What is the perception of success?

When we ask ourselves what success means to us there are many different answers.  Most commonly the answer is money. 
 
To me success is accomplishment, and it comes in many forms.  Whether it be finishing a paper, passing a course, running a marathon, teaching your child to announce they need to go to the bathroom or today it means putting 9 pallets of natural egg coloring kits in my driveway for pick up and delivery to Williams-Sonoma.  Our kits will be available in every Williams-Sonoma store in North America including Canada and online.  This endeavor took four months of planning and executing.  We had to hire more staff, stock more product and buy more natural vegetable extracts than ever before.  All this came at a cost to us at eco-kids both financially and psychologically.  As we drained our bank accounts to fill this order we were put to the test as a company, family and at one point had to ask ourselves, "How far are we willing to go?".

For us the answer was simple, all the way, until it works or fails.  You keep going and pushing because you know there is light at the end of the tunnel.  If you can visualize the end, then all you have to do is put the pieces of the puzzle together to get there.  When you own and operate your own business and manufacture the products yourself, it is a feat that you even remember your name at times.  There are days when you struggle to answer "Why are we doing this?".  Then, there are days like today where I stand in my driveway surrounded by success.  We made the right orders, asked for the right favors, our staff did the work that was required, and now we reach another national level.  You might look at all this "success" and think it is filled with money...but it's not.  The cost of ramping up production comes with it's own growing pains.  What I see in this photo, is a family with a dream, who went from the farmers market to the national market.  I see the hard work of our employees, whom in return got a fair wage and are able to work toward their dreams.  I see pride in a job well done. I see a small made in the USA business risking it all to get to this point.  A big and a small business providing for a nation, all out of a house in Portland Maine.  Our bank accounts may not be filled with paper gold, but to me, that has success written all over it. 

We are off to the the New York Toy Fair!

A Field of dreams

A Field of Dreams

The Field of Dreams is one of my favorite movies. An Iowa corn farmer hears voices in his head and he interprets them as a call to build a baseball diamond in his fields and "he" will come.  To me it is a film about dreams and realizations.  Burt Lancaster plays a talented ball player who ends up becoming a family doctor.  In the end he faces a choice to be a ball player and live out his childhood dream or cross the line and save a child, and be the doctor.  I won't leave you in suspense, he crossed the line, he saved the child, and he realized he was living his dream by being the doctor.

Today, Cammie and I took Maggie to Wholefoods in Portland, Maine to visit a very special end cap. (Industry term for the end of an aisle which a store considers prime real estate.)  A few years ago, I started hearing voices in my head.  Make it and "they" will come.  Cammie and I have always wanted to start a Natural Food Company where we make safe food coloring for our children.  So after several years of research, Maggie's Naturals was imagined, conceptualized and now realized.  I am a constant believer of "imagine it and it will one day be".  There were many hurdles in getting our product to market, which makes today all the more satisfying.

I have pursued quite a few large dreams in my life, and have made a few of them come true.  I am so happy to have this picture so that Maggie will always remember to dream, and dream BIG!  This is only the start for Maggie's Naturals.  

As an added bonus as we were leaving Whole Foods we noticed another small business on another end cap...

One of those moments

I recently had one of those moments.  You know the ones where you laugh at life and wonder how you got where you are at that certain moment.  

There I was in Augusta, Maine at the back bay of our printer who had just finished a custom order where our new art pads and crayons had to be shrink wrapped as a bundle.  I was in between two large freight trucks in my minivan and could not stop thinking about the farmers markets in California from where we came.  I felt encouraged, and hopeful for a busy Holiday season and first quarter of 2013.  You need these moments when you run your own business to remind you to keep going.  Maybe one day those trucks will say eco-kids and they will be leaving from our distribution center.  

You have to imagine it for it to become reality...right?  

Build a Block set

It is part of life sometimes to feel disconnected.  

Life sometimes feels rudimentary. Something happens like Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast and the people on the West Coast are reading about it on there home page.  It happens to all of us when something tragic occurs thousands of miles away.  For me personally,  it's times like this that connect us most.  Flights are cancelled around the country affecting busy schedules and lives.  We start to read the stories of the aftermath and the people who were hit the hardest.  The pictures start to amaze us, like the shark swimming around the yard in New Jersey and stories of perseverance start to emerge.  I think of the hospitals that got evacuated, I think of the staff and nurses that worked so hard to make sure that other peoples family's were safe.  My thoughts are with the people who lost a loved one. I also hope that those without electricity and food will soon get relief. 

On the business side of Hurricane Sandy, an entire country is affected.  Businesses are closed or running on a skeleton staff,  orders are lost or delayed and guaranteed deliveries have no guarantee anymore.  Anyone who works with, or relies on,  manufacturing that comes out of the hardest hit areas finds themselves making adjustments to keep there businesses moving forward.  Here at eco-kids this is the case.  The company that was helping manufacture our bio degradable marker casings is based in Long Island and they have been dramatically affected by Hurricane Sandy.  Our hope to have the new eco-markers in stores by the holiday season will not be met.  With this news adjustments and tough choices have been made.  The company that produces our eco-markers is assessing the extent of the damage to their factory and we wish them luck.  For us, we are postponing a great new product that represents hundreds of man hours.  For them, they may lose a business that represents millions of dollars in property, production, employment, and livelihood.

So as our connection to Hurricane Sandy leads us to postpone the release of our eco-markers, we are now focusing on getting our stores the new eco-build a block set.  Another product we are proud of here at eco-kids!  A 100% recycled cardboard build a block set that inspires imagination and creativity.  

Life has to move forward and you have to land from the bumps in the road and be open to the path that is in front of you.

 

 

Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence

This morning eco-kids received an email from our Japanese Distributor.  He was letting us know that eco-kids products are now available in 60 retail shops in Japan.  Along with the email, they sent pictures of our products in their Japanese packaging.  I'm really blown away by this...how did this happen?  How amazing!  What an accomplishment for my family, my business, and our staff.  So many times our bank account has drifted to the point of me loosing my sanity from worry.  But each time, we reinvested more money and believed that we were on the right track.  It is moments like this that makes the stress worth every penny.  

I think about how I grew up and how my father always talked to me about persistence.  Once when I was 13, and struggling in school, he gave me a plaque with a quote on it. I have never forgotten this quote and it has led me through life.  It has also given me the strength to fail over and over again so that I could finally succeed.  I will always be grateful to my father for giving me this knowledge.  Trust me, he had to be persistent and persevere to get it in my thick skull.

So...as eco-kids still perseveres to maintain relevancy in the marketplace, moments like this are affirmations of our goals and our visions.  It is important for all of us, no matter what walk of life, to have these moments of success after persevering through the challenges.  So I am humbled and thankful that my father talked to me about persistence, and that I now have this story and photos to share with my children and pass on this knowledge.


Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “Press On” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
- Calvin Coolidge

 eco-kids in Japan!

 

Fall

There are two Japanese lilac trees in our front yard.  This morning I became aware just how bare they have become.  During spring, I always look forward to the arrival of green buds on these trees.  They have an amazing scent that lasts for months and since moving to Maine they have signified warmth and growth to me.

  It was a summer full of travel with the kids, planting our garden and mowing the lawn.  Today is a new day.  The leaves are falling and for the first time there is frost on the cars.  It is cold.  It is Fall.  Halloween, Thanksgiving and the holidays are around the corner.  For most, this is a time of year to slow down.  Shorter days filled with fires, winter stews, and of course lots of dark ales. For eco-kids it is time to gear up. Like most businesses the fourth quarter is when it all needs to come together.  This is the time of year when we order the most from our vendors to supply the needs of our retailers.  We are preparing for two trade shows in January and February.  It's hard to believe that we are already fulfilling orders for our eco-eggs coloring kit.  The response to this product over the years has been amazing.  This year we will be sold at Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn Kids, West Elm, JCrew, and Whole Foods.  And most importantly, hundreds of Mom and Pops that were and still are the backbone of our rising success.  It's almost too mind blowing to imagine that this all started at a farmers market in Los Angeles.  It is time to buckle in for the ride of endless phone calls, business meetings, Jet Blue Mileage points, and lots and lots of coffee!

On a side note, I would like to add that the other night in Portland, Maine we had a 4.0 earthquake!  Yes an EARTHQUAKE!  I thought there was a runaway train or an off course jet.  I never would have thought when we left Los Angeles that Maine would be where I felt my largest earthquake.  Maybe it was a sign.  
Anything can happen, right? 

So I guess for us, we are meant to travel an open minded path and let the bumps in the road change our present coarse.

We have a winner!

Thanx to everyone who subscribed to our eco-kids blog.

The lucky eco-marker winner is Wayne!

Wayne...please email us with your shipping information.

nancy@ecokidsusa.com

Congratulations!