Welcome to this episode of the Toy Business Unboxed Podcast, where host Jason Hsieh sits down with Jennifer Oz, the CEO and owner of Oz Creation. Jennifer spent three decades as a corporate executive at a Fortune 200 company before stepping away to launch Olympia Doll and Story Collection, a line of 12-inch dolls inspired by goddesses from Greek and Roman mythology. Since launching in November 2025, the collection has reached specialty toy stores across the United States and earned national recognition, including a Mom’s Choice Award. In this episode, Jennifer shares how a bedtime story for her daughter turned into a full product line, and what she has learned about building a toy business from the ground up.
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Episode Highlight
- 00:00 Introducing Jennifer Oz
- 00:57 Three decades in corporate leadership
- 02:42 The mission behind Olympia
- 05:40 Meet Artemis, Venus, and Athena
- 08:06 Customer feedback and awards
- 10:07 The hardest part of launching
- 11:52 Why she skipped Amazon
- 14:12 What’s working in marketing
- 18:38 How tariffs affected pricing
- 23:18 Advice for toy industry newcomers
From Corporate Boardrooms to a New Chapter
Jennifer spent nearly three decades in corporate leadership at a Fortune 200 company, running multi-billion dollar and smaller business units across the United States, Europe, Brazil, and Canada. She always knew she wanted to pursue an entrepreneurial venture once her corporate career wound down, and Olympia had been a passion project idea for years before she acted on it. The timing came together when she retired last summer, just in time to produce and launch her new doll collection. Now she has fully transitioned into running her own small business.
A Daughter’s Wish Sparks the Olympia Collection
The idea for Olympia dates back early in Jennifer’s career, rooted in her love of mythology, art, and history. It became real when her daughter, who plays soccer and field hockey, connected with a bedtime story about Artemis. When Jennifer asked if her daughter would want an Artemis doll, she said yes, and later that weekend asked to go buy one, not realizing it did not exist yet. That moment, combined with a wave of mythology-driven pop culture at the time, convinced Jennifer the idea was worth revisiting.
Dolls Built Around Ancient Stories
Olympia started with Greek and Roman figures: Artemis, Venus, and Athena, each a 12-inch doll designed to be larger than a typical fashion doll. Every doll comes with a symbolic animal, such as Artemis’s hunting dog, Venus’s swan, and Athena’s owl, along with detailed costumes and hair. What sets the collection apart is not the dolls themselves but the stories that come with them: each doll ships with a collectible story card covering the heroine’s background, powers, and a modern question asking how she inspires today’s girls. The goal is to spark enough curiosity that kids carry those qualities into their own imaginative, open-ended play.
Heartfelt Reviews and National Recognition
Olympia launched in November 2025 in local toy stores in St. Louis and Chicago, plus Jennifer’s own online store, and the response exceeded her expectations. Parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles shared touching stories about how attached their kids became to the dolls, including one father whose daughter refused to be apart from her Artemis doll at bedtime. The collection also earned national recognition, including a Mom’s Choice Award and a National Parenting Product Award, along with another national honor Jennifer mentioned but did not name in full detail. For Jennifer, seeing that kind of reaction from families has been one of the most rewarding parts of the launch.
Finding the Right Team to Bring the Vision to Life
As a corporate executive with no formal doll-making background, Jennifer found that assembling the right team was the hardest part of bringing Olympia to life. Dolls are complex products with many moving pieces, from head and body sculpting to hair, costuming, makeup, and each doll’s symbolic animal. Early attempts to find the right talent did not work out, which is part of why the process took several years longer than she expected. Through her growing network in the toy industry, she eventually connected with former corporate doll industry experts who helped design, develop, and produce the collection.
Choosing Specialty Stores Over Amazon and Mass Retail
Jennifer made a deliberate decision to keep Olympia off Amazon and out of mass market retail, at least for now. Telling the brand’s story and curating the unboxing experience, including special tissue paper, a sticker, and a thank-you note, mattered more to her than the reach Amazon could offer, so she built the brand on Shopify instead. She also chose to focus on specialty toy stores, museum shops, and gift stores, where owners build personal relationships with customers and where a meaningful, story-driven gift fits naturally. On the marketing side, organic and paid social, primarily Meta, has driven most of her online sales, alongside targeted email campaigns through Shopify’s apps.
Tariffs and the Realities of Small Business Manufacturing
Tariffs hit right as Jennifer was preparing to go into production, briefly spiking to over 100 percent and putting her launch plans on hold. Rates came down in time for her fall launch, but she still landed a 30 percent tariff, which raised her costs and squeezed her margins and pricing strategy. As a small proprietor without her own factories, she has limited options, and China remains the country with the doll-making expertise and tooling she needs. Jennifer says the biggest misconception is that tariffs only hurt big corporations, when small businesses like hers lack the margin and flexibility to shift their supply chains overnight.
What’s Next: Expanding Beyond Greek and Roman Goddesses
Jennifer still has a lot of room to grow domestically and plans to keep building Olympia’s brand awareness and store presence in the United States before looking abroad. She sees strong long-term potential in Europe, given that the current collection’s Greek and Roman goddesses originated there. Beyond geography, she is also looking at expanding the collection itself, choosing Venus over Aphrodite for the current line specifically to leave room for heroines from other cultures down the road. She is also continuing to partner with local nonprofits that support girls’ safety, health, and education, tying the brand’s mission into her community work.
Advice for Newcomers in the Toy and Game Industry
Jennifer’s first piece of advice is to know your own gaps and find the right team to fill them, since a great idea still needs an end-to-end plan covering production, sales, marketing, shipping, legal, and trademarks. Her second piece of advice is to validate the idea directly with kids and parents rather than assuming it will resonate. Her third piece of advice is that passion alone is not enough. It takes patience and perseverance to get through the inevitable setbacks, and for her, having the right team and the right experts made the difference in solving problems along the way.
Conclusion
Jennifer Oz’s path from three decades in corporate leadership to launching Olympia Doll and Story Collection shows how a personal moment with her daughter turned into a national brand within a single year. By leaning into storytelling, specialty retail relationships, and a small but expert team, she built a doll line that earned strong customer loyalty and industry recognition despite tariff headwinds. Her story is a reminder that finding the right people to fill your gaps matters as much as the original idea. Anyone considering a similar path in toys and games can find her collection and story cards at olympiadoll.com.
Connect with Jennifer Oz
If you’re interested in learning more about Oz Creations or connecting with Jennifer Oz you can reach out through the following channels:
- Website: Visit Olympia Doll’s official website for the latest news, game updates, and more
- Instagram: Follow Olympia Doll on Instagram for visual updates, game previews, and creative inspiration
- Facebook: Follow Olympia Doll on Facebook for updates, discussions, and behind-the-scenes content.
Transcript
Jason Hsieh (00:00)
Welcome back to another episode of Toy Business Unboxed Podcast. I’m your host, Jason Hsieh. For today’s guest is Jennifer Oz, the CEO and owner of Oz Creation, a company behind the Olympia dolls and story collections. Jennifer herself has spent the last three decades as a corporate executive before leaving it to bring a new business idea to life. Her product line is really inspired
By goddesses from Greek mythologies and it was launched in fall 2025 and it’s already in specialty toy store across the United States. So today she’s gonna share her journey in the toys industry and also what she did to get to where she is right now. Thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today, Jennifer.
Jennifer Oz (00:41)
Thank you, Jason, for the opportunity.
Jason Hsieh (00:43)
Of course. So for our audience that doesn’t know too much about you and your company, I know you have spent the last three decades in corporate world. Can you talk a little bit about your previous kind of career and how does that tie to your toy company?
Jennifer Oz (00:57)
You bet. So I was very fortunate to have an amazing career in a Fortune 200 company.
Jason Hsieh (01:03)
Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Oz (01:03)
You know, having commercial leadership over those decades,
Jason Hsieh (01:07)
Nothing.
Jennifer Oz (01:08)
You know, leading multi-billion dollar businesses and smaller enterprises at the same time. It was a global company, so both here as
Jason Hsieh (01:13)
Yeah. Yeah.
Jennifer Oz (01:16)
Well as in Europe, Brazil, Canada, et cetera. But I always knew that when I was done with my corporate tenure.
That I would be interested based on that experience
Jason Hsieh (01:23)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Jennifer Oz (01:26)
To start an entrepreneurial venture. So I knew
Jason Hsieh (01:28)
I see.
Jennifer Oz (01:29)
That whether it was to work for another small business that was existing or to start my own thing. And Olympia really started as a passion project. It was actually an idea that I had
Jason Hsieh (01:37)
I see. Okay.
Jennifer Oz (01:39)
A long time ago. It was a creative endeavor and it sort of came to me as a
Jason Hsieh (01:43)
Mm.
Jennifer Oz (01:44)
Potential path that I could explore kind of post corporate. And so as
Jason Hsieh (01:48)
Yeah.
Jennifer Oz (01:49)
We’ll talk about a little further,
You know, I did develop that out, took quite a while, but it all kind of coalesced at the right timing because I was able to retire last summer from my corporate
Jason Hsieh (01:58)
No.
Jennifer Oz (02:00)
You know, responsibilities and just in time to be able to produce and launch this new doll collection. So now I’ve made the transition to a new
Jason Hsieh (02:07)
I see. Okay. Yes.
Jennifer Oz (02:09)
Small business owner, and it’s very fun and different and exciting to see the vision finally come to reality.
Jason Hsieh (02:15)
I See. Thank you for sharing so much of the background. And I think your toy line is very unique and I believe in the mission that you’re trying to do. Can you also kind of show or kind of talk about the toy lines? I know you have a few products behind you. If you want to showcase the product, feel free to do so as well. And like what inspired you to create this particular product line and the mission of like teaching girls about like different very well known characters, like
What exactly is your mission behind the toy brand?
Jennifer Oz (02:42)
So what Olympia Doll and Story Collection is, is really a collection designed to bring to life ancient you know heroines. So basically goddesses and female figures from the past retell their stories in a modern way and an exciting way to kids in order to inspire them through imaginative open-ended play with the dolls to have confidence in their own strengths.
So that’s really what it was all about.
Jason Hsieh (03:07)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Jennifer Oz (03:09)
The idea came to me many years ago, you know, well before or early in my career. And really it was not really in the making to go do it until my daughter inspired me to do it. And so she was doll playing age. And
Jason Hsieh (03:23)
Mm. Yeah.
Jennifer Oz (03:26)
You know, I had had this idea because I love mythology, art, history.
These are timeless stories that
Jason Hsieh (03:33)
Yes.
Jennifer Oz (03:34)
Really are popular for centuries because
Jason Hsieh (03:37)
Yeah.
Jennifer Oz (03:38)
They are talking about important qualities, gods and goddesses around the world, you know,
Jason Hsieh (03:43)
Yes.
Jennifer Oz (03:44)
Legendary archetypes like courage and compassion and strength and bravery and intelligence and all of these really important qualities that are important role models for our kids.
And you know, we see them in paintings, literature, movies, superhero figures, you know, they’re really all over. And I thought, well, wouldn’t it be cool to bring that together and not just the story, but bring the doll with it so that children can through superhero play, you know, like I said, imagine themselves as having a lot of those strengths, which is a natural thing to do when you’re kids. Well,
Jason Hsieh (04:17)
Mm.
Jennifer Oz (04:17)
I exposed that to my daughter. I read her a story about Artemis because she is twin, she has a twin brother.
Artemis has a twin brother, Apollo. She’s yes, she’s very
Jason Hsieh (04:24)
Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Okay.
Jennifer Oz (04:28)
Athletic. She was playing soccer and field hockey and you know, just really I thought, she’s really gonna identify with Artemis. And I read her the story. And then afterwards I asked her if she would be interested in the doll. Because again, I thought about this a long time ago. And she
Jason Hsieh (04:40)
Mm. Yes.
Jennifer Oz (04:43)
Said, Yes, that she would. And I thought, huh, interesting. Well,
Jason Hsieh (04:47)
Okay.
Jennifer Oz (04:47)
Later that weekend, she actually asked for the doll. She wanted to go out and buy the doll. And I said,
Jason Hsieh (04:53)
Okay.
Jennifer Oz (04:53)
I said, sweetie, well that doll doesn’t exist. She didn’t quite understand. It was a hypothetical question. You know, what if this doll existed? But nevertheless,
Jason Hsieh (04:57)
Okay, okay, yeah, yeah. Yes. Yeah. I see.
Jennifer Oz (05:05)
That led to many conversations and other kids, other parents thought it was a great idea. There was actually a lot going on at the time, where mythology as today, right, are back in pop culture in different ways. So there was Wonder Woman.
And Percy Jackson and Gods of Egypt and Thor and I mean you just look around and there was just a lot of it. So it really just had me start thinking, you know, maybe I should revisit this idea. Maybe this idea still has relevance today and that’s really how it got started.
Jason Hsieh (05:35)
Mm, I see, I see, I see. And how many product you have in the product line nowadays?
Jennifer Oz (05:40)
Yes, so we started with Greek and Roman figures, okay, and
Jason Hsieh (05:45)
Okay. Yeah.
Jennifer Oz (05:47)
We have essentially Artemis, who I’ll show here, or here, Venus and Athena. And so each of them are 12-inch dolls, so they are designed to be, you know, larger than life, so they’re larger than your typical fashion doll. And they are strong.
And womanly and you know have some really high quality features beautifully crafted costumes and hair design and you know so they’re lovely and very high quality and then each of them comes with their own symbolic animal so they have
Jason Hsieh (06:25)
Mm.
Jennifer Oz (06:25)
You know in the case of Artemis she has her hunting dog in the case of Venus you know she has her swan and in the case
Jason Hsieh (06:32)
Yes.
Jennifer Oz (06:33)
Of Athena
She has an owl. And so each of them,
Jason Hsieh (06:36)
Okay.
Jennifer Oz (06:37)
You know, as we can talk about a little further, you know, their meaning, each of them you know, represent important characteristics and unique personality traits that are very different. And so the idea
Jason Hsieh (06:45)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I
Jennifer Oz (06:48)
Was to have a collection of dolls that are very distinct looking, but also their personality types are quite different for girls
Jason Hsieh (06:51)
Yes. I see.
Jennifer Oz (06:55)
To connect with them in different ways.
Jason Hsieh (06:58)
Yes.
Jennifer Oz (06:58)
But what really makes this different is it’s not just about the dolls. It actually starts with the stories. And so the storytelling is really the most important aspect about this collection. And so each of the dolls in the package comes with a short story that’s designed to be a collectible. And so, you know, out of the package you have the story card and it essentially goes through
Little bit of background about the heroine. So it talks about her animals and symbols and where she came from, what are her powers, and then really it makes it connect back to girls today by saying, you know, how does she inspire you? And so it brings
Jason Hsieh (07:38)
Yeah.
Jennifer Oz (07:39)
In sort of a modern twist in each of these to make it accessible to girls. And really the goal here is to just spark enough curiosity and imagination so that again
Jason Hsieh (07:49)
Yeah.
Jennifer Oz (07:50)
They will then go.
In open-ended imaginative play and imagine the strengths that they have, right? So that’s what the superhero play aspect brings into it.
Jason Hsieh (07:59)
I see, I see, I see. And what is the feedback from the customer and the retailer so far since you launched the product line?
Jennifer Oz (08:06)
Yeah, so we have been really, really pleased with the feedback. We were really excited. We had a bit of a late launch, so we didn’t launch until last November, right before Christmas. We launched in local toy stores here in St. Louis and in Chicago and then also online in our online store. And the feedback was just really tremendous. We were really happy you know, with the sales, but also super happy with the reviews. We’ve gotten very positive reviews back.
You know, from the parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, you know, who were sharing really touching stories about how much their kids loved the dolls, loved the stories, were connecting with them. You know, one I recall was a father talked about his daughter loving Artemis so much that she took her to bed with her that night and you know wouldn’t part ways with her. So
You know, it’s just really heartwarming to see that kind of reaction.
Jason Hsieh (08:58)
Mm-hmm. Yes.
Jennifer Oz (09:00)
I mentioned, yeah, we’re targeting specialty retail toy stores because again, we’re focused on a meaningful, you know, educational and inspiring gift, which is super unique and that’s a wonderful place in a consultative, you know, environment with these amazing community toy stores for for people to find them.
As well as selling them online. So you know, so that’s where they’re available. The other thing that was really heartening was that we were recognized nationally by receiving several awards. And so that was also a really nice response that we received for the collection. So we have a mom’s choice national American parenting Napa and Play on Words award so that was really, really nice to
Jason Hsieh (09:43)
Congratulations.
Jennifer Oz (09:45)
See the
I’ll call it sort of the national recognition of what
Jason Hsieh (09:49)
Yes.
Jennifer Oz (09:49)
It is and we’re super honored by that as well.
Jason Hsieh (09:52)
I see. And I know the product line you spend a lot of time, sweat and tear into it. What would be the hardest part from going from concept to a finished shippable toy product as someone that’s still fairly new in industry? what is like the hardest part for you?
Jennifer Oz (10:07)
Yes. Well, that was the hardest part because I am not, as you said, a toy expert. And so finding the right talent and the right expertise was really the hardest part in terms of,
Jason Hsieh (10:19)
Mm.
Jennifer Oz (10:19)
You know, people who know how to make dolls. I mean, so basically, these dolls are a complex product. You have multiple details and aspects. You have the head and the body, sculpt, you have the hair, you have the costume, you
Jason Hsieh (10:33)
Yeah.
Jennifer Oz (10:33)
Have the makeup, you have the animals.
Jason Hsieh (10:35)
Yes.
Jennifer Oz (10:35)
So
Finding the right talent I would say was the hardest part of the journey. And that took a little while. So that’s why it took several years to get this done because you know we ran into some challenges at the beginning and didn’t quite, you know, find the right talent to be able to do that. So then I really needed to find new people and through the networks that I was able to generate in the toy industry was very fortunate to be able to have you know X
Corporate doll industry experts who really came together and helped design, develop and produce the dolls. And so, you know, I have a lot of business knowledge, know how to run businesses, but obviously don’t have that expertise. And I just really am so thankful and happy with the final product because it’s just beautiful, high quality and it’s due to that expertise that I needed to have in order to make it come true.
Jason Hsieh (11:26)
I see. And I think during a pre interview you also talk about some of the business decision that you make at least for now, stay out of Amazon and mass market retail. Can you also talk about your decision process on making that decision? Because a lot of the startup company I talk to, the first place they start is Amazon nowadays. So maybe you can elaborate about what drove that decision for you and how has it
Played
Jennifer Oz (11:50)
Sure.
Jason Hsieh (11:50)
Out so far? So
Jennifer Oz (11:52)
Yeah, so at the moment we are not on Amazon. So that’s true. I think the biggest thing was you know, so much of this is telling the story and the brand experience. And so helping people understand the storytelling aspect and the dolls and the create your own stories, which are also available on our website, really wanted the brand experience story to be told. And that is really best told through our branded website. And so we made the decision to go through
The Shopify platform and really offer this again with a very professional fulfillment. And then our fulfillment also has very special touches. So the customer experience that they
Jason Hsieh (12:30)
Okay.
Jennifer Oz (12:31)
Get is really like an unwrapping, you know, with our
Special tissue paper. They have a little sticker, a thank you note, you know, so there’s really a whole aspect to the delivery
Jason Hsieh (12:41)
Okay. Okay.
Jennifer Oz (12:42)
That we wanted to curate. And that is difficult to do through Amazon.
Jason Hsieh (12:45)
Yeah. Yes.
Jennifer Oz (12:47)
So given the
Jason Hsieh (12:48)
Yeah.
Jennifer Oz (12:48)
Sort of high touch experience,
We really wanted to start developing that brand experience and brand equity with Olympia versus,
Jason Hsieh (12:57)
Hmm.
Jennifer Oz (12:57)
You know, through Amazon. So that’s sort of that part. And then really the Astra Stores, as I mentioned, you know, we really wanted to support specialty stores. I love our local toy stores here. You know, mine around the corner was where we launched. And
Jason Hsieh (13:11)
Yes.
Jennifer Oz (13:12)
I just felt strongly that again, the high touch, the
Personal relationships that these store owners have with their customers. And again, focus on unique, meaningful gifts was really a great place to be. We
Jason Hsieh (13:23)
Hmm.
Jennifer Oz (13:26)
Also see a lot of strong fit with museum stores or specialty gift stores or bookstores. So we’re
Jason Hsieh (13:29)
Oh I see, okay. I see.
Jennifer Oz (13:32)
In some of those places as well. And I think that’s a great place because people know. I mean, you go see the art, and then yeah, here’s the dolls, right? And you’ve just seen.
You know, Athena or Aphrodite or, you know, Venus live and then you go and can see again these lovely stories and dolls that could help be wonderful gifts for kids.
Jason Hsieh (13:52)
I see. Thank you for sharing that. And I want to kind of dive into Shopify a little bit more because we also work with quite a bit of brand on the Shopify marketing side of things. I was just wondering what has been working for you on the Shopify marketing side so far. Was it meta ads? Was it influencer? Was it social media, TikTok? What has worked so far and what
Is not working so far? So
Jennifer Oz (14:12)
Yeah. Yeah,
No, absolutely. I think the the social media aspect, I mean largely meta, even more so from a purchase perspective versus TikTok, where TikTok we’ve had a lot of good, you know, sort of visibility, but maybe less purchases so far. But
Jason Hsieh (14:28)
Okay.
Jennifer Oz (14:29)
I would say the social media strategy has really been what’s driven our online sales. And really it’s been amazing. I mean, we have sold nationwide. I I don’t know all the states, but I feel like we have covered
Almost every state, and internationally as well. We’ve been selling in Europe. So, you know, Shopify you know, has helped us reach those markets and a really seamless fulfillment. But importantly I think it’s the social media strategy that’s helped us reach, you know, different audiences.
Jason Hsieh (14:59)
Are you also running ongoing ads to the meta platform as well? So
Jennifer Oz (15:03)
We are,
Yes. We’re doing both organic, right? organic posting as well as some paid advertisements as well. Yeah.
Jason Hsieh (15:11)
Mm, I see, I see, I see. How about email marketing and SMS marketing? What is your experience so far on that?
Jennifer Oz (15:17)
Yes, same. So that’s been great as well. So I think the Shopify platform and a lot of the different apps that they have has really helped us also, you know, target you know, email campaigns for different offers, different times of year, you know, that type of thing. So I would agree, yes, that’s another advantage, I think.
Jason Hsieh (15:34)
I see. And looking ahead here, what is your plan for the next few years? Is it still going to be focusing on domestic expansion or do you want to go international more?
Jennifer Oz (15:43)
Well,
We still have quite a ways to go with domestic expansion. So for sure we’ll be continuing to focus on you know growing our presence, growing our brand awareness you know, for the current collection. I do see a lot of opportunity for this collection in Europe. And
So you know clearly that is where a lot of these the current set of you know goddesses originated. So I you know that would be a wonderful expansion opportunity.
And then we we do have plans to go beyond this, you know, this first three, right? The the first three in the collection. So
Jason Hsieh (16:15)
Okay. I see.
Jennifer Oz (16:17)
You know, clearly we’re working on that as well. Olympia, the name Olympia is obviously the field where the you know classic Olympians, the gods and goddesses, lived in Greece. So clearly that is the brand name and sort of the origin of that. But what I did with the collection was actually choose.
Venus versus Aphrodite, who’s the Roman version of Aphrodite, to kind of you know, indicate that this isn’t going to just be Greek. So while the first are Greek and Roman,
Jason Hsieh (16:45)
Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
Jennifer Oz (16:48)
We do see a lot of wonderful personalities and legendary heroines in other cultures. And so that is another opportunity that we’ll be looking at. Maybe. Maybe, Jason. Stay tuned.
Jason Hsieh (16:54)
Yeah. Maybe an Asian one next time.
Maybe Asian one I can buy for my two girls. I do have two girls at home. Yeah, 13 and 9.
Jennifer Oz (17:06)
There you go. There you go.
Jason Hsieh (17:08)
So yeah. So okay, I see. Yeah.
Jennifer Oz (17:10)
Indeed.
Jason Hsieh (17:11)
And I know obviously domestic expansion is obviously very important. Besides being part of Astra and attending Astra show, what else has been working well for your domestic expansion?
Jennifer Oz (17:23)
You know, I think that media, I mean generating media opportunities and, you
Jason Hsieh (17:26)
Okay, okay. Yeah. Yeah.
Jennifer Oz (17:29)
Know, unpaid media in addition to the paid media. Another piece of my and this is more of a local thing, is you know, part of our mission is to give back a portion of the proceeds to organizations that support girls, safety,
Jason Hsieh (17:40)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. Okay.
Jennifer Oz (17:44)
Health, and education. And so I’ve been partnering as well with local nonprofits here that support girls.
And you know helping to support and sponsor those events, engage
Jason Hsieh (17:54)
I see.
Jennifer Oz (17:54)
With them in different activities. So I think there’s a real opportunity you know, for us to live the mission and also help support some of the nonprofits. And so that’s some of the things we’re doing here locally and obviously, you know, would love to expand that to other markets as well.
Jason Hsieh (18:09)
Thank you for doing that. I believe in giving back is very important. As our involvement in our community as well. Okay, so thank you for sharing that. And I want to talk a little bit about a tricky or I guess a topic that not everyone wanna talk too much about. Tariff. How has tariff impacted your business since, you know, with all the changes last year? I know this year the tariff situation is a bit better than last year, but
Does it also impact a lot of your business decision and how does it affect your business so far?
Jennifer Oz (18:38)
Yeah, a hundred percent. I mean, it was very troubling and impactful last year. So
Jason Hsieh (18:42)
Yes, yes, you were, yes, yes, yes. Yeah.
Jennifer Oz (18:44)
I mean, right as I was getting ready to go into production over
Jason Hsieh (18:47)
Yes.
Jennifer Oz (18:49)
A year ago, you know, when the tariffs skyrocketed to over a 100%, it really put everything on hold, frankly, Jason. I thought, okay,
Jason Hsieh (18:52)
Yes. Yeah. Yes, yes.
Jennifer Oz (18:57)
I’ve been waiting this long to finally launch. Now I’m gonna have to wait even longer. So I mean
Jason Hsieh (18:59)
Yeah, yeah.
Jennifer Oz (19:03)
Would have stopped us dead in the tracks, frankly, at at those kind
Jason Hsieh (19:05)
I see. Okay.
Jennifer Oz (19:06)
Of rates.
Fortunately it did come down in time for us to be able to launch, but we did still get stuck with a pretty high tariff rate, right? So, you know, when we came in in the fall, we were still at a 30% rate, which as you know, you know, raises your costs, impacts your margins. And that has
Jason Hsieh (19:22)
Yes.
Jennifer Oz (19:22)
Had an impact in, you know, some of my go-to-market plans and certainly has
Jason Hsieh (19:26)
That we
Jennifer Oz (19:27)
Had an impact on my pricing strategy. So
Jason Hsieh (19:29)
Yeah.
Jennifer Oz (19:30)
You know, hopefully, as you said, it will get better and you know, maybe the toy industry can be successful.
You know, containing and may you know giving us a little bit more certainty about, you know, what that’s gonna look like. You know, the challenge with dolls in this particular category is China is really the place that has the most expertise and tooling. I mean
Jason Hsieh (19:48)
Yeah, all the like manufacturing capability, yes, yeah.
Jennifer Oz (19:52)
Correct. And so for a small proprietor like me, I don’t have my own factories. I don’t have lots of choices. So
Jason Hsieh (19:55)
Yeah. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jennifer Oz (19:59)
You know, so it really is a a challenge to watch because clearly that macro impact
You know, could have a significant impact. But let’s hope, like you said, that things are getting better and
Jason Hsieh (20:06)
Significant, yeah.
Jennifer Oz (20:10)
Hope that we can have the toy industry spared you know, of future really dramatic shifts on that front.
Jason Hsieh (20:15)
Yeah, I hope yeah, I hope hopefully they can make make sure at least it’s the same number. Don’t change the number every other month, please. You cannot do business planning
Jennifer Oz (20:22)
That’s right. That’s right. Give us a little more certainty.
Jason Hsieh (20:26)
When it’s like I don’t even know is it 20% or a 125% That’s a very different number, right? So
Jennifer Oz (20:29)
Well Exactly. Yes. And
And one you can maybe have a business and the other is you know, as we’ve seen honestly, really unfortunate because it has impacted businesses, right?
Jason Hsieh (20:42)
Yes, yes, yes. I think that’s also some misunderstanding on the public side. It’s tariff is only gonna affect like the big company and, you know, the corporation.
But actually the people that’s really suffering is the small business owner like us. We don’t have the margin to change our entire supply chain overnight like the bigger company do. They can outsource and change their factory over like really fast in Vietnam or other country, but as a smaller like business like us, because I also own a toy company myself. So I went through
Jennifer Oz (21:12)
Right, right.
Jason Hsieh (21:13)
That same struggle. Okay, how do I produce product in same level of quality, but
Affordably so I can still survive as a business, which is very tricky. So yeah.
Jennifer Oz (21:23)
Correct. A 100% Yeah. No,
It’s incredibly important to small business ownership in the toy industry and many other industries. So yes, I agree wholeheartedly.
Jason Hsieh (21:34)
Yeah,
Yeah. So I know with your team you have built your team from scratch pretty much. You build a network within the toy company and what is your vision for your team going forward? Are you still looking for more employees to join you or you’re pretty happy with the current team and you’re ready to just keep on expanding right now?
Jennifer Oz (21:53)
Well,
The great news, like I said, I was able to assemble a wonderful design and development team. And so
Jason Hsieh (21:58)
Yeah.
Jennifer Oz (22:00)
You know, that was just fantastic. And so clearly now that I have that, that will help a lot as I think about future development.
Jason Hsieh (22:04)
Yeah. Yeah.
Jennifer Oz (22:06)
And then really from a, you know, from a marketing sales, you know, basically commercialization perspective. I’ve obviously got a lot of different businesses that I work with.
Freelancers, contractors, et cetera. You know, it’s a family business, so my family’s involved. I guess you could call them
Jason Hsieh (22:19)
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Jennifer Oz (22:23)
Employees. But,
Jason Hsieh (22:25)
Yeah.
Jennifer Oz (22:26)
But you know, so that’s really, you know, the strategy that I’ve had as a sole proprietor. I certainly would love to get to a point of expanding and have enough need to be able to hire employees. We’re at the point right now that, it’s really been mostly
You know, other professionals and a professional network and that’s my team, you know, that helps me get this done. I’ve got a fulfillment house that I work with in addition as as needed. So I feel I feel like we are ready for growth and we’ve got you know we’ve got the pieces in place. And so it’s just a matter of, you know, continuing to do what we’re doing. Again, the feedback’s been great. So now we just need to continue to get that awareness and have people experience it and spread the word.
Jason Hsieh (23:05)
Of course, of course. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. And as we are kind of approaching the end of today’s interview here, if you had to share one piece of advice with someone that’s also getting started in the toy and game industry, how would that be?
Jennifer Oz (23:18)
Yeah,
I think it’s back to this point about finding the right team to support you. Okay.
Jason Hsieh (23:22)
Couldn’t
Jennifer Oz (23:24)
You need to identify in your strategy and your concept or your passion that you’re pursuing, what are your strengths? What is it
That you bring and what are you missing? What are your gaps? Because
Jason Hsieh (23:36)
Yeah.
Jennifer Oz (23:36)
Your gaps are what you need to fill with the right team
Jason Hsieh (23:40)
Yes.
Jennifer Oz (23:40)
In order for you to make sure that you’re thinking about not just the excitement of making a new product.
But taking
Jason Hsieh (23:47)
Yeah.
Jennifer Oz (23:47)
It all the way through to the customer. So being
Jason Hsieh (23:49)
Yes, really. Yes.
Jennifer Oz (23:50)
Able to make sure your business plan is an end-to-end plan and that
Jason Hsieh (23:54)
Yeah.
Jennifer Oz (23:55)
You’re thinking about not just the exciting development, but you know, the production, the sales and marketing, the shipping, the legal, you know, the trademarks or patents, et cetera. So
Jason Hsieh (24:02)
Yeah. Yes.
Jennifer Oz (24:05)
Really being able to think about that end to end plan and filling in the gaps with the right expertise is critical for you to be successful.
The other piece I would say is, you know, you may have a great idea, but validate that idea with kids and parents. Know that, okay, you
Jason Hsieh (24:18)
Mm. Yes. With kids, okay. Yes, yes, yes.
Jennifer Oz (24:22)
Might have a great idea, but you know, is it something that people want.
Jason Hsieh (24:23)
Yeah. Mm.
Jennifer Oz (24:26)
And then the third piece for me that was absolutely critical given how long this took is, you know, your passion gets you through for sure, but it takes patience and perseverance and know that it’s
Jason Hsieh (24:33)
Yeah. Yeah.
Jennifer Oz (24:36)
A journey, right?
And there’s going to be highs and lows. And you know, you learn from failure, like I said, because we’ve had our share of that. But
Jason Hsieh (24:42)
Yeah. Yeah.
Jennifer Oz (24:44)
It’s really about the perseverance if you really wanna see it through to help learn from those
Jason Hsieh (24:49)
Yeah.
Jennifer Oz (24:49)
And overcome those challenges by solving those problems. And again, for me it’s been with the right team, the right people, finding those experts that can help you.
Jason Hsieh (24:58)
For sure, for sure. Thank you so much for sharing that. And for our audience who love to learn a little bit more about you and your company, where is the best place for people to find you online?
Jennifer Oz (25:06)
Yes, so certainly visit us at olympiadoll.com. So you know, we are happy to have you check us out there. And like I said, if you’re a toy retailer and are interested, please reach us. There’s a contact page there and we would love to speak with you. Obviously from a customer perspective, there’s great information about that on our e-commerce store there.
Jason Hsieh (25:28)
Okay, thank you for sharing that. We’ll make sure we also put that into the show not. And for our audience, thank you so much for tuning in to today’s episode of Toy Business Unbox Podcast. I hope today’s conversation gives you some practical insight and fresh inspiration for growing your own toys or game brands. This podcast is sponsored by Toy Launch, a leading marketing and growth partner for Toys and Game Company.
At Toy Launch, we help brand scale on Amazon and beyond. So full service account management, advertising, creative, car optimization. We also do meta ads, Google Ads, and TikTok. If you’re looking for a proven team that understands the toys and game industry and e-commerce marketing, we are here to help. If you’d like a personalized breakdown of your brand opportunities and a free marketing proposal, you can schedule a free consultation session with us. Just visit toy-launch.com for more information.
And if you also want to connect with other toys and game entrepreneurs, join our brand new community called Toy and Game Launchpad.
Where you can connect with other entrepreneurs within the toys and game industry. You can find more information also on our website as well, alongside with all the resources, update, and industry insight. Until next time, keep innovating, keep creating, keep bringing joys through toys. This is Jason Hsieh signing off on the Toy Business Unboxed podcast. We will see you in the next episode. Thank you so much, everyone. Have a good one.
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