\u201cI do think \u2018screen time\u2019 has engineered the creativity out of children’s lives to some degree, and at an age when original thought should be developing the most,\u2019\u2019 Andrick says. As a creative child, she would often get mixed messages about creativity and imagination, sometimes being encouraged to reign it in.<\/p>\n Happy Dinosaur is designed to enhance children\u2019s creativity and spark their imagination by welcoming them into the world of her characters. She is currently writing stories to complement five of the original characters. Children will be encouraged to read the stories and submit their own ideas for future books and TV episodes.<\/p>\n \u201cBy opening our creative direction to kids, we can show them that it’s okay to get crazy with their creativity,\u2019\u2019 she says. \u201cHappy Dinosaur is a way to create a lasting, personal experience that values the mind of a child through storytelling.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Happy Dinosaur Vying for $30,000 Wolff Competition Grand Prize<\/strong><\/p>\n Happy Dinosaur is one of five UConn-affiliated startups pitching in the Wolff New Venture Competition<\/a> on Oct. 1 in downtown Hartford. The competition will award more than $70,000 in prize money to participants, with the first-place finisher receiving a $30,000 check. The event is the School of Business\u2019 pinnacle entrepreneurship challenge.<\/p>\n New this year, the event will include a startup showcase in addition to the pitch competition. Thirty UConn startups will be exhibiting their technologies, products, and services. Among them are: Opti-Moo, an agri-business for vegetable growers offering technology and irrigation management tools, and Puure, a retailer selling organic women\u2019s undergarments. Attendees will be able to purchase items from the startups that sell consumer products. Some $45,000 in in-kind prizes will be awarded to startups participating in the showcase.<\/p>\n \u2018You Kick Down as Many Doors as You Can\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n UConn\u2019s Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation<\/a> (CCEI) invited Andrick to attend this year\u2019s Summer Fellowship Accelerator<\/a> designed for promising student, faculty and alumni entrepreneurs. The courses and mentorship were extremely valuable, Andrick says, particularly for someone with a limited business background.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a solo entrepreneur, there are so many jobs to do. \u00a0When you\u2019re starting off, you kick down as many doors as you can. But when you\u2019re ready to grow, it\u2019s no longer a one-person journey,\u2019\u2019 she says. \u201cA smart entrepreneur gets people to open doors for them instead. Whether I pursued them, or they came to me, I met those people through CCEI. It was a great program. I loved it!\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n With a major in Entrepreneurship in Animal Science Technology, she had little exposure to traditional business courses. During the Summer Fellowship Accelerator, Prof. Wayne Bragg brought her up-to-speed on financing a startup.\u00a0 \u201cHe has an amazing ability to explain complicated ideas without being demeaning or patronizing,\u2019\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n At the same time, Prof. Rory McGloin helped Andrick with her business pitch. \u201cMy first pitch was horrible<\/em>. Absolutely horrible,\u2019\u2019 Andrick says. \u201cHe\u2019s helped me develop confidence in speaking and become a 10-times better communicator.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n One of the biggest benefits from both UConn and CCEI has been the camaraderie.<\/p>\n \u201cThe friendships are so valuable. Being a solo entrepreneur is very isolating. I\u2019ve made great friends and even though they are in different industries, they\u2019ve experienced many of the same things I have,\u2019\u2019 Andrick says.<\/p>\n High School Teachers Saw Andrick\u2019s Potential<\/strong><\/p>\n Andrick\u2019s entrepreneurship journey started in high school. She loved to doodle, and one day sketched a smiling dinosaur on a friend\u2019s AP Physics worksheet. When they turned in the homework, the teacher remarked about the happy dinosaur, inadvertently cementing the startup\u2019s name.<\/p>\n \u201cHappy dinosaurs became my signature doodle for a while and eventually they made it to my economics teacher, Mr. Lavazzo,\u2019\u2019 she says. Some students were doodling on a white board, and she did too. Lavazzzo loved her work and told her that Happy Dinosaur could be the next \u201cHello Kitty.\u2019\u2019 He later gave her a pack of erasable markers and requested she draw Happy Dinosaur having a snow day.<\/p>\n Others supported Andrick, including the school art teacher, who allowed her to hang out in an AP art class despite not being enrolled. Eventually she made a dinosaur out of clay and gave it to Lavazzo, who encouraged her to make a stuffed animal version.<\/p>\n During the pandemic, Andrick had time on her hands and the need to make some money for college, so she began to make Happy Dinosaurs that represented her friends\u2019 college choices. It wasn\u2019t long before she realized the children\u2019s marketplace was an untapped gold mine.<\/p>\n Made of soft, apparel-grade fleece, the dinosaurs can go in the washing machine and are sustainable and durable. Happy Dinosaurs can be customized with 18 different colors, and some 100 combinations. She even offers limited edition dinosaurs, including everything from Scented Dinosaurs to Pride Dinosaurs and Halloween-themed Dinosaurs.<\/p>\n Creating the Next Chapter in Happy Dinosaurs<\/strong><\/p>\n Andrick\u2019s next steps for Happy Dinosaur are two-fold. She is looking for a manufacturer to make the make the stuffed animals because she can\u2019t keep up with the orders. She is adamant that the company adhere to her very high standards for quality, sustainability, durability, and consistency. She is also creating stories for some of the characters.<\/p>\n \u201cI am currently writing the stories for five original characters, starting with our main hero, Happy Dinosaur. There are five characters which will have their own original books and then we will be accepting story submissions from children for future e-books, print books, and TV show episodes,\u2019\u2019 she says. \u201cI’m currently in the very beginning stage of working on an animated TV show but I’m focused on making sure these five characters are \u2018just right\u2019 first. I want to make a character that has the same multi-generational impact for kids as Snoopy did, so they grow with it, instead of out of it, so the character has to be just right.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cThese dinosaur characters have the same kind of problems little kids might have, such as feeling embarrassed or saying the wrong thing, or getting \u2018over-excited,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cWe’re trying to have an element of emotional and social education without being on the nose or too etiquette focused. The ultimate goal for the characters is, for example, a four-year-old to say: \u2018Hmm, I’m stuck, what would the Clever Dinosaur do? I’ll do that,\u2019 and then be able to share that with us and have that become a book or episode.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m happy with where I am,\u2019\u2019 Andrick says. \u201cSummer Fellowship was so fast- paced, I learned so much in two months. I\u2019m still maintaining that momentum, still growing quickly. I\u2019ve met people who are interested in the characters and the toys. I hope Happy Dinosaur will last multiple generations.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"Lyla](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Summer_Fellowship_Accelerator_084-200x300.jpg\")
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