Susan Goldman, our NJ Mompreneur of the Week, never imagined the pandemic would be good for her. But when she was furloughed from her job and had the chance to spend more quality time with her young daughter, Jessie, the two created a successful side hustle they both can be proud of. Cre8ive Crayonz is the brainchild of Susan and Jessie—after reading the book The Day the Crayons Quit, Jessie had an idea to make their own crayons, and with a bit of help from Pinterest, the two got to work creating letters and shapes. Soon after, they shared them with friends who placed orders, and Susan knew she was on to something. Four years later, Cre8ive Crayonz is a line of non-toxic, customizable single, multiple, or sets of crayons in seasonal shapes and letters that recently were featured on the Today Show. We caught up with this Montville mom to the business’ Cre8ive Director, Jessie, 9, to talk about how she started, what it’s like balancing a full-time job and her business, and the local farm they plan to go to once it’s strawberry picking season.
Please share a bit about your personal and professional background. I grew up in a suburb of Philly, and after graduating college, I moved to New York City, where I met my husband, Michael. We eventually moved to Hoboken, where we had our daughter, Jessie, who is now 9. I was working the fashion industry until I was furloughed during the pandemic. During that time, Jessie and I spent a lot of time doing arts and crafts. One day, after reading a book about crayons, Jessie wanted to make them, and things just snowballed from there. We did some research, and started making shapes and letters, and eventually shared them with friends. We started taking local orders in Hoboken, and a friend asked if I could ship them to Florida. I was still trying to figure out what to do with my career, and one night, I had an aha moment where I just jotted down ideas and a logo to make our crayons into a business. I had a local mom design a website for me, and we officially launched Cre8ive Crayonz on September 1st. Before long, we were getting wholesale orders, too, and though we loved living in Hoboken, we were outgrowing our two bedrooms there because we were doing everything out of our home. We moved to a townhouse in Montville in 2022 and couldn’t be happier. We have all the space we need here and are part of a wonderful community. We feel very fortunate.
Is there anything from your work experience that helps you run Cre8ive Crayonz? I was in sales for a long time, but my last job before I was furloughed was in customer service, and at my present-day job at Frette, the luxury linen company, I also work in customer service. I firmly believe that the customer should be number one for all companies—you want them to be happy. And it’s smart because it increases repeat business. In the business of crayons, there’s not a lot that can go wrong, but in the unlikely event that a crayon breaks during shipping, I overnight a replacement to make things right.
What has been the biggest challenge you’ve encountered since launching Cre8ive Crayonz? Because I have a full-time job now, my number one challenge is finding the time to get everything done, but I’m proud to say we’ve never had a late order. We’ve made it work by handling our production before and after school and working hours. To make things run as smoothly as possible, we’ve started production and stocking up on our bestsellers in our downtime so that we can pack and ship them as the orders come in. My husband, Michael, also helps out when needed by packing up all the party favor orders, which can take some time because they’re individually wrapped.
There are certainly a lot of crayon options to choose from. Is there a bestseller? Our letters spelling out names or words do well, and we have so many different themed crayons, like sports, flowers, dinosaurs, butterflies, seasonal and holiday crayons, and so much more. All of them can be customized in your favorite colors or school or sports team colors, so they’re perfect for whoever will receive them. People go crazy for the Glitter Rainbow crayons—they’re definitely number one!
How has your business changed since it was officially launched? We now take wholesale orders and sell a much larger variety of crayons, and we have boxes for different seasons and occasions. Jessie has also taken on additional and age-appropriate responsibilities as she’s gotten older and does almost everything now. Initially, she was choosing our crayon colors and popping them out of the molds, but now she also chooses our new designs and can make the crayons from start to finish—basically everything except shaving the crayons with the knife. I love that she’s learning that if you work hard, you can achieve the goals you set for yourself. When we started this business, I set a goal for us to be on The Today Show, and we recently reached that goal–they were in the Valentine’s Day Gift Guide this past February. So many orders came in that I had Jessie take the day off school to help me make them, organize them, and pack them for shipping.
Is there a cause that’s important to you? Though I recently lost my mother to Parkinson’s Disease, she was a breast cancer survivor and was the first chairperson for the Race for the Cure in Philadelphia. Every Mother’s Day for 28 years, we’d watch her, along with other breast cancer survivors, walk down the art museum steps (aka “the Rocky Steps”), and to this day, it remains an organization that is so important to me.
Tell us about some of your favorite NJ businesses and spots you frequent. I’m a big fan of The Paint Tube in Englewood. It’s a custom gift shop and my go-to for baby gifts, but they also carry things for all ages and are perfect for birthdays, college, and camp gifts. If you’re into crafts, a really fun place to go is Glassworks in Morristown–Jessie has so much fun making mosaics from glass and tiles there. Also, Alstede Farms has been a longtime favorite. Before I was married, my girlfriends and I loved going there, and when I met Michael and we had Jessie, we continued the tradition. Our favorite things to pick are the strawberries and potatoes.
What’s your best practical advice for a mompreneur just starting? Balancing your personal and professional lives can be very hard. Go easy on yourself and know that it’s okay if you make mistakes along the way.
For more information on Susan Goldman and Cre8ive Crayonz, please see their website, Etsy shop, Facebook and Instagram pages.
