There’s nothing like becoming a parent to make you re-think your purpose in life, and to consider the type of world you’d like your children to grown up in. This was true for Winnie Mak Tselikas, who founded One Dear World after the birth of her son. This is how Winnie started her business…
1. Tell us your story
I’m originally from Hong Kong with a traditional Chinese background. After moving to the UK in 2010, I married my half-French-half-Greek husband and gave birth to our 2 year-old son. After my maternity break, I started a business called One Dear World, ran a successful crowdfunding campaign and published my children’s book in November 2017.
2. How did you identify the goal/s you wanted to achieve?
I took the time during my maternity break and thought deeply about what I wanted to do in life and what sort of world I want my son to be in. My parenting experience and the multicultural environmental in my family and in London inspired me to start this business, which produces multicultural dolls and storybooks that teach children diversity and inclusion from a young age.
3. How did you work towards achieving your goal – did you have a plan and a deadline to achieve your goals?
Without knowing if my idea would work, I broke down my plan into stages and started with the crowdfunding campaign. Then again I broke down the crowdfunding stage into small steps and tackled them one by one. And yes I did set goals with a timeline.
4. What was the biggest challenge you encountered along the way?
To better control the cost, I’m doing almost everything (PR, marketing, doll design, sourcing, writing the book, video editing, business development) by myself with support from my husband on the weekend while taking care of my son. So the biggest challenge was to prioritise the tasks and stay productive so I can accomplish as much as possible within the limited time when my son was in nursery.
5. What inspires you and keeps you going when you encounter obstacles?
My husband encourages me a lot when I feel down and the thought of setting an example to my son keeps me going.
6. What advice do you have for anyone wanting to achieve a goal?
Make a plan and work on it everyday even the smallest possible task and celebrate your achievement.
7. What are the next goals you hope to achieve?
I’m aiming to hit the Christmas gifting market with my dolls and book and to achieve my sales target by the end of this year, then make my dolls and book available to more toy and book stores. I would also like to publish another book next year.
Winnie Mak Tselikas is a mumpreneur with a 2 year-old son. Inspired by her multicultural family and London’s diversity, she founded One Dear World and created dolls and storybook that promote diversity and inclusion to young children. Learn more at www.onedearworld.com
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