Matthew and Marnel are the parents of three children (all under the age of five) who love puzzles!
Frustrated with the lack of diverse images shown on commercially-produced puzzles, they created Puzzle Huddle, a business that offers pocket sized puzzles for children and toddlers.
We spoke to Matthew to find out more about the business, future plans and balancing parenthood and entrepreneurship.
What is the most rewarding thing about your entrepreneurial journey so far?
I absolutely love being able to provide a product that parents trust in their homes in front of their children.
I regularly hear feedback from parents about children opening our products and exclaiming “it looks like me”. Being able to add a layer of cultural affirmation and inspiration in the lives of children is extremely rewarding.
Most of my high school and college classmates now have young children. There’s an extreme emotional reward sending products to parents that I knew back when academics and social events where our priorities.
What is the most challenging part of the journey?
How do you balance being parent and a business owner?
Attempting to balance parenting and business is a process that I challenge myself on everyday. Children are impressively uninterested in their parents business priorities.
They very easily disrupt any business related multitasking to make themselves the priority of the moment. 100% of the time, interacting with my children is more fun and fulfilling than responding to an email
Where do you see the business in 5 years?
I expect the products to eventually become a standard for children at home and in schools.
What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs?
Fall in love with process, both the successes and challenges. Also anchor your happiness, self confidence, and self esteem in something other than your business.
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