We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Melanie van de Water a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Melanie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Five years ago my family relocated to San Diego from Amsterdam. I was surprised at how challenging it was to find child-friendly restaurants to visit with our son. In Europe, commercial places are more inclined to design their spaces with children and families in mind.

Thus began my dream of opening a child-friendly restaurant in San Diego where children could play while the caregivers enjoy a meal and have an adult conversation. When looking for products for my potential restaurant, I found International Kids Concepts (IKC), a company based in The Netherlands that manufactures products similar to the ones I had envisioned. This was such a wild coincidence having recently moved from there and being half Dutch myself. I contacted IKC immediately and found out that they did not have a US distributor. I was excited about bringing this concept to multiple industries and locations and not just one restaurant… so I pivoted. Six months later Interactive Play was founded and I became the first US distributor for IKC.

Melanie, 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?

Since my high school days I have dreamt of becoming an entrepreneur. My business ideas have changed from flower shops to designing funeral homes to food trucks with karaoke machines. (Someone please steal this idea!)

It’s thrilling after 20+ years of working in hospitality to finally take the leap into entrepreneurship. My business, Interactive Play, can transform any space into a child-friendly environment. Say goodbye to scattered crayons and torn-up, soggy books! These products are made from durable high-quality materials, no loose pieces, and a visually appealing design. No matter your budget or the size of your space, there is something for every business.

The products can be either digital or non-digital, many of which are wall-mounted, taking up minimal floor space. Children of all ages can enjoy the wooden wall puzzles and digital interactive games. The digital software is language free, making it inclusive for all children no matter what language they speak. In addition, the games encourage problem-solving, sharing, memorizing, and socializing.

My passion is to see the United States create more child friendly spaces for commercial places. Yes, you can find a couple toys in a doctor’s waiting room but I want to see child friendly spaces EVERYWHERE. Think restaurants, grocery stores, hotels, car dealerships, coffee shops, shoe stores, gyms, and the DMV!

Over the years I consistently commiserate with other caregivers when asking the questions like, why are there not more restaurants where children can play? Or shops where they are entertained? When you run errands and look around you are constantly seeing kids handed a phone to be pacified. What if instead everywhere you went you saw children playing and engaging with one another? This is my dream… Come on America, let’s be child friendly!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Life has thrown several curveballs at me over the years… I think my biggest pivot came from the realization, after becoming a mom, that I needed to find a healthy balance between running a business and raising my boys. Originally, I was working towards opening a child friendly restaurant, but it became a major concern that the time I would need to run this restaurant would not leave me enough time for my family. When I stumbled upon IKC’s products I realized I could start my own business from home & do it on my own schedule. This was a much more ideal fit for my work/life balance.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

An inspiring quote that I’ve heard since starting my business is, “it’s a marathon, not a sprint.” In order to run a marathon or a business, you will need serious resilience and persistence.

In recent months my co-founder decided to return to her teaching career & I was left with a huge decision. Close down Interactive Play or move forward as a solo business owner. I pondered this for several months and in the end my passion of seeing more child friendly spaces across the US overtook my fear of running the business alone. It’s simultaneously daunting and thrilling, but I am so ready to take on this “business marathon”!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.interactiveplayusa.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interactiveplayusa/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/usainteractiveplay
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/interactive-play/?viewAsMember=true
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCapiqPAjIb6IFeighLJuB5Q
• Other: https://www.ikcplay.com/

Image Credits
Image credits: Elyse Locatelli & International Kids Concepts.