Episode #161: Father-Daughter Duo Develops Handy Famm, Un-boring Tools For Kids
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Think of a time when you were shopping for a product and just thought to yourself, “Ugh, all of the options are boring, or not that cute, or they don’t work the way I need them to.” You’re creative, so you probably thought of a great way to improve that product at that moment. But, maybe you wondered if you could really do everything that goes into creating a successful product in the toy industry. Keep listening to learn the inspiring story of someone who did just that.
Josh White is an award-winning innovator who combines strategy, branding, marketing, packaging design, manufacturing, and toy creation at his creative agency, OffWhite Co. He created a line of kid-friendly measuring tapes called Handy Famm after a dissatisfying trip to the hardware store with his daughter. This is a great example of how the best toy ideas come from the world around us and our everyday lives. In today’s episode, you will learn how sticking with the “box” of what you know can actually help you to get started with your ideas. You’ll also learn how Josh’s product is toyetic, the importance of safety in toy design, and how Josh deals with challenges that come his way in the toy development process.
EPISODE CLIFF NOTES
Learn about the first time Josh got to innovate in the toy industry. [00:05:38]
Find out the story behind Handy Famm’s inspiration. [00:10:44]
Learn the toyetic properties included in Handy Famm’s products and ideas. [00:13:58]
Find out how Josh used Kickstarter to see if his product could be successful. [00:16:00]
Learn what safety considerations went into creating the tape measures. [00:18:27]
Find out how challenges can actually be a good thing. [00:21:20]
Learn what Handy Famm did to become the number one measuring tool on Amazon. [00:23:57]
Find out how Josh takes the steps to bring his ideas to life. [00:29:27]
Learn how using what you know can help you to start on your ideas. [00:32:16]
Find out where to get a special promo code for Handy Famm. [00:36:59]
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This episode is brought to you by www.thetoycoach.com
Visit Handy Famm’s website by clicking here.
Follow Handy Famm on Instagram here.
Visit the agency’s website OffWhite Co by clicking here.
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[00:00:06] Azhelle Wade: 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. Our guest today is named Josh White and he's created a line of real tools that are right sized for kids.
[00:00:36] I'm excited to introduce Handy Famm to you, and it's described as an un unboring way to perform home construction and decor jobs, from building repairs to hanging pictures and everything in between. Now, first I've gotta introduce you to Josh. Josh White is an award-winning innovator with a proven track record of more than two decades, helping brands find their secret sauce, bringing a unique perspective that challenges the status quo of everything he touches.
[00:01:01] He combines effective strategy, brand positioning, product invention, toy creation, manufacturing, and packaging with innovative marketing strategies. Josh White has worked with some of the world's biggest brands from Fortune 500 companies to startups, including Chobani, Maple Hill Organic, Local Bounti, Nightfood Ice Cream, Jordan, JetBlue, and served as a creative director for Stars Children TV Animation Division. The Handy Famm concept was sparked when Mr. White and his daughter noticed a lack of kid-focused hardware tools, and that's why this product caught my eye.
[00:01:34] Josh, welcome to the show. Happy to have you.
[00:01:37] Josh White: Thank you. Really, really excited to be here.
[00:01:39] Azhelle Wade: Yeah, I'm excited to have you here. So, I don't remember. I think I saw your product on LinkedIn and I just thought it was cute. I just thought it was cute, and honestly, that's the main reason why it caught my eye. And then when I looked into it, you sent me a sample. Thank you. Now I have two of my own. I love the way that you made the design functional, like the level of the bird's eye, and then the tongue and the safety features. Like I watched all your videos. I love it. I'm excited to hear your story of how you got into wanting to make a toyetic product. So glad to have you here.
[00:02:10] Josh White: Sure.
[00:02:11] Azhelle Wade: Okay. To start out, I've gotta ask, what is your title full-time on the side of Handy Famm?
[00:02:19] Josh White: So I actually run a creative agency called Off-White. And we kind of bring brands to life. Every, strategic piece of it.
[00:02:28] Azhelle Wade: Yeah.
[00:02:29] Josh White: So research, positioning of the company, into the idea phase. So we help kind of visualize it and the idea could be anything from, you know, packaging innovation or product innovation, or just even digital or brand innovation.
[00:02:44] And then we do that just with great design. So, my background is in design, and so everything's gotta just look great. And then we take that and we bring that to manufacturing, and then after we get through that, we we kind of bring it to market. So we kind of do that spectrum for others.
[00:03:02] And so that's kind of what we do on a daily basis.
[00:03:05] Azhelle Wade: did you, did you ever work on toy products before? Was this like your first kind of foray in the toy industry?
[00:03:11] Josh White: Yeah, it's a great question. I guess to understand that you kinda have to go back a little bit. My background started in traditional design; building brands. And I kind of got an interesting opportunity somewhere along the line to get into the movie industry. And I got to work with some really cool cats, like Christopher Reeve (Superman) Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams.
[00:03:35] And sort of that kind of opened my mind up for storytelling. And specifically I was focused on 3D animated properties. So what was really cool is that I was, you know, I took the knowledge of kind of branding and positioning and that kind of world, combined that with making stuff in 3D like space, digitally and you know, talking items.
[00:03:58] And then fast forward from that as the property started to need swag and the movies needed things, I started developing a pipeline in Asia and around the world to make things.
[00:04:10] Azhelle Wade: What? Wait.
[00:04:11] Josh White: Started doing plush toys and
[00:04:13] Azhelle Wade: Well, hold on. So you were working in the animation side, like what stage of the animation?
[00:04:19] Josh White: It was from concept all the way to kind of movie making, you know…
[00:04:23] Azhelle Wade: So you were coming in as like as a consultant?
[00:04:24] Josh White: making it all the way till the end. 3D animated stuff.
[00:04:26] Azhelle Wade: Wow.
[00:04:27] Josh White: Ieah, I got an opportunity to actually work in the industry, like work at Starz and, you know, lead some, lead some of the creative over there.
[00:04:36] Azhelle Wade: Wow. Okay, so then you're working, touching every aspect of 3D animation, but you thought, you know what? That's not enough. I wanna touch every aspect of physical product also, and created a pipeline. Did you start, like you built a team that was gonna start sourcing and costing products, like you did all of that?
[00:04:53] Josh White: Yeah,
[00:04:54] so initially I just did it myself. I just kind of plot myself in foreign countries. Started to build relationships. Started, this is before Alibaba or you know, things that did it for you to some degree. And just kind of built relationships and spoke to people, went to shows, learned about, you know, what a plush toy is, you know, what is tooling, what is, you know, anything like that.
[00:05:17] And because, you know, I think innovatively and I challenge, you know, the way things are done, I started to get a kind of a name that I, you know, I know how to do this thing. So I would do one thing and that would lead to the next thing. And sort of that kind of evolved itself in a very interesting way.
[00:05:34] Azhelle Wade: So, do you remember the first kids product that you did?
[00:05:38] Josh White: Yeah, so early on I got connected to, I had an opportunity to make a difference in the airline industry and the airline industry at the time and probably even still till today really didn't have, you know, the, you know, those in-flight carts. So there's really no. Well crafted items. You know, there were like diamond rings and, you know, other jewelry, you know scarves you could buy in flight and some really badly designed toy products.
[00:06:07] And so I saw an opportunity over there to really kind of dig in. And I created an item. That it was called Newbie, Newbie Plane and the plane kinda was a prototype that I patented and made its way and got dressed up in, you know, the colors of Singapore Airlines and, and Malaysia Airlines and American Airlines and started developing a whole kind of….
[00:06:35] Azhelle Wade: Is it still out there?
[00:06:36] Josh White: this whole world around it. No, not anymore, I think, yeah, that was a while ago.
[00:06:40] Azhelle Wade: I'm trying to get picked. I'm trying to, I wanna visualize this. That's why I'm like, what was this Newbie Plane?
[00:06:45] Josh White: Yeah,
[00:06:46] Azhelle Wade: Give me a visual.
[00:06:48] Josh White: I can get you some photos.
[00:06:49] Azhelle Wade: I mean, tell me, Describe it. Describe it. What was it?
[00:06:51] Josh White: Oh, it was like a, it was a cute little character. It had its own little personality. It you know, had a whole world around him and he had friends like Hightower. It was his guiding light. And he had Tug that used to like, you know, push him along the runway when he was feeling down and, you know, so just kind of created this story about this character.
[00:07:14] Azhelle Wade: That is really cool. I mean, okay. I didn't realize that what I was getting when I got the critter of Handy Famm. This is pretty cool. Wow. You had a whole story. So did you consider yourself specifically a toy person at any point while you were going through this journey?
[00:07:31] Josh White: Yeah. I think, you know, because of kind of where the trajectory of my life, I think I'm more of a disruptor of categories. I think that's a better way to frame it. Because I'm constantly doing different things and I'm involved in all types of products. And from coffee to you know, whatever, you know, and name a thing.
[00:07:52] I've tried to experiment with it. And so I try to get like ideas coming to life; a solution-oriented type of idea. And so that's how I would consider myself, and I think Toy Maker is in that because I've done that.
[00:08:05] Azhelle Wade: Right, it's part of that. So I wanna know now, what do you think is the most disruptive thing you've done to like, 3D animation?
[00:08:11] Josh White: Oh, in 3D animation? I think it's not so much in the 3D animation, but you know, I was involved early on in motion capture, so I got to, you know, experiment with, putting little things on people's body and then kind of being the Cabbage Patch Kid working with Xavier Roberts the guy who signs all the butts of Cabbage Patch and, you know, building a property around that.
[00:08:36] So, you know, just I think the usage of it and innovation in the sense, you know, not world changing, but innovation in the sense that it's impacted the people that I've been around or the consumers that I've played with.
[00:08:50] Azhelle Wade: And then in the toy space, I'm curious if there's something that pops into your mind when you think, how you disrupted that space? Maybe it's the, the plane concept, the Newbie Plane but I'm just curious if there's something that pops into your mind, like, oh yeah. When we came out with that product, like people loved it.
[00:09:04] Josh White: Yeah. since I wasn't doing exactly that trajectory. I think it was more, you know, within corporations or more within the clients and the partners that we've been involved with in specifically in the toy category. I've worked with like Michael Jordan on some cool things that disrupted things at the time, but you know. Yeah.
[00:09:26] Azhelle Wade: Well, now I wanna know what the Michael Jordan project was. I wanna know how that…
[00:09:28] Josh White: Can’t tell you that.
[00:09:31] Azhelle Wade: What? Oh, you can't, it's a secret. Oh, okay.
[00:09:36] Josh White: No. We came up with we came up with a headphone that had some really cool technology in it that kind of disrupted the world. We ended up kinda keeping it off the radar for a little bit.
[00:09:46] Azhelle Wade: Oh, interesting. So how does your process work? Like where do you find your source of inspiration once you find it? What do you do next? Like how do you develop these ideas into real physical product?
[00:09:57] Josh White: So I, you know, Handy Famm is a little bit different in that sense. But you know, typically if we're working with someone that, you know, wants to change something they'll come to us and we'll go through the process that, you know, looks at what the opportunity is within that category.
[00:10:15] We do the research for that. We try to you know, develop whatever that product process is gonna be. Like I said, the widget or the, the technology. And then kind of bring it to life from there. You know, good design,great packaging, and just, you know, go to market, how to tell the story. So we've done that with yogurt, done that with cottage cheese, done that with, you know, any slew of things that could kind of tell that story.
[00:10:44] So Handy Famm was a little different in the sense that, you know I happened to be just kind of working on something in the house and I was working with my daughter my daughter Hova, and she she was 12 at the time, and we kind of went we needed something from a hardware store. Went to the hardware store, started walking up and down the aisles, and we were just kinda looking and, and everything seemed to be very generic, just really not standing out as something interesting.
[00:11:09] So we started kicking around just for fun, you know what if this could be something that's you younger demographic and something that's, you know, for her age group, you know? And so we came to the tape measure aisle and you know, a wall of tape measures hundreds of, no, not hundreds, but lots of tape measures on the wall.
[00:11:30] And you know, either it looked like a cheap item that, you know, you would just kinda, put it in your drawer and forget about it. Or it was a super expensive contractor, you know, with laser level and all types of stuff, but nothing had something exciting that, you know, you wanted as a younger person to get to get excited about.
[00:11:49] Azhelle Wade: Definitely nothing toyetic, right? Nothing in there.
[00:11:53] Josh White: That's correct. That's correct. And so, you know, at the end of the day we just kinda started, you know, I took this back to my team, my creative team, and said, listen, you know, there's something that we can hit on here that's exciting and said, you know, we need to take that step.
[00:12:08] We need to be the ones that go out there and, you know, change things, shake things up a little bit within this category. And so that started a pipeline kind of using some of my knowledge of storytelling, character development, you know, that whole world. We kinda started to say, okay, what type of characters would best represent that?
[00:12:27] And we knew that, you know, if we're gonna go for a tape measure, it's gotta come out of the mouth, you know, the tape measure has to come out of the mouth somehow. It's gotta be the mouth. And then we just, you know, through a process of creative elimination, we realized that, you know, we needed something iconic. Really the, the thing that became the iconic shape was, I don’t know if you can see it here…
[00:12:52] So, you know, the thing that became the iconic shape was the eye, the eye shape. And so that became, you know, what we realized was gonna be something that, you know, we could build on. And you know, if you have that anchor, if you have that thing that really tells the story, that's the thing that we could build the world out of.
[00:13:10] I'll bring an example of…I like to think about product and product brand architecture as a horizontal and a vertical kind of thought process. And so what I mean by that is you can have a yogurt, and the yogurt is a plain yogurt. Flavor, plain yogurt. Right. And you know, to build horizontally on that, you would take, you know, strawberry and that would be on that horizontal platform you would take blueberry and that would be on the horizontal platform.
[00:13:43] And so you would have sort of this middle tier that you could bust out and keep growing and growing and do mango and do chai and you know this and that, but how do you kind of tell the story differently? And so, you know, you would look at, let's say a kids' line. So then you would start thinking about kids' product.
[00:13:58] Azhelle Wade: I have to give you a, a huge high five for the development. I was wondering if you'd heard of the toyetic principles that I, I mean, I'd coined these, so I didn't expect you to have heard of them. But you hit so many of them with like the unique and distinct character personalities, kind of a callback.
[00:14:14] Power Rangers, right? Like every character has their own name and colorway. And then you've got this theme, this like, the eye. So at first I was thinking it was like the animal theme, but now talking to you like, okay, you've got this icon that's gonna be your theme that I guess we'll see expand through your other characters.
[00:14:31] And then I feel the accessories angle is how important of a detail you made this tongue. You were like no, it has to come out of the mouth. That's like gonna be the fun and the wow factor and the surprise factor is also because it's a real working tool. It looks like a toy, but it's a real working tool for kids.
[00:14:46] I didn't even notice the level was the eye in the first place till I got the package that is genius. I mean, I just love it. So I have a couple of questions. One, I'm wondering what made you so confident to invest into creating a product like this for such a narrow space in the market.
[00:15:04] Was it really that you just looked at, you know, all the tape measures and you just thought, we can make a tape measure and that's it? Or did you think we can make a tape measure, but I see this as being something bigger that we can expand later? What was the point where you thought it was like financially worth it to really dive into something?
[00:15:21] Josh White: You know, at the end of the day you don't know anything, we don't know anything. We just kind of try stuff and, but, you know, I had sort of this, this level of confidence that, you know, there is a market to look at.
[00:15:36] And we did do some focus groups early on actually. You know, we took this serious, like, so we did some focus groups and we had an 87% purchase intent by, you know, basically moms with kids in the demographic that we're talking about, both boys and girls. And so, when I saw that and I saw the feedback that they gave, I said, “Hmm, you know, okay, this is definitely something that we should start to experiment.”
[00:16:00] And we, we did a Kickstarter early on just to kind of see like, you know, is there an interest even, not even so much for the money so much, but just even to understand like, do people like this? And it was successful and it got funded .
[00:16:14] Azhelle Wade: I didn't know about your Kickstarter. Tell me more.
[00:16:16] Josh White: We did around $10,000. It was just a, you know, a number just to kind of show, you know, to help a little bit with with some of the tooling charges and just kind of get us, you know, to see if people would be behind us. And also, you know, to help with some of the early costs.
[00:16:30] And ultimately once we saw that there was some type of interest in it, then I realized that, you know, it's time to really, you know, tool it up, do it right. And we put a lot of time into that. And so it was less about hitting a deadline per se, and more about kinda, you know, getting it right so that, you know, we could launch something. And honestly, you know, getting it right sounds like very perfectionist style.
[00:16:58] I, I think that really what people need to do is, you know, get it to a point where, It's, you know, it's got all the parameters: it's safe, it's it's cute, it's, you know, it's lovable. And then get it out to market. And then you could, you know, hear feedback, listen to what people say, and then refine it even more and more and more.
[00:17:17] And so, so I, I think that this is, this is not the end, even for the bird. I think we're just gonna keep learning and get better and better, you know, as we go.
[00:17:28] Azhelle Wade: Yeah, I, so I have a couple of things I wanna comment on. I want you to talk a little bit about that safety feature, especially in the tongue. But first I have to just comment on the packaging. I don't wanna open mine because I just love the package so much. I feel like…I mean, it really finishes the little character with the body and it frames him.
[00:17:45] It's like a frame, it's like a display piece. I don't know if I'll open them, but like, I, I think this something that…
[00:17:53] Josh White: You gotta open them. You gotta use it.
[00:17:55] Azhelle Wade: This is some of the best packaging I've seen in a while. Like it's, I feel like every inch is used and used well. Like even the back, like how it's spec is telling you like how to use it.
[00:18:07] Like the angle finder and the measure. Like it's just so well, I mean, bravo, it's so well designed. It's so neat. I really like it. So, aside from that, I did see on your website when you were developing this, you said you did have a concern about like a pinch point here. So, can you talk through that a little bit?
[00:18:24] Because safety is always something that scares people off when they're starting their new toy product.
[00:18:27] Josh White: Yeah, I think that one of the things that was really top of mind was the typical tape measure really zips back really fast, and we wanted to find a material that even if that happened, would not be, you know, dangerous to any specific degree. And so we went sort of with that fiberglass, you know, design is something that, not only has that satisfactory you know, kind of feel, but it also is very soft. It's durable. It's got sort of that, feeling in it. At the end of the day, that is really, you know, making sure that, listen, I have, I dunno if I mentioned it. I have six kids.
[00:19:09] Azhelle Wade: Oh my goodness.
[00:19:11] Josh White: And I actually have two grandchildren.
[00:19:13] One was just born a month ago.
[00:19:15] Azhelle Wade: Oh, congratulations. Oh, you're a young grandpa. Okay. Six kids. I'm over here trying to decide about one. You're out here having six. I'm like one kid. I don't know, man.
[00:19:30] Josh White: Well, they keep me, they keep me young.
[00:19:32] Azhelle Wade: Yeah, they do!
[00:19:33] Josh White: And they're definitely my focus groups. They're definitely my focus groups. And now you understand why I need to come up with products that are interesting and exciting.
[00:19:40] Azhelle Wade: Yeah.
[00:19:41] Okay. Cool.
[00:19:42] Josh White: you know, we wanna make sure that, they're not from the youngest of them, to the oldest of them, that there's something that is really, safe and not only safety on, you know, the tape measure piece of it.
[00:19:57] But just overall, like we've had two outside agencies be looking over the shoulder of our manufacturing, getting it certified you know, and just other people, I usually used to go five, six times a year to, you know, the plant itself. But because of, you know, obviously obvious problems, that's harder now.
[00:20:14] But, but we have people on the ground that are kind of delivering outside reports about it. So that's kind of been an important piece because it's a kid thing, you don't wanna mess around with that. And as we grow and build our retail strategy, I just I wanna make sure all those things are checked properly.
[00:20:32] Azhelle Wade: Did you have any struggle at all in the process of building this product? You have so much experience and this seems relatively simple. Did you guys struggle at all?
[00:20:40] Josh White: I think anyone who says that they took on a project and it was super easy is probably. I don't, I don't wanna say it. Every process is difficult. You know, anyone who tells me, yeah, it's, it, it took me really quick is, is questionable. I think at the end of the day we spent, you know, a lot of time.
[00:20:57] Refining listening. You know, there's constant problems at every stage of the process both from making it to getting, you know, samples to samples getting lost you know, during production you know, to shipping it into a manufacturing shipping it into a channel and, you know, the, the box disappeared and, you know, what do you do?
[00:21:19] Azhelle Wade: What?
[00:21:20] Josh White: You know, so these, these, we, you know, you learn these different things that happen along the way. But you know what, I feel that these are not challenges. What I've found is, you know, because you learn from each of these happenings, let's say, you become smarter. You become better at what you do.
[00:21:40] And it's almost like my Harvard education. So, you know, it might cost a couple bucks to learn it, but I don't think it's it's a negative thing. I think life is a process and you've gotta really go down that path and embrace it, and not be, you know, cranky.
[00:21:57] Azhelle Wade: Is this this isn't your first product that you've completed completely on your own, that you've made and sold yourself. Is it? like it seems like normally you work with clients, right? Yeah. Yeah.
[00:22:09] Josh White: Yeah, so for the most part we're, we're working with clients on the Off White side. The newbie product was wholly owned and some other sort of, you know, custom things have, have been on our on our own.
[00:22:21] Azhelle Wade: And do you feel like, what was the biggest difference or the biggest thing that you think helped you in the creation of this product that you learned maybe from those other products?
[00:22:29] Josh White: Yeah, I think that that's actually a really good point. I think it's honestly been the whole spectrum of life. Because you learn a whole bunch of different tricks and techniques as you go along that pathway. And that just helps with the whole, you know, experience and makes it easier as you do it.
[00:22:48] But definitely, you know, understanding story, understanding manufacturing, understanding how to get a product to market, knowing how to, you know, if I wanna animate this character, it's built now so that I can do a TV show if I want, you know…
[00:23:02] Azhelle Wade: Oh my gosh.
[00:23:03] Josh White: It's built in, in such a way that it could, it could really has the longevity and the legs to get it done.
[00:23:10] Azhelle Wade: So I wanna hear a little bit about your success. What is this, what has been the success since you launched Handy Famm? I feel like there is some.
[00:23:18] Josh White: Oh, definitely. I mean, honestly, the success is to be able to take something that, you know, I spent an afternoon with my daughter in in the store and taking that piece of it and getting that to not only a real object, but selling it into a real retail environment. I think three weeks into our sales, we actually hit we hit number one measuring product on Amazon, and we hit number five of all tools in the whole Amazon world.
[00:23:55] Azhelle Wade: Were you doing like pay-per-click?
[00:23:57] Josh White: We, we were doing very, very light push. It wasn't even fully pushing. And that was just phenomenal just to see that energy and just people kind of, we exposed it a little bit just to kind of get it going, but it just, it kind of organically found its footing and that was amazing to me.
[00:24:17] So I think you. Ask me this question in two, three years, I think the definition of success will be different. But just for me to have a product that is close to heart and that we're able to really bring it to life is, and to have a platform and a patent and all these steps that take…
[00:24:34] Azhelle Wade: Oh, I didn't know you had a patent.
[00:24:37] Azhelle Wade: Nice.
[00:24:38] Josh White: Yeah we have a patent on the eye design and, and and the overall shape, et cetera.
[00:24:42] So if you I don't think you could see it on the bottom, but cuz you didn't open it yet, you gotta open it.
[00:24:48] Azhelle Wade: Fine, I'll open one of them. I don't know which one. Maybe the red one. I like red. Okay. Go ahead. Go ahead. Oh, it was a little…
[00:24:57] Josh White: But you could kind of see here at the bottom, we, we embedded it into the tooling. It's got the,
[00:25:04] Azhelle Wade: The patent number.
[00:25:06] Josh White: Yeah, the patent information.
[00:25:08] Azhelle Wade: Oh, nice.
[00:25:10] I have to destroy this beautiful package, don't I? So what retailers are you in? You mentioned getting it into retail.
[00:25:15] Josh White: Yeah, I think that strategy's really starting now.
[00:25:19] Azhelle Wade: Oh, okay.
[00:25:20] Josh White: We've, yeah, we're, so, you know, I'll report on that in a, in our follow up in a little bit.
[00:25:26] Azhelle Wade: Well, any buyer's, listening…
[00:25:29] Azhelle Wade: Handy Famm is ready and waiting to be placed in your stores. I would just love it. Oh my gosh, you gotta message me or let me know when it's in Home Depot, because that's such a full circle moment, right? For your little girl who like went there and envisioned it and then, I mean, yeah.
[00:25:44] I can't even imagine what that would do for me as a kid. Her whole expectation of what she could complete and accomplish in life will probably just explode from having that moment.
[00:25:53] What do you envision as a future for Handy Famm?
[00:25:56] Because the way you're talking, you don't think about things, as just like one and done product, it seems you're already thinking about like an animation, so I'm guessing you're already thinking about other tools. What can you share about what is coming for Handy Famm?
[00:26:09] Josh White: Yeah, so I think as I talked about sort of that vertical and horizontal. So I think that there are gonna be support items for the Handy Famm. So there, there will be, you know bundles and kits that help, you know, really bring it to life for the, the individual kid and young, young at heart, so to speak.
[00:26:32] I don't think it's only for kids. I think adults who like cool, funky things could also enjoy from it. I would probably buy it as well. I think we've developed a story. We have a coloring book that's gonna be coming along with it.
[00:26:47] Azhelle Wade: That's so cute. Are they measuring a birdhouse? That's adorable.
[00:26:52] Josh White: So it's got, you know, it's got the different characters, you know, one of the bird's house blew away at night, and they're worried about the scary wolf who's gonna come and kinda, you know, terrorize them at night. And so there's a very dramatic, exciting story for kids to color and get involved with.
[00:27:11] And then also just kind of building various items, like things like, you know, items matching…
[00:27:22] Azhelle Wade: Yeah. Matching like like gear you wear when you're building around the house. Will there be other tools? I'm curious about that. I wanna know, am I gonna have like a whole toolkit of Handy Famm supplies?
[00:27:32] Josh White: Yeah, I think, you know, that's, that's gonna be sort of the vertical component of it. I wanna make sure that we've got like the tape measure component really solid, but underway are other exciting tools and functions. Obviously they have to be safe. They have to kind of check all the boxes and make sure, you know, they're not dangerous.
[00:27:54] And so that's, that's the vetting process that we're going through now to make sure we have the right, you know, assortment, let's put it that way.
[00:28:01] Azhelle Wade: Oh, okay. I see I see, I see. What I, in your opinion, oh, I guess in your opinion, the biggest achievement of Handy Famm so far would probably be that Amazon ranking pretty quickly. So I wanna move on to some advice that you might have for somebody that might have an idea like yours. I feel like I've already pulled some advice from the things you've said, so I wanna give a piece that I feel like I already found in what you've said, and it's just that I don't, I hope this doesn't sound like diminishing, but it, I want it to, I wanna say no idea is too small because I'm sure that somebody else has been in a Home Depot and they've seen how boring the tools are and they've thought, man, these tools are boring.
[00:28:39] Why don't they make cooler tools? But they think like, that's not a big enough idea. You know, like that's not a big enough idea for me to do. But it's all about execution cuz you made it a big idea. You made it a whole brand and a family and have a story and have a life, and that actually reminds me of a text a friend of mine sent me earlier today.
[00:28:57] She sent me like a screenshot where someone had commented that apparently there's this YouTube video on how to unzip a compressed file, and that's like the how-to of the YouTube video. And that video has like 410,000 views and they're like, whatever your idea is, like post it, make it, build it.
[00:29:15] People need it because like as small as idea, you might think it is. Somebody out there needs it. So that's the advice that I'm pulling from this so far. But what specific advice would you give people listening to this?
[00:29:27] Josh White: I think that ideas are great, you know, and having an idea is great, but I think you just have to take that first step and second step and third step to really see if there's, you know, something to it. I think if you do no steps, which is, I think the problem that most people have. And not that I'm so special or unique, but the, the fact that I'm willing to take that next step I think has helped me, you know, just try things in life to success or failure. And failure, there’s been many. So it's, it's not, you know, I think people are afraid of that, you know, that f word, they're afraid of the failure. And at the end of the day, they've gotta, you know, come to the table. So have the idea. And a good litmus test for, if you really are passionate about it, is would you spend a certain amount of money to see if your idea is real.
[00:30:33] Azhelle Wade: Ooh.
[00:30:33] Josh White: I don’t care how you get it. You mortgage your house you know, ask your parents you know, take your savings, your petty cash savings that you thought you're gonna use for a vacation, whatever it is, you know, put yourself on that first step. I think that really is the litmus test that is going to prove whether you're legit about what you believe in or not.
[00:30:54] And you know, we, we've invested a lot, you know, we've put in a lot of, you know, there are scary moments, you know, how do you fill an order? You know, there there are times where you gotta balance a lot. You gotta pay tooling all of a sudden, and a shipment's going out and you gotta work it all out. And so having that piece of it, I think is honestly, that's the differentiator.
[00:31:17] But I think it's a combo of what, what you said and, and that.
[00:31:20] Azhelle Wade: Well, I, I kind of wanna dive into that before I let you go. I wanna dive into that one a little bit more. Cuz oftentimes people come on this podcast and they say similar things, like, you have to get going. You have to take the first step. A lot of successful people that I've talked to on this show, they just kind of are doers.
[00:31:36] You know, they get things done. People often ask me like, how did you build what you've built? And I'm like, I don't know. I just started doing stuff and then I didn't stop. Right? But I don't know, could you, and maybe I, think right now, I want us to think about a time that we wanted to do something and then for some reason or another we hesitated and we didn't go forward.
[00:31:56] And maybe by doing that, if we can vocalize why we did that, we can maybe help people that might be struggling. Because I feel like we're right now coming from the mindset of just do it. We did it. Just do it right. How can we get ourselves more in the understanding the mindset of people that are stuck for many different reasons.
[00:32:15] Right? So now I'm thinking…
[00:32:16] Josh White: You gotta think in your zone. Think about, start with what's in your box. Like, you're a dentist, you know, don't start thinking that you're gonna start making, you know, spaceships. You know, like you gotta stay within in the lens that you are.
[00:32:37] So it could be that you find. Something in your world, and let's say it's a toy. Let's say you do wanna do something, you see your kids and you wanna teach 'em. It's like, I really wish they would know about teeth, you know? And so you're a dentist, so you know that business, you get it. And so it's really not a risk anymore because all you gotta do is put more puzzles of stuff around you…
[00:33:01] Azhelle Wade: Yes.
[00:33:02] Josh White: That isn't necessarily just like getting yourself into like, you just walked into a crazy nightclub of like chaos and like, you know, manufacturing. But if you just gotta say, oh, you know, I wanna make a tooth and we're gonna call him Toothy. And now, and now like Toothy is gonna be a plush toy and Toothy is also gonna come with a song.
[00:33:23] And then you're like, Hey, you know Bob, who's my buddy, you know, he writes cool songs. I'll have him do that thing. And you know, Janet, Janet, you know, she does, she sews, plush, you know, blankets for people, I'll put, you know, so I think you just have to look in your lens, very, very small and it becomes less of a scary thing than…The bigger you make it and the broader you make it out of your wheelhouse, the. The unrealistic it becomes. The reason why I could do a Handy Famm is because I'm literally doing the stuff that I know. I'm not that amazing. I'm just, I just happen to know that, like how to do cartoons and how to tell a story.
[00:34:11] And so I, you know, I happen to have a company that makes awesome packaging for, you know, the coolest brands in the world. So, yeah. So obviously the things that we're gonna do are gonna look a level up because we just do it. So that's not amazing. It just happens to be that I set up the parameters in my life to just, you know, speak to the stuff I know.
[00:34:31] So it gives me more flexibility, let's say, because I'm just more exposed more. But anyone could do that. It's not just take the step. It's take the step—the path that is known and but it out a little bit out of your comfort zone and just keep pushing that comfort zone. Push the line, push the line of scrimmage, you know?
[00:34:52] Azhelle Wade: Yeah, but don't start in like the desert of like, where you don't know anything. You gotta start like somewhat on a path where that, That is a really good point. The different businesses that I've started, they were always something where the core of it was something I either knew really well or was already kind of like doing on a hobby basis.
[00:35:08] And then I was learning on the side, like all the business stuff, like how to start the business and how to like get clients and that stuff I was figuring out on the side. But the base of the business was like, I love making clothes. I have a ton of sewing machines. I'm gonna make a clothing costume company.
[00:35:22] Or I love toys, I know a lot about toys. I'm gonna start a coaching business. Focusing on what your passion and your focus is right now, and then adding to it little by little to build this thing or take the steps forward. That's great.
[00:35:34] Love that!
[00:35:35] Josh White: Exactly.
[00:35:36] Azhelle Wade: Yeah. Thanks Josh. That was a good breakdown.
[00:35:38] Josh White: Yeah, it's funny cuz like when I got into the movie world, I didn't go up the, the regular path, you know, to get into that. I just kind of snuck into it and I would hear some terminology from, you know, some technical guy and then I would go to the next guy and be like
[00:35:54] Oh, you know, the X, Y, Z, you know, widget, da, da da, da. And they were like, oh, this guy actually knows his thing. And then I would go back, that guy would tell me something. I'd go to the next guy and be like, da, da da, da. Plus the other thing. And so, you know, you just kind of build on that. And that's another way to do it, you know, if you're really excited about something, I know someone in my network now
[00:36:15] Who spent many years in the wine industry and the spirits and beverages, and she wants to get into sort of the sustainable world, you know, and, and understand sustainability more. And so she's taking those steps, those baby steps to kind of get her into that world, it's totally, you know, a deviation.
[00:36:33] It's sort of a little bit what she did, but now she really wants to be an expert and understand it. And, you know, I, I give kudos to people like that who take that bold step, but it's not even so bold. It's just another step towards her success.
[00:36:48] Azhelle Wade: Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I love it. Okay, Josh, is there anything actually that you wish I'd asked you about Handy fan that maybe I missed?
[00:36:56] Josh White: I think you covered it. You're amazing at what you do.
[00:36:58] Azhelle Wade: Oh my gosh. Stop.
[00:36:59] Josh White: You sucked it outta me in a hopefully a good way. And you know, I definitely, I think that it would be great if anyone who's listening to this wants to you know, get a little, get part of the Famm, get part of the Handy Famm world that maybe they kind of drop your The Toy Coach name in a DM on Instagram, and it'll be Handy underscore Famm, F A M M.
[00:37:24] And just say, Hey, you know, heard the, heard the podcast. Say, say a note here and there. And my team will get out. A little promo code for you to get started.
[00:37:34] Azhelle Wade: Ohhh, little surprise promo code for The Toy Coach. Okay. Don't forget, go to Instagram. Follow the Handy Famm. Message them. Say my name, well, not my real name, The Toy Coach name. To close out the episode, Josh, I've gotta ask my favorite question to ask. What toy blew your mind as a kid?
[00:37:52] Josh White: Yeah, that's, that's an interesting question. Like I said, I'm constantly challenged to be a kid on a daily basis with just my own family. But, back in the day I think what really was exciting for me, were the products like Lego and Play Mobile. And I think it was less about it blowing my mind of what it was, but I think it started kind of the process for me of storytelling.
[00:38:20] You know, spending hours myself, you know, thinking of little stories and scenes and vignettes in my weird brain, you know, and starting to kind of get that, I think it blew my parents' mind that I actually sat there for hours and did that activity. But you know in terms of that, I think, you know, exposing your kids to anything that you know is helpful.
[00:38:43] You know, Handy Famm is great for STEM learning. It's great for having fun. It's great for your, you know, mom and dads to connect with their kids and find that time, get them off their phones, you know, get kids off their devices. It's a constant plague that we have today, not only for ourselves, but for, you know, for everyone.
[00:39:03] And it's creeping to our children as well. So just finding those activities that, I don't know if even know if it's about blowing a mind. I think it's just about getting them re-anchored, re-exploring and re-rethinking about, you know, redefining fun, you know, in a, in a cool way.
[00:39:24] Azhelle Wade: So Lego, we were just watching Lego Masters last night. Are you a fan? Do you watch that show?
[00:39:29] Josh White: No, I'm not. I can't say I'm up to speed. No, I'm not up to speed.
[00:39:32] Azhelle Wade: It's got some good builds there.
[00:39:34] Josh White: Maybe I need to after this.
[00:39:35] Azhelle Wade: Yeah, I could see the White family maybe being on Lego Masters. That could be pretty cool.
[00:39:40] Josh White: Okay. Challenge accepted.
[00:39:42] Azhelle Wade: Oh my gosh, Josh, it's been a pleasure chatting with you. Where else can people listening connect with you? Maybe they wanna hire you for your design services or purchase Handy Famm.
[00:39:52] Josh White: Sure. You could email creative@offwhitedesign.com. That would be O F F W H I T E D E S I G N dot com. And obviously you can go to the website, offwhitedesign.com to kind of see some of the stuff that we do over there on that side. And, always available to talk and anyone needs you know, some advice. We take care of that.
[00:40:16] Azhelle Wade: Awesome. Thank you so much, Josh. It was a pleasure chatting with you today.
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