We had the good fortune of connecting with Melissa Moran and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Melissa, what role has risk played in your life or career?
In my business taking a risk has been about taking a chance on myself. To have the confidence in myself that I can do this! While launching a new brand/business has it risks financially and to be honest emotionally – I have learned that it’s something worth taking. To put your ideas and your thoughts out there can be scary, but I feel it is riskier to never have tried at all.

Risks has led me to opportunities I would not have imaged. It has allowed me to grow as an entrepreneur and allowed me to grow my business.

What should our readers know about your business?
I have always tried to raise my kids to be creative and entrepreneurial. I believe that raising entrepreneurial kids can lead them to be resilient, problem solvers, and creative. My kids love playing restaurant and store and during the pandemic I was looking for something that would inspire more pretend play. All I could ever find was bulky tents and huge playhouses that took up way too much space and didn’t really inspire an entrepreneurial play setting. That’s when the idea for the Doorway Storefronts came to be. Right there, in the middle of a pandemic with my kids going bananas because they were bored and nothing they had was sparking their imaginations.

Our Swingly Storefronts are beautifully illustrated (on both sides) to bring to life an entrepreneurial play space. Kids will love the interactive features such as roll up windows, doors, – making playtime endless. And moms will love it too because it’s space-saving, sets up in seconds with our hanging velcro strip and the heavyweight material is machine- washable.

We successfully launched a Kickstarter campaign last fall and shipped our product right in time for Christmas. But the launch did not come with its challenges. After my first failed campaign -I knew the concept was still of interest but there was things about the product that needed to change. I did more research and found new manufacturing partners. I added more features like double sided print and an easy to hang velcro strip – all while lowering the cost of the product.

At the end of the day, while being an entrepreneur can be challenging the most rewarding part has been able to share this experience with my kids and show them the possibilities of entrepreneurship. As a young child that immigrated to the US when I was 8 years old, I could not have imagined this for myself. I hope that others are inspired by my journey and that anything is possible with hard work and perseverance.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

We’ve always loved visiting Atlanta. In a recent trip – a friend of mine took me to the Belt Line. I loved all the local restaurants and the cute shops around the Belt Line. The little fairy doors were also such a cute little touch. We plan to make another trip with the kids and we will definitely need to visit the aquarium.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

I’ve had so much so support from my family and friends, but especially Dr. Kristine Sickels, founder of HerStory and C-Sweet LLC. At the beginning of my journey, she helped me identify and set the foundation for the Swingly brand. This foundation has been the guiding light to establishing our target market, our brand voice, and our brand purpose. It is foundational work that sometimes gets overlooked, but it is so vital to the birth of a brand story.

Website: www.swinglytoys.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swinglytoys

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissahmoran

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/swinglytoys

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