Imagine That

THE AHA! MOMENT happened at a visit to San Francisco Museum of Modern Art with her daughter Avery, then 2. At the interactive area for children, kids were playing with magnetic tiles. Laurie Peterson ’96 observed that while the toy was good at teaching spatial skills, it did not hold interest for long. This sparked an idea: “What if what they built looked more like a scene?” She bought a magnetized building set, illustrated the panels and created magnetic people, pets and accessories. She set the prototype in Avery’s room and watched. Twenty minutes passed and Peterson told her it was time to head out to

Avery’s favorite restaurant. She refused to go because she was immersed in play. Peterson did a little happy dance in the hallway. THAT! imagine build innovate IMAGINE

Had Peterson lucked upon an idea? Only if the adage, “If you work hard enough, you just might get lucky,” applies. Build & Imagine sets debuted in January 2015 to 30

storefronts, Amazon and thegrommet.com.

CONVERGENCE AND DIVERGENCE Peterson has pursued a career exploring her interest in gender and play, with 15 years of experience leading the creation and promotion of award-winning consumer electronic products and interactive content. Three of the toys she developed at LeapFrog won “Toy of the Year” from the Toy Industry Association, and she also worked at a startup toy company. Her experience in toy innovation along with firsthand knowledge of how women are underrepresented in technology fields merged in the creation of Build & Imagine. She grew up with a scientist father and followed in his footsteps by winning the California state science fair and participating in the national science Olympiad. So it was a natural for Peterson to pursue engineering at UC San Diego.

Except it didn’t feel natural. “I became more and more disengaged with the program,” she says. “My people weren’t there, I didn’t look like those around me. In a computer science class of 350 people, only four were women.” She switched over to the visual arts department to study interdisciplinary computing and the arts, and in her senior year, studied gender and computer games. “I graduated feeling that

“Toys can make a difference, and I want to be a part of shaping what the play experience is going to be for girls.”

girls are truly underrepresented in science.” She went on to earn her MBA from Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley where she focused on entrepreneurship.

A number of converging factors helped set up Build & Imagine for success:

• The surge in popularity of building toys, the fastest growing category in the industry • A new interest in construction toys for girls—historically, 90 percent of the themes and marketing have targeted boys.

• An increased emphasis on STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) education for girls—women hold only 24 percent of positions in STEM fields. “Girls have been missing out on developing some of the foundational skills such as spatial reasoning,” Peterson says. “Construction toys develop interests that are prerequisites to succeed in the STEM fields—toys can make a difference, and I

Fountain Valley School of Colorado want to be a part of shaping what the play experience is going to be for girls.”

Peterson’s Build & Imagine playsets are made of illustrated wooden panels called StoryWalls that magnetically snap together, and come with magnetic dolls and accessories. There are currently three different sets: a beach house, a surfside cafe and a marine rescue center.

The panels can be built and decorated any way a child likes. So not only are analytical skills and spatial reasoning put in play, so are language skills through the storytelling the sets inspire.

MAKING IT HAPPEN To fund her startup, Peterson applied for grants to fund her first prototype and a video to launch a Kickstarter campaign where she raised $30,000. The Kickstarter success and retailer interest attracted an additional $600,000 in angel investments. She

“When I have been confronted with issues in my career, my FVS upbringing gave me the confidence and the desire to right the wrong and spark the change that was needed.”

connected with her university’s alumni office and found an adviser who connected her with an excellent toy manufacturer in China.

Peterson recently returned from the 2015 New York Toy Fair and met with retailers including Toys R Us, QVC, Michaels and Amazon. The Toy Industry Association presented Build & Imagine at its annual trends briefing (out of a selection of more than 100,000 toys at Toy Fair) as an example of the top toy trends of the year.

SEEDS Peterson credits Fountain Valley for helping build her confidence and “to go after what is right,” she says. “When I have been confronted with issues in my career, my FVS upbringing gave me the confidence and the desire to right the wrong and spark the change that was needed.”

She remembers a project in chemistry class taught by former faculty John Ora. “We were using this ancient software and created a kids game. It got me very interested in doing interactive design.”

WHO IS THAT LADY? Peterson was an Amazing Alumni speaker at Fountain Valley’s 75th Anniversary Reunion in 2005, presenting her experience producing three award-winning toys for LeapFrog, the company that makes popular educational electronic games for children. She recalls that there was a woman in the audience peppering her with questions as she presented, which she found a little bit intimidating. Peterson met her afterward, thrilled to find out that she was Pleasant Rowland, founder of the American Girl empire, and wife of Jerry Frautschi ’49. They had a conversation about starting one’s own business, and 10 years later...

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THE YOUNG ALUMNI AWARD

COURAGE

SELF-RELIANCE

OPEN-MINDEDNESS

CURIOSITY

COMPASSION This year at Alumni Weekend, we are adding a new award to honor outstanding young alumni who are leading the way. These alumni model the School’s core values of courage, self-reliance, open-mindedness, curiosity and compassion, and they have made remarkable achievements in their profession, career or vocation. The award will presented annually to alumni 5–20 years after graduating from FVS; this year we will be selecting awardees from the classes of 1995-2010. Nominations will be solicited from alumni, alumni parents and current/ former faculty. More than one award can be given in a year. If you know of a classmate, friend or family member who graduated from Fountain Valley and is doing amazing work, please submit a nomination form at fvs.edu/youngalumniaward. For more information, please contact Kate Faricy Maiurro ’00 at kmaiurro@fvs.edu. 27