How to Carve Your Path in the Toy Industry: Insights from Toy Designer & Founder Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua

EP052_11-18-24_Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua

Intro: [00:00:00] Welcome to Toy Business Unboxed, your gateway to the secrets of the toy industry. Here, Jason Hsieh, a toy entrepreneur and expert in the field. “Every product we develop is really inspired by some of the real life experience that we have with our son.” “60 percent of all toys last year were sold on Amazon.”

“Be passionate about it. Because it’s a road. It’s a journey.” “Like when you have an idea that you think is gonna somewhat change the world, make things better, I’d say go for it.“

Jason Hsieh: Hello, welcome to another episode of Toy Business Unboxed. Today, we have a special guest, Lauren, a talented freelance toy and game designer and also the founder of Wise Water Studio. Lauren has worked over 20 brands, including Pokemon, Hatchimals, Bluey, with top companies Spin master [00:01:00] and Jazwares. In this episode, we’re going to share some of her journeys to studying toy design to building a successful freelance business. And we also talk about what does it take to carve out of your own path in the toy industry itself, the importance of networking and how the community involvement can really fuel your growth as entrepreneur or someone that’s getting into the toy space. Thank you so much for joining us on the interview today, Lauren.

Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua: Thank you for having me.

Jason Hsieh: Let’s start out with your journey. I think doing our pre interview, we’re talking about you used to have a architecture career before you do the toy design. Like what lead you to this industry?

Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua: So since I was in grade school, I was really intrigued by the path of becoming an architect and what really intrigued me was, I’ve always been interested in art, but I was also very good at math. And then I loved the idea of creating that three dimensional space, not only, decorating maybe like what goes in a home, but [00:02:00] creating the space of that home, for example, itself. And I pursued that path, through high school. And then when I finally got to college and I was able to take some real architecture classes to start to pursue this career. But once I was doing that, I had this realization that yes, I loved the three dimensional aspect and the math part was fine, but it was, a lot more precise and I think I wanted to be a lot more creative.

And so I had to rethink, okay, maybe I don’t want to do architecture, but I know I want to do something in art and probably something three dimensional. I’m from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and so living here, there’s not a huge art industry or in terms of variety. Especially if I wanted to do maybe something like animation or, that was something I was thinking about. Obviously out in Southern California, there’s a lot of art opportunities and a lot of art colleges. So [00:03:00] I went there to, explore some different schools and tour them. And it was when I was touring Otis College of Art and Design that I found out about the toy program that they had. And I didn’t know about it because there’s only two schools in the world that has it Otis and the fashion institute in New York. And so I was very intrigued by the toy program and toys just seemed so fun and, when I was young, I always loved playing with, all my different toys.

So I was very intrigued, but I wasn’t still totally sure what I wanted to do, but I was able to speak with one of the toy design professors and just pick his brain a little and hear his story. And, he was talking about how he was designing toys, but then Coleman wanted him to design their toasters, and he said, I’m designing toys, why do you want me to design toasters? But they said, we want your expertise [00:04:00] in designing with safety in mind, because as a toy designer, you have to think about small parts are parts that can break, you always have to be thinking about that in the forefront of the design process, not after, when a child has choked on the product, right?

Jason Hsieh: Oh, For sure.

Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua: So they wanted that thinking, that forward thinking in the design process. So that’s why they wanted him to do that. So he said, if you can design a toy, you can also design other products too. But because product designers are trained differently, they can’t necessarily just jump right into,

Jason Hsieh: and this is a regular toaster, not toy toaster, correct?

Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua: Right? Yeah. Like a real toaster that would go out in the kitchen, but they wanted it to be totally safe. They didn’t want it to have like potential problems. I think with his training in toy, that really helped them to foresee what issues might be.

Jason Hsieh: And just for my own curiosity here, how exactly do they build out the program? Was it like a two year program, a four year program? what do you actually learn through the program?

Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua: Yeah. So at Otis College of [00:05:00] Art and Design. The first year is they call it the foundation year. And you’re just taking more like general classes, like no matter what major you’ll go into you’re all getting like your gen eds in art. And then all the majors are like a three year program. So luckily, because I had gone to UW Milwaukee when I was wanting to pursue architecture, I was able to transfer to. Otis and then start right into the toy design program. So then I was at Otis for three years and the way they structure their program is that, you’ll take a doll class and an action figure class. Besides drawing classes and learning programs. ZBrush and Adobe Illustrator and, other Adobe programs and things like that. The main toy courses are by that category. Maybe you see yourself wanting to be someone who works with very young kids, maybe like preschool age, [00:06:00] when you have, your doll class, you can make a doll that’s for preschoolers, and then when your action figure class, you can make action figures for preschoolers, so if you have in mind what age group you feel like suits your, style or design skills, that you can start to build your portfolio around that while still getting a variety of categories in your portfolio.

Jason Hsieh: Interesting. And the program you say is three years for the beginning to the end. Oh, I see. And did most of the people that graduated from that program, did they end up working as a toy designer in one of those bigger toy companies that the usual career paths to go through?

Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua: Oh yeah, most definitely. Yeah. There’s obviously a lot of. A lot of toy companies actually right near Otis and besides just Southern California in general. It’s very often that people will go to one of those companies after school, or even while they’re in school, they’ll have internships at those companies too.

Jason Hsieh: I see. So for your own experience, you also [00:07:00] work with some of the major toy company. How was that transitioning look like for you?

Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua: It was interesting because I graduated from Otis in 2020. Although it was the pandemic I knew that after I graduated, I wanted to move back home to Wisconsin to be closer to my family and everything. So there’s a few in Chicago, which is close by and even Playmonsters in Beloit, Wisconsin. So I knew there were opportunities close to home. I went to Toy Fair in February, right before the pandemic hit. And tried to speak with these companies that were going to be close to home. But of course, with the world just beginning to shift, it was a little difficult to make connections at that time, but because everybody was working remote, someone over that summer someone from Jazwares reached out to me about working on the Pokemon team as like attempt to perm position.

Jason Hsieh: Oh, okay. Yeah.

Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua: So then luckily I was able to, I moved back to Wisconsin, but [00:08:00] I was able to pursue that opportunity. And then it was things were going and they wanted to hire me full time after a few months. But they wanted me to move to LA so that when they did go back in the office that I could be there in the office which it was a very hard decision at that time. I’m just starting my career like, okay, yes, we’re still in the pandemic, do I need to move back to LA for the sake of my career or. Do I stay home and, find a different path. So I ultimately, I decided to stay in Wisconsin and turn down the full time position with Jazwares, but luckily around that time too, as it so happens the designer who recruited me to Jazwares had since gone to Spinmaster and she was reaching out to me, asking how things were going and we were chatting and she asked me if I had interest in doing. Some freelance for spin master. So that’s why kickstarted the freelance career.

Jason Hsieh: I [00:09:00] see. So I think that’s how you started or were you, so that’s before you started your own I guess a studio and know that, right?

Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua: Exactly.

Jason Hsieh: I see. Can you also tell us the decision on what make you to decide just to create something by yourself instead of working in the regular, the corporate ladder route?

Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua: I’ll say it, although, when I was in school, freelance was something I was very interested in. You create your own schedule, you can work from anywhere. It was a very intriguing idea, concept of a career, but when I and other classmates of mine inquired about like doing freelance, like when we were in school, it was very encouraged to pursue a bit more of a traditional path and, work at a toy company first.

So you can get the experience and understand how the industry works and how just, the design process works at a company. And then you can go on to do freelance because you have that background. [00:10:00] So when I found myself, doing freelance first, or, really starting my career with freelance it was a little difficult to initially see that this was a path that was okay.

And, that there’s not really a right or wrong. And, like looking back, I can see that. And so it took a few years of, doing freelance consistently and making a living out of doing freelance for me to realize, oh I am succeeding regardless of, what I was encouraged to do.

So I’m not doing something wrong. I’m not, pursuing my career down a wrong path. I’m making my own path and I’m making it work. So in a sense I was by creating a design studio, I was committing to that path of freelance and also, just establishing an LLC so that I can maybe work with other designers too, to expand what I can offer to clients and also pitch, game concepts to companies [00:11:00] as an inventor and really just like branch out and grow who I am as an individual and, as like my own company.

Jason Hsieh: What are some of the challenges that you have faced as a freelance toy designer? And how have you overcome some of them?

Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua: I think the two biggest ones would be work life balance and also financial stability. So

Jason Hsieh: I struggle with both of them myself.

Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua: It’s all about being an entrepreneur. It’s a no risk, no reward. But, I think there’s strategic ways that you can control as much as you can, even though, there’s in a sense, always that risk factor, but with work life balance. A lot of times I have to be, working for myself. So I’m not necessarily getting paid by a client, if I’m going through emails or just reaching out to client potential clients or just, building my brand, promoting my business, that’s all on my time that I’m not getting paid for, it will bring in [00:12:00] more clients. So it will bring in money, but still so that’s then in with the financial aspect to that, you’re paid less consistently because it depends when you submit the invoices and so staying on top of that part of the business like it’s, it’s all a balance and you all have to not only be getting the work done on time, but also, making sure for yourself that, you’re creating that consistent flow of income and so that, you have something to count on for yourself. And the more you work, the more you get paid, but the less you work.

Yes, you create your own schedule, but if you work less than you get paid less. So it’s, it’s all a balance. There’s no like PTO, how full time job have, but it has a lot more flexibility than a full time job. It’s all give and take.

Jason Hsieh: And for your typical client, how long is the engagement usually? Is it like a six months, a year contract? And what is typically the scope of work when you’re working with [00:13:00] client?

Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua: It really all depends on the client. A lot of times like I worked with Moose for a little bit, but they just needed help for a certain amount of time or, sometimes I’ve helped certain teams like at Jazwares because maybe they’re in like a transitional period where, you know, maybe one of the designers, went to a different department or a different company. And so they have this like gap that they need to fill and send You know, I’m familiar with the brand, I worked on the Pokemon team when I first started. So I was able to just fill in and help out to keep things moving along. So sometimes it’s just like ongoing with time and there’s a designer on in the costumes department at jazz wares that I’ve worked with. Like really since I started and so sometimes it’ll come in waves, you know I’ll do a lot of work for her in a week, but then you know, maybe the next week I won’t do very much for her if at all and then you know other Clients I just had a client where I was really working on kind of the [00:14:00] full scope of the project, I created, the concept and then the spec documents for the factory.

So I was really doing it all myself. And so that was more like a set time, like a month that I was really working on that. So sometimes it’s, that short, like one project for a month or for a few weeks or something, or just like ongoing Oh, can you create or edit the spec document.

Jason Hsieh: I see. So is most of the client, I’m just also trying to understand who is your ideal client for the people that you work with. So what you say is mostly the bigger company that’s looking for also some of their work, or do you also work with some of the smaller, like startup company, like myself, I’m definitely a startup still.

Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua: I guess in terms of an ideal client. An ideal client for me would be maybe like a consistent client, someone who maybe often gives me work as in a sense, like something I can count on for the income. But other than that, I don’t know. I love working with [00:15:00] more individuals, more startups, because I think I get to have a hand a lot more in the whole design process. And I can create the concept and help them fill in all the details, because then I’m the expert in that context, but it’s also fun to just and in a sense, like it’s a little easier to do things that I’m very familiar with that are, just not the same if I’m working on spec documents for costumes or for Pokemon it’s very familiar. I can just find my flow and, get those things done very quickly and efficiently, but it’s a lot easier, it’s good to have a challenge too. So it’s all fine.

Jason Hsieh: That’s a hard one to balance. Do you have any particular goal for 2025 on how many clients you’re trying to get to? Are you trying to build your team out more next year as well? In 2025?

Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua: Yeah, I began working with a few other designers who have different skills [00:16:00] than myself and I guess I’d love to work with them more and I guess In terms of a like a number of clients, I don’t necessarily have a goal because like I said, sometimes, I have maybe one client that, keeps me busy for however long and I think that’s totally fine. And so I, but what I am excited about and intrigued by, is always expanding my clientele. Maybe working for a new company, especially maybe a larger toy company that I haven’t worked for, or, having a new project.

Jason Hsieh: What are some of the thing you are still doing with your company to meet more people?

Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua: Yeah, most definitely. I always go to whatever trade shows I’m able to. This year I went to a good number of them. I went to Astra and Licensing Expo. I went to Chicago Toy and Game Fair just recently. And then I also went to the Toy Association for L. A. Preview [00:17:00] had a networking event at Otis. Where I went to school. So I,

Jason Hsieh: Oh, okay. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. That sounds like a fun event to go to. I didn’t went to the LA preview, but I did went to the licensing expo and Astra as well myself. Okay. That’s pretty cool.

And you have been working with a lot of different type of brand, and I guess like when you’re approaching companies what is your unique, value proposition for the people that’s considering to hire your companies and your services versus, just hiring another employee to work for them full time?

Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua: I think for myself specifically, because I have this formal education in toy design. That is, and because most people with my background go to work at a toy company full time. There’s very few, I think that have my back, few that have my background who are doing freelance full time and aren’t just doing freelance, maybe like between jobs. [00:18:00] This is, my career is freelance and my design studio. In a sense they can be, I can be a designer that they can count on like long term if they need.

Jason Hsieh: That’s true and this is not a lot of people choose that route. It’s because of the several different reasons that you mentioned earlier. And I know you’re also involved with women in toy association. How has been involving with the woman towards organization really benefit your company so far?

Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua: In lots of ways besides, just being able to have that support from this community, you can, when you’re a part of something like Women in Toy. I think it’s a lot more, comfortable to maybe talk to new people. Like at licensing expo women in toy had a breakfast. And maybe you’re at a trade show and, it can be overwhelming who do you approach to talk to? But, when you’re at maybe like a women in toy event. I think it’s so much more comfortable because you at least have that in common that [00:19:00] we’re both a part of this this group and this community and I think it’s even because we’re a part of that community, people are a lot more just willing to share their story or connect and help you, especially if you’re starting out, it’s so important to be involved in communities in that way because I think, people want to help each other.

Jason Hsieh: Actually my sister who is also our marketing director is also part of Women in Toys and I think she also mentoring, she also provide mentorship with some of one other member from the organization to help them out as well.

So I based on my conversation with her, I know there’s a lot of activities and actually the chairwoman of women in toy was on our podcast in the past as well. So I’m very familiar with their organization and I’m trying to we’re also trying to find other a potential way to, to partner with their organization. And I think that’s a lot of wonderful networking organization and also professional organization [00:20:00] that is very beneficial for either entrepreneur like ourself or other people, professional people in the toy industry to connect and also learn from each other. And that’s also the mission of our podcast is to share a story, share different paths, because not everyone wants to be an entrepreneur and not everyone wants to do the freelancing route. Maybe some people just want to have a career, but just like you say, there’s also some pros and cons in that choices. You don’t have a lot of flexibility and you might not able to choose the project you want to work on because it’s just whatever your boss tells you to do. You have to work on it. But as an entrepreneur, freelancer like you and me, I think we have a little bit more, choice the type of client that we want to work with and who we want like what exactly what we want to do in our own careers we have a little bit more control over that.

So that’s definitely a major differences. That leads me to my next question.

What advice do you have for other potential people that’s thinking about freelancing [00:21:00] in the toy industry about what is the best way to get started into freelancing more?

Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua: Yeah. Like we were talking about going to the trade shows or, just the toy industry events. That’s so important and especially for meeting new people and getting new clients. When I was first getting into freelance I had one of my teachers from school, I was asking her a lot, how do I get more clients? How do I like, how do I find freelance? And she told me, Oh, the freelance comes to you. And, yeah, that’s it. That was a little

Jason Hsieh: that’s not how you work in real life. So it doesn’t just come to you automatically. You need to make that initial connection, right?

Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua: I think what she said was just very, there was a lot more context to be had. but I didn’t quite have it in that moment but so knowing what I know now and thinking back to what she said like What she said was pretty accurate at least for what i’ve experienced but It’s you [00:22:00] know, you go to these events and you meet people and you’re not necessarily marketing yourself exclusively right you go and you meet these people and you want to connect with them as people first, and then, you obviously are going to share to each other, what you do professionally, and, when you tell them that you’re a freelancer, they might say, oh, I, have a project that I need a freelance toy designer for would you be interested in working together? And so it’s, that’s really how, the work comes to you or, maybe you’re working with designers at a bigger company and, then maybe one of their coworkers or someone that they know from a different department or brand expresses that they, would need some help from a freelancer and then, they’ll pass your name on so it’s definitely those relationships and those connections are so important and so key to getting that freelance.

So it’s really [00:23:00] all about your network and also maintaining those relationships, not just having them, like professional and work oriented you want to get to know these people as people to really connect with them.

Jason Hsieh: I think one thing, I don’t know if you also struggle with this is because I meet so many people in my, just my day to day I was looking at how much meeting I have each month. On average, I meet about a hundred new people a month. So it’s hard to remember every single conversation and what it was. going on when you’re meeting so many different people through networking, through virtual meetings, through conferences. But but what you say it’s definitely true, like networking is really important especially for the line of work that you do.

And my next question for you is like, how do you really balance? Like the, because of the type of work you do is, it’s definitely like a very creative focus job, but that’s also like other business aspect when you’re managing your own [00:24:00] design studio. How do you balance between those two elements?

Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua: Yeah I’m a very organized person. And my mom’s an accountant, so I get a lot of her like technical and like structural organization. While also being like very creative, in a visual art field. So the business part comes very naturally to me and even just to keep track of everything, in my Excel document just is, is even fulfilling in its own way. So for me, it’s not necessarily like something that I have to push myself to do. And I think that’s why this path has worked out so well for me.

We were just talking about, oh, you meet all these people at events. And, I think it sounds like you meet way more people than I do, but, when I, after I go to an event and I, collect these business cards or, even if I’m just meeting somebody, on the back of the business card, I’ll put like a little note of maybe like where I met this person, maybe what we talked [00:25:00] about or just something like that. So that when I see them again, I can either refer back to that or even just, years down the line, maybe if I want to remember back to when I met them or how I met them that, I have that documented and then I have a digital document of just trying to track, my whole network in a sense. And

Jason Hsieh: yeah, you have to use a CRM or a client relationship management system. Yeah have a couple of thousand people in there trying to keep track of, so you can get tricky.

Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua: Yeah, because you have to nurture those connections. You can’t just You know, meet somebody one time and then expect them to come back to you, right? like you as the freelancer have to be in charge of that and take that initiative to you know maintain those relationships

Jason Hsieh: For sure for sure. So Swift kind of approaching toward the end of the podcast the final question. I always like to ask Especially the guests is [00:26:00] if you have to say to someone that’s brand new to the toy industry, that’s just getting started, what would be your advice?

Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua: To really, I guess I would say this to anyone, but to really follow your heart and, push yourself to try new things and especially as a freelancer, you have to be willing to learn new skills and, go outside of your comfort zone and, everything like that. And it’s also worth it. And it might, it might be a challenge at first, especially if you’re an introvert like myself. But, the more you push yourself, the easier it becomes and the more natural it feels. And, when you’re pursuing something you love, you might not exactly know what that path looks like, but you’ll make the path and you’ll figure it out. And, you’re, you want to love what you do, right? Work is, takes up so much of our lives. So you have to follow your passions and everything else will follow.

Jason Hsieh: For sure. Yeah. I agree to that. Finally, how can people find you [00:27:00] online?

Lauren Horzewski-Paniagua: I’ll say primarily on LinkedIn is, how I come to communicate with a lot of people initially. And then, I have, my website is connected to my LinkedIn and, my resume and my email. And so it branches out from LinkedIn.

Jason Hsieh: for those of our listeners,

thank you for tuning in for this episode of Toy Business Unbox Podcast. We really hope you enjoy the conversation and find it insightful. 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 would love it if you can leave us a review and share the podcast with your friends and colleagues.

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This is Jason Hsieh signing off on the toy business on [00:28:00] box podcast, and we’ll see you in the next episode.