Callie Christensen and Kelly Oriard (Slumberkins) - Creating stories to help teach children emotional learning, scaling organically and fundraising when you don't have a lead investor

Thank you Rick Desai for introducing me to today's guests Callie Christensen and Kelly Oriard, founders of Slumberkins. Slumberkins is a leading children’s educational brand on a mission to promote early emotional learning through a combination of creatures and story telling. We're going to learn what they believe was missing in a child's development, how they scaled organically, and maybe the most creative way I've heard to successfully fundraise as well as lots of other amazing parts to their journey. Without further ado, here's Callie and Kelly.Some of the questions I ask Callie and Kelly:How did you both know each other and meet?What did each of you think you wanted to do with your lives professionally?How did you blend these two loves physcology and teachingWhat was the insight that led you to founding Slumberkins?What were the early signals that this could be something?What was your initial approach to distribution?Authencitiy in the brandHow did you approach raising capital and why did you feel the need the raise capital?Early on, you had a tough time finding a lead investor what was your strategy in order to land a lead?I know it was a few years ago, but what was the biggest learning from Shark Tank and how was your overall experience?What's your approach to finding an investment partner?How do you think about scale and what's your vision for the brand?What's one thing that you would change about the fundraising process?What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?What's the best piece of advice that you've received?What's the best piece of advice that you have for founders?