A nurse anesthetist by day and a business owner by night, Meileilan “Mei” Mattinson started Sharome Toys a little over a year ago with her husband and their daughter, Charlotte. Curating and creating heirloom wooden toys for children, Mei is determined to help kids learn in a fun way while using their imagination.
I CURRENTLY LIVE… in Grapevine. We moved here a year ago from Wisconsin. My husband got a job here, and since then, we [have] decided that Texas will be our forever home.
I WORK FULL TIME AS… a CRNA and I work Monday to Friday. When I get home, I try to be a mom, and then after that, when everything is settled and my baby goes to bed, that’s where I work on the business and packing orders before I go to bed. It’s not a bad balance at all.
WHEN I WAS PREGNANT… I had been researching what kinds of toys I wanted to get. Back then, we lived in a less than 900-square-foot condo and our space was limited. I had to be selective with her toys… I started researching toys and got to know wooden makers around the world. I also tried to connect with a lot of moms who had the same problems as me. That’s where I’m like, ‘You know, there’s a gap in the market [for] toys that kids can play with that doesn’t need to be really huge.’ So then I decided to build [our] online shop.
‘SHAROME’ IS… a combination of my daughter’s first and middle name. Her name is Charlotte Salome.
WE STARTED… in August of 2020 in the middle of the pandemic. It was hard because we didn’t know how to reach our customer base [at first], but thinking about it, I think it helped us more because most people’s time [was] at home, so they’re mostly online. That was easier because I was able to communicate with a lot of people.
AT FIRST, I WAS TELLING… [customers] to go straight to the wooden maker. So far, our wooden makers are from other countries and, especially during the pandemic, they have to wait three to four months to get the toy. So [I was like], ‘You know what? I’m going to order a bulk of toys and stack it in our house, then I will sell it to the people who are interested and they’ll get it within two to three days.’
OUR TOYS ARE CURATED… and hand-picked from different wooden makers around the world like Poland, Australia, Ukraine, Turkey, Israel and more. They’re all handmade from nontoxic materials. Some of the toys are designed by us, and it’s a lot of trial and error. Our selection of toys is based on our passion [for] open-ended play, [and toys can be] math- and science-centered and nature-inspired.
CHARLOTTE, SHE’S OUR… toy tester. Before we put a toy on our website, Charlotte gets to play with it first. We try to see how she acts or how engaged she is with each toy. We also want to check if it passes our standard.
QUALITY IS… No. 1 for us. The second is how much play they can get with one toy — like each toy can be played with several ways following a child’s imagination and inquisitive mind. And third is something educational, where a child learns new concepts and skills with each play.
MOST OF THE TOYS IN STORES… were overwhelmingly made with plastic. Plastic is not good for the environment or for the health of a child… [because] some chemicals found in other plastic toys can be harmful like phthalates, BPA and others. So we felt like wooden toys were much safer. Also, wooden toys are heirloom toys and can be passed from one child to the next and even to the next generation.
I DON’T THINK THIS BUSINESS… is possible without my husband’s help. My husband handles the financial aspects, making sure that we are not going over our budget and keeps an eye on our inventory. He also makes sure that our website is up and running. I do all the packing, the marketing and the social media interaction with our customers.
I LOVE MY… customers. They usually send me pictures of their kids playing with the toys. They say their kids are becoming more engaged with the toys and they notice that their kids’ imaginations flourish with the open-ended play.