WILMINGTON — Meet Olivia Alexander, 11, TekMountain’s youngest member and owner of Squishtastic.
Alexander started Squishtastic to raise money for a new iPhone in August. The company sells slime and squishies – stress-ball like toys. Children 12 and under are obsessed with the scented, rubberized foam, the namesake of Alexander’s business.
The internet is flooded with squishy and slime videos, which fall under the umbrella category of eliciting an “autonomous sensory meridian response.” On Instagram, #ASMR has been hashtagged over 2 million times.
The niche toy genre is meant to “relieve stress and anxiety,” Alexander said.
Squishtastic
In October, Squishtastic introduced do-it-yourself slime subscription boxes. The boxes are holiday themed, come with three different slime kits to test, candy, a handwritten thank you note and maybe a squishy here and there.
“We always send candy,” Alexander said. She wants parents to know the DIY boxes are “no mess.”
The January box will include birthday cake slime, “rainbow little foam balls” and will be “scented like a cupcake.”
Most all of Squishtastic’s sales so far have come straight from Instagram.
“That’s our marketing,” she said. “I’ve gotten more into actually posting videos and stuff like that, doing stories because I got a new phone.”
Alexander earned that new phone by starting the business, with the help of her dad Aaron, who is a freelance web developer.
“Whenever I first started it was just family and friends,” she said. “Whenever we started the box, that’s when I got the money for my phone.”
She knows what profit margins are, she knows how to do online marketing, and understands the tediousness of work, even if it’s something you love.
11-year-old entrepreneur
As a fifth-grade Murrayville Elementary student, Alexander is getting a head start on basic economic and entrepreneurial skills.
Her favorite parts of the job?
The swings on TekMountain’s first floor, all of the inventory of slime and squishies she gets to keep at home and her TekMountain badge.
To earn the badge and plaque on TekMountain’s coveted wall of startups, she first had to interview with TekMountain’s director, Sean Ahlum.
“He talked to me like I was an adult,” Alexander said.
Ahlum offered her a membership and became one of the many adult contacts Alexander has made in the past few months.
Even with a blossoming business, Alexander still finds time to be a kid. Between horse riding and piano lessons and constant trips to Michaels and A.C. Moore Arts and Crafts, she keeps a busy schedule for an 11-year-old.
Follow Squishtastic on Instagram and Facebook, or shop the online store here.
Johanna Ferebee can be reached at johanna@localvoicemedia.com or @j__ferebee on Twitter