episode 0079- he spent $20k on bath bombs and found his calling with justin wright
If you tell your friends you just spent $20,000 on bath bombs, they'll probably think you've lost your mind. But the risk that Justin took on bath bombs turned into something far bigger... a faith-driven brand built around storytelling, creativity, and purpose. In this episode, Justin opens up about the crazy first steps, the pivots, the moments he almost gave up, and how trusting his gut (and God) helped him turn a wild idea into a real business.
If you've ever felt stuck, scared to start, or unsure whether your idea is "the one", this conversation will light a fire under you.
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Show Highlights:
1- Justin tells us the origin story of Bible Story Kids, including his start with bath bombs. (5:25)
2- What reservations did you have with being so niche? (11:25)
3- How did you approach the technical part of this business, like designing and manufacturing the box, etc.? (18:25)
4- We discuss the hard moments of running the business since its inception. (24:25)
5- We discuss fears that often prohibit us from starting. (27:20)
6- We discuss lessons learned. (34:15)
7- Justin describes the world he is building. (37:30)
8- How is business going today? (40:00)
9- Where can we find more from Justin? (42:35)
10- Listener question: How can I utilize my creativity within entrepreneurship? (44:00)
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Follow Justin on Instagram: @biblestorykids
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Transcript:
Welcome to episode 70. What is it? 79 79. 79 of the Witness Business Podcast got a question for you. Okay. Who is the greatest finan? How do you say that word? Finan. Financier. Financier. Why did I know what
you were gonna say? I'm not even reading it. And I knew what you were going for.
Well, who is it in the Bible?
Who's the greatest? Finn Seer. Oh, it's not Judas. The Nancy Air. Financier financier. Is it, let's see. Is it Joseph of Arimathea? I don't know. Go ahead. It's Noah because he was floating his stock while everyone else was in liquidation. Okay. Wow. What a What a joke. What a joke. Yeah, that is. It is fitting with today's guest.
Tell the people why. Today we had Justin Wright of Bible Story Kids, and I guarantee you I don't gu, I don't know for sure, but he probably has a story of Noah's Ark in there. Uh, I like how you said guarantee
and then immediately follow with, I'm not sure. No. But, uh, Justin is, and it was cool to hear him talk about his world building.
He's creating a world, um, where kids can interact with, with Bible stories and, you know, the, the moral lessons shared within, uh. In a fun and imaginative way. And, um, it was cool to hear him talk about also how he wanted to, he was inspired by Mr. Rogers, which we need, we need programming back like Mr.
Rogers low simulation and, uh, with, with timeless lessons and, and morality to pass on to, to kids of future generation.
Yeah, it is hard when you're competing with like co melon, which is the opposite, which we
continue to get research on co melon. It's like you can watch, do not let your kids watch. That's the only thing.
Yeah, no. So no, no, no shame to any parents out there letting your kids watch Coco Melon. But, uh, you know, we, we do have a, a valid alternative for you here, but in listening to today's episode,
I feel like we talk a lot about, I mean, the, the whole theme of this show, right, is like. Getting an idea out of your head, and I think sometimes we overthink it.
We think it's more complex than it is, and I love Justin's just like. His attitude was,
I didn't research it, I just started doing it.
I didn't look into it. I just started doing
it. Not in, not in a bad way either. It was just, and I think that that's, you know, a lot of people due to fear or you know, fear of not having an ROI or fear of looking stupid, they research it to death and then they never get started.
And he was like, well, I know what I want to do. I just dunno how to get there, so I'm gonna start doing things and figuring it out. And so I think that his story is a good, maybe not. Direct roadmap, but it, it's got some starting points for people who are maybe sitting on the edge of, of getting started themselves.
Yeah, I mean, the theme of the episode I would say is just start, start small, but start.
Okay. Well that sounds like a as good of a synopsis as any. So with that, we'll let you witness business with Justin Wright.
Justin Wright of Bible Story Kids. Thanks for hopping on the Witness Business Podcast. How we doing today?
Doing fantastic. Thanks for having me on.
Yeah, absolutely. We're excited to kind of hear a little bit about your business, how this thing started, how it's been going. But first we like to start off with this question. What would you say is the worst job you've ever had?
Ooh. The worst job I ever had was probably, I worked in a screen printing, uh, shop specifically. They did like a lot of t-shirts for country artists and there's no ac so I had two jobs and within that one was cleaning the screens, uh, with all these chemicals to get like the ink off. Uh, and the second one was folding shirts.
So like I remember specifically. Like, uh, they did a bunch of shirts for Kenny Chesney for his new new tour, 📍 and they're this nasty like banana yellow. And I just remember like sweat dripping off my face as unfolding shirt over, like after shirt and shirt. And so I just, I think I lasted maybe four weeks and I was like, I'm gonna find something else.
So yeah, that was my least favorite job. Yeah.
and then does that mean you will or won't listen to Kenny Chesney now?
Uh, I just think about those silly shirts. I also think about all my sweat pouring or like, I was like, all these fans are buying my sweat like shirts that have my sweat all over it,
Yeah. Those people that like just put the shirt right on without washing
Exactly.
guess this is a cautionary tale.
I mean, no, no shirt, no shoes, no problems,
right?
Oh, here we go. Here we go.
Well, let's dive in. I want to hear about how this, uh, Bible story kids thing kind of came to be. Uh, so tell us, what were you doing? I, I, I don't know how long this has been in existence. Maybe a year or so I think, or a couple years. So tell us like kind of what, what were you doing?
What inspired this idea, uh, to begin with and, you know, like, is, has it become your full-time job at this point? Kind of just give us some, a little bit of insights as to, uh, how this thing came to be.
Yeah. So, uh, it's a long story, but we're here for it. So, um, so I've been a professional photographer for 16 years now, and I've always kind of, I've always had a heart for business and have done different side hustles, trying to kind of build something up else. And, um, I always. Kind of going down a rabbit hole of Amazon FBA 📍 and which is like, you know, you buy like a thousand iPhone cases I spelt it is like a Bible in Norwegian or something weird.
But um, so that's when everything, that's when the idea kind of originated. And so, um, I started with that. So, and then I was like, what if the stories were told by Cute Bear, his name is Bubby. And, um, so went through the process of. Finding manufacturers, most of them thought I was crazy. But when I, there's a few things I had to, had to do.
First of all, none of nothing like this ever existed. And so there a lot of suppliers were like, I have no idea what you're trying to do. And then, um, so finding someone that believed in me. And also the second big thing was, um, so we're pretty holistic. My wife actually has a business called Nashville 📍 Holistic Nutrition.
And so I needed the bath bonds to be super clean, especially since. They were gonna be like kids using 'em, and there's just a lot of nasty, disgusting bath bombs with like all kinds of chemicals and stuff. And so that was one of the most challenging parts. And um,
Wanna be in business and your wife be adamantly against your business, the whole business
She would not have let me pursue it if the bath bottles weren't super clean. So they're like raw ingredients, like all the coloring was like food grade coloring, stuff like that. So that's where it all got started. Um, and happy to talk more about getting into that, but, so it's kind of like that's where it started at.
And then I had an influencer post about it. Um, it really blew up. And, uh, that was like 2000, 20, 22 is kind of when that all started. And I, I was like, so like one day she posted about it, she has close to like a million followers now, and in one day I had like 300 orders. The next day, like 200, and then like I sold.
Like just like crazy for a while. And I was like, I did it. I knew, like I knew this is what God wanted me to do. And then so I brought on my illustrator full-time and tried to get this second series out. And they were just kind of, just kind of, it didn't flop, but it was just like. Pretty, pretty dead. And through that process, I learned, like, I basically kinda got lucky and I hadn't really built the systems that I needed in place to continue like marketing and connecting with my, my customers and that sort of thing.
And, um, through all that I just kind of like took a moment and um, kind of just assessed everything. And there's a lot of kids that, even though my bath bombs were super clean, there's a lot of kids that still have, they're just really sensitive with allergies and fragrances and they couldn't use 'em. I was like, I kind of felt the Lord was saying like, Hey, I want this to be accessible to everyone.
And so that's when I had the idea to shift it to a more like advent style punch box. So the, the toys are inside a advent style punch box. So you match the story number to the box, pull the tab open, get the toy out, and then um. I can actually show you what it looks like. I got one right here, but
Now that we're, uh, doing video, we can, we can, we can share that.
So there's a bio, there's a hardcover book, and then, uh, a big box that everything goes in, and then a little box that has like tabs and you pull the tab open and then there's a toy inside. And then, um, the toy helps kids stay engaged in the story. And the toy is also connected to a life lesson or moral that's connected to the Bible story.
Uh, so for instance, like. There are, um, actually 5,000 different types of ladybugs, which is pretty crazy. But Bubby, Bubby, the bear 📍 says, you know, if God wanted you to be like everybody else, he would've made one type of ladybug. But he wants you to embrace who he designed you to be. So every time you see a ladybug, remember he created you on purpose and for purpose.
Um, so that's how I kinda shifted to the new product version. And then I was like, what else can I do? Like, how can I make this more impactful?
Do you care? I'm sorry? Do you care if I just kind of like go back earlier because you're, you're unpacking a lot of the processes of like things that you did. In the later stages. I kind of wanted to talk a little bit about just the very beginning because you know, a lot of people that I feel like that tune into our show are people who are kind of on the precipice of taking step one.
Maybe not exclusively, but a lot of those people. And so just kind of the back to the ideation stage, you know, you've got the line of of the bath bombs, and then you have this vision of creating this content that would probably be defined as kind of niche and. With a specific target audience in mind, and, and a lot of people that we've talked to on the show and just people in general would say, Hey, make your audience as broad as possible.
Did you have any reservations about getting started with, with content like that? I mean, did you feel like there wasn't anything else out there like that or, I just would love to kind of hear, hear your reasoning, or maybe you're kind of like, Steve, you're like, I think this is a good idea. I'm just gonna do it.
Yeah. So, um, on the, on like the, the content side, as far as like the YouTube show and stuff like that, I mean, there're. I didn't do a ton, ton of research to be honest. Like I knew there was a bunch of Christian content out there, but, and even kids content. But the thing I, I kind of saw missing was like a lot of kids shows, it's like, it's not like I love Mr.
Rogers. 📍 And what I loved about Mr. Rogers is like Mr. Rogers was pretty much the same, or at least you could imagine him being the same on the show as he is off the show. Whereas now you have like Blippy or like. I don't know, just these, these wacky people that you would never really encounter in real life.
And it's kind of like a Santa Claus moment where it's like when kids learn about Santa Claus and they learn about Jesus and then they're like, oh, Santa Claus isn't real. At some point, sorry if anyone's listening, that doesn't know Santa Claus. It's not
Whoa.
spoiler.
spoiler.
But you know what I'm saying, just like I wanted the show to feel like.
Like an uncle or a neighbor that you trust and like he's just like in his like office or room and like you're like, you know, maybe grabbing a snack and then you come in and it's like, oh, he is playing his guitar and like sharing a Bible story and then like you walk away with something valuable and then you kinda move on and then you come back like a week later.
Um, so there wasn't, I didn't do a ton of research and to see is like anyone else out there doing this, but. I, I just knew, like I missed Mr. Rogers and I felt like, uh, what I hadn't seen was a low dopamine show. Um, and I think that's, that was something I really wanted to, I was scared because I was like, is everybody gonna think this is incredibly boring?
Um, like the way kids' brains have been wired now, like, are they still going to be able to like, enjoy it and sit through it?
I say, it's not just kids anymore, it's, it's adults. I mean, that's the reason that tiktoks so popular. So I, I can appreciate what you're saying. I just kind of wanted to understand your mindset and your perspective going into it, because you know it. It's interesting to me because a lot of people will identify a need and then create something kind of around it, and you just thought to yourself, this is something that I want to create and I just want it to be what it's going to be.
And you're kind of ironing it out as you go. And that's something that to me is not, that's not necessarily how I think. I would not, I would not say that I have a super creative brain. Um, you know, so I'm always interested to hear kind of the, the inner workings of, of how you arrived to where you were at.
Yeah. So a big need that I, especially with the bath bombs, so part of that besides like kind of feeling like God led me to that, uh, a big part of it was, so with, so I have three boys, and so there was two things that were challenging. The first one was bath time. Then the second one was like getting them to pay attention to a Bible story.
Uh, and by the time they actually got out of the bath and I had like, you know, gone through that whole process, I was like, man, I just want to get them down. Like, I don't want to read a story or do anything.
You're preaching to us here.
And so I
Been there.
so at the time I was like, well, what if we just combine the two? Um, and so I saw that need in my own life, so I basically created it for myself.
And then I was like, there's gotta be some other parents out there that would, um.
Yeah. Knockout. Knockout story time during bath time and then just go to bed.
Yeah. Double dip.
Yeah. I'm curious, I don't know if you, if I just missed it, but how did, how the bath bomb thing worked? So you, you put the bath bomb in, it dissolves, the toy, pops out. How does the toy and the, like, work with a story? Or is it like you, you have a book and you go to that to
Yeah.
So. So what you do, so you open like a big box and there's nine bath bombs in there, and they all have a, like a sticker label with a number on it. So you take, you match that, that number to the story number. There's, there's nine bible stories as well. Uh, so then you put the bath bomb in and like it dissolves and inside the bath bomb there's a toy.
And then, so like after the, you know, they get the toy out, then some parents would read the story to them in the bath. And then others would just be like, oh, they have this toy. Let's, and then when you're done, we're gonna see how it relates to the story. Um, so like, the first toy is a ladybug, and the first story is about creation.
So bubby's basically like chilling in his cabin, like. I asked him like, Hey, have you ever wondered like where everything came from? And then he's like, I bet there's a good bible story about this. And you kind of see like a ladybug, like I sneak the toy that's, um, in the bath bomb or the box into the illustrations.
And then for this first series, he would go into a traditional Bible story where it's like all about creation. And then at the end he does that wrap up where it's like connects to the Bible story and it's some kind of life lesson to the back, to the toy.
Yeah, that's, that's another thing back to the creative part, like the fact that you're not just trying to convey a biblical principle. It's like you're creating an allegory to go with it because you know, then you're just like any other Bible essentially, if you just tell the story verbatim.
Yeah.
and it was fun and challenging. Like I learned a lot of weird animal facts because, you know, I was trying to connect it to a specific
You have to, you have to give us one now
Yeah. So like, um, OTT. Otters have a little, like a pocket in their arm pouch where they keep their favorite stone for like cracking at oysters, the ladybug sting, there's 5,000 different types of ladybugs.
Um, yeah. So stuff like that. I'm trying to think if there's anything else that was
yeah. I put you on the spot. Sorry.
Yeah. We should have in the pre-show, uh, told you to come with all your favorite animal facts.
yeah.
Yeah, no. So I'm curious, so I always like to put myself in our guest's shoes and think through like the, the technical part of all of this where, you know, because the hard part is not getting an idea. Like I feel like we all have taken a shower and have gotten an idea in the sh like shower ideas are dime a dozen.
It's the execution of the idea. Like we almost called this show Dream executors because it's all about like, how do I execute on this dream that I have? So I'm thinking like specifically, um, you know, you mentioned an illustrator, you have this box with punch holes like. How do you go about the manufacturing of all of this?
Like you're a creative person, you've probably come up with the stories and maybe some songs and things like that, but then there's like a designing a box or.
and if you, if you go to bible story kids.com, you can see the packaging and everything. It's, it's really neat and clean.
So how do you find somebody to package this? For you
and design it and
yeah. To kind of get the idea out of your head or For me, it'd be like, okay, I have the idea for like, the concept, but maybe not like how the box should look. So like, did you have to find, like how hard was it to find the people to team up with, to, to make this a reality?
Yeah. So. It's kind of, it's a mixture of things. I would say from a practical standpoint. I did like sourcing of products on Alibaba. 📍 I used 📍 📍 fiverr.com, um, for design services and illustrations and, um. What else? Those are the two. Oh, and then YouTube just to learn stuff. But yeah, I'd say for the, actually, like getting a product made, so what I, what I did, I would find something close to what I was trying to make or similar or maybe two things that when I put them together, it would be, so for instance, I found toys.
Um, I found a. Kind of like an advent style box. And then I made a weird prototype, uh, outta cardboard. Then it's like, so I kinda had these different elements. I was so I could have it, get it close to presenting to some kind of manufacturer. Um, and then so like once you have some kind of close prototype, you can kind of go on Alibaba and search for people that are doing something similar, whether it just be packaging.
And usually once you get close enough and find a supplier like that, um, they would send me like, uh, Adobe Illustrator files or like different design like, uh, files that would work. They're just like a blank template, but that's what they will use to print it at the end so that you take that and then you find a designer to like, you know, make it beautiful and fill in that design.
Um, and so yeah, I mean it's, it is just a combination of. Kind of like getting it your idea and vision as close as you can to what you actually want it to be. So then you can like kind of take it to those experts that can help you make it a reality and take it to that next step where it's a physical product.
And maybe as a point of encouragement to people who feel unqualified for something that they want to do. Did you have any kind of history with like child psychology or show creation or anything like that? Did you have any experience with, with manufacturing or anything like that? Or was it just like each new day is a new opportunity to figure something out?
Uh, no experience. I would say that's, I think my ex I've the kind of backing up, you know, I've tried different things and so there's like little pieces I learned about, like, I had like a t-shirt business, like a custom t-shirt that was like kind of Nashville oriented. And so I learned about Shopify through that.
And then, um, I had a camera training. Like little side business that helped me with YouTube and um, I've kind of recorded like some audio like, you know, just simple songs and always messing around with Garage Band. So that helps. When I was like wanting to release the album and I'm a photographer by trade, I've dabbled in video and so kind of like, I feel like God was like taking all these different pieces 'cause I've always been like.
Like, what am I supposed to do? Because I have all these weird hobbies and interests, uh, and I've bounced around too much. So that was one part that I think is good for listeners is like, if you find yourself, like if you're a little ADD and you're like jumping from one thing to the next, sometimes you're doing that because it empowers you to avoid the one thing.
So you only have to take something so far and you're like, oh, that's not gonna work, but I'm gonna do this thing. Um, and so I feel like God will challenge me to be like, this is my bucket. Like, Hey, I've been. Your life has been leading all these weird talents and the things you've been learning can kind of go into this one thing.
Um, but I would say, yeah, I think fear is what keeps most people from doing it. And, uh, being laughed at by whoever you think is gonna laugh at you. Um, but at the end of the day, like I always say, I say this thing, it's kind of depressing. It's like we're all gonna die and no one's gonna remember us in a hundred years.
So like, just go for it.
Well, maybe to put a, a, a, a more positive spin on
it.
Yeah. Yeah. Make it positive, please.
just No, just kind of listen to you talk about it. I was like, kind of thinking about my younger self, and not to apply my sensibilities to you, but I just love the fact that you're like. You, I have this desire to have an innate purpose and to give purpose to other people.
And it reminded me of, uh, the Bible verse. It's, uh, Proverbs 25, 2. It says, it's the glory of God to conceal a matter, but it's the honor of kings to search it out. And it's the idea of like, when I was younger, I wanted so badly, God, just tell me exactly what I need to do. Like. Step one, step two, step three, and I'll carry it out.
And I think that for people in general, you know, if you, if you're not of a faith background, you know, obviously you're, you're constantly trying to figure that out and you have that innate desire and maybe your worldviews a a little bit different as to how you arrive there. But for what you're describing and for, you know, what I've always ascribed to is that. There's something bigger at play and you're a participant. You're, you have to be an active participant and I just love that, that you've, the things that you've done, that you've described, you know, to how you kind of figured that out.
Yeah, I think that's spot on. And I'm still in that process of learning. Like I have
some, I still have some things figured out, you know, but it's just like, there's always new problems and it's easy to get frustrated, but if you can start to look at it as like, uh, a failure is like something I'm paying for the price for now that I won't, like, I can overcome and, and learn from it instead of it just being like.
If you're pursuing something big, which even if it's just like launching a product, starting from zero experience and like creating something from nothing, like there's gonna be all kinds of issues. Like, it's, it's just been ups, ups and downs. Since I launched this thing, I've felt like quitting several times.
Um, I haven't, but, uh, and I don't
Can you, can you talk about that? I mean, just like what you were feeling and how you overcame it.
Yeah, so I mean, having three kids a full-time job and pursuing this, it's just like there's many days where you're just kinda asking yourself like, is all the time and money I'm pouring into this, is it worth it? Um, and so for me personally, like I feel like God gave me a strong vision for this, and the more feedback I get from parents and see how it's actually making a change, you know, it's bigger than.
Um, it's bigger than like the money aspect of it. There's like, it's a strong mission. Like my mission is to, um, give kids something that I felt like I missed out on. Whereas when I grew up in the church, I didn't become a, I wasn't baptized till I was 19 because I didn't really see the relationship aspect.
It was just like, go to church. Be good and you'll get to go to heaven. And when I was 19, I, like, I, I met this girl, a friend who we did this study abroad trip and she's the first person that I actually saw like Jesus, like affect and change everything. The way she spoke, the way she acted, everything. I was like, I want that.
And I just
It was, it was a girl for me too.
Oh yeah,
Yeah, but Steve, Steve wanted to date this girl. I mean, you may, you may or may not
This was just a pure like friendship, but
Okay. Yeah. Not Steve, go ahead. I.
And, uh. So I just, I want kids to be able to see like, it's not just like crazy stories or good things to memorize. It's like this is your guide for life and you can have a living relationship with the creator of the universe.
And so that, I think having a strong mission that's, that's bigger than yourself and bigger than just making money is what kind of really helps you get through those hard times when you feel like quitting. And sometimes just stepping back, there's been like, I took a month off social media 'cause I was just like.
All my thoughts were like, how can I make this into a post? Or just, it wasn't, I just didn't feel good about it. And so, uh, you can take breaks along your journey if you need to. Um, but just whatever you need to do to keep going.
I wanna dive even a little deeper on the fear component because I think that's probably. Like number one on the list of why people don't get up off the couch and like try
Yeah. Fear of failure or fear of looking stupid.
yeah. So, um, you know, when it comes to, like, I feel like number one is I fear. Investing a bunch of time and money into this thing that may or may not amount to anything.
How did you specifically overcome that? Um, when, when designing, like product one, when pivoting into, you know, the next idea, you know, you made a few pivots along the way. How are you able to overcome those fears that are just, are bound to come up as you journey through this?
Yeah. Uh, and it's a relevant question 'cause I'm actually, I'm like restocking right now and ordering a new series and kind of like, my sales have been like doing well on TikTok shop recently, and so I've kind of been like, oh, I should reorder, but I don't want to, uh, kind of really wanna sell these out. I don't wanna spend more money.
Um, and so part of it is just like, I think the initial fear. You just gotta ask yourself like, what, so here, here's a good thing. If you're listening to this and you're, you're scared to do this thing that you know you're supposed to do, or is a big a dr a big dream for you, what is your 80-year-old self like?
What would your 80-year-old self think about this? What would they do in this moment are like, when you're 80, are you gonna be glad you did this? Are you still gonna like die with a regret? Oh, I never tried that. So that's something for me is just like, just kinda levels the floor. It's just like when I'm 80.
I want to know that I at least went for it no matter what happens. Um, you know, I spent like 20 grand on bath bombs, which is just insane to say. And it's just like, okay, like the 20 grand, that's a lot of money to spend on bath bombs. Um, so part of it is like, okay, there's a chance that no one's gonna buy these, and then I'm out 20 grand.
And maybe I look like a, a dummy to some people, but, um, the people that actually love me truly are not gonna, like, they know my heart and they know us. They're supportive. And so that I have a strong enough core of people that I don't care, like what anybody else really says are thinks about me. And my relationship with God too is always just like I'm a child of God.
So I have that strong identity of that. Um, so I think like. It's just a few different things, but I think the 80-year-old self thing is really powerful. You're like, if you really want this, just go for it. Um, and that context is always, that's a big thing for me, is just like it helps me let go.
Yeah, let me add to the 20 grand comment because, uh, you know, like two things. Number one. How many people spend thousands on like education? You're getting an education, like yeah, you're spending 20 grand on bath bombs. Say that out loud at a party and people will be like, what is wrong with you?
Exactly.
But, but you're really gaining a, like an MBA through this business.
You know, you're like, you're, you're learning by trial and error through experience.
Where other people are learning from books, but they don't get that hands-on experience. So I, I kind of equate it to that. But number two, we spend money on stupid things. Like, so this is, this is something that can further your education and if it doesn't work, maybe it works and maybe you're a millionaire, maybe it doesn't work, but it.
But it teaches you lessons that you can then, you know, pivot into another area of your life or another business, or another product or whatever. But like we were, we have neighbors that just bought a a, what are those things called? A bearded dragon. 📍 And my wife and I are math people. Okay.
Did you see a bearded dragon?
A bearded dragon.
So my, my wife and I like to, anytime we go somewhere, we like to calculate. We're just, we're just math minded. We go to Cheesecake Factory and we're like, how much money do you think they make on cheesecakes? Okay, there's this many tables, there's this, this many people at each table. Probably two slices of cheesecake per table, $8 per cheesecake.
And we'll like run the numbers. Well, they told us that they spend, uh, they, they, I think that the thing eats like a thousand crickets a month. You can, you can, uh, order a thousand crickets to your doorstep for 40 bucks a month. Uh, so we did all the numbers. If this thing lives like 15 years, they're gonna spend like five grand on
Crickets.
And we told
is
we told them this, and they were not happy to hear that.
Oh
They're like, we're those people?
You're bringing the animal facts now it looks
Yeah,
I
But, uh, all that to say is we spend money in areas of our lives. Like how many, you know, how many people spend thousands of bucks a year on Starbucks, for example, like spending 20 grand to potentially build something that could outlive you, make the world a better place, get you off your job, whatever is not necessarily a bad thing.
Yeah, and I think there's, you know, there are ways to start small and kind of test products and make sure. I skipped that phase, I just went for it. But that's more of a personality thing. But I think there are ways to, um, start smaller and, and test a concept. You know, for me, like, so this is good to know if you're thinking about doing something, a lot of, uh, suppliers will have what's called a MOQ, which is basically just the least amount of products you have to order to like, uh, and sometimes that's negotiable, but like I had to order a thousand units, which was 9,000 bath bombs.
Um. To make this happen. So, but sometimes there are ways to start smaller, but it also, I think the financial component is like, you know, we're pretty tied to money. It's like I worked hard to earn that money and so like putting it into this and it's like a very real thing. And so it's a commitment to, like a commitment you can feel where it's like I am taking the next step and this next step is huge.
Um. And a good question to ask yourself is like, what's the best thing that could happen? Not the worst thing that could happen. What's the best thing that could happen? And the best thing that happened that could have happened was like, I sold all these bath bombs and then like, I can do this dream full time and like takes me to where I want to go.
Um, and the worst case scenario, like, you know, I lose 20 grand.
No. Worst case is you take very smell, good showers or
The worst case is you take a, a really, really big bath, a really special bath,
Take it to the, take it to the public gym hot tub and just like
Yeah. Preaching.
bless the
by throwing. Yeah.
You're blessed. You're blessed.
Uh, you had, you've a couple of times touched on the fact of like. You know, there's the, there's the saying like measure twice, cut once, and you're kind of like Steve in the sense that it's like you cut and you're like, ah, that might have been important. So kind of talk about like some of the experience that you've had.
You talked earlier about like not having systems in place. Like what are some of the lessons that you learned as far as putting systems together around you as you continued to build your company and your vision?
Yeah, so I think, so speaking of like the opposite of me, a place I see people get hung up a lot is like, this thing has to be perfect and then I'll launch it. And so they never launch it. They never do it. And so I think one of my. Positive traits is like, I'm happy to just, like, I just want to, I wanna do it and then learn from that experience.
So like, uh, you know, the first book I printed had like a few typos and I had like a thousand of 'em. So, um, that was, you know, something I learned from. So I'm, I'm more careful, like, so I've learned to double, triple check everything I kind of do now, uh, because I am more wired to just get it out there quick.
And then, um, so I've had to like pull back, but, um. So some people will be facing the opposite thing. But yeah, I mean, consistency and scheduling is especially like, these are big projects. 'cause I'm, you know, writing a children's book. I'm writing scripts for the show, um, writing songs, uh, creating activity sheets.
So there's a lot of different things and I don't have, I still have my other full-time job and so it's a lot to be doing. And so I think. Uh, scheduling and just so you can stay consistent and stay on track. Um, I'm not a big goal setter, like as far as like, I have to sell this many by this date. Um, so that might be helpful for you, but I'm just, I'm still to, I feel like when I switched the product, I started over and it's still very, it's still like a very small business to me.
Um, and the impact is growing. So I don't, I don't know if that answered your question, but I'm not naturally a systems guys. You can probably tell, but I think just kind of starting with a few different tracks. Say like, oh, I'm really gonna focus on social media and really get my email. Uh, follow ups like in place.
And so since I don't have a lot of time, and if this is true for you listening, I would say like, stay in one lane and like nail that lane and then move on to the next. So eventually you're stacking skill sets, you're, you're, you know, stacking, uh, systems in place and eventually, whether it's like a year.
Five years, 10 years, like you've built this awesome machine that can run itself in a lot of ways. And then, um, but at the time you feel like you're just scrambling. But if you keep scrambling and stay consistent and taking consistent actions, even if they're really small over time, you know, you're gonna build this like massive thing.
Oh, that's good. That's good.
Yeah, I love that. We talk about that a lot on the show, that you don't have to eat an elephant in one day. You know, you one bite at a time, five minutes, 15 minutes a day over the span. I think it's like 15 minutes a day over the span of a year is like almost a hundred hours. So you could put a hundred hours in just by a, this much every day, you know?
I wanted to kind of, uh, indirectly we're gonna allow you to directly promote it, but I wanted to allow you to indirectly promote what you've created by kind of allowing you to talk about. World build, world building process, like what you have in place now specifically, and then how you plan to grow that in the future.
Because you said world building, not world completion. So yeah, if you wanna talk about that for, for a couple minutes.
Yeah, so. My dream with all with Bible story kids, is to create, like, I imagine like a dome coming down. It's just like this Christ centered world where kids can experience, uh, Jesus through stories, songs, videos, activity sheets, and it's just like kind of hitting all their different senses and, you know, kids, different kids learn in different ways.
And so, um, just like this place that's surrounding them, uh, with like a good, like I wanted. I was always, I got really nervous about what my kids are watching on YouTube and what kind of music. And it's just like, here's a place where it's like all this is good in Christ-centered. And so the world, I, I want to keep growing it just by having more series, um, and more books and more so it's just like I.
When someone kind of gets in into my world or my system, it's like there's not just one book. Um, there's like, you know, 10 of these things. And so they can like, it can like track with them like all the way through childhood. So that's, that's where I'm headed. I'd like to the next phase, once I have more of an audience.
And it kind of makes sense just to do, I wanted start doing some live stuff, um, because I got to, I got invited to a Chuck E Cheese party and it was like the highlight of my life, uh, just because it was so sweet to actually like, meet some of the kids that like watch the show and read the stories in real life.
Uh, and it made it very real for me. Like the impact that I'm trying to create and have in kids' life is like. Um, when they see me and they see Bubby the bear, I just want them to like, think about Jesus. And so, like, if they are a fan of the show, like, you know, that they're a fan of Jesus kind of. Um, and not that I am Jesus or anything like that, but I want like, like we're kind of called to be, is just like a reflection of the Lord.
Like we're called to be light here on Earth. And so like, I want to be something that attracts kids and like leads them to Jesus.
I, I just want a soundbite that snippet where you said, I went to a Chuck E Cheese party and it was the highlight of my life.
That's, that's the promo for the episode.
this episode, bonkers, sponsored by Chuck E. Cheese.
Yeah. Hey, we'll take it.
Yeah.
I love that though. Um, how is business going? Like you, you mentioned, um, you know, you don't have, it's kind of, you're treating it as a small business at this point. Uh, but who is your audience? What, like how big is your audience? Um, how's it been growing and trending over the last few months, let's say?
kinda curious how this has been, uh, growing in the last year, maybe.
Yeah. So once I launched the new product, um, so for instance Instagram, I have like 46,000 followers on there. I mainly from like one video I kind of blew up. And I think a lot of that audience is more, uh, interested in the show that actually like buying the product. It's not necessarily true, but that's kinda been my impression.
My goal had been to get on TikTok shop and um, I had to wait a year to get my trademark and then I could, I was finally able to get on like a month and a half ago or so, and that's been going really well as far as sales, um, like I'm selling like, you know, five to 10 a day at this point, which that's like amazing to me.
Uh, 'cause there was just like a. There was a time before that where I was like, I don't know if anybody actually wants this thing. Um, and in my heart I knew I could just feel this, this phrase, it was just like, you just have to get it in front of the right people. Like the people are out there, you just have to find them.
And I knew that was true, but I just, I felt like it wasn't happening. Um, and so yeah, I'm still doing this part-time. I mean, uh, I'd have to sell a ton of these to get to a full-time point, but I think. My goal is to have like five series five or 10. So like when someone has ordered the first one, there's like so much more for them to buy.
'cause right now I just have the one set and like a, a bear. Um, so bubby, there's like a bbb, the bear stuffed animal, and then there's a zipper pouch on his back so kids can keep their toys in there. Um, so these toys don't get lost and kids don't get sad. But, um. So the bus, it's going fine. Uh, especially, you know, quarter four is usually great for, um, people buying for Christmas and stuff, and then Easter is usually big for me, so it's going good.
Um, since I've been on TikTok, I think I've sold like 200, um, through that, like pretty recently. So yeah, it's still small, but still getting the word out and, but the biggest thing for me. Is like seeing people react to it and respond to it. Um, they're like, oh, I didn't know about this. Like, this is so wonderful.
Like, ordering now or so the people that want this and need this in their lives are out there. It's just a matter of time.
Will allow us to give you the opportunity to have more people find you. So go ahead and give, give the website and, uh, socials and more people can find you.
Yeah, so bible story kids.com is the website, and then through that you can find links to the show. It's a little tricky to find on YouTube, but it's at Bible story Kids show, and then Instagram and TikTok is just bible story kids. And yeah,
You dropped the, you dropped the bib bull.
I, I did, it was, yeah. Everybody's like Bib Bs or Bibly Bs.
I don't know. So,
No, you're good.
how many bath bombs do you still have heavy at your house right now?
oh man. I'm like looking out my window towards my shed.
He hasn't taken a normal bath in
years,
haven't, yeah, there's probably, there's probably a good 20 or 30 in the shed or something, but, um, yeah. Nothing crazy.
not a mound of them.
Not anymore. Yeah.
real quick, going back to, to the, the promotional aspect of things. You've got the book set. You've got the book and the bear set, and then also beyond that you have freebies that parents can utilize, uh, you know, coloring books, activity books and things like that, which is nice of you to provide on a, on a free basis.
Yeah, so I mean, if I wanted it to be accessible to everyone, so there are, if they just wanna watch a show and do the activity sheet, that's totally free and accessible. Uh, and then I have the second series coming out, like I just placed the order, so it's gonna be here hopefully by November. Um,
Just in time for Christmas, everyone.
yeah, that's right.
Go shopping. That's.
Well, let's, uh, get into our listener questions. So we get, we have a pool of listeners that, um, will write in sometimes general, sometimes specific guest specific questions. I think Kyle's got this one for us today.
Yep. So, Justin, people write into me at kyle@witnessbusiness.com and this week's question, let me pull it up here. I, I feel like I'm a very creative person and I want to get into business someday, but I don't know how to utilize my creativity in within entrepreneurship.
What advice would you have?
Yeah. So there's different ways to go. So you're, I mean, you could do a service or a product or a, some of both, you know, so like I. I took my creativity as a photographer and built a business with that. And then I took the Bible story kids and used all my weird talents to kind of funnel into a product.
And so I think that's the key is just first of all deciding. It depends what kind of creative they are like. Um, but I feel like it's the best time to do something like this. If I had lived like 50, 60 years ago, there's, I would never would've been able to conceive that this was possible. But with like YouTube and Fiverr and Alibaba and the internet, basically you can take an idea, you can test it or make it a reality.
Like, you know, talking to people all over the world. Um, so. Start small, but start, that's what I would say I'd like, kind of just try one thing using your creativity, whether it be a service, like, you know, find some friends that you can test it out for and then build a website around that. Or if it is a product base, you know, kind of hone in like who your target audience is and what problem you're solving.
Um, 'cause people need creatives and it's, but it's just a matter of. Um, you know, finding out how you can use your creativity to provide a service or create a product around that, that people need in their lives.
Worst case scenario, they could be like you and just start.
Yeah. Yeah. Just start, start and fail a lot and then you'll figure it out basically.
Yeah, I'm, I'm a big believer that. God created us to create, you know, the Bible says we're created in his image. And so I, and he's a creator and we have this innate ability to create. And so we think of being creative as like, well, I'm not very artsy. I'm not, I don't sing and dance. I don't draw or write or whatever.
But I think you can use your creative brain in different ways. Like, I don't think I'm very creative, but. Two years ago, I decided to start an Instagram where I could kind of like try to tap into my, the creative part of my brain. And, uh, it's been fun, you know, like, I don't, it's not a business per se. I do get free protein, so that's fun.
Nice.
But, uh, you know, that's 300 bucks a year or so that I don't have to buy anymore.
That's enough to offset cost of crickets. If you buy a bearded dragon.
yeah,
Yeah.
well, I don't, I'm not planning on doing that anytime soon.
and with the creative thing too, like I, I'm obviously like creative and almost to a fault where I kind of like, it's easy for creatives to like live in a dreamland. You have to train yourself to get some kind of hard skills, which feels totally unnatural. Um, not saying you have to change your personality, but if you're gonna start a business, whether it's a service or a product, you're gonna be, you're have to push yourself a little bit to do some things that feel uncomfortable and don't feel natural to you until you can get to a point where you can totally outsource all those to someone that is like more type A and super organized and stuff.
So I think that might be helpful to know.
Yeah, but get over your, get over yourself. Get over. Over the fear of whatever posting, putting yourself out there. I always like to tell the story. You know, I had a video that went viral and I cringed at even the idea of posting it. I filmed it. I thought it was a good idea, and then I watched it back and I was like, oh, this is so icky.
I hate it. Hit everything about it. Then I posted it after a couple months of sitting on it, and it's my most viral video. It gained me the most followers like. You just, you know, you put yourself out there, get over what people think of you. People destroyed me in the comments too,
but that's gonna happen.
You know, on the internet
Yep. I actually made a post about that recently 'cause I was, someone was like, I can't, you're charging so much for these, like these junky Chinese toys
there's always gonna be haters, but if you don't have any haters, it means
there's, yeah, you're doing something wrong. You gotta
Or you're not doing. Thing. The loud, the loud minority.
You're not big enough yet.
Yeah.
Well, Justin, um, we appreciate you, man. We, thanks, thanks for coming on the show and, uh, letting us pick your brain on how this bible story kids thing happened.
We hope it just continues to blow up, uh, as, as big as you want it to be. We hope that, that, that happens. We'll be rooting for you from the sidelines and maybe, um, maybe not all the way to, maybe we'll be buying one for our kids here soon.
I tell Steve all the time, I always love to have people on who don't think like I do. And you know, you've fall in that bucket in a good way as far as your, your creativity and just your execution of things. So we're wishing you continued success. We appreciate your time and, uh, we're excited to see you grow from here.
Thank you guys. I appreciate it. I'm excited to see your podcast grow too.
Oh, we appreciate that.
All right.