WATCH | We love these Toys made to uplift & inspire our kids - video Dailymotion

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On this episode of Shop Essence Live in partnership with New Voices Family features Boy Toy Box.  They believe all children should see themselves positively represented in every space they experience. Be in the toy aisle, the classroom, their toybox or their television, Brown Toy Box is working to make sure Black children see positive depictions of themselves and they grow up knowing they can be and achieve anything they set their minds to doing and becoming.  Brown Toy Box is centering play to disrupt generational poverty by normalizing Black excellence, cultivating curiosity, and building 21st-century skills to create pathways to prosperous careers and expand Black children’s ideas for the possibilities for their lives. Through early exposure to STEAM education, cultural representation, and purposeful play, Brown Toy Box will develop toys, games, activities, content, and experiences that center and celebrate Black children in an engaging way that will encourage ALL children to learn from and enjoy.  Shop the show on Essence's IG now!

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00:00We're back for another episode of Shop Essence Live. Once again, bringing you another beautiful

00:06Black-owned business that you can shop right here live with us, whether you're watching live,

00:11whether you're watching on the replay. Now we got something for the kids. Now we have something

00:16for parents, aunties, uncles, grandparents, everyone. You got some kids to buy for that

00:24you want to buy something educational. You want to buy something that's going to feed their minds

00:29as well as something they'll have fun with. This is for you. I'm talking about Brown Toy

00:35Box and we are going to be joined by the CEO of Brown Toy Box and letting you guys know all

00:43the things about all their incredible products. You guys say, hey, there she is. Hey, how are you?

00:50I'm amazing. How are you? I am excellent. First of all, I have to say a million thank yous for

00:56this line. This is absolutely incredible. And I cannot wait for everyone to hear your story,

01:03how you came up with this, your incredible journey, and then show off these really, really,

01:08really cool toys for the kids. All right. So Terry, why don't you just give us a clip notes

01:15version of how your journey, she was like, how your journey was. I know it wasn't a short one,

01:25but let us know. It was not a short one, but it's been a good one, right? So it really started

01:32really simple. Two things. I was dragging myself around a mountain one day, calling myself working

01:38out, asking God and my mom to tell me what my purpose should be. Right. And at the same time,

01:45I was reading all these articles and like tech crunch and Mashable about this leaky pipeline to

01:50STEM and STEAM. And I was like, what, you know, it was all the things coming together. Right.

01:56And for me, what that, what the answer that I got back about what I should be doing with my life

02:01is impacting kids' lives. And I started Brown Toy Box. I started as a subscription box. And during

02:09the pandemic, evolved to a full scale toy company. I love that. And the subscription box is really,

02:16really great. Do you guys still offer that at Brown Toy Box? We don't. During the pandemic,

02:21we really had to make some decisions. Like, do we want to really go deep and focus on creating some

02:26really great toys? Or do we want to try and do both? And, you know, small, a small company. And

02:32we're like, we really want to do something really great. We had a big order from a big retailer and

02:37we just wanted to come out strong. Speaking of coming out strong, hold on. Because aren't you guys

02:45one of Oprah's favorite things? We are one of Oprah's favorite things. When I tell you, it is like,

02:54so I grew up watching Oprah from the time she first came on the air, right? So to be one of her

03:01favorite things, just one year after evolving into a full scale toy company, like, you know,

03:08wow, right? And so we were, you know, we found out in like, all this, but we had to hold it and keep

03:13it quiet and all those kinds of things. And so when it finally came out, I was so excited to be able to

03:18share with my friends and tell everybody. It's been amazing. It's been amazing.

03:22That is so incredible. So I'd love for you to get into your first products. What would you like to

03:28show up to everyone? So wishlist, we've got so many great things. So, you know, I'll show you what

03:36we got on Oprah's favorite things for first, right? So I'll show you that. So we have these giant three

03:42foot puzzles, right? So three feet, three feet puzzles, right? So the great thing about these are

03:48they're like really, really quality puzzle pieces. So they're big and they're really fun

03:55shaped. So they're round. So it's three, three feet diameter. So it's very unusual. They've got

04:00these really cool carrying cases. So one of the things that moms always tell us is, you know,

04:05when they have those boxes, it's easy to lose the pieces. It's hard to keep up with the kids.

04:10Don't want, you know, these, they're able to just be able to throw these in the car,

04:14taking them to grandma's house. Here's your puzzle. Here's your thing. Now I'm running off,

04:17right? So it's that real, it's really cool that they've got the carrying case. They've got these,

04:22and they've got all of our characters. Let me just go back a little bit. So our,

04:26one of our toy lines is around the Didici Academy crew. Didici means curious and Swahili. And we say

04:32we're always trying to cultivate curiosity. And, and that's really what our product line has been

04:38about. So each of these puzzles, we've got 15 of them and they're all character driven. They represent

04:4315 different STEM, STEAM themes. And so it's just been really, really cool to see these things come

04:49to fruition. So these are the puzzles. That's Dre that you're holding up. Dre is an astronomy. He loves

04:56astronomy. Dre is a little boy from Ochos Rios, Jamaica. And, you know, it's just, it's just really

05:03cool to be able to feature black children on all of our products. So they can see themselves

05:08positively represented in all things STEM and STEAM. Right. And that they can really just expand their

05:14ideas of the possibilities for their lives. Right. So those are the puzzles.

05:19Wait, can we just pause, can we just pause right there? Yes, ma'am. Yes.

05:23You can touch my soul. Yes. Because to understand how important it is for kids, brown kids to see

05:31themselves in these positions of astronaut in these, like, you know, I grew up in brick buildings and,

05:41you know, you, you see people be athletes and, and, and celebrities, but you know, this was something

05:47that was just like, not for us, not out of, not something that we've seen. What is the reaction from

05:52parents been like? It's been amazing. It's been amazing. It's interesting. And it's, and it's inspiring

05:59when, when parents see it and they have this very emotional reaction. Yeah. It's pretty much what

06:05you just said. I wish I, you know, I didn't have this growing up at all. I wish I had something like

06:10this when I was growing up and I really created it from that point of view, right? Like what are the

06:15things that we wish that we had or our children had when they were kids? Right. And so for, for me,

06:22it was how do you, to your point about, you know, them aspiring to be athletes or celebrities,

06:28we want them to, if that's what you want to do, great, but we don't want it to be because you

06:32haven't seen other examples of greatness. Right. And so we focus on 15 different steam themes. And so

06:38we've got all these amazing characters. I'll show like on the back of our box, we've got all these

06:43amazing characters that represent 15 different steam themes that they come from all over the, the black

06:51diaspora. So we've got folks from the United States. And I love that you gave them specific identities.

06:57Absolutely. It's that important, right? It's that important. And for me, you know,

07:02when people think about diversity and toys, they typically are only talking about dolls. And we

07:06wanted to be able to say, what about educational play, right? Kids learn so much about themselves

07:12and their environment and their place in the world through play. And so that's what we wanted to do.

07:17We wanted them to encourage them to try to explore these different areas of STEM. And we want

07:22to do it in a way that was fun and culturally representative and accessible.

07:26So, so great. All right, let's get to the next product.

07:30So we have steam kits for all 15 of our characters, right? So this is the Michaela steam kit. So she

07:38is a little girl who loves museum arts. And so in each of our steam kits, we feature things like,

07:46there's like a little activity book, right? And in that book, they're introduced to black trailblazers

07:52in steam. So in this book, they're introduced to Jacob Lawrence and Alma Woodsy Thomas, right? So black

07:58artists that have really kind of paved the way. And so they get to see that. And right, we talk about

08:03the Zuccott Gallery, which is a, you know, black-owned gallery here in Atlanta, Georgia, right? And so we

08:07crystallize that in this book. And they have other fun activities that walk them through museum art.

08:13Then they're able to curate their own little art museum. So they get frames and stickers that have

08:17different periods of art, right? And so they get to create their own, and then they have their own

08:22frames, different, there's different frames that come with them. And they peel this little sticker

08:26off and they create their own little art gallery in their room. Oh, I love this. Right? This is so good.

08:32I see it going in the cart. Make sure you guys continue, continue to put it in your cart. This is the

08:36perfect Christmas gift for any little one. Can you just explain the ages for, uh, for each of them?

08:43Sure. So the, the steam kits primarily are for children five to eight. And then, um, and then we've

08:50got a new line of products for kids eight to 12, which we're super, super excited about.

08:55Wow. So you, yeah. And that, and that's one of our steam kits. That's Oscar, our marine biology

09:02character. This is so cute. I mean, I mean, can you get cuter than Oscar? Right. And so,

09:09Oscar's paratrans, right? Um, and he loves marine biology. He's, you've got a crystal, I mean,

09:17you've got a coral experiment in there. You've got these fun things that you can stick on the walls.

09:22Each kit comes with a little character so that they can collect the little characters like that,

09:28that Mikayla or the Oscar character. It comes with a foldable. Um, so they can kind of play with the

09:34whole, I, the environments of those, of those things. Super, super cool. Um, so we've got,

09:40so we've got the steam kits and then our latest line product line are our college build HBCU edition.

09:48So this one is Howard, right? So Howard university. Let me tell you, we get so many emails. Where are

09:58you going to have Tennessee state? When are you going to have, you know, all of it, right? I'm like,

10:04well, let's sell out of these so we can continue to get new licenses and do all that. But it's been

10:09amazing, right? So these are constructor kits, right? So there's phone, 3d phone bills. I'll show you what.

10:16So they get the whole blueprint. They get all the things, but then they get like, this is what the,

10:23the bill looks like once they put it together. So they need a little bit more dexterity, that kind

10:26of thing. So whenever, whenever someone from Howard comes into our office, they see this, they're like,

10:30is that Howard? I'm like, absolutely. Right. They get so excited. And we're really trying to really

10:35just kind of, you know, really focus on the idea of one, um, making, you know, all of these things

10:42of really fun and accessible. So we're focusing on architecture and engineering with that.

10:46Um, but then even deeper planting the seed about legacy, right? So with everything we do,

10:53everything we build where it's steeped in intentionality, right? So even with our, with

10:58the College of Builds HBCU edition, we start with the libraries on every campus, right? So people always

11:05ask, why don't you do Morehouse? Why don't you use Spelman? Because one, Clark is great, but also the

11:10libraries on the Clark campus. We didn't want to start with the sports arena because that's not

11:13what we're focused on for the kids. We started with the libraries on each of the campuses. So

11:18we have seven licenses. So we've got seven bills that we've got out. We'll have seven more this spring

11:24and people are super excited about these. I love this. And then you, you're planting the seed to have

11:30kids start to dream about what it would be like to go to college. Absolutely. Absolutely. I'm partial

11:37to this. Cause this looks just like my son. Oh, this is absolutely incredible. And you're also

11:46a part of the new voices family. I'd love to hear what that experience has been like for you. What are

11:52some of the benefits you've seen? So it's been amazing. Just like Sophia, I started through a pitch

11:57competition, right? One, $10,000. Thank you very much. And, uh, right. Uh, but that really was my

12:06first experience exposure to new voices. But then what happened was they just started loving on me,

12:12right? They just started loving on me. They started making sure that I knew what I needed to know.

12:17Right. And so, um, you know, some of the, you know, just amplifying my work,

12:23I think it was the, the network, the community, the family, right. Um, talking to me about things

12:30that, you know, I really, um, maybe didn't feel comfortable talking about and, you know,

12:34in other settings, we were able to have those really good conversations. So it really was the

12:38networking. It was the family that we've created. It was the information and the resources that have

12:43been shared. So it's been phenomenal. So, so great. And you guys, trust me, trust me,

12:49you want to go to their full, um, array of products that they have on their actual site,

12:54go to at Brown toy box and make sure you check out the full list of things. If you're watching live

13:00with us, you can shop here on the replay. You can shop here, but if you're interested in seeing what

13:04else they have, you can go straight to their shop. Um, is there anything else coming up with you guys

13:10that you would like to plug right now? We're going into the holidays. Yeah, absolutely. So we've got

13:16a great Christmas book. So when you order for, for the holidays, you get our, our, the DC Academy

13:21hats, the Christmas list mix up the Christmas list, which is South Poles or the North Pole,

13:26Black Santa's got to save Christmas. It's phenomenal. So they'll get that. Um, we've got just some new

13:33products coming out. Some more of the, the HBCUs will be landing. Um, it's just going to be a really

13:39great Christmas and we want kids when they open their presents, um, to be able to really see

13:44themselves, right? We want them to explore all of these different themes. We want them to just have

13:50an amazing time playing. And at the same time, it's kind of like sneaking in those vegetables

13:56that they're learning and that, which is really, really cool. So we're excited about it.

14:00Oh my goodness. I mean, this is what an incredible mission you are on and this is just such an incredible

14:06gift for our community. So I have to thank you. Thank you so much for joining, uh, and being on

14:12this week's episode of shop essence life. Remember if you're watching live, if you're watching on the

14:16replay, when you shop at shop essence live, you are contributing directly to these black owned brands.

14:21And this is contributing to our community and our kids. Y'all don't wait. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you so much.

14:31All right. Bye bye. Bye.

WATCH | We love these Toys made to uplift & inspire our kids

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