00:00Hello, and welcome to a competition that gives up and coming entrepreneurs the chance to land
00:08a space at Walmart. Each episode will feature a different product and entrepreneur pitching
00:13their idea to a panel of entrepreneurs and experts like myself. This is Walmart Spark
00:20to Show. Our judges are Renee Blewett. She's a filmmaker and business strategist who created
00:29the documentary, She Did That. Michael Byron, the Senior Director of Supplier Diversity and
00:35Inclusion at Walmart, who currently leads Walmart's billion-dollar effort to support
00:40women and minority-owned businesses. And I'm Robin McBride, and this is my sister,
00:45Andrea McBride-John, and we're the owners of McBride Sisters Collection. We are the largest
00:51Black-owned winery in the U.S., and we're sold on Walmart shelves. Are we ready to meet our
00:56entrepreneur? Let's do it. Please welcome Chantel Calloway. Hello, everybody. Hello. Chantel.
01:03How are you feeling? Oh, man. This is like a dream come true.
01:11I just felt worried that this party needs some turn-up.
01:16Hey, guys. This game is whack, but we're bringing game night like that.
01:20Hi. My name's Chantel Calloway. I am the founder and inventor of Rhyme Antics, the hilarious rhyming
01:27vocabulary game inspired by hip-hop, where you have to rap in proper English. I love when my man
01:33treats me like a queen. Yo, we had Toy Fair on the scene. It taps into all your cognitive skills,
01:39your fluid intelligence, your focus, your memory, your speed. It's addictive. You'll be rhyming all day.
01:45It's really for the inner rapper in all of us. I grew up in Boston, Massachusetts. My parents were
01:51both entrepreneurs and instilled entrepreneurship in me from a very young age, and so I decided to
01:59take this game idea and bring it to fruition. We have sold a little over 7,000 units, and we are in
02:0848 retailers across the nation. Rhyme Antics isn't just a game. It's a game changer. We can't wait to go
02:17from spark to shelf. Chantel, tell us about your product. Rhyme Antics is the perfect fit for Walmart
02:24because this is a game loved by kids, grown-ups, grandparents, teachers, geeks, and gangsters.
02:31Our product is also priced to match Walmart's Save Money, Live Better motto. Our mission-driven
02:37business benefits Boys and Girls Club locations where we've launched a literacy initiative to
02:42promote reading culture within our community. Choosing Rhyme Antics is an investment in America's
02:47youth and in the power of Black-owned businesses. Wonderful. So I'd like to play a quick round with
02:53you guys if you don't mind. Oh lord. Oh my goodness. All right. Gonna test your rhyme skills. You guys ready?
03:02Oh goodness. As ready as I'm ever gonna be. Don't be nervous. It's very, very easy.
03:06So a random card is read to the team at the level that they choose and it might say something like,
03:13I love to eat. Your job as a team is to try and guess as many words on the back of this card in 60
03:18seconds as possible. So each one of you will freestyle your own creative sentence but the last
03:23word of your sentence has to rhyme with eat. So I might say, I hate guys with smelly feet.
03:30And then I pass it to you, Renee, and what would you say?
03:35I mean, I don't really eat too much meat. Very good.
03:39I live my life to the beat.
03:41I can't wait to get out and start drinking wine again in these streets.
03:49At the end of the 60 seconds, you turn the card around and these are all the words that rhyme
03:59with eat. And there's always about 15 words on the back of the card. There's bonus words and
04:05homophones if you can use them in the correct content. So it's really a fun rap game, but it's
04:10really a literacy game as well. And that is rhyming.
04:13Very nice.
04:15Fantastic.
04:16Okay, so Chantel, what inspired you to create this game?
04:20I'm an advocate for literacy and I'm also a hip-hop junkie. I just really wanted to create a product
04:26that paid homage to the roots of hip-hop culture. Why educating people?
04:31What's the cost?
04:32The cost is $4 per unit and my retailers have been selling it for $19.99.
04:39Do you think that you have the manufacturing and capability to create the supply for a Walmart
04:47entity?
04:48My distributor, they are already a Walmart vendor. So everything's kind of set up and ready
04:54for us to go into big box.
04:57But how many is on the staff today?
04:59It's just me and one other assistant.
05:03Okay.
05:03Yeah.
05:04Do you have any thoughts or plans for expanding the brand?
05:08I have plans to create future additions. We're going to do the Spanish version. You know,
05:14there's so many things we can do with this game.
05:17What about a wine version? Are you down for that?
05:19Yes, absolutely.
05:22I love wine. Damn, I'm fine. Give me some wine.
05:27Judges, do we have any more questions?
05:30I don't have any more.
05:31All right. Let's go talk amongst ourselves.
05:33We'll be back.
05:34I was a little nervous. This is Walmart. It's the big leagues. I'm getting like emotional
05:40thinking about it because I used to go into Walmart all the time and just go to the game
05:46aisles. And I just like stand there and close my eyes and imagine my product on the shelf.
05:52But I feel overall that I did a good job. And, you know, I answered the questions as best as I could.
05:59And I really feel like I'm prepared to, you know, get a purchase order for Walmart.
06:05I think conceptually it's great. It's a lot of fun. And I think it's so different than a lot of
06:17board games.
06:19I loved her story. I love that it's edutainment. Like I could see, you know, teachers buying this
06:26for kids in schools as a way to improve their vocab and their grammar. And I think this appeals
06:32to a really big group of people. I think it's a great idea, great product, but her infrastructure
06:38is really small. So, you know, I pause a little bit about what that might take for her to get
06:45ramped up. Michael, I completely agree. My concern is her really understanding it's going to take a lot
06:53of work getting the brand out there. Yes. Just this, this package sitting on the shelf. It isn't
06:59really going to make people know what it is. Hmm. I think we've come to a decision.
07:06Yep. I think so.
07:09Welcome back, Chantel.
07:11Hey.
07:12We had so much to think about. And we'd like to just start by going around and sharing some of
07:19the thoughts that we discussed. Okay. I know you have a small and lean staff. So I just want to
07:25make sure that you're not biting off more than you can chew. If you were to be partnering with
07:31Walmart. Okay. When you get to a customer like Walmart, then the work really starts because now
07:38you have to drive product off of the shelf and maintain a business that is across 50 different
07:44states. I know, you know, going through what I've gone through and, you know, persevering
07:49through this 10 years of this journey that I am absolutely ready for whatever challenge comes
07:55my way.
08:00Are you ready for our decision?
08:02So after careful deliberation, we have decided that Rhyme Antics will
08:23go on the shelf at Walmart.
08:32Oh, my God. Oh, my goodness. That's awesome. Congrats.
08:39Welcome to Walmart.
08:42I, for one, am just really impressed by your story, your brand's purpose, the fact that you
08:49have combined education, entertainment.
08:51What I love most is I had to think about that rhyme that I, the move that I busted. No,
08:59the rhyme that I spit.
09:00Yes, I like that. You're definitely a hip hop head. I'm so, so excited to be associated
09:07with the Walmart brand. And I really look forward to the partnership and the success that's yet
09:13to come. We're so excited. Rhyme Antics is heading to Walmart so families can finally bring home an
09:18educational and engaging board game that's as culturally diverse as they are.
09:25This 10-year journey has been incredible. And to now see my dream come true. I feel like I've reached the mountain top.
09:36It's a huge deal. It's amazing. It's such a great day.
09:43I feel like I can't help. I'm so proud, aren't you?
09:44It's amazing. I'm so confident, but I just want to try and shout out to my career as
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