What does your business do?

One day, I came up with the idea of baby chalkboard shoes! Pre-walking babies are usually laying down or sitting and the soles of their shoes are clearly seen - but plain. I created the baby Chalkboard shoes in two current styles: Moccasins and Sneakers. Each package comes with non-toxic liquid chalk markers that do not smear, are not dusty, and erase with liquid dish soap and water!

After contacting a manufacturer in NY, my patent-pending idea took off and has finally started to become a reality. As soon as my first trial shipment arrived, it was shipped to the Market at Macy's Hillsdale since it was chosen as a new innovative product! Most recently, the Chalkboard shoes won a seat as a Finalist in the 2019 JPMA Innovation Awards. This is very exciting especially since I went to school for Biology but self-taught business related items through intense studying and countless hours at the library.

How would you use the grant money?

These funds will be used towards purchasing inventory. I have partnered with a sales team and we have been working hard to get into boutiques, large retailers, baby shops, toy stores, gift shops, and on-line sales. This inventory is needed in order to satisfy such orders.

What would the grant enable you to do that you can't now?

The grant would enable me to purchase a larger order to have in stock and ready to go instead of having to wait months for each production run, where I risk losing customers and potential retailers with the upcoming holiday season.

If Idea Cafe's Grant helps your biz reach greater success, how will you "pay it forward" to help others in some way?

There are 4 million babies born in the U.S. every year. My goal is to grow this business by getting into as many retailers as possible with the end goal of hiring women in the company. This will allow other moms to be able to work flexible hours from home while spending precious time with their little ones!

These chalkboard shoes were born while watching my older daughter interact with her younger sister. The prototype gave my older daughter a way to play with a newborn baby by gifting her artwork and proudly watching her baby sister wear what she just created. At that moment I realized this would be a fun, interactive baby shoe. Although I was very sick and newly diagnosed with Lyme postpartum, this new patent-pending product gave me the focus and determination needed to be able to come out stronger than I had started! A goal that I have is to give back a portion of the sales for helping those who cannot afford proper treatment which is VERY expensive.