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

Hi Kayla, thanks for joining us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

I am a single adoptive mom and it all happened by chance and the incredible timing of the universe.

I had always known that if i had a daughter I wanted to name her Elsie, after my great-great grandmother. I didn’t know her but I always loved that name.

When I found out my daughter’s birth-mother’s name, Chelsea, I knew the name was perfect because she shared a part of her mom’s name and part of my family as well.

My business’ name is a combination of our shared middle name May and her name, Elsie, to make: Maysie!

Kayla, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

When COVID hit in 2020, I was a wedding photographer and immediately lost the majority of my business for the year as couples and venues cancelled weddings.

That same year, Christmas night, I had put my daughter down for bed and had my first idea for what is now Play Maysie. The idea for Play Maysie came from a combination of a few things:

1 – All of my daughter’s toys had way too many loose pieces that quickly got separated from the toy, put into a basket filled with all of her other random pieces from toys or simply lost.
2 – To make a toy playable after the first play, I had to spend way too much time trying to find the pieces that went with it.
3 – My daughter rarely plays in her playroom unless I am with her. Instead, she loves to drag her toys all over the house and play wherever I am so that she could be with me – toys ended up all over our house.

So, I created a portable dollhouse in a tin lunchbox with furniture attached to the floors: no loose pieces, no lost pieces, no mess! It also had a carrying strap so that she can take it all over the house and when we travel.

It was really important to me to create a brand that was sustainably made (no cheap plastic toys here!) and that gave back quality open-ended play to kids in a world that pushes technology and battery-operated toys.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I am a huge fan and listener of the “How I Built This” podcast by Guy Raz.

Each week he airs an interview with founders of all different types of companies that have already been through all of the years of the hardest work and are now able to look back at the journey of scaling and growing their company. I have learned so much valuable information and take something away from every single episode.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

My products are manufactured in China by some incredibly amazing suppliers that worked with me from the ground up to bring this to life.

I initially wanted to manufacture in the US but quickly learned that hinged tins and dollhouse furniture are not manufactured in the United States. So, I spent weeks staying up all throughout the night to talk to suppliers overseas and pitch them my ideas, hear their thoughts, their capabilities, and negotiating pricing.

I had zero background in product design and am forever grateful for their help in getting my product to where it is today.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.playmaysie.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/playmaysie

Image Credits
I took the photos myself. No need for credit.