High points for the maker of toys that celebrate diversity
I sat down with our founder and CEO, Ezequiel Karpf, to talk about the moments of the My Family Builders journey that has meant the most to him. My Family Builders toys are built on values, first and foremost, and watching those values resonate with people is what makes the hard work worth while. There's a particular return on investment that has nothing to do with revenue and the following highlight which of those has meant the most to the My Family Builder's founder.
1. CROSSROADS MOMENT "After 10 years of developing consumer goods with no higher mission than to produce revenue it was refreshing to develop something I care about and to connect back to the origins of why I studied design in the first place." Karpf is an accomplished designer with a unique values proposition to the upcoming generation and their parents. Investing his time in this product has proven to be quite rewarding.
2. THE PROOF IS IN THE PICTURE It's always nice to hear positive feedback about My Family Builders. One piece in particular has really stuck with Karpf. One parent sent him an email commenting that after playing with the My Family Builders toys, her daughter had started coloring many different shades of skin color in her drawings as well as drawing many different families besides the stereotypical (one mom one dad) family. "It is amazing to see that our toy was able to open a girl's mind to a world of possibilities and have lasting effects on her," he said.
3. COMMUNITY BUILDERS Reaching a funding goal is a fond memory for any entrepreneur. When Karpf reached his Kickstarter goal, he was thrilled to see 95% of the investors were complete strangers. "It was amazing to feel that a lot of people believed in what we were doing and decided to jump in and be part of the journey of making our toys to celebrate diversity a reality," he said. It's one thing to get people to agree with a mission, but an entirely different thing to have a mission so compelling that people will put their own money behind it.
4. PICTURE PERFECT Karpf mentioned that some of his favorite My Family Builders moments have been the photos he's received of children playing with the My Family Builders toys all over the world. As someone who holds diversity as a fundamental pillar of his company, it has been and continues to be an exceptional feeling to see his product thriving in a global community.
5. A BIG WIN - Karpf didn't get into the toy business to win awards, but when you build an exceptional product it's just part of the territory. He said one of his proudest My Family Builders moments was "when we won the Parents’ Choice Gold Award 2016. It was great to feel welcomed and celebrated by the one of the most prestigious institutions in the toy industry."