Kelly Oriard and Callie Christensen, CAMP SLUMBERKINS

[1:49]Zibby Owens: Hi. This is Zoe Owens, and you're listening to the award winning podcast, Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books. I'm also the host of Moms Don't Have Time to Lose Weight, and I'm the editor of the anthology, which you should run out and buy, called Moms Don't Have A Quarantine Anthology. All proceeds of that book go to COVID nineteen Vaccine Research. And I'm the editor in chief of Moms Don't Have Time to Write, a new publication on Medium, and we're accepting submissions, so please send your personal essays there. And if all that isn't enough, you can follow me on Instagram at Zibby Owens, and my website is zibbyowens.com. Okay, now back to this amazing podcast. Special announcement, I am teaming up with Katie Couric Media's Wake Up Call and Random House to give away 100 copies of the book Stranger Care by Sarah Santilles. I'm really excited about this. Here's a little about Sarah's book, and we collectively are giving away a 100 copies. After their decision not to have a biological child, Sarah Santilles and her husband Eric decide to adopt via the foster care system. Despite knowing that the system's goal is the child's reunification with the birth family, Sarah opens their home to a flurry of social workers who question them, evaluate them, and ultimately prepare them to welcome a child into their lives even if it means most likely having to give the child back. Stranger care is an illuminating read, and Sarah will be on this podcast soon. So if you would like to enter for a chance to win, please go to the link in the episode description from right where you clicked on it and enter your email address, first and last name. By doing so, you're agreeing to the sweepstakes official rules and agree to receive communications and special offers from Katie Couric's wake up call and moms don't have time to read books. Thank you for doing it and enter to win today. Just go back to the episode description. Thanks again. Kelly Ouillard and Callie Christensen are the co founders of Slumberkins, a children's brand focused on promoting social emotional learning for children. Kelly has a dual master's degree in marriage and family therapy and school counseling, and has worked as a school counselor and family therapist at a K-eight school in Portland, Oregon. Kelly has a master's degree in teaching with endorsements in elementary education and special education. She previously worked as a special education teacher in a therapeutic day treatment school, as well as in an elementary school in the Pacific Northwest. Both are passionate about teaching children the social emotional life skills needed to thrive in our modern world. Their business and the books that they've put out in association with it is the culmination of more than twenty years of friendship and a shared life passion for promoting early emotional learning. As mothers with background in family therapy and early education, they identified a need for intentional children's products while on maternity leave together in 2016. With six children between them, Kelly and Kelly's experience as mothers has played a major role in shaping Slumberkins into what it is today. And for those of you who are not familiar with Slumberkins, I am obsessed with this brand because my kids love them. They're a collection of stuffed animals that come with stories and books that you read and parts of the books you read out loud together with your children, and they focus on all sorts of different aspects of socio emotional learning and help kids process and sleep and feel and all the good things. Plus the stuffed animals are adorable. They even have camp slumberkins, which is amazing. I posted about it on Instagram, and you should definitely check this out. Welcome, Slumberkins team. Welcome to moms don't have time to read books where we're joined by my son and both of you and we get to discuss the magic of slumberkins and the amazing books that come with all of the animals and They have slumberkins in the background. I see them. Yeah, look at those.

[5:35]Kelly Oriard: Aw, thank you so much for having us on. We're so excited. This is the first time that we're doing a podcast with a child too to be included in it. So this is so exciting. He's

[5:46]Zibby Owens: done many podcasts. So he knows. Awesome. No, you did a few in this video. Okay, tell us about the whole Slumberkins concept and the idea, the idea for Slumberkins and the idea to pair stuffed animals with books, especially the parts where we say the things out loud together, because we love those sections. Or I certainly love those Yeah.

[6:14]Callie Christensen: Yeah. Well, we came up with Slumberkins almost six years ago now when we were on a maternity leave with our sons. And we were both working in the schools at the time. And I was working as a school counselor, and Kaylee was working as a teacher. And when we were on break, we were talking about all of the things that we would do with kids in the schools, like teaching different skills, teaching about feelings, and all of that. And we thought, you know what? We think parents would want to get a head start on this instead of just kids learning about it when they get to school. And I think there's really, really fun ways to do that. So we paired cuddly creatures that were cute and different with the stories together. And we knew that when kids hear their parents saying really nice or positive things, things that we call affirmations out loud, that if they would do that back and forth with them, that kids would start to believe those things for themselves too, and know that those things are true. And so we wanted to combine those things together. And that's really how we came up with Slumberkins. Amazing.

[7:26]Zibby Owens: And how did you go about writing all of those books? Did you divide them or did you two write them all? Can I get some of my Slumberkins here? Sure. Yeah. Go get the Slumberkins.

[7:38]Kelly Oriard: Yeah. So I think we started with trying to think of the skills that we wanted to focus on first, and then it was really fun to develop what character would be the main character of the book. So our first couple were Bigfoot with wanting to infuse self esteem skills into kids, as well as sloth for relaxation because as new moms with new babies on maternity leave, sleep was top of mind. And then I think the third one was actually Fox for family change because Kelly is a school counselor. That was one of her biggest groups that she was doing interventions with in school. So, saw those needs. But Kelly is a natural born poet as well as a therapist. And so, as soon as we kind of both creatively brainstormed the concept and storyline, Kelly would go off and write and infuse different techniques that she would use in family therapy sessions or in sessions with kids to really deliver those powerful messages that a lot of times as parents, we're afraid to venture into these territories around feelings and emotions because we don't want to mess up or say the wrong thing. And Kelly, as a therapist, knows the words that need to be said by a parent. We always know that parents, we always knew as educators, the students that had the most progress, the parents were involved in the process and parents were actually delivering the therapeutic messages to their children. Amazing.

[8:58]Zibby Owens: Aw. We're doing a collective show off of these characters. Which ones are these? Which ones are these? I think this one is Ibex and Ibex and Otter. And what do Ibex and Otter represent? What are they supposed to teach us? Do you want me to answer? Either of you guys. Do you remember? I don't remember. I know where the book is. It's in the city. So Ibex is

[9:23]Callie Christensen: emotional courage, which means basically having big feelings and deep feelings is a superpower. And that's the superpower that IBEX has. And so kids learn that that is a really great thing to have and how to manage big feelings and deep empathy. And otter is about family bonding or connections. So it tells us that family is whoever we love. We have a heart family and we get to choose who we love and whether they're here or far away. We can always be connected to the people that we love. Amazing. Love it. This is my daughter too. Anyway,

[10:05]Zibby Owens: I have to say there have been many fights over slumberkins because I guess I've ordered an odd number at times. We've had a hard time divvying them up.

[10:14]Kelly Oriard: Oh, you need Hammerhead. It's conflict resolution. Yeah, we

[10:22]Kelly Oriard: Oh yeah. Well Confidence Crew doesn't come with a typical hammerhead book. Yeah. We'll have to get you a hammerhead book.

[10:29]Zibby Owens: Wow. Cool. Are your kids like in love with all the slumber kids as well? Yes. Oh yes. So as a former teacher, I'm like also

[10:39]Kelly Oriard: the busy mom of three kids that needs all of the tools that we produce with the brand. I feel like all of my kids gravitate towards different ones, but yeah, I'm a user of our products pretty routinely. So, and I love just, you know, my daughter, who's four, can say her affirmations by heart. And I think that's just the core mission for me as a mom to implant those seeds of early emotional well-being that hopefully, as she encounters things in her life that we as parents can't control, she can always lean on that firm foundation

[11:10]Zibby Owens: of the positive core beliefs for herself. And I know you're so nice. Oh, my earring. Sorry. To offer offer our listeners a discount code and hold on, I know you sent it to me so I wouldn't lose it. Camp Zibby 15% off Camp Slumberkins for everyone. One use per customer active from today until July 31 with code Camp Zibby all caps. So tell us more about camps and thank you so much for that, No. Ibex. Ibex. Tell us about campzibi, which I know you've seen our boxes here and we are huge fans of. Tell listeners about your idea, how you came up with a whole camp.

[11:47]Callie Christensen: I wish I'd had it last summer. We were like marooned in our homes, but anyway. Yeah. And last summer was the first summer that we launched camp. So it was kind of serendipitous because I think we sold through it so fast, way faster than we expected. I didn't know about it last summer. Yeah, it went really fast because we had already had it in the works and it just happened to be that it was really great for all the people stuck at home and unable to go places. But the idea around camp was to go a little bit deeper into a concept that needed more explanation and more skills to go with it. And so this year we focused on growth mindset, which is a huge topic as kids enter into school. It's about keeping on seeing failure as a way to learn and grow. And there's some complexity to that for young kids and honestly, adults. And so we wanted to dive into it a little bit more deeply through our character Bigfoot. So he's kind of been our mascot for camp. And he brings us through, meets his friend Narwhal at camp. And Narwhal is our mascot for growth mindset and goes on an adventure to sort of learn those skills that help you move towards being able to overcome any obstacle

[13:07]Zibby Owens: and how to achieve what you're wanting to achieve. Do you have any questions? Maybe what characters are coming next? Oh, yeah. What characters are coming next? I want them. Today's episode is sponsored by Quince. Summer always makes me rethink what I'm reaching for every day. Lighter fabrics, better materials, pieces that just feel good the moment you put them effortless. That's why I keep coming back to Quince. They focus on high quality essentials. Think breathable linen, soft organic cotton, washable silk, but without the luxury markup. It's that rare balance where everything feels elevated but still easy. Quince has beautiful everyday pieces like 100% European linen pants, dresses, and tops with styles starting at $32. Their denim is soft and easy to wear. I wear my jean jacket all the time. And their organic cotton sweaters are perfect for layering on cool summer nights. Everything at Quince is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. Quince works directly with ethical factories and cuts out the middlemen, so you're paying for quality, not brand markup. And it's not just clothing. Quince has really become a destination for elevated essentials across home, kitchen, bedding, and beyond, making it easy to bring a more premium feel into everyday life. In addition to my jean jacket, I recently got a white tank top dress with a beautiful cotton skirt that is absolutely gorgeous, and I can't wait for it to be warm enough so I can wear it every day, but it has been a cool spring. Elevate your summer wardrobe. Go to quince.com/zippy for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty five day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's quince.com/zibby for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com/zibby.

[15:58]Kelly Oriard: Oh, we always have things in the works. I think we have what is happening? I'm like, what month is it? I think we will debut a new collection in September, but we haven't released that information yet, but it'll be a really fun collection with lots of activities.

[16:22]Kelly Oriard: I'm curious, have you guys done any of the digital resource content that came with camp like the meditations?

[16:27]Zibby Owens: Not yet. But I got it. I do have it and I saved it and I keep it keeps rising in my inbox for you know, as I wean as I get rid of everything else. So like it's, soon to be accomplished, in other words, but I just haven't done it yet, but we're ready for it. It's right there. Well,

[16:44]Callie Christensen: and that was really the hope for camp, right? Like there's the we parsed it out for different age groups this year. So we have from babies to toddlers to big kids, different activities. So some of those will be in the digital resources if you're going for a baby or an older kid, but the ones that are in the card deck are really for preschool. And we really wanted to make it easy and interactive for parents to do these quick activities that are really based in attachment and connection to help build these skills. So they're not just typical, you know, an activity sheet or something like that. They're interactive and that allows the parents to really connect on a deeper level with their kids. They're hopefully also building towards these bigger concepts like growth mindset. And the Camp Slumberkins

[17:32]Zibby Owens: comes with a great book, which I read out loud to them immediately when it arrived. Although I think part of the strategy was to read only sections, but we read the whole thing. Sorry. Read all at once. They were like, What? Keep going. You know? Fine. Okay, fine.

[17:48]Kelly Oriard: Oh, that's so great. Well, and I love your podcast title, Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books. I have I am that typical mom that has so many books that are just started because I'm looking for a snippet of information and then on to the next. Hard. But I think that's also the beauty of what I appreciate too about SlumberKids and what Kelly's been able to do in infusing such important information that kids need to hear from their primary caregiver and family in their life into super easy to just plug and play in your normal daily routine that it takes, you know, five minutes to read a story to your child. And so and you deliver such impactful content.

[18:27]Zibby Owens: So I know you can get the books from the Slumberkins website along with all the animals. But no. Shush. All of the Slumberkins. I know. He's okay. Shush. Shush. Now what you guys made me forget. What was I even saying? Do you have any idea? What are the other Amazon,

[18:46]Zibby Owens: They're not telling us. They're not revealing the secret. Can't can't give the the info out.

[18:53]Kelly Oriard: Well, you know, what we can share is that's really exciting is we are working on bringing the characters to life in a TV show That with the

[19:04]Kelly Oriard: We don't know yet. It will be sometime 2022,

[19:07]Callie Christensen: but we're working on it behind the scenes. Yeah. Yeah. Are you a slumberkin' dap? We don't have an app yet. I say yet because hopefully that will come down the road. What would you want to see in a Slumberkins app? What would you want to do on a Slumberkins app? I don't know. Would you want to play a game or would you want to listen to something? Me. Would you wanna see the characters?

[19:32]Callie Christensen: All three of those? Okay. Well, that's a good thing for us to know because we need to have it in our thoughts as we think about, well, what do kids want? What kind of app do kids want for Slumberkins?

[19:44]Zibby Owens: So that's good to let us know. Well, you have a tester if you want to do more market research. Oh, what I was asking is I know you can get the books on the Slumberkins website, but where else can you get the books? Anywhere else or? We have our products on Amazon. And then there are some specialty retailers that also carry Slumberkins,

[20:02]Kelly Oriard: but the easiest way to get them is slumberkins.com

[20:08]Zibby Owens: Oh, Now he's going to the site. We already, by the way, have ordered, like, how many slumberkins? All the slumberkins. Like all the slumberkins for his birthday, which isn't until December. And so I'm storing them. Slumberkins.com. There he is. Yeah. Look at that. Discounts right now. Awesome. Well, what would you guys tell well, two questions. What would you tell moms at home who need to just get through the summer, what they can do with all of your resources. And then what would you tell aspiring authors now that you are published authors as well as entrepreneurs?

[20:48]Kelly Oriard: Well, for the moms that are trying to survive summer, I am that mom. I would just say, you know, with camp, the camp experience is definitely, it's a big experience. It can feel overwhelming to try to get all of it done. So just going at your own pace with it, I think is really key. Just even taking two of the activity cards and maybe trying to do two a night or two a week, you can really stretch it out over summer. And I know that just by engaging with kids at that level on their level, I guess for me, is where it's helpful to have a best friend that's a therapist that can tell me the benefits that even just tuning in and playing with kids and the way that the activities facilitate, it's really based in therapy play, which does wonders with attachment and relationship bonding with kids. And I think in today's overwhelming world, you know, like we've all been coping through COVID.

[21:39]Callie Christensen: And I think both parents and kids are craving that meaningful connection, which camp really facilitates and fosters. So, but other than that, I don't know if you have tips too. Yeah, I think through the summer in general, I don't, everybody's schedules were kind of mixed up and different this year anyways, probably I'm assuming. But as we get into summer and routines and things change, just be on the watch out for changes in behavior or the upping of emotions and difficulty potentially with transition or change. And I would say, remember as a parent, your job is to not stop your kids from feeling big emotions, but to welcome them and show them that you can handle that and help your kids identify what feelings are coming up and give space to them. So that's really what Slumberkins is based in is a lot of accepting of all emotions as a way to help kids regulate their nervous system. So they're able to approach any challenge or anything going on in their lives as a grounded individual and carry that on through their life. And that's really the starting point for doing that. So I know when I end working, anything changes, it gets, it can get tense.

[22:53]Zibby Owens: Oh yeah, those are the activities. They were just talking about these, these class, we can print these, except we have no toner.

[23:00]Kelly Oriard: I don't know which one to order. So advice to aspiring authors. Oh yeah. Okay. So when we first started Slumberkins, we were on maternity leave from school. So we, you know, when we had to go back as to our jobs, we were wondering, okay, we've had some success with Slumberkins, but we can't really do both. So I started pitching the storylines to editors and book agents and got polite nose all over the place. And but we had had so much, like, positive feedback from real customers that it just kind of it put wind in our sails to just continue down the self published path, which we ended up doing. And it's been a journey. I mean, finding well, we are so lucky that Kelly can author the books, and then finding the right illustrator was also a big step. But once you have those two solid things, it's actually pretty easy to self publish a book. And it's a little bit different than the traditional publishing route where then you're kind of plugged into their PR and marketing, you know, circuit after your book is released. But you can move a lot faster and you have way more control if you're in the self publishing space. Does it come with

[24:13]Zibby Owens: and the things? We're wondering if this comfort corner comes with all of oh, you can't really see. Does the comfort corner

[24:19]Kelly Oriard: come with the animals in the corner or it's just decals for the wall? Just decals. It's a big thing that you print you have printed. So it's just a digital download right now that then you have printed and then you can hang on the wall like a big poster. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. Have you ever heard of a calming corner? No. Before or had it in your classroom or at your house? Oh,

[24:40]Zibby Owens: it's like to make a little nook. Oh, who's this guy? Yeah.

[24:45]Callie Christensen: Oh, that's just one of our helpers that came and did some pictures for us. We get a lot of kids that come and help us with pictures. We give them slumberkins for helping us out too. Yeah. Where are you guys based? We're in Vancouver, Washington, right by Portland, Oregon. Yeah.

[25:03]Zibby Owens: Well, we won't be able to model for you, unfortunately. Excellent. Well, I just have to thank both of you so much because my kids have gotten so much enjoyment out of the slumberkins. And I personally have slept with the slumber sloth many nights. And many others as they bring them into my bed in the night. What is that? The digital activity? The coloring book? Yeah. The coloring book. The color is it a free is it a hold like a freestanding physical color? Yeah. We'll be getting that next. Can you buy this? Yes, I can buy it.

[25:35]Kelly Oriard: Oh, well, thank you. It's always so meaningful to hear how much kids and families are loving Slumberkins and just loving the characters. It's really exciting to think about bringing them to life in the media landscape

[25:47]Zibby Owens: for families to enjoy through that avenue as well. Awesome. Well, if you ever want to partner in any way or you're going to some cool thing or we can do something together, you know, let me know. We have the same target audience here. So sure. Your radar. Here. What's

[26:08]Callie Christensen: This is such a cool part of what we're doing right now. So that's also a behind the scenes thing, but we can't tell who they are right now. But I will tell you, we're still moving forward and people are We've written all of the stories that are gonna be the TV shows. And then we go on a Zoom just like this and kids who are gonna be It'll be kids that are the voices of the characters. They come and they record just like you're doing in a microphone on Zoom. And we record the whole thing and get to watch them do it. And they even sing songs. And it is just really cool. That's so cool.

[26:48]Zibby Owens: Now can I get my snack? Yes, now you can get your snack. And now we're gonna go and thank you so much for your time. And again, the discount code is what I say, CampZippy all caps. 15% off for Camp Slumberkins.

[27:02]Callie Christensen: One use per customer active from today until July 31. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for having us, Zippy. It was really nice to meet you. Thanks a lot. Bye. All right. Bye. Thanks

[27:13]Zibby Owens: for listening to this episode of Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram ZibbyOwens and momsdon'thavetimetoreadbooks. Also sign up for my newsletter at zibbyowens.com and sign up for my virtual book club and meet lots of authors on Zoom every other week. Thanks so much to Steve and Ryan at Texture Sound for the sound editing, and thank you to Morning Moon Productions for providing this fantastic intro and outro music.