How Play Inspires Purpose: Captain Fantastic

Jason Hsieh (00:00)
Hello, welcome to another episode of Toy Business Unboxed. Today we have a true fantastic guest, Tommy, and he is the mastermind behind Captain Fantastic, UK’s number one children’s entertainment company with a background in acting and passion for making kids’ experience unforgivable. Tommy has really turned his creativity into a striving business that brings magic, laughter, and even mindfulness to children worldwide, from action-packed parties to picture books, music, and even the growing YouTube series.

I think Captain Fantastic has been really redefining how the kids can engage with entertainment. So, Tommy, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today.

Tommy Balaam (00:39)
Thank you. What an introduction. I’m going to stick that somewhere and just everywhere I turn up that plays first.

Jason Hsieh (00:44)
So first of all, can you kind of share with our audience on what inspired you to start your business doing what you do?

Tommy Balaam (00:51)
It’s funny how some businesses are very, you they’re thought through, you just decide what you’re going to do and then you go there. But this was just natural progression for me. I trained as an actor and I did a lot of like pantomime, which is like children’s theatre here in the UK, a lot of work in schools. And it was literally I got asked to do a kids party for a friend of mine. And then I was OK.

That’s the show I did then is obviously nothing like the show I do now. But I was like, okay, I’ll just play some games and run around and it went really well. And then I thought, I could I could turn this into a business that could support my acting career. And I wanted to be the superhero that saved kids parties. That was going to be the slogan at the time. Yeah, it was a natural progression, really. And the company started 15 years ago.

And it’s probably a few years before COVID, we franchised it. And that’s when we took it seriously. Before that, I thought I was going to be a famous actor. So it was always, I think I I dip my toe until I fully become a businessman. I I was acting a businessman at first.

Jason Hsieh (01:56)
I see. Thank you for sharing that story. And I know you have so many different projects that’s going on as well. Can you kind of explain your business model, how it works exactly? Because your business model very different than some of the other guests I have on the podcast. I think it’s also part of the toys and game industry, more on the real life interaction with the children.

Tommy Balaam (02:21)
Yeah, for me, I want Captain Fantastic to be the UK Disney, the UK Mickey Mouse, because I want that 360 experience where they can play with Captain Fantastic games, sing with Captain Fantastic songs, joining in one of our events, or we deliver a party. So for me, it’s about creating experiences. And that can be done through toys, through music, through live shows.

I think as a performer and as a creative person, I just always look for opportunities to engage the audience more. And obviously children’s our audience. And I think they’re a fantastic audience and very engaged and very honest. So if it’s rubbish, you know straight away. So I like I like the instant gratification you get from performing to children and instant. If it’s failing, you need to move quick. Our business fundamentally, we deliver kids parties. That’s what we do.

But and we use our own characters. So Captain Fantastic is our superhero character. We have a science show that’s Dr. Zob We have pirate Polly is our pirate character or if it’s a male doing it pirate Pete and then we have Princess Aria So these are our characters and with those characters, we’ve created kids books We’ve got albums and we’ve got Captain Fantastic doll So it’s really we want the kids to enter our world

that’s important with a brand that you’re not really using anyone else’s material to build your own. It always has to be focused around your world. On the back of that, though, we work in a lot of schools. We do mental awareness days, and that’s about mindfulness, confidence, community, resilience, kindness. And we try and teach children about big subjects in fun, magical games, workshop-based days.

We have a road safety show. have British Science Week is big here. So we have science shows that we in schools. And then we have seasonal. This is the whole business model. Then we have seasonal events, ⁓ Easter, Halloween, and Christmas. And we do shows in local community centers. So people can come to us very cheap, rather than us we go to them for their kids parties locally. And it’s just us touching many bases.

where the children can engage in us. And then we have our YouTube show and that’s had millions of views, 30,000 subscribers and growing. I think it’s a bit more than that now. And we release weekly content on that around our characters really. And it’s just growing the world of Captain Fantastic so then we can reach as many children as possible. And we’ve franchised the model so someone can run a Captain Fantastic children’s party company in their local area.

and we’ve set up in America with lots of problems.

Jason Hsieh (04:54)
Hahaha

Sure. Yeah. Franchising is not easy. So that’s also something I want to kind of pick your brain on. Like when you decide to do the franchise, what are some of the things you consider before you decide to go down the franchising route?

Tommy Balaam (05:08)
The reason we went to, did the franchising because we were based in London as our hub office and then a five hour, four and a half hour drive away is Manchester. And that’s like the next biggest city in the UK. So we’ve set up entertainers in Manchester and then we run all these ads, but it takes like six weeks to two months for moms to want to book in advance. So we’ve trained these entertainers ready to take these bookings and then they’re not getting work quick enough. So they leave, but then we’ve got these bookings that came in and we’ve got no one to fulfill them.

And I can’t get there quickly because it’s so far away. I’m already working here. Yeah. So it needs either a business manager there or a franchise, someone that owns the area. They can run and manage and train people. And we went down the franchise route because they’re more invested. Yeah. But to have to have a successful franchise, you need to have everything processed, systemized.

Jason Hsieh (05:58)
Yes, yeah.

Tommy Balaam (05:59)
And you know, when we first started franchising, we wasn’t, and we’ve learned a lot along the way. And setting up in another country, you need, you need the CRM, you need to be able to do everything. And the system takes a lot of the heavy lifting. Whereas before we went to America, everything was quite manual and our booking system was heavy. Whereas now we’re trying to automate it. So a client can come on at 2am in the morning and make a booking because it links to our entertainers calendars.

and they don’t even have to phone call or a person has to get involved. And that’s when we’ll go back and do America again. Unless you’re there, it’s very hard to do it remotely.

Jason Hsieh (06:32)
Hmm, yeah.

For sure, for sure, for sure. There’s a lot of moving pieces when you are doing in-person events. Sometimes people couldn’t show up or they might be changed in the time and the date.

Tommy Balaam (06:47)
And this is a really hard thing about our business is children’s party to deliver it. The magic shows that we do. It’s high skilled work and it’s very hard to have a high skilled end product. It’s very hard to deliver on mass. And that’s why scalability is quite hard when you have that. it’s a our models built around really training people to a high level.

Jason Hsieh (07:06)
So they can be the entertainment. They can create and provide the entertainment themselves as well.

Tommy Balaam (07:12)
And we flourish on that because we have like 2,000 five-star Google reviews in London alone. we don’t want to mess that up. Our brand and our reputation is everything.

Jason Hsieh (07:23)
For sure, for sure, for sure. And you have entertained thousands of kids to your parties. What have you learned that has been truly able to capture the attentions that work well?

Tommy Balaam (07:36)
The thing with children, every group of children is slightly different, but also, you know, a five year old will like what a five year old likes. So it’s that thing of being very adaptable and moving quickly. The best advice I can give is if a child is shy and quiet, you go to their level and then you bring up the energy. So if you’re big and loud and they’re shy, you ruin it. They don’t want that. You know, they’ll get scared. They’ll go within themselves.

So you go down to their level and say, hey, it’s your party. Have you had any presents yet? And you say, how old are you, 55? Wow, you look good for your age. All those silly jokes. Or like high five, down below, too slow. But you go down to their level. But the opposite, if they come in crazy, super high energy, you have to match that energy and then slowly bring it down, talking quieter and slowing it down. OK. And it’s just really just playing like it’s being aware of what they’re bringing.

using that and then making it and then turning in what you want them to be because you’re controlling a group of like 30 to 50 kids you can’t really be a teacher you want to be an entertainer a teacher and like you know a parent to them because you want them to have fun but you still also want them to listen so it’s juggling that that those hats really quickly

Jason Hsieh (08:47)
Yeah.

Tommy Balaam (08:48)
Also, moving quick. So if a kid likes one thing, you stay on it. But if they don’t, you jump onto the next thing. Because some kids love magic, some kids love games. And it’s like knowing what they want really quickly.

Jason Hsieh (08:59)
For sure. And based on your experience over the years, what do you think the parents nowadays look for in their children’s entertainment or in the party that you’re hosting? How does that change over the years?

Tommy Balaam (09:11)
It’s going to sound a bit sad, but ⁓ I think parents now, both parents are working, both parents are very tired. They want it as stress free as possible. more so like back in the day, a kid, a moment that would be hired and then the mum might do the second half, they do a pass the pass or pinata, all that stuff. Whereas now it’s like, here’s the kids.

Jason Hsieh (09:31)
They want to be as hands-off as possible.

Tommy Balaam (09:34)
Yeah,

they do. think, know, both parents are working, they don’t necessarily have the energy to manage, run and learn how to, run a party themselves. So it’s about giving it to the expert, which is great for us because, you know, we prefer that anyway. But yeah, I think the parents are happier to go off into another room and drink more these days than they used to.

Yeah, that sounds a bit sad, doesn’t it? that’s the truth.

Jason Hsieh (09:59)
Well, it is what it is. And I think the whole idea is just as long as all the kids that is participating can have fun and really enjoy themselves.

Tommy Balaam (10:08)
know what they don’t want though is their kids to be on technology they want it to be a moment where they’re engaged and they’re part of a group with their friends And I think that’s something we bring We really capture their imaginations Without screen time and I think that’s something that parents are very interested in now Because I think if you’re both really tired, it’s an easy option to give the iPad So I think people are like, okay, what can we do that isn’t So that’s you know, that’s

That’s one positive thing that there’s an awareness of it.

Jason Hsieh (10:35)
I see. And one thing I think the company you stand for is very unique is I think Captain Fantastic isn’t just about fun, but you also introduce mindfulness and well-being. Can you also elaborate on how you’re introducing some of that?

Tommy Balaam (10:47)
Well, it’s funny that because I was working with a social enterprise and they wanted us to just deliver some like some workshops, on like they were running a summer school and in their summer school it was quite it was like they were doing lots of different lessons. not just it wasn’t one particular thing and they wanted us to be bit of light relief within the day. when we came there, we entertained.

like the guy that run the company is like, actually, they’re more engaged in your entertainment than the education that we’re doing. So if we can mix the fun and the education together, actually, that’s when they’re most engaged. So a friend of mine, his name’s John, it was really him that sort of gave me the idea of mixing education and entertainment together. And I think for children play,

You learn your most skills in play and that can be like socializing, learning to lose, all these fundamental skills are learned from play. And I think as a teacher, you’re like, I’ve got teach you this, this, this. Well, actually, no, I can show you this and then you play around with it. And I think that’s what we do really well. So I think just because I was very good at the entertainment side, the teaching side and the engagement level was always really high. So was really easy to add those together.

And then we went into wellbeing. One of my staff members has an SEN child, which is special educational needs, and now it’s and disability, so it’s SEND. And I think that just, know,

wasn’t any SEN parties in the UK. So it’s like, let’s create one so everyone can have the opportunity to celebrate their birthday. And off the back of that, we just fell into wellbeing and wellness. And, you know, it’s a very anxious generation being born right now. And I think with COVID, you know, it’s…

We need to be more resilient to the world. I think, you know, I was just very intrigued with how we can help that generation. And I think we’ve created some wonderful products and we delivered them in schools through magic and game.

Jason Hsieh (12:33)
Yeah, thank you for sharing that. And personally, as I share with you, I’m also very involved in the special needs with our own in-house toys brand. That’s what we design. We design toys for kids with special needs. So I definitely understand that they sometimes are often overlooked. That’s not lot of special services that tailored to the kids, for example, on the autism spectrum or other conditions. So thank you so much for doing that.

helping our future generation. And I want to kind of also ask a follow-up question as far as you expand beyond just the parties and you also have books and also music, even the YouTube series. I guess, how do you incorporate all the different components into your business right now?

Tommy Balaam (13:20)
so at the parties we all sing our theme song and we’ve got like a theme song and the kids dance to it. So it’s just like just dropping little drops in the ocean. Isn’t it? Like here’s a song if you want to sing to it It’s on Spotify and then there’s three different albums as well that you know, you can listen to it and at the end of the party do want to carry on the party feel free to watch our Youtube show, and it’s just so it’s just building that brand because

We have a party you only book it once a year. So it’s not it’s not a product you sell again and again And you know, there’s only a finite amount of time like between one and 11 years old will a child have a party? And then you know, they go off and do cinema bowling and all that stuff Yeah, so we just want to be in their mind and then to fall in love with our brand that they might book a different like a disco party with us next time or a challenge party or a games party or sports party, etc. so it’s just it’s just

being in the kids’ psyche, so they come back to us year after year. And what are the most successful toys? It’s the ones where there’s a brand involved, like a children’s show. Frozen was huge, wasn’t it? Elsa was massive. it’s because the brand develops the one. And if the one’s there, you can sell again and again and again. So that’s why we’ve gone into that world.

Jason Hsieh (14:31)
Yeah, and that’s actually my follow up question. Are you also working on creating your own toy line that go alongside with Captain Fantastic as well?

Tommy Balaam (14:39)
What, well, the thing is, we’ve done too many things at once. I think this is problem of the creative mind. Like you’re always like, let’s do this, let’s do this. And the thing is you have to be ready for the next stage. we’ve had, we have relief. We had Captain Fantastic Dolls before, and you know, they sold okay. They didn’t sell great, but they sold okay. Whereas I think actually I’d rather build the big franchise network.

Jason Hsieh (14:44)
Hahaha

Tommy Balaam (15:03)
sell 100 franchises in the UK, look at doing it into America and maybe in Dubai or somewhere like that. Hong Kong has anywhere with a big expat population, Australia. Build that network over the next few years and then really come back to the brand and then nail the brand. Because the thing is when you have such a big network, it’s very easy to sell toys to sell stuff. And I think I’ve just done it in the wrong order in some of those things.

But then it’s chicken and egg, know, it’s one feeds the other, but you know, to how much. Whereas I think we’re at such a good point as a brand now that we can sell many franchises and then selling many franchises means we can work back on that, go back to the brand. Because I’d love to have a cartoon, Captain Fantastic Cartoon or ⁓ live actions, Netflix, Prime, Disney. I think if we can have a massive network of children’s parties.

We can really open, we have more say in what we want to develop next.

Jason Hsieh (15:58)
That’s true. Yeah, I think right now with the digital landscape, the most valuable asset that we can get is people’s attention. The parents’ attention and the children’s attention. I think suits a lot of your effort on your YouTube channel and other content you’re creating, essentially, we’re really trying to gather people’s attention. So they would like to learn a little bit more about your brand and the more of the following you can build on that. I think that will also propel the brand to grow even further.

Tommy Balaam (16:25)
That’s the new currency, it? People’s attention.

Jason Hsieh (16:27)
Yeah, I mean, if you look at all the social media companies nowadays, that’s essentially what they are selling, Yeah. They are selling their users’ attention to other apps.

Tommy Balaam (16:36)
If you don’t know what the product is, it’s probably you, isn’t it?

Jason Hsieh (16:39)
Yes, if you don’t know what a product is, you are the product. Especially if you’re using Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, that’s what they are capitalizing right now.

Tommy Balaam (16:48)
It’s so funny because it seems so obvious. know, like when Facebook first came out, it seemed so obvious that that’s probably where it was going. But at the time, no one had a clue. I just think it’s very interesting. Like, even people that start something new at the time, you they don’t have a very idea of what it could be. The natural growth is amazing, really.

Jason Hsieh (17:06)
Yeah, yeah. And I want to kind of circle back about one thing you mentioned, I think is also very important is, I know education and entertainment are often seen as two separate things, but something that you did was captain fantastic is really trying to merge that together seamlessly. Can you kind of also share some of the strategy that have worked well as far as merging education and entertainment together?

Tommy Balaam (17:29)
When I look back at my childhood, I don’t remember sitting down studying much. I did, obviously, but I remember all the fun memories with my

something. They’re the memories that you cherish and love. in those memories, you do learn things. think,

We just have to get that engagement really high and create those memories. And I think that’s where you learn as well, But yeah, like I said earlier, we’ve set up in schools and we’ve done lots of, you know. I try and teach the subjects that I find really fun. then because I enjoy them, I can put that passion into it. And it makes it more engaging and more entertaining, I guess.

Jason Hsieh (18:08)
Mm-hmm.

Tommy Balaam (18:09)
I don’t know. think I just think reading a textbook, I’ll go to page three. It’s just so boring. You know, I never when the teacher is like really excited about it. That was entertaining. You know, like a really good teacher is entertaining. I just think that’s where we have to we have to put those things together. And many children learn differently. You know, some people

Learned by how they listen. Some people learn by doing it, by seeing it. I think, you know, we’re trying to create an experience and that’s one way of teaching as well.

Jason Hsieh (18:38)
Yeah, for sure, for sure.

Tommy Balaam (18:40)
That was a better summary. I should have gone with that first of all. ⁓

Jason Hsieh (18:45)
So, and one thing you also mentioned is you’re working on expanding into US right now with your franchise and your business model. Can you kind of share a little bit of what it’s going to look like for our audiences in US? What can they expect? And are you, how many like a state or city that is currently available in US?

Tommy Balaam (19:05)
So we’re in California at the minute and we’ve got four entertainers there. So it’s very small and it’s doing what we do here. But obviously a lot of their parties are outside and a lot of our parties are indoors here. And a lot of people like to do it on the beach. So it’s just adjusting slightly to be outside, using a lot more battery equipment rather than plug-in equipment. And then obviously if you’re on a beach, are, kids can run.

So it’s about having things that quickly get kids back, playing games that keep them together. So everywhere you go, there’s going to be a little tweak of how you do it. But we’re still delivering the same product. I think, why is McDonald’s successful? Because you know McDonald’s, what you get at McDonald’s, wherever you go, you’re not going to steak, and you’re not going to have it rare, do you what mean? You’re going to burgers.

The way you customize it is by adding fries, adding a milkshake, adding the coffee. And that’s what, you know, we’re trying to get that formula in America. And I think what we’ve learned by going to America is that five year olds want the same thing, but you have to tweak it slightly. Like, like we have a lot of like jokes here that would be that don’t work in for an American audience. But that’s more for the parents anyway, because we try and entertain the whole room.

Jason Hsieh (20:15)
Hmm.

Tommy Balaam (20:19)
So, you know at the minute it’s just learning a little bit of the nuance of each location whilst putting our formula on top of it and Then and then it’s really you know, making sure our website is the best website It can be for that that location and it serves that location different because obviously the wording the SEO all needs to be different for America And then yeah, and then it’s working out we do so much work in the UK schools

then it’s working out what’s the American curriculum so we can go in and tailor into that.

Jason Hsieh (20:47)
Yeah, a little bit different.

Tommy Balaam (20:48)
We thought we could copy and paste and take it to another country. And we realized we can’t.

Jason Hsieh (20:54)
That’s quite a bit of nuances and also it’s different from state to state as well.

Tommy Balaam (20:59)
so what we need to do is learn because we want to be able to do this in other countries, not just America, but is learn that is like what framework is needed and then what we put on top of it every day so we can do it quickly because everything is about doing it quick and doing it efficiently because you don’t want to keep doing the same thing again and again. And that as a business owner, that’s what irritates me the most is when I’m doing the same thing again and again, because if I could do it again and again, someone else can.

delegate that to someone else and then I go and do the thing that needs to be done once, write out how it’s done, then get someone else to do it, see if they can follow that. If they can’t, then we have to relook at that procedure. Get the procedure nice, give it to someone else, then do the next thing. Because if you’re to be saying that all the time in your business, it’s not growing.

Jason Hsieh (21:42)
Yeah, I agree. I think actually one thing I want to add to that is for those kind of processes, when we also do some of the internal review, we’re always looking at the processes and see if we can either eliminate it altogether, automate it, or if we could automate, then we have to delegate. That’s kind of the three-stage process we go through because sometimes maybe it doesn’t even need to be done anymore. We’re actually creating value. Why are we doing what we’re doing?

you know, some other people has been doing it for years doesn’t mean we should be keep on doing the same thing. So.

Tommy Balaam (22:16)
This is something that’s quite interesting actually, because if you don’t give someone a job description, a very clear job description, they will make their day really busy. They will look so busy. But is it the right busy? That every hour needs to contribute to growing or generating wealth. And automation is easier than ever before. think it’s actually a lot cheaper now, before we had to go like customize.

it’s probably done already whatever you want to be done.

Jason Hsieh (22:42)
Yeah, that’s a lot more tool on that is that I mean with AI nowadays. There’s definitely a lot more tool to

Tommy Balaam (22:49)
We’re

developing an AI. So when you’re on one of our franchises, it’s the first time they’ve ever done a book in. The AI will prompt them with what to say, and they will also listen to them and they think they need to be a bit more friendlier or speak slower. will just come up and tell them what to do.

Jason Hsieh (23:06)
nice, nice, nice. That’s very helpful.

Tommy Balaam (23:08)
It’s very much phase one in discussion. It looks positive. But how crazy that’s possible. Like, do you what mean? Like a year ago, I never would have even thought that was possible. And in six months time, that probably will be developed. So I think it’s just amazing.

Jason Hsieh (23:22)
Yeah, it’s definitely evolving and changing really rapidly. we as business owners, we in the industry, we really need to kind of learn what is going on and really try to adapt and modify our business accordingly. So and as we’re wrapping up today’s interview, the final question I want to ask is, what is next for Captain Fantastic? What are some of the new projects that you have on the horizon that you’re currently working on?

Tommy Balaam (23:48)
I don’t stop. Maybe next is to have a relax, you know? Like I said, I want global domination on the children’s party scene. I’d love to be able to copy the model and take it to other countries with ease. At the minute, it’s too hard. So it’s learning how to do that. So that’s the immediate future. And then my dream is to have a Netflix

prime, Disney show, you know, because that is that is the asset of any of any entertainment, you know, is, a show that people love and know like trust, because then instantly everything else falls into place. You know, if you’ve got a show and you’ve got a franchise model, you know, people are just going to buy it because you’ve got the show.

Jason Hsieh (24:27)
Yeah, that’s true. Yeah.

Tommy Balaam (24:29)
Once you’ve got that

show, can open up a theme park, can open up a day nursery, whatever, on that name. The name has just so much power.

Jason Hsieh (24:37)
Yeah, thank you for sharing that vision with us. for our listener, where can people find you online? Where’s the best place for people?

Tommy Balaam (24:45)
If you write Captain Fantastic Kids on Google, you will come up on YouTube, Instagram, everything. But our UK site is http://www.captain-fantastic.co.uk. And CFparties.com is the USA site. But we’re to change that. USA just needs the magic dust put on it.

Jason Hsieh (25:07)
I see. Well, make sure.

Tommy Balaam (25:09)
It was harder than we thought guys. It was easy, everyone would do it.

Jason Hsieh (25:11)
I see. Well, thank you.

For sure, for sure, for sure. We’ll make sure we put that in the show note. And again, for our listeners, thank you for tuning into this episode of Toy Business Unboxed podcast. We really hope you enjoy the conversation and find it insightful and inspiring. If you like what you have heard, be sure to subscribe to our podcast on your favorite platform so you never miss an episode. We really appreciate your support and we love it if you can leave us a review and share the podcast with your friend and colleague. For more resource tips and the latest update in the toys and game industry,

visit our website at toy-launch.com. Join the conversation and connect with us on social media using hashtag toybusinessunboxed. We’d love to hear your feedback and suggestions for future episodes. Until next time, keep innovating, keep creating, keep bringing joy to toys. This is Jason Hsieh signing off on the Toy Business Unboxed podcast and we’ll see you in the next episode. Thank you so much.