Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Steve & Dawn Woodburn. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Steve & Dawn , appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

We’ve always believed there is no success without risk and failure, but taking a plunge into unknown waters is always risky. Dawn and I both had full-time jobs and no inkling of where a gag gift would lead us a few years back. Dawn says I blow my nose like a moose and five years ago for my birthday, she bought a stuffed moose and gave it to me as a visual representation of my nose blowing. Just for fun, we started posing him around the house doing things like making a salad, painting his hooves like Dawn does her nails and hanging from a ceiling fan with a Batman cape on. We posted these pics on social media, friends liked them and said we needed to do something with this idea. We weren’t even sure what “do something with the idea” meant since it was just silly pictures. We started brainstorming and came up with an idea for our own moose, but one that would be unique and marvelous. We gave him blue hooves, designed him with the help of family and friends, found someone who could help us create a prototype and then said, “OK, now what?” We knew we didn’t want to just create a plush, so we set out to write a children’s book that tells his back story of being taunted by the other moose in the forest because of his blue hooves. Next came designing a package for him to travel in (his Moosecase®) and finding a toymaker who could produce our plush, book and package. When we saw how much it was going to cost to not only produce a large quantity of our plush, book and package, but to get our concept patented all over the world, it would have been very easy to pat ourselves on the back for doing what we set out to do, put everything in a closet and move on with our lives. But what fun would that be? So we took from savings and spent the thousands and thousands of dollars it took to bring Marvelous Moosey Adventures to life and have had no regrets as we work to find his niche in the world of children and toys. Life is full of unknown risks, from the moment you wake up each day until you lay down at night to sleep. Risking savings though on an unknown business venture can be much more stressful, no matter how passionate you may be. As noted earlier, with risk comes the specter of failure, but without risk, the chances for amazing success will rarely materialize. Adena Friedman, CEO of the Nasdaq stock exchange put risk in context when she said, “You can’t be successful in business without taking risks. It’s really that simple.” So dare to take risks, trust that small voice inside your head and work hard to make your dreams come true because being safe and taking no risks doesn’t guarantee happiness.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Like many, we got into our creative pursuit completely by accident. Dawn has spent three decades working as an Executive Assistant, which has involved many creative tasks to get the job accomplished. I call her the “Spreadsheet Queen” because she can create a spreadsheet to mirror any task required, which takes a lot of creativity. Steve worked on-air in radio for 20 years, then fell into the world of promotional products and branding, giving him an outlet for his creative energy. When they combined their creative and inventive talents to design Marvelous Moosey Adventures®, each of their skill-sets came into play and helped them brainstorm, design, develop and market their creation. Marvelous Moosey is a moose with blue hooves, given to him on purpose as a reminder to children and adults it’s OK to look a little different. So what if you have red hair, freckles, a different skin color or autism? We wrote a children’s story to go with Moosey, telling how the other moose in the forest made fun of him, but his wise friend Winston the Owl tells him his blue hooves make him unique and marvelous. He challenges him to go out into the world, spread joy and kindness and chase his dreams. We wanted something to help families create memories by taking Moosey on all their adventures, be it a fun vacation or simply a trip to the grocery store or baking cookies with the family. Our proudest moments are when we hear the stories and see the pictures people send us of their adventures with Moosey. And when a parent tells us their little one just loves Moosey and can’t go anywhere without him. Teachers see him as a learning tool for their classes, letting students take Moosey home on a weekend and then telling their classmates what their family did with Moosey over the weekend and the lessons learned. With a small budget and limited resources, it’s not easy to break into the world of toys and books. We use social media, WOM (word of mouth) and telling our story to festival-goers, where we spend many weekends in the spring and fall selling our Adventure Bundles (the plush Moosey, book and package). It’s like the lottery, you can’t win if you don’t play. For us, we want Moosey and his story to touch the hearts and minds of the young and young-at-heart so we’ll keep putting him out there with the faith that those who need to find us, will.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

While Dawn and I don’t necessarily consider ourselves artists, what came from our minds is definitely creative. We created our plush moose with blue hooves to specifically make him unique and remind children of all ages it’s OK to look a little different. What is most rewarding to us is to hear how a child or a family has been touched by our message and products in some way. And when we see the smiles on children’s faces when they hold Moosey and read his story, we know all our efforts and the risks we’ve taken are truly worth it. We also receive hundreds of pictures from families showing the adventures they’ve taken with Moosey, many as simple as a trip to the grocery store or taking him to the playground. Our goal is to remind children and adults we are each unique in some way and that’s truly what makes the world go round. We’ve only been at this for a few years and are excited to see where this marvelous adventure takes us.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

While it may be a controversial stand, we don’t believe society should be forced to fund artistic and creative endeavors. Governments using tax payer funded initiatives to pick and choose what is considered art is anathema to the entire concept of artistic freedom. The marketplace (society) should always be the final arbiter of choosing whether a painting, sculpture, book, play or any other artistic pursuit is of value. What society can do to support artists and creatives is to personally fund them or purchase the goods that are created. Sadly, this means not everyone who considers themselves an artist will thrive, but forced funding only weakens the system. Arts and creativity is an important thread in the fabric of any civilization. Support by private citizens of those artistic endeavors closest to their hearts is the best way society as a whole can support and strengthen this ecosystem.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.marvelousmoosey.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marvelousmoosey/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marvelousmoosey/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevewoodburn/