Today we’d like to introduce you to Steve & Dawn Woodburn. They and their team shared their story with us below:
Have you ever seen a moose with blue hooves? Marvelous Moosey, an adorable soft, plush moose with blue hooves, literally came to Steve & Dawn Woodburn out of the blue and nudged them in the most gentle way to help him find others just like him in the world.
Steve & Dawn created Marvelous Moosey Adventures as a way to make and build connections with other people. Marvelous Moosey, along with the children’s book Steve & Dawn wrote, “Marvelous Moosey’s Adventures Begin”, tells the story of how the other moose in the forest made fun of Moosey because his blue hooves make him different. His friend, Winston the wise old owl, convinces Moosey to leave the forest and search for others like him, make new friends along the way, while spreading joy and kindness wherever he goes.
Steve & Dawn’s passion is to build characters and a brand that brings joy to children and to those who remain young at heart. Moosey’s tagline is “Unique is Marvelous®”. It’s a reminder that kindness, patience, and a cheery attitude will help you live your life more happily and be ready to chase your dreams.
Moosey comes packaged in his interactive Moosecase®, a sturdy box that resembles an old-time suitcase and includes the Moosey plush, the picture book, and a sheet of blue hoof print stickers that can be used to mark the map inside the box where Moosey has traveled.
Marvelous Moosey Adventures® is more than just a group of products; it’s a brand that will continue to grow as we write more books and add new characters to the line.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Starting a business with only an idea is never easy. We took our time and were very deliberate in how Moosey looks. We reversed the antler and body colors, making his body tan and his antlers dark drown, gave him blue hooves to make him unique and even embroidered his name on the back side of his right back hoof. We went through many drawings and four prototypes before he looked just the way we wanted him to including ensuring his embroidered eyes had just the right glint.
We found a company to manufacture the plush, print the book as well as his Moosecase, but it took three times as long as we expected to get everything in. We were told the books, shipped at a different time, were lost at sea in a huge storm so new books had to be reprinted adding to the delays. That company went bankrupt soon after, but we were fortunate to get most everything we had been promised although they left many of their customers out in the cold with no product and no refunds.
Although we launched at the height of the pandemic, we were still able to ship to customers and it turned out to be the perfect time given how families were stuck inside throughout 2020. We found festivals in 2021 and it was a record year for sales as people were starting to re-emerge from the lockdowns, flush with cash. But then 2022 hit, the economy slowed, inflation rose, and people weren’t as willing to buy items that weren’t essential.
Our business is completely self-funded at this point, so that also limits what we can do and tamps down those really creative inspirations that come in the middle of the night! It’s great not to be in debt, but it also has held us back from doing things that we feel could help the brand grow even quicker.
But the only constant is change and despite manufacturing issues, economy challenges, and lost products, we are optimistic for the future. We’ve just started getting Marvelous Moosey into small retailers and will work in 2023 to get larger retailers to take notice.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Steve worked on-air in radio for 20 years, landing in Atlanta in 1982 to run a start-up company doing traffic reports for 10 metro Atlanta radio stations (flying around the metro area in airplanes and helicopters twice a day during AM & PM rush hours). He was also active as a voice-over artist, an actor in local theatre, in TV commercials and corporate industrial films. After leaving radio, he worked for three decades helping companies with their branding and marketing needs selling promotional products (items with logos) and custom promo items to businesses throughout the U.S. When the pandemic hit, he, like tens of thousands of others, was laid off and it was the perfect time to launch Marvelous Moosey, which he and his wife had been working on since 2018.
Dawn has worked in the corporate world her entire career starting with a division of General Electric. She has stayed with them through multiple mergers and acquisitions and recently celebrated 36 years as an employee. She currently works as an executive administrative assistant with the marketing team developing promotions and collateral material for their customers.
With their combined experience in creative endeavors, sales and marketing, it’s no wonder Steve and Dawn have been able to build the Marvelous Moosey Adventures brand from an idea into a product families find endearing and adorable.
What are your plans for the future?
We found art festivals in 2021 and they’ve been a great way to get Marvelous Moosey into the hands of families throughout the Atlanta area. This year (2023) our goal is to get him into retail stores across the country. Given the competition in the world of toys, that’s not nearly as easy as it may sound given the limited shelf space in stores. We’re also working on a second book and will introduce four new characters into the story who will all have unique traits like Moossey that also make them marvelous. There’s Sami the Squirrel, Roxy the Rabbit, Emy the Frog, and Fuego the Firefly.
We also found costumes for Moosey and those have taken off as it’s a fun way to dress him up. They include pajamas, an old-time aviator outfit (complete with goggles and helmet), a cowboy outfit with cowboy hat, an astronaut suit, swim trunks and his newest, a tropical shirt and shorts, perfect for spring break and summer vacation. We’ll keep adding to his collection to both generate revenue and give kids an imaginative way to play.
And as sales increase we’ll look at animation opportunities, an app with games and other fun activities, turning the new characters into plush, and other ways to keep the brand growing and fun.
Pricing:
- $53.99 for the bundle (plush Moosey, book, sheet of stickers and interactive Moosecase packaging)
$17.99 for the costumes
$19 for the book only
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.marvelousmoosey.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marvelousmoosey/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marvelousmoosey/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevewoodburn/
