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Name: Christy Cook
Business: Teach My, learning kits
Industry: Children’s Goods & Services
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Reason for starting: I wanted to make it easy for parents to spend screen-free high quality one-on-one time with their little ones. Necessity truly was the mother of invention! When my son was 18 months old, I quickly realized that parents are the most important teachers. I spent countless hours scouring stores for tools to teach the alphabet, teach counting and reading. When I couldn’t find one kit that did it all, I began creating my own teaching tools. My son was reading by the age of three, and parents at nursery school were asking how I had taught him. It was at this point that I realized there was a gap in the marketplace. I began to create all-in-one learning kits for babies, toddlers and preschoolers. My kits are now available on the shelves of Walmart, ToysRus, Amazon and Target.com. I believe the kits provide a healthy dose of screen-free, high-quality one-on-one time. Perfect for busy parents because by using Teach My kits, little ones can master the basics in just 20 minutes a day!
Related: Read about another entrepreneur creating products for kids here.
How do you define success? In my opinion, success is twofold. It is about financial gain, but it is also about achieving a healthy work-life balance. I feel most successful when I am in control of my financial future and my family is happy because I am available and engaged!
Biggest Success: When my products launched on the shelves of 2000 Walmart stores in spring of 2015 as part of their Women-Owned initiative.
What is your top challenge and how have you addressed it? I would like to see my products on Target’s shelves. The Target guest represents the perfect Teach My demographic. We had a meeting recently with Target, and I know good things will come in 2016! As a child, I always wanted to be a teacher. As I got older, I went along another journey towards marketing and public relations. However, now my business allows me to create a product that helps parents be their child’s first and most important teacher!
Related: Four Ideas for Jumpstarting a Good Idea
Who is your most important role model? My father is my role model. He worked 6 days a week for 50 years to provide a good life for his family. I look to him for advice and the way in which to conduct myself in business. He is a “man of his word.” I aspire to be a “woman of my word” — I only promise what I can deliver!
[box_light]Website www.teachmy.com
Twitter @teachmy
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Teach-My
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/teachmy/
Instagram @teachmy[/box_light]
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Edited by The Story Exchange