Celebrating Women’s history month: Four Fabulous and Fun Women in Play!
This March, Upbounders® is cranking up the excitement to celebrate four FABULOUS and FUN women in PLAY!
Created with the belief that Belonging Begins with Play®, Upbounders® high-quality, eco-friendly, educational toys reflect the joyfully diverse world of today's kids. Ensuring these inclusive toddler learning toys reach retailers' shelves and the homes and classrooms of our amazing customers has required a whole lot of help.
Women's History Month is rife with stories of big results leveraged from the collective effort of small groups of women. Today, we're spotlighting four women who help Upbounders® do big things!
Jaime Wolanski of The Upside Agency
Jaime manages and represents our business at Target and Kohl's. One of a handful of women operating at the highest levels behind the scenes in the toy industry, Jaime is a fierce advocate for Upbounders® product placement online and in-store, keeping us top of mind always with our buying partners, which is fun!
Shannon Ostrander of Flat River Group
Our partnership with Target led us to Flat River Group, and thanks to Shannon, we never looked back! Via Flat River Group's sophisticated omnichannel distribution network, Upbounders® enjoys access to every digital marketplace on our vision board while also retaining access to a trusted and reliable distribution partner to service brick-and-mortar retailers. Shannon gets the job done. We can't say Shannon spends a lot of time "wishing us well" or expressing her "support." She's too busy working -- quite naturally, we think she's fabulous!
Simmie Kerman co-founder of child's play & Board of MESHhelps.org
Simmie Kerman co-founded Child’s Play specialty toy store with locations in Washington, DC, McLean, and Arlington, VA and although she’s retired from that role, she’s still serving on the board of MESHhelps.org and working on all sorts of special projects. Known throughout the indie toy store community, Simmie's service to the industry also includes mentoring and advising Upbounders® from an idea to being on store shelves across the nation! We can't think of anything more fun and fabulous than Simmie's warmly welcoming Upbounders® into the toy industry!
Rita Pin Ahrens, owner of Child's Play Toys & Books
Rita is the new owner of Child's Play Toys & Books. Rita arrived on the scene, leaving no doubt that she is here for fun, as she immediately assumed the title of Chief Happiness Officer! We appreciate her making a b-line for us at Upbounders®. It's fabulous having a fresh-legged retail partner excited to work with us to make it easier for young families, caregivers, and educators to find premium puzzles, plushies, educational games, and playthings that reflect what's special about the joyfully diverse world kids experience every day.
We're excited to take a moment during #WomensHistoryMonth to celebrate four of the fabulously fun women who partner with us every day on our ambitious work here at Upbounders® -- cultivating a sense of belonging in the minds of children through play. 🎉