Gnomies and Barbies... more in common than you might think

If you haven’t seen the Barbie movie, spoiler alert: It. Is. Awesome. And this comes from a girl who takes issue with many stereotypes.

Growing up, Barbies were my thing. Not Barbies specifically, more a sort of Barbie knock off…called the Sunshine Family. I spent many hours and many of my parents’ paychecks on vans, vacation houses, cars, horses… you name it. But my most favorite accessories were the airplane and the cruise ship. Even back then, the power of travel lay not so quietly in my imagination.

As a short, fluffy kid who wore glasses, Barbie was several things that I wished I was. Tall. Thin. Fancy. Tan. Thin. And did I mention thin? What I loved about the Sunshine Family was that they came with an idea book for furniture and other accessories you could create for them, using upcycled items from your house. Beds from Kleenex boxes. Playpen from a strawberry crate. The focus moved from what the dolls looked like to how they lived together. And how they connected. And how I could create as I played with them.

In the Barbie Movie, Mattel does a fantastic job of putting the target on their own backs. A world of toys owned by a group of men who don’t understand them?…check. I had no idea about the world and business of toys until I began building and marketing My Gnome on the Roam. I was fortunate to meet a female mentor who founded and ran her own brand at our first trade show. But she is a needle in a haystack.

In a world full of comparing, our gnomes invite each user to create their own mascot…no two will ever look alike. And the whole idea of our brand is the connection, creating, exploring and contribution made by every Gnomie. And in the Barbie movie, they also talked about exploring…who they wanted to be and how we can do things differently.

So whether tall, skinny and blonde, or short, Gnomey and multi-colored…exploring and adventuring is the name of the game. (Have you checked out our shop?)

Adventure awaits,
Team Gnome