Meet The Maker: Christy Cook, Teach My Toddler Inc.

When my son was 18-months old, I was excited to teach him the basic building blocks of learning - the alphabet, numbers, shapes, and colors. After searching several stores for an all-in-one kit, I settled for buying individual pieces at various teaching supply stores in my area. I filled a box with mismatched flashcards, kindergarten charts, books, and puzzles, and called it "Mama's School". My son and I sat down with "Mama's School" almost every day for about 20 minutes. By the time he was three-years old, he could read. Parents at nursery school and playgroups began to ask how I had taught him. At this point, I knew I had a viable business idea.

Frustrated with the lack of quality educational tools I could find to teach my son to read, I realized there was a gap in the marketplace for all-in-one learning kits, and a need to save busy moms and dads the time of shopping for different learning tools for their children. With a Master's degree in public relations and 10 years' experience working in advertising and PR firms, I knew the importance of gaining high awareness for an idea. I also knew my product would not move off shelves if I didn't garner a lot of publicity.

In 2007, my son started full-day school, so I began to look for suppliers to help me create my product. Fortunately, my stepson is a graphic designer, so I didn't have to look far for someone to create the designs I had in mind. I gave him the vision for each teaching tool I wanted to include and he brought my idea to fruition on the computer. We wanted the teaching tools to be modern, unique, and innovative. After six months of creating the designs, the files were transferred to the supplier and a prototype of Teach My Toddler was developed. With a few small changes to the prototype, the product went into production and I took delivery of the first 1,000 Teach My Toddler kits. Today, Teach My Toddler is the multi-award-winning, all-in-one learning kit for toddlers 18 months to three years.

Through winning awards, trade and consumer shows, and lots of PR success, I managed to sell the first 1,000 Teach My Toddler kits in six months. I placed another order and began to create Teach My Baby, the award-winning all-in-one learning kit for babies 6 to 18 months. Teach My Baby was an immediate success because a lot of consumers are looking for a 'smart', meaningful baby shower gift, and Teach My Baby is a perfect choice.

I am currently in the process of launching the third learning kit in the Teach My Series: Teach My Preschooler. It is the first all-in-one kit that aims to truly prepare children for kindergarten with Ready To Read, Ready To Print, Numbers to 100, and Early Math. With two successful, award-winning products under my belt, many buyers are prepared to stock Teach My Preschooler without even seeing a sample. Life is definitely getting easier!

Each Teach My all-in-one learning kit is a fully-coordinated package that teaches and reinforces age-appropriate skills to infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. In addition, each kit encourages one-on-one time between young children and their parents.

As I write this piece, the entrepreneurial path sounds so simple and straightforward. To be honest, it has taken a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get the Teach My Series to where it is today. When potential 'mompreneurs' approach me with an idea about starting a business, I am very honest about the time and financial commitment. It takes a lot of determination and dedication, but with entrepreneurial passion, you can make it happen!

For more information, please visit www.teachmy.com.