Women with Cool Jobs
Women with Cool Jobs
Sensory Play Dough Mompreneur Builds FacDoughry, with Julie Friedman of Young, Wild & Friedman
Julie Friedman went from building sensory kits across the couches, hallways, and living areas in her home to having her own factory in China producing kit pieces and leasing an 18,000 sq. ft. warehouse in Houston, TX, to keep up with demand. Mompreneur and creative force, Julie Friedman, is the mom of 4 behind creating this sensory play empire filled with adorable, colorful sensory kits and activities for kids.
What started out as a way to help her daughter improve her language development and relieve anxiety has turned into a thriving business that engages kids through play using multiple senses. She's 4 years in, and has seen incredible, year after year growth. Examples of themes include: pizza parlor kit, unicorn kit, construction kit, firefighter kit, ballerina kit, zoo kit, and baking kit.
Contact Info:
Julie Friedman
@youngwildandfriedman (Instagram)
Young, Wild & Friedman
Julie Berman - Host
www.womenwithcooljobs.com
@womencooljobs (Instagram)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I absolutely LOVE being the host and producer of "Women with Cool Jobs", where I interview women who have unique, trailblazing, and innovative careers. It has been such a blessing to share stories of incredible, inspiring women since I started in 2020.
If you have benefitted from this work, or simply appreciate that I do it, please consider buying me a $5 coffee. ☕️
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/julieberman
Thank you so much for supporting me -- whether by sharing an episode with a friend, attending a LIVE WWCJ event in Phoenix, connecting with me on Instagram @womencooljobs or LinkedIn, sending me a note on my website (www.womenwithcooljobs.com), or by buying me a coffee! It all means so much. <3
When it first started a couple of years ago when I was you know making all of the sensory dough in my kitchen by hand and then assembling every single kit throughout my entire house, I would open up hundreds and hundreds of boxes and lay them out all over the floor of my house and do my own assembly line up and down the halls and over the bed and across the couch. So I've gone from being you know, the content creator, those playdough maker, the kit Packer, the product Forester, the shipping and packing service and also sometimes the mailman.
Julie Berman - Host:Hey, everybody. I'm Julie, and welcome to women with cool jobs. Each episode will feature women with unique trailblazing and innovative crews. We'll talk about how she got here, what life is like now an actionable steps that you can take to go on a similar path, or one that's all your own. This podcast is about empowering you. It's about empowering you to dream big and to be inspired. You'll hear from incredible women in a wide variety of fields, and hopefully some that you've never heard of before. Women who build robots and roadways, firefighters, C suite professionals surrounded by men, social media mavens, entrepreneurs, and more. I'm so glad we get to go on this journey together. Hey, everybody, this is Julie, and welcome to another episode of women with cool jobs. Today I am so excited to introduce another fellow awesome Julie to the show. Her name is Julie Friedman. And she is the owner of young wild and Friedman. So she creates these really incredible, fun, beautiful, colorful sensory kits for kids. And she started this business because she had her oldest daughter who was experiencing some challenges like she had anxiety, she was having trouble talking. And she heard that sensory play was a really good way to help her daughter to cope and to hopefully get through some of these challenges she was having. So she started creating these themed kits for her daughter and her daughter was like engaged and really happy. And it was helping her. And so she started to share this experience of like how these sensory play kits were helping her daughter and she was sharing them on social media on Instagram. And she started having other parents be like, Oh my gosh, my daughter has something similar or my son has something similar and like I will love a kit to like how did you do this? How did you make this. And she offered 60 kits at the beginning. And they all sold out very, very quickly. Like, almost instantaneously, she sold out of the 60 kits. And so she's like, Huh, I have something here. So she started her business young, wild and freedmen. And that was in 2017. She is going strong she has had year after year organic growth. Now she's moving into an 18,000 square foot warehouse, because she has grown, the business has grown so much. And so I love the idea of talking to her because not only is she a successful entrepreneur, because of the foundation, like that she was just helping her daughter, she was just trying to help her daughter get through and cope with with some of these challenges that she was having. And she found success with this and is sharing with the world to like empower other parents to do that for their own children. And that's the foundation as a business. But I also love that she's like a mom of four kids. She is a social media influencer. And she is rocking it like it's just such kick content if you're not following her on Instagram and Facebook and such. And so like I really, really this just speaking to her and this interview was so exciting to me for all of those reasons. And I had a huge takeaway that she really cemented during this interview is that she is just literally taking things step by step day by day, and is rolling with it and seeing where it takes her and is really open to the possibilities. And I think that mindset is really powerful. And I really am going to work so hard to have that for myself and to be really aware and cognizant about not thinking when I start something new that oh my gosh, I really want to be successful with this but I don't want to do it if I'm going to fail. We even talked about that I want to be in the mindset of like, I'm just taking this new journey, step by step. And Julie Friedman does the most incredible job of like just going with it going with the flow and taking it day by day, and seeing where where it flows. And she's doing that, well. She has four kids and she's doing that while she's like growing her her business through social media and what I say social media influencer, because I have interviewed another social media influencer, who has like, over a million YouTube followers like this is this is a very creative job. Really, I think a social media influencer is very misleading. And I think that actually are a content creator. That's how I think of it. And so she is just not only creating incredible products, but she's really creating fun content to watch on Instagram and such. So I hope that you've learned so much from this episode, she is an inspiration because she is a mom, she is an inspiration because she is a really brilliant, and such a sweet, humble entrepreneur. And it was such fun to speak with her and to learn about what she's doing and to learn all about her super cool job. So enjoy this episode. And thank you as always for listening. Hey, Julie, I am so excited to have you here. Thank you so much for being on women with cool jobs.
Julie Friedman_YW&F:Well, hey, Julie, I'm happy to be here. Thanks for having me.
Julie Berman - Host:So it goes without saying that. First of all, you have an awesome name. Your name is Julie. And also you have an awesome business. And I'm so excited to have you on the show because you are an entrepreneur of a very quickly growing business called young wild and Friedman, based out of Houston, Texas, and you are a mom, and you actually started your business based on trying to really help your your child, I'm so excited to talk to you about what you do about the details of how you created your business about what it's like to have four kids run this incredible business and just kind of like get to know the details and what your experience was like before. So for young wild and freedmen, you create really adorable colorful sensory kits and activities for kids. So I know you just came out with like a really cute pizza parlor kit. And you have sports kits, airplane kids, unicorn kids, ballerina kids su kits, early learning under the sea. And those are just a few you make these really incredibly creative things for children to not have to sit behind a screen and they get all these bonus benefits from really being able to have this hands on Creative imaginative play. Yeah, yeah. And so how do you describe your job?
Julie Friedman_YW&F:Well, my job has transitioned a lot over the years when it first started a couple of years ago when I was you know, making all of the sensory dough in my kitchen by hand and then assembling every single kit throughout my entire house I would open up hundreds and hundreds of boxes and lay them out all over the floor of my house and do my own assembly line up and down the halls and over the beds and across the couch. So I've gone from being you know, the content creator, those playdough maker, the kit Packer, the product Forester, the shipping and packing service and also sometimes the mailman because I'd have to drive all of these kids to the post office because my mailman wouldn't take them from my porch. Wow, kind of gone from doing everything on a smaller scale. And then as it's grown to now, mainly I read you know, are the young Walden Friedman social media. So that looks a lot like just creative content, coming up with fun videos and engaging photos and just keeping in contact with my customers through my Instagram. And then I also am still fully in charge of creating all of the themes and coming up with all of the little knickknacks that go inside of each kit to bring them to life for our customers so and that involves hours and hours and hours of time. That's why that's why I told you I'm still in my pajamas because at 7am This morning we're already finalizing all of our Christmas kits and talking with our factory overseas and and coming up with all of the new designs and stuff that will be doing for our Christmas good.
Julie Berman - Host:That is amazing. And it's really amazing to hear about you doing everything wearing all the hats, literally putting all those kits together throughout your house. And I'm just like thinking because I know you have kids too. I know you have little kids. So I'm just thinking, like, I can't imagine doing that as a mom and being like, don't touch that. Don't take that out. Like, keep it me, because I imagined like that would have been part of it too. Like telling your kids these are for other little kids. Like, I gotta keep it organized if you're doing it across the house. And so I i think it's amazing to hear the behind the scenes. What was that? Like at the beginning? And like, how did you get started?
Julie Friedman_YW&F:Well, I originally, so the way I originally started the business was, was back in 2017. And my daughter was diagnosed with some speech delays and anxiety disorder. And her doctor had just recommended that I incorporate sensory play into her daily routine. And I really didn't know what that meant. So I, you know, took to Google and I read everything I could possibly find about sensory play. And back then it just was not what it is today. Since we play like rules the market now, it's really been really neat to watch it evolve, I guess I joined the right market when I did this, obviously. And and I had no idea. Maybe we helped make it a trend. Who knows. But so I started after I was researching and I, you know, I learned that simply play with basically anything that involves multiple of your child's senses at one time. And so I thought what would be better than making homemade playdough and giving it to her when it was warm and adding oil to Cintiq. And just let her engage in sensory play that way. And so I started making her these little themed Play Doh kits in my kitchen. And I would make her you know, cupcake decorating tip or under the seat kit. And she loved them to play with them for hours. And so that's kind of how the idea came to life was just by trying to create something creative and engaging. But my daughter would play with and enjoy and sit for hours doing and I watched it and it lead to anxiety. And it really kind of calmed her down. And it helped her get into a position where she was comfortable enough to use her words and try to speak. And then it was really neat to see how that helped us. And so I just kind of started sharing our journey with sensory play and speech delays and a practice via on Instagram. And, you know, you always realize once you post something out on a public platform, you realize you're not the only one with a kid who has a proxy or you're not the only one with a child that struggles with anxiety or speech delays. And so I had so many other moms that were relating to me and wanting to use my products and even kids that are completely typical children love our kids to my other three, my other kids are just as in love with our sensory kits as my daughter is. So after sharing it on Instagram, it just kind of started taking off and people were wanting to buy them. And so it's like, well, heck, I guess I should sell these. Yeah.
Julie Berman - Host:And so going from that place where you were at the beginning, like what how did you feel? Especially because you were a mom with a young child and then starting a business? Like, could you have any expectations that your business was going to explode in the way that it did?
Julie Friedman_YW&F:Yeah, that's that's a really good question. I love them philosophy questions like that, because it kind of makes me think about things I don't normally think about. But yeah, so when I first started it, I was actually laughing about this with my husband, because we were going over the enneagram. And he's like, stop talking about the anagram. So I was like, I can't help it. It's so interesting. Because I'm a seven and sevens on the anagram. A lot of times they are entrepreneurs. And I thought that was kind of interesting, because I never really set out to like, be an entrepreneur or like, have some like, big, unique job. It's just like, I don't have like, crazy, like goals are myself and I'm a pretty I'm pretty realistic. But when I did started, I do remember sitting at my desk, I do not like doing things that I'm not good at. That is not my personality. Like if I try sport and I'm not naturally good at it, like I'm not going to try to become really good at it. Like it's not in the cards for me. So like growing up, I played the sports that I was good at and I did the things that I was good at and I still like to this day, I don't like to do things that I'm not good at. And so I have always been really creative. And I've always been, you know, good at creating new ideas and coming up with fun creative games or activities. Like I was always putting together fun themes, creative games for my kids to play or activities to do. And so I knew that, you know, this is something I could do. But when I decided to sell the product, and like actually make a kit, I was kind of like, okay, here's the deal. If I'm going to start an Instagram page, I don't want it to just like, have a couple 1000 followers and linger around like I want. Like, I remember when I started, I said to my husband, like, I want to have 100,000 followers, like, I don't want to do this, if it's not going to grow. And he was like, Okay, well take a step back. You just started it. And I was like, Yes, I know. Like, I just, I want to grow it to where I want it to be successful. And he's like, well, that's a normal thing to say. And I was like, and also with this business, I don't want to do this, if it's not going to, if it's not going to do well. And he was like, Okay, we'll try it and see how it goes. I'm like, okay, so I remember when I, when I launched my first, like set of them, I sold 16, beach themed kits, and I was kind of like, Okay, well, here's the deal, I'm gonna do this. If they all don't sell immediately, I'm just not going to do it. Wow. And I was kind of like, I'm just, I either, it's either gonna work or it's not going to work. And I'm not going to, like try to do something that's not going to work. And I guess there's a realist in me. And I posted those 60 kits, and they all sold out in 30 minutes. And I was kind of like, there we go, all right. And so from then on out, I kind of use that model for my sales is I would do product launches, I didn't have a website with products that you could buy, I would only launch them, you know, once every couple of weeks at a certain time. And so that was kind of my like, model to get people to feel like, okay, it's only available now I have to buy it now. Yeah, and so I did that, for the first several months of revenue, the first six months of my business, I only would launch one product at a time and I would sell, I went from selling 60 to 100 to 200. And they would sell it in one minute, every time after my first launch. And so, that kind of, obviously, I mean, I feel like that was like any entrepreneurs dream, right to like, start something, and it just like, actually works, and you don't have to like hustle for the sale. And that was kind of like such an incredible gift, I think because since I don't naturally have that, like, I don't know, like, humbled by the sales. in me, it's not like my personality to, like, try to force things on people or make them buy something that they don't want. And so I think that kind of gave me the confidence that I needed to say, Okay, you know what, this is a product that people want, people need it, there's a, there's a void in the market for this impossible to find a engaging screen for a sensory play kit that is of high quality. I mean, you can buy a piece of junk, but you can't find something that's like really carefully curated and beautiful and fun and engaging. And so it's like, okay, you know, I, I have this product, people want it. Let's go for it. And so I went for it.
Julie Berman - Host:Yes. And man, that is so awesome to hear, like the success behind everything. And I think that really goes to show your like, all in sort of dedication, like if I'm going to do it, this is going to work and you know, coming out with the kids at the beginning, I can only imagine you were that dedicated to making those first 60 kits that you offered really amazing and like something that you would want to buy for your own kid, so that other people would, you know, feel the same way. And I have to say the reason that I found out about you was I think about like a year I was trying to think of the timeframe and I can't because the pandemic is a blur, you know, but I think it was like a year or a year and a half ago. I remember I was on Facebook and one of my mom's groups and someone was talking about sensory kits and I was like, Oh, what's that, you know, I know what they were. And then someone had recommended young wild and freedmen. So of course, I went to go check it out. And I don't even think I was on Instagram at the time. I think I found you on Facebook. And I just remember thinking wow, these are so neat. And I loved the themes that you have the variety of themes I loved, like the colors and the little pieces. And like I feel like it's something that an adult could use and be entertained with. You know, they're just so fun. And then I went, I went like later when I actually had Instagram, I went to find you on Instagram. And I was like, Oh my gosh, she has so many people who know about her on Instagram. Like, I didn't realize how big your business was, until after I'd originally found you. But I think that kind of going back to what you said that like, you wanted it to work, and now you do have like 100,000 Plus, followers, you have so many people who know about you on Instagram. And you've got like people who've bought your products like Laura Bush and Kim Kardashian and Jimmy Kimmel, like a lot of really well known celebrities. And so I want to ask you with that, like, how, how has it felt to go through the process of now it's been about five years, it sounds like from the point that you created your business at the beginning to now like, how has it been to grow as an entrepreneur, as a mother, because I know you've grown your family, and you know how for children as sort of someone who's, who's a influencer, really on Instagram, like you've grown in all these different areas of your life? What do you think are the important takeaways, that people who might be interested in starting a business or just starting out, and maybe they're like a young mom?
Julie Friedman_YW&F:So let me start with let's see how I've grown. I have grown a lot since starting this business. A whole lot. So I've mentioned this before on another podcast, but I have never taken a business class. I've never taken a marketing class. I've never learned how to manage people or I don't even know how to make an Excel an Excel spreadsheet, you know, I'm not. I'm so not a business person. And I'm. So in starting this business and growing this business, I've had to learn how, you know, to overcome lots of bottlenecks. lives. I mean, learning how to source mass quantities. And when we first started this business, we I literally bought everything at Hobby Lobby, wow. And I was just like, I was just kind of walk around and be like, oh, that'd be cute. And Miss McHugh, that'd be cute. Oh, they have 100 of them perfect. And then I got to the point where I'd have to buy everything online. And so I buy it all from Hobby Lobby, and Michaels, and all these little like crap stores that I could, you know, like little wholesale toy companies, like oriental trading type places. And then it got to the point where I couldn't even buy enough from online retailers. And so learn how to, you know, overcome the sourcing issues and be able to be able to like create, you know, when we would do subscriptions, we have 1000s of subscribers, it's like, well, I, there's no way I can find 1000 you know, little bear figurines. And but yeah, it kind of got to the point where we had to figure out how to, you know, go overseas, and now we have, we have the young Weldon Friedman, doctory. And we, you know, we work with people with a 12 hour time difference than us. So, you know, every night I get him, I, I put my kids to bed and at 830, when they wake up over there in China, we're going to bed, we start our communication, and we're coming up with new ideas and sourcing them. So it's I've had to work with like, contacts abroad and relationships that are just new and different. And, you know, learning how to do that I've actually officially learned how to make an expert, an Excel spreadsheet, I can hardly say that word. See, it's boring to me.
Julie Berman - Host:Good job that you do. I don't know how to do that either. I am not, I'm not good at Excel. I'm
Julie Friedman_YW&F:still terrible at it. But my husband has actually taught me how to actually input numbers. I don't know how to do any of the math or anything on there yet. But, you know, all of our order logs and purchase orders are all through Excel. And thankfully, I have a really smart husband who thrives in the business world. And so he helped me with all of my shortcomings there. It's awesome. I guess I've also had to learn how to manage a lot of people. I mean, we have a team of 35 women who work at the factory, and they all have different roles and jobs and we have team leaders and managers and they have a whole shipping operation. Now that's just insane. And so learning how to do that and work with all of the shipping and logistics. And it's just it's just been a huge learning curve for me. But it's also been the best thing ever Because I feel like I've, I feel like I'm so much more well rounded of a person now knowing how to, you know, work with all different types of people and have to be really resourceful because we have like, I feel like we have a giant problem come up every couple of days of Oh, no, all of our, our container is delayed by two weeks, and how are we gonna make this up to our subscribers, because now we're not gonna be able to get their kids to them for two weeks with the ocean. And so I think just kind of learning how to shake off little things and just keep going has been a big a big thing for me, I've had to learn, like, we're gonna have we have a problem almost every day, I can't make it a big deal, like problem, figure out a solution, we got to move forward. And there's no point like dwelling on it or stressing about it. And so I've learned that Oh, my word Ophelia go all day with what I've learned. I feel like
Julie Berman - Host:what about the aspect of a mom? So because I know, you have a little, little one. And you have some older kids? So tell us their ages? And then like, how have you, you know, had like, had your role basically grow? As a mom, I? You know, I know. I know, with that, like, just kids in general, like, you know, that's the hardest job is being a mom. And then you have this growing business. So how has that been to grow the business alongside essentially growing your family? Like how have you, I guess, learned to manage that and sort of have realistic expectations for yourself in both roles?
Julie Friedman_YW&F:Yeah. So before young author Friedman, I was a full time stay at home mom, I had three kids at that time, heavy fur and Brett Eddie is about to be nine, curse six and Brett's four, and we have a new baby now earnings toddler. And she's nine months. So at the beginning, and it was just me and them and I didn't, I didn't have any help really with them. I had a little bit of, you know, have a housekeeper load kind of helped me clean every now and then. And then it was kind of like I was trying to start this and I had all these kids and they weren't in like full time school or anything yet. And so I think that as I have grown the business, I've had to learn how to how to how to accept help where I need it. I'm the first one to say I'm not like a supermom, I'm not the mom that's gonna, like wake up at 6am and have bacon eggs and toast on the table when the kids you know, I'm the mom that like my kids wake up and they come and they're like, wait, they get in bed with me. And they're like, Hey, come on. And I'm very tight. Be I am not a proactive planning, stress type of person. I'm very like, go with the flow and which I think is a very needed quality when you're trying to do a ton of different things at once. And so I think I've just kind of learned, you know, I need a lot of help. I need a you know, if you're going to have a full time job, you're going to have to have help with your kids. And so, thankfully, we've been really, really blessed we have the most incredible nanny ever, who is part of our family now. She's been with us for I mean, I hired her right when I started young Weldon Friedman, basically I think in 2018. She's been with us for a couple of years. And she just helped me do the things that I don't physically have time for. helped me with all of the wondering and the cleaning. And you know, she's here with Sadler, when I'm running carpool. And she, you know, she can even help me do carpool if I if I'm stuck at the factory or, you know, right now I'm on a podcast with you because she's got them on a walk right now. And so we just kind of have to work together to make it work. My husband both are really helpful. He He's an entrepreneur as well, believe it or not. So if your spouse has men with cool jobs, he could hop on there.
Julie Berman - Host:I don't know. He will start a podcast, but I will let him know. She wants to. Yeah. And you know, it's funny. You mentioned that because everyone talks I have two little boys. And I'm like, gosh, like everyone so I'm like so tempted, because I find some really cool men along the way. I'm like, um, maybe I should start an offshoot at some point, but not there yet. Yeah, I love that though. And it sounds like also your, your spouse is like so, so supportive, which is huge.
Julie Friedman_YW&F:I wouldn't have been able to do this if it weren't for him, because I feel like he's always, you know, encouraged me to do it. And like, every time at the beginning of it was so exciting and fun to tell him. You're not gonna believe that I sold 60 or 100. And he was like, so supportive and so proud of me and like, just like really, he was like my biggest cheerleader at the beginning stages. I mean, he still is just incredibly, incredibly helpful now as well. But he just kind of gave me the confidence to say like, you know what, you've got a great idea and run with it, do it, why wouldn't you? And so he made it really easy for me to pursue it. Which was really, really sweet kind of looking back on it and realizing like how encouraging he really was grew at all, has been kind of fun to notice. Because like, in a moment, I was just excited. Like, me, but like, I kind of didn't think it was like a big deal. It was like, kind of silly at the beginning, like, Oh, yeah, I made some playdough. And I was like, kind of like, at the shop level, right. But it was still really exciting for me. At that, at that stage, I honestly, like I thought, I was like crushing it, you know, selling 100 of them. And launches, I was like, Well, if I could just do this the rest of my life that like I never would have imagined I'd have like, a factory and 35 sweet little elves running around the incentive workshop.
Julie Berman - Host:Yeah, it's incredible. And for anyone listening, like, I really want to encourage you to go on to her Instagram. And it's young, wild and Friedman and like, find her, like all her beautiful pictures, of course, and videos, but like, just the scope of the pictures of your factory, is, I mean, it's amazing to see what you guys are actually producing, like the numbers that you're actually producing. And I know we talked, you said you're signing a lease on a bigger warehouse. And so tell us, you know, kind of going from when you started and you were you're starting with 60, you're going up, up and down hallways in your house and a couch and a house putting these things together, like how many kits are you selling? Now, if you're okay with sharing that, and tell us a little bit about some more of the details of your offerings, like what's in a kit so people can picture if they have no idea, a sense, like what a sensory kit is, essentially.
Julie Friedman_YW&F:Yeah. So we when I started, obviously making them in my house. And after a couple months of that, I realized this was not going to work. I had boxes of supplies stacked to the ceiling in our living room. And I had assembly tables throughout like my play room and dining room and I had a What is a 50 court stand stand up mixer in the middle of my kitchen floor. So to sit in a bowl of it, it was huge. And so like, it just became like part of our home like it was we lived in a really small house at this time. And so my, we were kind of like, what are we gonna do we have all of these people living in this little house, and we have stuff everywhere. And like, you know, I have to, I have to move it out of here. I can't do this anymore. And I had hired at that point, I had two employees, I had a lady that helped me make playdough. And I have her daughter who helped me assemble all of the kits. And so I was like, you know, I think I'm gonna rent a house and move this to a house because at that point, I couldn't like, get my head around it working anywhere else, because I needed a kitchen. Because I had to, I had to be able to boil water and I needed this stove and the playdough making I'd only ever made it in the kitchen. And so I kind of just like couldn't visualize making it anywhere else. And so it's like, I think I have to do it in the house. And so I rented a house that was only two miles from my house. And I signed a year lease and was very dry. It was a sweet little old lady that I rented it from like, I am not living here. I am making playdough in this house. Are you cool with that into like, I don't really care what you do, just don't mess it up. Like all right deal. So I rented the house, and we were there for six months, and the house was actually bigger than the house I lived in. And so I thought that it would be fine. It was like a little four bedroom house had a kitchen and we have assembly tables, like through the living room and dining room and whatever. And it was great for a couple of months. And then the business has just been I mean, year after year, it's growing like hundreds and hundreds of percent every year. It's like wild, you wouldn't even believe it. But especially during the first couple of years, it was just like on fire. And so when we had been at that house for six months, and we had like playdough coming out the windows of the house, we couldn't we couldn't be there anymore. There was no room for anything. We're like, what are we going to do? And I had a year at least I was like, well this is dumber, I'm gonna have to pay out the rest of this lease and find somewhere else. And so that's why they're six months in. I found in the I found an actual, like more warehouse II type space. And we built a kitchen out in it. Wow. And so we had, you know, a stove and we were able have to make for now because we were spaced and six months into it or three months into that new place. We were like, Oh no, we don't fit here anymore. And so I had to rent like a car. Across the street, there was kind of like a storage unit warehouse across the parking lot from where we were. And so we rented that out. And then for three more months, we were like, okay, we can't fit in these spots anymore. And I only had about, you know, I think I had a little under, maybe around 5000 square feet at that point. And so we were like, Okay, I have to break another lease of six months, because that's kind of our Mo. And we found this big, huge place. It was 30,000 square feet, there's a picture on my Instagram is sitting in the on the floor, my legs crossed in the middle of it looks huge, right? Well, six months into there, we were like, this is unbelievable, like, what is it? Six months, wow, are bursting out the windows of this place. And so now we have a, we found another place, that it's actually 18,000 square feet. And it looks really, really, really big. And I'm hoping that in six months, it's still like big, really, really big.
Julie Berman - Host:That honestly is amazing. I lost count of how many places you've moved. That is so incredible to hear. And I think that, like, It's incredible to hear you speak about it too. Because when you say you're type B, and you know, I think that, like, it's almost like you're not giving yourself enough credit. Because I think like the fact that you are so willing to assess where you are and be like, Whoa, this was supposed to be our home for like a year or whatever. And then keep changing and like thinking about growth and thinking about like, Well, where do I want to take this and now you're going to be in this 18,000 square foot. I mean, warehouse, I can't even imagine like what the size of that is that like half of a Costco or, you know, it's it's like wild to think about that size. But just the fact that you've got that vision, and I think that you're really willing to embrace almost like the possibility of what's next. I think it's talked so much about like you as an entrepreneur. And also just like how creative you are in your vision. Like I think when I heard about your business, I immediate was like, Oh my gosh, this is amazing. I want to interview her. And that was before I think I even had my podcast, but like I just I've always had the idea of like women with cool jobs, she has a cool job, I want to know more. And it's incredible. I mean, it's really incredible, what, what you're doing, and the think the precedent that you've set for having such a, like a very kid friendly, and also adult friendly business, and put the screen free sort of really educational standpoint, is, I think really unusual. And I think it's also the fact that like you're always thinking of new things like explained to us because I love I just saw that you posted your pizza parlor kit. So explain to us so people who have no idea maybe what a sensory kit actually is will you explain that kit. So people really get a feel for like, what you do and what you're creating because it's incredible and so so like I just love it for so many reasons. So I'm not even having the word like the proper words to explain it but like tell us what is this kit so people can
Julie Friedman_YW&F:picture it. Our our pizza parlor kit in particular was one that I have kind of dreamed of for two years that I had never been able to make it because back when I was having to source things in the states I was very limited to the types of things, things that I could find because I couldn't really have anything custom made. So if I didn't meet the minimum order requirements and latos law, so I've had this pizza parlor to my mind and I finally now that we have our factory in China it was able to you know custom make the cut and all of the contents in it and so I thought it would be so cute to have you know we make all of our playdough homemade and how natural food grade ingredients and we just be scented though with some oils and do coloring. Make it fun and pretty that so for the piece of kit I have always wanted to do for the white playdough in the kids to make it pizza dough and real oregano leaves in it. And so we have made the white though it smells like actual pizza. Because we have dried oregano leaves on it. So cool, I love it when you're, you know, rolling out the crust there early smells like pizza, and we send to the green playdough with basil. And so, in this kit, it comes with us three scented Plato's that you know fit the theme of the kit. So in this case, it's obviously pizza themed and, and we have a pizza roller and you know what in pizza slicer for the kids bill to cut the pizza into slices, and we have a little special africanews, scoop it up. And it comes with two, you know, pizza pie pans to make them in. And then we had a bunch of little custom wooden pizza toppings made. So we have, you know, onions and olive pepperonis and all that stuff to be able to decorate the pizza. And then it comes with like some yarn that was like shredded mozzarella cheese. We had a cute little Parmesan cheese shaker and I thought a fun way to be able to, you know, bring a little bit of an educational aspect to that I always try to do that when I can in the kits, we have a little, a little cash register box, and it has big little coins in it. So you can, you know, charge your customers for pizza and constant money. And it comes with a little menu. That's a little dry erase menu that you can use to take orders. And this is a really fun, engaging kit, my kids has been their favorite one so far. And it was kind of fun to see an idea that I've had just lingering in the back of my head for years to actually get to like, come out and have its place in the world.
Julie Berman - Host:Yeah. And I'm so glad like I was I know, we had tried to record this a few months ago, and it just didn't happen. And I was telling my husband when I saw that I was like, I'm so glad that actually, you know, we did this interview now because I saw that and I saw you say like, this has been something I've been dreaming of and imagining for so long. And then how did it feel to like have it actually come to fruition and like, you can touch everything and create these and then ship them out now.
Julie Friedman_YW&F:It was so cool. I remember when I got the samples, and I put them all together in the box. I was like, Wow, it's really here. Like, I can't believe it. After all these years of thinking about these and trying to find these items in the states and not being able to and actually getting to have like, my first like, fully custom kit available for our customer. I mean, it was amazing. It was just like I felt I just kind of felt like I had arrived, you know? Yeah,
Julie Berman - Host:I could see why. And you know, we didn't touch on it a lot. But the fact that you also have a factory that is creating things in China, like I imagined that was a process to to figure out how to do that. And then to actually have things made. So what what was that aspects like of finding, you know, sourcing things out to China, because in you're staying up and you're doing this at like 830 at night?
Julie Friedman_YW&F:Yeah, so this business has been, is not easy to scale. It's not like it has not been just like we have one product where we can order as many of them as we want. We can push as much advertiser grounded as we want. Because, you know, we have one product, we get a box, all we have to do is ship it, it's like completely different because it is so detailed and so customized. And everything is made to order and all of the playdough is made in house. And it's not. It has definitely been a huge pain in the butt to scale it. And product sourcing was our biggest bottleneck. I mean, it got to the point where we, you know, we used to buy our plastic boxes from IKEA. And when I first started it was like, I saw the box at IKEA and I'm like, oh, no work for this. And toss to the point where I mean like every manager and all of IKEA. They knew me. They knew my business. One time I walked into IKEA and they were like, Oh, the player lady like, Oh, it's you and I was like, Hey, what's there y'all give me a baby gift. When I had Sadler. They didn't know you well. Okay. And so it was kind of like, but we when COVID hit, we have like, huge problems. I mean, whatever, along with the rest of the world, but trying to get our plastic boxes. We had already actually bought out IKEA's inventory for all of 2020 when it had hurt, and they weren't able to get anymore because of COVID. And so we kind of got like a beer bottleneck not being able to get the plastic cases that our kids were meeting. And so at that point, we were like, okay, we have to make our own box. And so we went through all of the logistical learning curve and nightmare of, you know, getting in touch with injection mold. companies and coming up with creating a steel mold and having our own box made. And so, you know, we actually have it made in the United States the box, because we couldn't, you know, we didn't ever want to risk an overseas shipping problem or not being able to source our box because that's our whole product because we don't have the box accountants. And so we, you know, we have to pay more haven't made in the space. But we have a great injection molder in LA, that does it for us now. So we kind of had to fix that bottleneck. And then it got to where we couldn't forest products. And so we, you know, another huge scaling issue was trying to figure out, Okay, well, we need, you know, 50,000 ballerinas I mean, how are we going to get the development. So, my husband actually went to China. And so, now we have, you know, we've figured that out by, you know, we've gotten in contact with a great supplier and a factory that now makes all of the things that we need. And that was, that was obviously like a huge, a huge relief. Once we were able to, you know, fix that sourcing need for, you know, the little items and being able to have things custom made. But it's also been like a huge learning process, learning how to how to how to work that whole system and how it's just, it's wild. I mean, honestly, it's truly insane what we do every day.
Julie Berman - Host:Yeah, that is, thank you for explaining all that. Because it's really, really interesting to hear about, like, all those pieces of the puzzle I wouldn't have ever even considered like, yeah, like the boxes that you know that you put things in, like, Where's that from? Can you get enough of those? Can you get enough, you know, mushrooms for your pizza, all those pieces. And it's really interesting to hear about the details and the work that goes on. And the skills that you have learned in order or like probably I'm, I can't even imagine all the weird facts that you probably now know about getting things from China, or like, the process for the injection molding, you know, making those boxes, like, all those things that we don't really think about as the consumer, or the person buying something. Mm hmm. And I am curious, so for you now, cuz seems like you're at this, this really sort of momentous point where you can start to dream, like even bigger and start advertising. And you've got the capacity to fill, like so many more orders. So what is your dream for the future? Like for the next, you know, year or five years?
Julie Friedman_YW&F:That's a good question. I guess my dream would be to just keep going. I mean, like, it's been the most fun thing I've ever done. I always like I'm a little every now and then I'll lay in bed and be like, What's going to happen? If it is like, What will I do, because I just have so much fun with this business and coming up with the idea that such a creative outlet for me. And it's also really fun to bring my kids in on it. You know, they love coming to the factory with me. And it's such a fun, like, field trip for them. I mean, if they don't have school, I just bring them up there. And they're entertained the whole work day and they do whatever they want out there. It's like a little Candyland for kids. And so I just think it brings our family like so much joy having this business, every single person in the family loves it and enjoys it just as much as the next. And so I think my dream would just be to get to keep doing what I'm doing to keep coming up with themes and creating products that kids love. And you need to just keep growing it maybe one day we'll figure out logistically how to sell them internationally. Right now we're only in the United States, because I have no idea how to ship anywhere else without it costing a million dollars. And so I'm like, I think it'd be neat to just keep growing and keep scaling it we employ so many incredible women that's been one of my absolute favorite things about the business is getting to know all of the people that work for the business that I would have never gotten to know otherwise. And we're able to provide new good jobs for good people. And we have a really, really great team and everyone likes working for the business. It's a fun business, the fun is like a fun job. And so I think to just keep growing it keep growing it and growing the business and pumping out more kids.
Julie Berman - Host:That sounds like a beautiful dream and I can't wait to see like what you know what themes you guys and of creating now that you do have that ability as well to like make these very customized, specific pieces that you you know that you just dream up, think up. Yeah. And when you were little, were you always one who was creative? Were you like, I don't know, like, were you playing with dolls and creating these scenarios? Or like in the kitchen pretending with, with food? Like, were you kind of someone who has always dreamt up different things to play with? And then you just carry this along with you as an adult?
Julie Friedman_YW&F:Yeah, my mom says I was always very, very creative. I definitely enjoyed making my own time and coming up with new ideas. And, you know, anytime we had a class project where we got to, like, you remember, you'd make those little, what did they call them? Just like you'd get like a shoe box? And you would have to like, yes. Even called it
Julie Berman - Host:I don't know, I want to say diagrama. But I don't think that's it. I but I know. Yeah. And it's like, you pop things out. And it's like a 3d, almost like doll house, but not
Julie Friedman_YW&F:exactly. So you get to pick your theme. And you get to like build out I did like an, I think I did like a amusement park one time. And I, you know, I made cotton candy with cotton balls. And I colored at peak and I made little cones, and I glued it on there. And then I made a little a glass Fun House. And like, I built out this entire, like amusement park and I was like, so impressed by it. Good idea for a theme haha. And so I've always enjoyed, you know, coming up with like, creative ideas and, you know, making things with them. And so, I have definitely always, always been like that. And I've always loved. You know, just like coming up with new stuff. I had a little friend Actually, we were talking about this at a baby shower. And she had reminded me of the story when we were in. We were in elementary school. And she was like, we were always meant to be entrepreneurs. And you actually did it. I didn't. Like she was like, do you remember, when we made up? We made like these recipes. And we made this like pie. And we tried to we asked her mom to take us to like these three local restaurants in San Antonio. We tried to sell them our recipes for our pie. And we were like, eight years old and like, oh my gosh. Awesome. I think there's just you know, it was always having lemonade stand or trying to, you know, do something fun and creative. And I think it's definitely in my soul. Yeah,
Julie Berman - Host:it sounds like it and I love I do remember those boxes, those were those were really fun to make. And you're sounded amazing with a funhouse. So I can't candy Can't go wrong. So I, I really appreciate you kind of explaining, you know, just sort of your whole business and where you've sort of where you started. And then where you are now the growth is incredible, you know, what you guys are doing is really amazing. And I think that it's just going to continue to grow. Because it's, it's so much fun. But then I love the educational aspect. I love the hands on aspect. I love that it's not in front of the screen. And I think so many parents love that too. And I am curious for people who are who are interested in doing and I don't want to say something similar, because it's not the right thing. But in becoming an entrepreneur and creating a business. You have done a really, really good job. And I think it's an understatement probably say good, a really incredible job at being willing to dream and being willing to pivot when needed, you know, because your business was expanding so organically. So are there certain things that for someone who is looking to build a business? And let's say it's a creative business? What advice would you give them?
Julie Friedman_YW&F:Yeah, that's a great question. I feel like I need to do like a blog post on this or something because I get messages all the time from sweet moms that have a dream and they're like, how do I do it? And I'm like, Oh, I wish I had time to help each one of you brainstorm and come up with an idea to you know, pursue and whatever. But I think that honestly, I think just Gosh, let's see, I would say if you have a dream and something that you think that you believe in and that you know you can put your heart and your mind and your energy behind that you love. Why not go for it? You know, if you've got an idea and got something that you love and you think other people will love I would just, I would just encourage moms, to dream it and do it and not be afraid to fail. I know that was something I was afraid to do, I did not want to fail, and I didn't want to do it. And I think that's like, the biggest problem for moms and women is that we are afraid that like our idea, or our business plan, or whatever isn't gonna isn't gonna work out. And I guess it's probably pretty true that if you never try it, you'll never know. Yeah, I would just say, you know, put yourself out there and go for it. And don't be afraid to chase the dream and make the playdough or follow the cat or you do whatever it is that you think is gonna work. So
Julie Berman - Host:is there because this is a question? I'm curious what your answer is going to be? Because Is there a way that you have being an entrepreneur in like, a business that really are in an industry that, as you said, was really beginning it was like born almost when you started it? You know, in the sensory play? Like, how have you found mentors or support to help your growth?
Julie Friedman_YW&F:Gosh, you know, I don't know, I don't, I don't know anybody that's started a business like this, or, you know, most of the people that I do you know, that I've started businesses or entrepreneurs, it's completely different and not very, like relatable. So I don't really feel like I've ever had like, a business mentor, or anything like that, that has been really nice. Yeah, I have found a lot of comfort, and probably companionship, and other women who either have, you know, no matter the scale of business, like one of my friends, her name is Lindsay, and she runs a jewelry company in Houston. And I love talking hard, we have a completely different business, a completely different business model. And everything we do is completely different. But just having another girl that's a hustler, and, you know, she, she works just as hard as I do. And she does. It. She's, she's built up her own her own business and our own brand. And so getting to talk to people like her and becoming, you know, good friends with them, or even just some of my friends who are bloggers, I just like love. I've loved getting to know, you know what the girl that takes my photos, her name's Aly, and she has a blog. And so it's just really fun to be able to talk with her because you can totally relate to all of my Instagram stuff. Because like, Instagram is like a whole nother world. I guess. When you're in it, you're in it. And you know, that, like, if you're just like a social Instagram or for like your own sake, it's like very different. Until in line, when you're talking to us, we're like, he was our job. And so it kind of we look at it a lot differently than a normal normal person would. And so just having, you know, people who are in kind of that, that sphere, to be able to talk to you or relate to, or, oh, well, this link or this ad or this, whatever, you know, they kind of can relate. And so those have been kind of the ways that I've felt encouraged and supported. It's just having friends are kind of in in a general, you know, business or Instagram.
Julie Berman - Host:Yeah, yeah. So not necessarily the same niche, but the fact that they have a business and they're, they're like an entrepreneur, or in that same sort of mindset, where they're an influencer or in that professional social media role. So yeah, and as far as other skills, do you have any recommendations for if people were, you know, to get a degree or like associations or organizations or where you would suggest people even find resources or things to get kind of like, information about what it's like to be an entrepreneur or a certain aspect of the business? And this is I know, it's a vague question. But I think what you do is so unique. And so how have you if there's not a specific place? Like how have you learned some of these skills?
Julie Friedman_YW&F:Yeah, well, I have never I've never even listened to a podcast on being an entrepreneur. I've never loved that. Like, you know, if I'm gonna listen to a book or a podcast, it's probably going to be about the bachelorette. Or if I have fictional and funny, I'm not super information seeker, I guess.
Julie Berman - Host:Yeah, it's a natural which is awesome. So,
Julie Friedman_YW&F:I so honestly, I, I wish I had some great resources and ideas and places to send people to save. This is where I learned. My skills are, even though I don't even feel like I have skills.
Julie Berman - Host:Oh, you do? toe down, like, you know, discount all that you've learned. I mean, like, you, you're doing so much.
Julie Friedman_YW&F:Yeah, it's just I feel like, I know people will be like you do so much? Or how do you do all this? And I'm like, I don't feel like I do that much. Like, it feels very natural to me. Like my, what I do is I feel like I just like, what I was made to do, you know, the social media stuff people like, do you run your own social media? Like, course I do. Who would run my social media? It's me. Yeah. Like, it's about me. Like that would be so.
Julie Berman - Host:Not It is such a skill,
Julie Friedman_YW&F:I guess, like some people say that, but it to me, it feels very natural, I guess. Yeah. feel uncomfortable, like I used at the very beginning, I used to be like, Oh, I do not want to like, face the camera towards me and be like, Hey, man, I still don't really do much of that Chitty chat stuff. But like, it doesn't, it doesn't faze me to like face the camera token or something, okay, I want to show y'all something, look what we're doing or whatever. And I think like just sharing, you know, my business or my family or, you know, what we're up to is just natural to me, and it doesn't feel weird. And I actually really love engaging and getting to kind know, the people that follow my page. Because, you know, I am the person that reads their messages and their comments. And, you know, if you're, if you send me a DM, I'm going to be the one that replies to you. And so I think that that's been a big, huge part of my business is my brand being very personal. I think like, if you think about any, here's a piece of advice just came to me. If you have a brand, make, you know, dive in, be part of the brand, because people are so much more interested in a person than a product. And so I think if, you know, I think if I could say one thing that I've accidentally done, that has helped my business what I think being part of the product and letting my family be part of the product, because it was part of the product. And so it just was sort of it was very natural and not weird or forced. But I think that people are able to really engage and connect with young, wild and free men, because it's more than just the playdough kit. You know, it's a story. It's a story of success, it was a story of trial, like we had a really hard, you know, we had a really hard handle to us when our daughter got all of these diagnosis was and we didn't know what to do. And we didn't know how to help her. And we were really, really young parents, and we were trying to figure it out and do the best we could for her. And I think like seeing how, you know, we saw that and we've built this brand in this product to help her and then to watch her overcome her. Her delays and her anxiety and just grow and thrive has been like it's a true success story. Not I mean, yeah, the business was a success, too. But it's the you know, the reason behind it and watching her develop and to, you know, a thriving little girl from coming from a really, really hard situation. And so I think just being able to connect with a brand on like an a more emotional level, I think that's been really awesome and beneficial for the business. And I'm really grateful for that aspect. Because I love connecting with other moms and I get messages all the time of moms who have kids with, you know, disabilities or disorders and they are everyone is, I feel like they're so sweet. They're always take the time to either email me or send me a DM and say, like, Hey, I found you. And I couldn't believe that your daughter has a proxy I because my son has a proxy on, you know, we're using these kids in therapy, and I just wanted to let you know, that they're really helping them and I can't believe it. Oh, wow. So nice to see something that really helped us help other people. So sorry, well, long tangent.
Julie Berman - Host:No. And, you know, I think that as a parent, that's the most important thing is like you're just trying to help your kid, you know, to live a good life, you know, you want them to be happy and, and successful and, and to be able to go through life and to enjoy, you know, to enjoy it. And so I think the fact that you found this method that works for your your own child, but then you're you're helping other kids. And I think you know, getting that, that feedback to that that's happening on a regular basis. is I think I can only imagine that it just must feel so incredible and like empowering like you're empowering other parents other moms, too. help their own children.
Julie Friedman_YW&F:Yeah, it's really it is very fulfilling. And I think I have the best job ever.
Julie Berman - Host:Yeah, you do you have an awesome, awesome job. I would agree with you look so fun for so many reasons. And, and, you know, it's been such a pleasure to talk to you. So to end our conversation, will you share a sentence that uses verbiage or jargon from your field, and then translate it so it's understandable to us?
Julie Friedman_YW&F:Gosh, well, I feel like we're like the, the, you know, the king of puns. We had a dough anywhere we can, please. We've, we just we're actually about to launch some new playdough jars. And they're kind of like, tie dye Austin Powers like Joe DARS. and applying them psychedelia dough. We've got rainbow jars that are like the color of the rainbow. Your product
Julie Berman - Host:is so cute. And I, I really appreciate your time here and just kind of giving us the insight into what you do, what your like responsibilities are, and how you have, you know, grown and balanced these different aspects of your life. And I I'm curious if you want to share anything about upcoming, like upcoming themes or products, and also where people can find you if they don't already follow you.
Julie Friedman_YW&F:Yes. So we are going to be having our October, November December subscription coming up here pretty soon. Well, we usually pre sell our holidays. So we'll have the October would be Halloween. And then November is fall themed and December is a Christmas theme. We have a couple of different Christmas themes this year to choose from. And then you can also you can always find it at young Alvin Friedman calm or on Instagram at young Weldon Freeman.
Julie Berman - Host:Awesome. Thank you so much. It was a true pleasure to have you on the podcast.
Julie Friedman_YW&F:Thank you. It was fun to be here.
Julie Berman - Host:Hey, everybody. Thank you so much for listening to women with cool jobs. I'll be releasing a new episode every two weeks. So make sure you hit that subscribe button. And if you love the show, please give me a five star rating. Also, it would mean so much if you share this episode with someone you think would love it or would find it inspirational. And lastly, do you have ideas for future shows? Or do you know any rock star women with cool jobs? I would love to hear from you. You can email me at Julie at women with cool jobs calm or you can find me on Instagram at women cool jobs. Again, that's women cool jobs. Thank you so much for listening and have an incredible day.