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Cassidy Crowley & “The Baby Toon”

Cassidy Crowley was only 7 years old when she identified a problem that sparked the beginnings of her company, “The Baby Toon.” She had entered a Science and Engineering Fair at her school and needed to find a problem in order to enter the fair. At home, she noticed that her baby sister had a tendency of chewing on the hard back end of her spoon. This would always concern her mother; she didn’t want the baby to choke or hurt herself.

To solve this problem, Cassidy came up with “The Baby Toon,” a 2-in-1 baby spoon and teething toy made of soft FDA silicone and designed to eliminate the long, hard spoon back. Instead, The Baby Toon comes in a variety of animal shapes with rounded corners and edges, making it safe for babies to chew on as well as a helpful teething device. This newly-patented shape also allows parents and/or younger siblings to easily hold the spoon and feed the baby without the spoon accidentally going too far into the baby’s mouth.  

Cassidy notes that The Baby Toon is also educational for babies, as it comes in a variety of colors (blue, pink, and green), shapes (rectangle, square, and circle), and animals (elephant, alligator, and koala). The Baby Toon is a new, fun, safe baby spoon and teething toy with various benefits.

At age 10, Cassidy appeared on season 11 of Shark Tank (2019) to pitch her business idea. She received a deal with Lori Greiner for $50,000 and 50% equity. Today, “The Baby Toon” has grown into a successful company with around $1 million in revenue each year. The Baby Toon is now sold through several major retailers, including Munchkin, Target, Walmart, and Amazon.

Cassidy Crowley’s entrepreneurship story is truly astounding, especially given that she started her business and appeared on Shark Tank at such a young age. Cassidy should be a reminder to all young entrepreneurs that the key to a successful business is finding a problem or need in an extremely niche area, and then solving the problem in a way no one else has before while providing several benefits.

Zum: Safe Transportation for Children

Have you ever had to scramble to find an elementary student a safe and reliable ride from school, practice, or rehearsal? Do you ever stress about conflicting schedules? What do you do in these situations? Cancel obligations, like most people?

Rita Narayan, founder of Zum, saw a big need for safe, reliable transportation. Rita quit her thriving career to raise her four children, but she later asked the question: how can I advance my career while ensuring my kids have safe, reliable care. With that, Rita and her two brothers sought to create a platform to to solve this problem that many parents experience.

Now, Zum is the fastest growning ride and care company for children.

On their website, they outline their history, mission, and how the rides are ensured to be safe service for the children. Zum drivers and caretakers have screenings, vetting processes (fingerprinting, driving rests, sex offender records, address history and SSN validation), and a car inspections ensuring safety is always first.

After reading through many reviews on Zum, everything is very positive that I saw. Zum is on track to soon reach 1 Million rides.  They envision going nation wide in the future while being the #1 transportation and care service for children.