oh, can you share a link to the crowd funding site? We will. We'll put it in the show notes. I'll edit, I will put it also in our Toy Creators Academy Facebook group. Cause I know that's where you are too, Joanna. So we will Marjorie, if you happen to be in a chat area, I don't think you are and you can send it feel free, but I don't think you are. Can I actually, hold on. Christian is helping me out in this live. Oh yeah, he can send it. I'm gonna give him the link right here. Honey I just put the link in at number nine.
[00:48:37] If you could send that in the chat, wherever you're watching. Thanks, . Oh, oh, thank you. Money. We love you. We love them. Okay. And Erica Erica says something too. Erica says, Health is such an important topic in the industry and one that affects me personally that everybody says we need to think about it. But it seems like no one wants to actually do the talking. Thank you MJ, for authentically sharing your story with us. Oh.
[00:49:01] Marjorie Spitalnik: It's been a pleasure and I agree. We need to talk more about this. I'm a strong advocate on how to actually to talk about this because it affects everybody, especially I think after the pandemic, and this is one of the positive things of the pandemic, the taboo behind mental health. Slowly coming down and people are like more willing to share what they're hap what, what's happening. I'm sorry. Mm-hmm. But whenever you need, I don't know, just to vent or something, you can always reach me out. Like on LinkedIn, on fa, on Instagram, it's MJ speed. Just I'm happy to, to vent with you. I think it's super important to share the experiences that we have and to have like a support group before we go.
[00:49:44] Azhelle Wade: That's seriously, I feel. And also it's like people don't realize, like people like us who you might see in the background, you're like, Wow, they've achieved so much success so much quickly. It's because we are like very extreme people. Like we work really hard. Yeah. And so when things go wrong, we get a little upset so like, it doesn't come Withouts totally upset. Not a little like it doesn't come without, cause this kind of passion and focus does not come without totally like the emotional toll that it takes on you.
[00:50:14] Marjorie Spitalnik: And we are like, the, another thing that I would say is learn. Sooner than later. Mm-hmm. to like celebrate the victories, Like the small victories. Yes. That's something that I was never able to do. Same because I'm so demanding with myself and I always think that I'm not done. Like I haven't done enough yet. So I keep pushing, keep pushing, keep pushing, keep pushing. Yeah. Yeah. Until some point I just like collapse. Mm-hmm. either I get a migraine or I just like fell ill, or I just literally collapsed and start crying my eyes out on the meeting.
[00:50:48] Try to not do that. , try to actually learn how to celebrate the, the, the little things, like for me, it's very hard to acknowledge what I've done until I am with somebody, like right now, sharing everything that we've been doing. Since the beginning of Little Rebels, like I'm talking with you guys while my dos are actually going into Macy's and I'm like, Macy's, Macy insane. And I don't even stop to celebrate that. No. So celebrate the wins.
[00:51:17] Azhelle Wade: So I'm gonna add to that cuz I got some really good advice in my circle, Of course creators that says like, set your goals for like your next big launch or whatever. But set like smaller goals within that bigger goal. So say your bigger goal was to land in Macy's, your smaller goal would be to ship the product. Your smaller goal would be to go visit a store and see it or some smaller goals and set rewards for those smaller goals.
[00:51:43] So like when it. I'm gonna take myself out for dinner or I'm gonna have a girl's night, or I'm gonna do whatever when it when I go to stores to see it, I'm going to buy myself a bracelet. I don't, something like that. And it forces you to, to, to not have to reach like, some astronomical achievement just to like give yourself some joy and some grace. So.
[00:52:06] Marjorie Spitalnik: That's actually an excellent advice. And I see Amanda and the Chad, same inspirational stuff doing You too. Pop her up. Great. Part of this is thanks to you Amanda, so I own her so much. Well both of you actually Azhelle help me a lot making Little Rebels what it is today and I couldn't be here actually without the support of so many people and I learned what you're saying about the. In Vegas actually, that I was living all these amazing things and on Vegas, I landed this amazing deal for the TV series.
[00:52:39] Mm-hmm. . And we thought at the moment that we had raised money that didn't end up like that. But at that time I was with somebody that said to me like, I, I used to like, I love Pandora, like the brand. And I always wanted a bracelet from Pandora with like, Toy eye comes on it, and I kept saying like, It's too expensive.
[00:53:00] I cannot afford it. I cannot afford it. And while in Vegas, this guy turned out to me and saying, You know what? You really deserved it. Oh, like you spent three years on it. Like, go buy yourself a bracelet. So I went to Pandora and I actually got myself a bracelet, and I was half guilty of that deal. I was like, Oh my God, I got my Pandora bracelet.
[00:53:20] Oh shoot, this is gonna be like a hundred dollars last next month. That's okay. Like I deserve it. Oh. And it's hard to actually know when you deserve something or recognize it and like just bring the reward back to you. So yeah, if you can. Go out for dinner, buy the Pandora bracelet, like life is only one. Money comes and go and yeah.
[00:53:41] Azhelle Wade: It really does. Money comes and goes.
[00:53:42] Marjorie Spitalnik: I, I see there's, there's a.
[00:53:44] Azhelle Wade: I have another question. That's one more question. Yeah. So, did your background in advertising influence the design of your dolls? What made you go with this particular style from Scott Fellow Toy Creators Academy person, by the way. Hi, Scott.
[00:53:57] Marjorie Spitalnik: Yeah. That's a great question. I'm pretty sure at some point it, it did. I'm, I'm, I don't know if, like, I'm completely aware of it. Like it's not something that I learned through my advertising and I say, Okay, I need to do this. But maybe like the methodology that I use when I work with the designer and the way I brief the instructions that I wanted, that's for sure.
[00:54:19] Know how to brief your designer Yes. Is a much needed skill. Yes. Cause like one thing is what you have in your mind and your head. And the other thing is what you're able to actually transmit, articulate to the other person so the other person can actually understand what you want. Yeah. Yeah. And I remember I told him, like I, I brief him and he came back with four different styles and I was like, they need to look just like Disney princesses because they're gonna compete with Disney princesses.
[00:54:48] Even though I'm doing all the opposite. The opposite. Me. Princesses . Yeah. But they need to look just like them because their own shelves, even if they don't know who AME heart. They're gonna look so cute. Kids will wanna buy them either way and then they will learn that that's Amelia when they download the app and they read the story and they learn more.
[00:55:10] So like the educational part comes after the purchase. Mm-hmm. . But at the moment they're competing in the shelves. They need to look just like Disney Princess. Mm-hmm . And that's why also I chose the factory that I chose cuz when I was looking for factories without having any idea, by the way, how to do this. So don't ask me, I just went on Alibaba and looked for factories.
[00:55:31] Azhelle Wade: Well now you can join to Creators Academy for vetted factory list. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:55:38] Marjorie Spitalnik: I learned everything I know after I already started this to you. I know. So then what I did is I went online and I looked for factors that had worked with big brands and I found this one that had Disney among their clients. And I was like, so if they're able to do Disney princesses, they're gonna be able to do this plushies. Yeah. That look just like. Right. And did I answer that?
[00:56:00] Azhelle Wade: No, you did. That was perfect. And I, Yeah, his question was pretty much what made you go with that particular style, and it was such a smart choice. So many toy creators get enamored with their own idea that they forget their idea has to compete in the existing market. So something you're doing has to align with what's already there and then you differentiate, Right? So I love exactly, you, you became created a, an opposite brand, but you made it look like it fit right in with what the market was used to and comfortable with. Genius that your market background for sure.
[00:56:32] Marjorie Spitalnik: The background in advertising was it helped more influential on the branding than the dolls.
[00:56:38] Azhelle Wade: Okay. I don't agree from what you said, but, so what I think influenced you is the research. Most new toy creators don't go into the research, but I think your background, you already knew how to do the research, so.
[00:56:53] Marjorie Spitalnik: Probably, yeah.
[00:56:55] Azhelle Wade: All right, let's get in also instinct ins. Well, yes, you are good at this. . Let's get into our closing questions. We're coming up on the hour. You already gave us incredible advice for mental health, so I don't wanna ask you a, a second advice question, but I, I do have to ask like, what was the best piece of advice that you got throughout your entire journey as an entrepreneur? Little Rebel rebels, Teddy Bujo through the whole thing.
[00:57:22] Marjorie Spitalnik: Wow. I have to be very honest on this. And the best piece of advice I think I give you to myself. Oh. Because throughout all these years, nobody actually believed in what I was doing. Not even with and not with Little Rebels. So I didn't get that many advices from people that were surrounding me, like not friends, family, up until like, I was already a success.
[00:57:49] But in the beginning, It's usually when you need it the most. Mm. Most people actually didn't came to encourage me and one point, actually one of my best friends looked at me with Little Rebels and she was like, You know what, you just need to stop doing this and go back to your night five job. Oh no.
[00:58:04] And of course we are no longer friends, but at the time that shocked me a lot. And I was like, seriously? Like I'm just getting started. So my best advice is actually something that I learned from Simon Sinek. Mm-hmm. . And it's always listen to your why because, and, and that's why I push so much with the why all the time.
[00:58:25] Azhelle Wade: What is your why?
[00:58:26] Marjorie Spitalnik: As you're saying empowering girls all over the world to become the next generation of female leaders? That's, and and that's something that I feel at every cell of my bodies. Like if I can make at least one girl. Become a scientist or a pilot or whatever she wants because that's what she wants, then my job is done.
[00:58:49] Mm. And so what happens is, as you were mentioning before, like entrepreneurship, the entrepreneurial road is a rollercoaster of emotions. Mm-hmm. . And it's very hard to keep yourself up here all the time. Like most likely you'll be down here like most of the times and you've been struggling, and you'll be like probably opening the second bottle of wine of the day just looking for resources like to help at risk of becoming an alcoholic. Now I'm kidding.
[00:59:15] Azhelle Wade: Lately my, my guilty pleasure has been pecan pie, so.
[00:59:19] Marjorie Spitalnik: Well, there you go. So everybody has a guilty pleasure. But there are times that you're not like, you're gonna be facing situations that you had no idea how to overcome or you're gonna be having, like in my case that I'm dealing with China, like it's 2:00 AM in the morning and I'm still talking to the factory and I, oh my gosh, like super sleepy and I'm trying to handle something with the factory.
[00:59:39] So all those kind of situations that makes you wanna just crawl down into a fetal position and cry mm-hmm. . And you cannot do that. You can't do it. The only thing that will stop you from doing that is your why. Cause if you are on this to make money, none of that will like actually matter when the time comes.
[00:59:59] Cause like when things get really, really hard, the only thing that's gonna keep you going is the pictures of this kid dressed up as pilots. Or in your case, all the testimonials that you have from the student that join your academy and so on. So for each one of us, it's gonna be like, why are you doing this?
[01:00:15] But like, the real why behind you're doing this. Mm-hmm. , and not only like, I wanna become like a famous brand and make a lot of money and mm-hmm. , like that's not a why. Yeah. You, you need to find the the what? And I always put this example, If somebody calls you at 4:00 AM in the morning with a problem with your company, will you wake up from the bed to answer it? Yes or no? Yeah. If your answer is yes, it's because you have a why behind. If your answer is, I would deal with it in the morning is because you don't have a why.
[01:00:45] Azhelle Wade: So the reason why I was messaging you at 2:00 AM last night and my husband had to drag me to. I guess I have a why ?
[01:00:52] Marjorie Spitalnik: You do have a why.
[01:00:54] Azhelle Wade: No, no. I have a why? I have a why not.
[01:00:56] Marjorie Spitalnik: Lucky enough. You, you're just not lucky enough that I was a happiest sleeper and Oh my gosh. I only read that this morning.
[01:01:03] Azhelle Wade: But I only message you cuz you're literally always awake. So .
[01:01:08] Marjorie Spitalnik: I knows last night I was, I was sick, so I wasn't in bed's. Fine. No, no, it's fine. Fine. Usually doesn't happen
[01:01:14] Azhelle Wade: You should be in bed. All right, our last question. I ask all of our guests, What toy blew your mind as a kid?
[01:01:24] Marjorie Spitalnik: Dang it, I like, blew my mind because I, I really loved it or because.
[01:01:32] Azhelle Wade: Whatever, like, you remember it for some reason, maybe it was so weird or crazy or cool. Or just blew your mind.
[01:01:40] Marjorie Spitalnik: So I, I go with this since like, I've been playing with this entire interview actually. How do you, It's a ksh ball. It's a K ball. So K balls was one of my favorite, but I, I have to say this, Linky.
[01:01:53] Azhelle Wade: Oh, that's a good one. Yeah. I could see that blowing
[01:01:56] Marjorie Spitalnik: kid mind. I love the fact that I could put it in the top of the stair will go down like stuff. I was like, what the hell? Oh my gosh. It has the light on his own.
[01:02:05] Azhelle Wade: That was invented by someone else outside of the toy industry too, so that's cool. Yeah. Someone who didn't, who didn't begin in
[01:02:12] Marjorie Spitalnik: the, I thought he was from the toy industry.
[01:02:14] Azhelle Wade: No, he worked What did he work for? In like some, like, not nasa, He worked in like an army base or something and he was experimenting with a bunch of materials and he dropped a spring on the floor and it bounced and then he was like, Oh yeah, what? That's not, I have to look up. I can't remember his name right now, but yeah. Yeah. Nice.
[01:02:38] Marjorie Spitalnik: Mm-hmm. , that one. And the other one that I used to love a lot is, was the, , How is it? The e sketch?
[01:02:46] Azhelle Wade: Yeah. I hated that I couldn't do it. E a sketch, . It drove me insane. Oh my gosh. Itri it. Just thinking about
[01:02:54] Marjorie Spitalnik: it. But it was amazing. Like you had like a little square and then lines were just like, I was very bad at designing anything, but it was very fun to just roll the, the little thingies and then have the, the drawing coming up. So those are my three favorite toys.
[01:03:10] Azhelle Wade: I'm sorry. Thank you. No, it's okay. We got three. That's great. Well, Marjorie, today's conversation was incredible. I am so happy to finally get you on the podcast and look at the presentation we did. This is amazing. I love this. Oh my God.
[01:03:26] Marjorie Spitalnik: Its like your very first live.
[01:03:27] Azhelle Wade: Yes, we've done it kind of test live, but this is like a legit production today. So thank you so much for coming on here, having an important conversation around mental health. I know that once we air this episode, even more people are gonna engage with it. Where can people learn more about Little Rebels and where can they reach out to you if they need to talk to you?
[01:03:49] Marjorie Spitalnik: So they can go to We are little rebels.com or we are little rebels on social media. And then to reach out to me, just look for MJ Ponic on Instagram and Facebook and then I think I'm as Marris Ponic on LinkedIn just shut, like text me or whatever. I'm more than happy to answer all your questions and help whatever way I can.
[01:04:14] Azhelle Wade: Yes, Marjorie's. Awesome.
[01:04:16] There you have it. That was my interview with the amazing Marjorie Spitalnik, founder and CEO of Little Rebels. As we wrap up today's episode, I want to focus on a conclusion that addresses mental health. Creating a toy or game product on your own is absolutely no easy task. The road of entrepreneurship, whether you're making a toy product or providing a. In the toy industry, whatever path of entrepreneurship you're on is a rollercoaster.
[01:04:52] So I hope that this episode, this talk with Marjorie, allowed you to see that you're not alone. If you're feeling the ups and downs of that rollercoaster, and remember what Marjorie said, you're likely gonna spend a lot of time in the down position on that rollercoaster, but what's gonna help you keep moving forward is your why. so, if you don't have a clear why for your toy business, whether it's a product or a service, I want you to get working on that this week.
[01:05:23] What is going to pick you up, dust you off, and keep you focused even when that rollercoaster has a sudden drop? Why are you creating the product you're creating? To grab all of the links mentioned in today's episode, including the website, we are little rebels.com, the link to where you can buy Little Rebels on walmart.com, the link to support their crowdfunding campaign, which at the time this episode airs is still live. So you can still support Little Rebels and to get Marjorie's info to contact her head over to thetoycoach.com/151.
[01:06:02] All of the links you need will be waiting for you there. Plus we've got a link to the video recording of this podcast waiting for you there as well. So if you wanna see some of the cool things we were pointing out and mentioning while we were chatting in this episode and you're listening to the podcast, wondering what we're talking about, well head over to thetoycoach.com/151 and look for a link to our YouTube channel. It will also be in the mentioned in this area. If you wanna skip all that, you wanna head right on over to YouTube, go for it.
[01:06:36] It's just youtube.com/thetoycoach. And then you wanna hit the tab that says Live, and you'll see all of the past recordings. And if there's an upcoming live podcast recording, you'll see it there and you can be notified when it goes live. If you love this podcast, but you haven't already left us a review, what are you waiting for? Your reviews mean so much to me. They keep me motivated to keep coming back week after week.
[01:07:05] So wherever you are listening to this podcast, Please leave us an amazing review. They come to my phone and it puts a huge smile on my face when I see them come through. As always, thank you so much for spending this time with us today. I know there are a ton of podcasts out there, so it truly means the world to me that you keep tuning into this one. Until next week, I'll see you later toy people.
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