We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Germaine Darmon. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Germaine below.

Germaine, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

When I first opened Sol Playce with my business partner and best friend I thought that in order to be successful we would need this to totally consume our lives. Even though we are both moms I still thought of Sol Playce as another baby that we would need to devote our full time and attention for it to thrive. While she agreed and knew we would need to be there a lot during the first few months she said that building a strong team would be our best tool in developing a healthy work/life balance.

As our opening date approached we worked tirelessly to open our doors on schedule and trained a few squad members but we were so new to this industry. It was a learning process for all of us. We both worked every morning, greeting customers, forming relationships all while managing the back end of the business.

Fast forward to today almost two years later, I work a set schedule in order to still leave time for my family and personal life. I am happy that I have reached a balance now that makes all aspects of my life manageable in a way I don’t feel like I could have with a traditional career working for someone else. Being my own boss gives me the freedom to choose my own schedule and manage my own time as I see fit but there can and have always been something going on that needs my attention at the same time.

Since I am the owner I have to be available at all times in order to support my squad members while they are working. During operating hours I have to have my phone with me at all time for when any problems or questions arise. As a mom, most of us have to handle doing a millions different things at once! I remember there was one afternoon last summer when my sister and I had planned an outing to West Palm Beach with our sons and I got a call that the AC just stopped working. It was in the middle of a birthday party on a Saturday on the hottest day ever. We had another birthday party right after and I started panicking. I kept trying to contact a few different companies and no one was available to come out on such short notice. I tried to keep calm and figure out the best solution. The most important thing is customer satisfaction and I was worried that the customers who were currently celebrating their daughter’s birthday party were going to have a bad experience because of the AC. All I wanted to do that day was to enjoy the adventure I had planned with my son but instead I was feeling distracted, frustrated and stressed out! Moments like this aren’t common but they do come around and when they do I feel like I have a lot on my shoulders. I need to find a solution because my team depends on that but I am also a mom and my son needed me to engage with him. Someone finally called back and was able to go and fix it. While the first party endured some heat everything was fixed and cool by the time the second host arrived. It’s moments like those where I did wish I was able to disconnect and not have my business takes time out of certain aspects in my life but I realize that is the sacrifice I need to make at times.

I think being a business owner is definitely not for everyone. In one way there is some solace in a regular job where you can just clock out and that’s when your responsibilities are over. You are able to go about your life without worrying about the successes or failures of the company on a big scale. On the other hand knowing you put your blood, sweat, tears and money into something that is thriving is one of the best feelings you can get in terms or success.

Germaine, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a journalist turned into indoor playground owner. Since becoming a mom I wanted to create a space that was fun, functional, aesthetically pleasing, modern and more. I was a stay at home mom for two years and visited all kinds of kid friendly places in the tri-county area and I couldn’t find a local, modern play space that also featured mommy and me classes. The idea of Sol Playce started right before the pandemic and we were forced to open two years later because of it. Now it’s a community hub that offers open play, birthday parties, events, memberships, enrichment classes and events after hours for parents. I am so proud of the community we have created. From the new moms I have met to the long list of local women owned business we have worked with, supported and seen grow–it has been so nice to uplift and collaborate with the people around us.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

My best friend Nicole and I have been friends since 2nd grade. We have shared so many amazing life moments together from graduation to wedding to births to opening our business together. I had always been hesitant to work with friends or family because I always worried what would happen if things didn’t work out but I know now that we were the perfect match to bring this concept to life.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In January 2020 we signed a lease for a location with an anticipated opening date of May 2020. We invested a lot of money in the rent and build out of that initial space only to find out that two months later there was no chance we were going to open anytime soon because of the the pandemic. We had to put the whole operation on hold and try to work out a deal with the landlord. He was not interested in working something out with us and we had to lose all the money we invested thus far. We decided to hold off on the idea until things with the virus became more predictable. We ended up finding another location that turned out to be a much better fit a year later. We started back up with the production of our play structures and officially opened a year and a half later.

Contact Info:

• Website: solplayce.com
• Instagram: @solplayce
• Facebook: Facebook.com/solplayce

Image Credits
Dani Abreu