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Name: Lisa Curshellas

Business: Mission Unboxable , boxed activities for kids

Industry: Children’s Goods & Services, E-Commerce 

Location: Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

Reason for starting: During the summer, I took Tuesdays off from work to spend time with my then-8 year old son Michael. In an effort to connect with him on a non-technology platform, he and I created Top Secret missions together that involved a little science and imagination. We then shared the missions with his three younger sisters. The kids loved the missions and had so much fun that we thought other families would like to share the same old-school organic fun experience.

Related: Read about another E-Commerce entrepreneur here. 

How do you define success? I’m successful when I’ve taught my 4 kids the importance of hard work and following your passion. I consider the business a success if I can earn enough profit to put my 4 small kids through college.

Biggest Success: We were so excited to be featured on the cover of our local newspaper (Kane county chronicle) and then invited to the Chicago Toy Show put on by Hasbro for a nomination for Michael as young inventor of the year for the TAGIE awards.

Related: Visualizing Female Leadership 

What is your top challenge and how have you addressed it? Brand awareness. The most challenging aspect of starting our company has been trying to get recognized without investing substantial funds in marketing. We are firm believers of word-of-mouth and have sent our products to numerous parent bloggers to review. I also work as an attorney and don’t have as much time as I’d like to dedicate to our company, which has affected our ability to grow.

Who is your most important role model? My mom is my most important role model. She is a dedicated and creative mom who always made me feel like I could do anything I put my mind too.

[box_light]Website   www.Etsy.com/MissionUnboxable 
Facebook   www.facebook.com/Mission-Unboxable[/box_light]

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Edited by The Story Exchange