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

Meg , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Our mission is to promote healthy dental habits at a young age. As part of this mission, for every kit sold, we donate one toothbrush to organizations across the country that promote pediatric dental hygiene.

Unfortunately, I did not realize the importance of brushing my teeth until it was too late and after spending thousands of dollars in restorative work. Teaching our children best practices and instilling healthy habits at a young age is important to ensure they follow them throughout their lives.

Meg , 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?

A few months after having my first daughter, I was brushing my teeth when it occurred to me – someday soon I will need to teach her the importance of dental hygiene. Let the flashbacks commence! Growing up, I despised brushing my teeth, which led to arguments with my mom. And so, I started thinking, how am I going to get my daughter to brush twice a day, every day?

That is when Flossy the Mouse was born. I wrote a short story to explain the reason behind Flossy and asked our longtime family friend from Boston if she would illustrate. We worked for months on illustrating and bringing Flossy to life – without ever meeting in person because of COVID restrictions. I would hand sketch what I thought should be on the page for the illustration and she would send back her interpretation. Overall, it was a really cool experience.

Flossy is asked to come to your house and Flossy’s job is to make sure children are brushing their teeth. If children do not brush, they might risk not getting something when they lose their teeth because Flossy reports to the Tooth Fairy! Our products include the Flossy the Mouse kit (a children’s book and stuffed mouse plush toy) and My Brushing Chart (a notepad). We also donate a toothbrush for every kit purchased. It is so important that children have the proper tools to take care of their teeth and many people don’t realize how many children don’t have access to toothbrushes.

Flossy is a fun and successful way to encourage children to brush their teeth. Establishing good dental hygiene habits at a young age is important so that they maintain them throughout their lives. Our goal is to help parents who struggle with getting their kid(s) to brush their teeth by making brushing fun.

I am most proud of the brand that we are creating. We’ve received so much positive feedback from parents who have integrated Flossy in their children’s brushing routines, and everyone always says that they really love the little mouse stuffed animal. I realized we had something special when one parent told us that they were in the middle of reading the story and their children got up to brush their teeth.

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

Unfortunately, our original manufacturer went bankrupt seven months into the project, which meant I had to learn everything from the manufacturing side to international customs. We then built a relationship with a different manufacturer overseas that was able to make the products; we currently assemble the kits here in the U.S. and I am so happy with how the product came out. There were a lot of lessons to be learned throughout the process, but my best advice is always do your due diligence and trust your gut.

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

My business partner Nancy knew my family before I was born. She lived across the street from my mom when she was growing up and they were close family friends. Nancy has always been super artistic and started her career designing for retailers. When I was a kid, she helped me with an elementary school project when I had to make a character out of a mask. All I remember from that experience was I had one of the best-looking masks in the class. It was a no brainer when I started to think of who could illustrate Flossy for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://flossythemouse.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flossythemouse/
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@flossythemouse