We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brittane Rowe a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Brittane , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?

We created this game to inspire meaningful conversations for people like us, we’re on a mission to help people connect across culture. The concept of Hella Awkward was developed during NYC quarantine 2020. It was a solitary time where almost daily FaceTime sessions with my brother Brandon and his new girlfriend Jane were keeping me sane. As time went on, we started diving into deeper topics of all sorts and knew we had to find a way to share this bonding experience with others. The three of us dove into research, product development and design. Creating a list of 140 thought provoking questions divided into four categories: real talk, dating, sex and relationships. After months of putting the pieces together, we invested our savings into inventory and opened a pre-sale on a website and never looked back. Every detail of our game was considered, we aimed for a premium yet approachable experience. We want Hella Awkward to stand out on the shelf, your coffee table, and fit seamlessly into your life. Growing up, these types of conversations weren’t had in our communities. We believe that Hella Awkward can help people open up with each other on a deeper level. Creating a space where people feel safe to be themselves and to share their stories (even the raunchy ones). These conversations are essential for building a more connected and understanding world. Hella Awkward is more than just a game. It is a tool for connection, healing, joy and empowerment.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hi, I’m Britt, co-founder and CMO of Awkward Games. Originally from Michigan and currently based in NYC for over 12 years. I grew up watching my dad dream of building a business of his own. We’d often joke about his ability to sell water to a whale. Like many Black people, his creativity and raw talent was no match for the lack of capital he had access to. Seeing him struggle to build wealth subconsciously subverted my own desires in business. It wasn’t until 2020 that I realized business ownership could be a legitimate option for me. My acting career was on a major pause when the pandemic temporarily shut the industry down. I wanted to explore other opportunities of interest and think about a career pivot. When my brother Brandon, his girlfriend Jane and I turned our organic conversations into a fun pandemic project and later a proper company. My background is in theatre and without an education in business or corporate background, I found accelerator programs, networking and mentorship to help build my confidence and skills as a founder. Which is why creating our flagship game, Hella Awkward and seeing it in Target stores nationwide is hella sweet. We’re so proud of what we’ve built and look forward to continuing growth.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

The initial capital to start Hella Awkward came from our personal savings. Brandon and Jane both invested a portion to cover inventory/legal fees/subscriptions ie: shopify/domain names/quickbooks ect. Once we had the business set up, we launched a pre-order which helped infuse cash that we reinvested into the company. Since then, we’ve won a few grants, did a successful crowdfund, and opened a business credit card to keep things rolling. Always reinvesting our revenue back into the company to focus on growth. We’ve been able to stay very lean in terms of team, utilizing contractors/interns when needed. Doing most everything else ourselves is certainly a lot of work. We’ve been strategic in growing sustainably which has allowed us to maintain full ownership while getting to a cash positive and profitable place. Now we’re looking into building investor relationships for a potential fundraise in 2024!

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

We began looking for a manufacturer with very little experience in what it took to make a product. Jane works in product design so thankfully she was able to lead all design elements including mock ups we printed from home to get a sense of size and feel. I quickly went into research mode and started googling “how to make a product” which lead me to Alibaba where hundreds of manufactures from around the globe are sourced. I sent inquiries and received quotes from a few highly reviewed manufacturers. I made sure to request samples of previous work, video tours of the factory and had constant updates along production to ensure quality was to our standard. Going into production in China during covid was no easy feat. We dealt with closures happening in the country that halted or slowed us down significantly. Our original timeline was off by months and we had to flexible in order to move forward. We now have a few factories in our network and have been able to lean on other game makers for suggestions.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://hellawkward.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hellawkwardcards/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hellawkwardcards
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hellawkward/
• Youtube: youtube.com/@hellawkwardcards