We recently connected with Yessenia Morales and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Yessenia, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I always enjoyed bonding with my son through art and hands on activities and sensory play was always our go-to. I would create different invitations to play for him using different bases such as colored pasta, colored rice, and other times home-made play-dough. Although I loved doing this, I realized how time consuming it could be and how hard it might be for other moms who might not have the time or creativity. I decided to put what I was already doing into “kits” for other moms to buy and simply dump into a bin and let their little ones creativity go to work. I was not sure if anyone would be interested but the amount of positive feedback I received was amazing. Moms, caregivers, and even family members were glad to see my sensory kits put together in a simple way and ready for the children to enjoy. After just a few weeks I realized I had a great idea and product.

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

I am Yessenia, a thirty something year old mom of two who loves to set up fun activities for her kids. I live in Humble, Texas with my husband, Eric, two kids and two dogs. I started Tiny Learning Hands after I realized how time consuming it could be for other moms to put together sensory play activities. I offer themed sensory bins filled with different loose parts and I also have kits that include my homemade play dough. I offer my products online, at pop-ups, and we are now at a local boutique called Lovela Boutique. I absolutely love doing pop-ups because I have the chance to interact with family and kids. I always set up several kits so the kids can test and I love seeing how engaged they are while playing. Parents and caregivers are always so thankful and appreciative of my products because it keeps them entertained while working on fine motor skills and off the screens.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

The best source of new clients for me has been simply word of mouth. One mom tells another mom, and the rest is history. My play dough jars quickly became a mom favorite to use as party favors instead of the traditional candy bags and have led to more orders from party attendees.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

I started Tiny Learning Hands as a side hustle and never imagined it would grow into what it is now. I still have a long way to go and so many goals and ideas for the future but I am proud of where we currently are. I started an etsy shop as a way to “get out there” and eventually braved a farmer’s market one day with just about ten products on my table. I was nervous and had no idea what to expect at the market but I showed up and talked to as many customers as possible. I now still sell on etsy but receive a lot of custom orders directly from customers I have met at pop-ups. I have completely ran out of items at my current pop-ups which I never would have imagined at my first market. My small store has come a long way and I am excited to see what the future holds for us.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.etsy.com/shop/TinyLearningHands
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/tinylearninghands/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/tinylearninghands/