Featured on Good Morning America (GMA)
Below is a transcript of the interview recorded by Good Morning America
Robin Roberts (00:00):
And here we have first time entrepreneurs, they run into roadblocks as they try to expand their businesses. I recently learned that my own neighbor has turned her garage into a storage warehouse. As she works to sell a Teddy bear. She calls tooth bear-y. It is meant to be the tooth fairys helper. So we decided to reach out to a PR expert to help her with strategies for success.
Liz Carroll (00:23):
Well, he lost his tooth today. He's seven and he lost it in school.
Robin Roberts (00:27):
It's an idea inspired by a mom seeking a better solution.
Liz Carroll (00:31):
Smile, which one's missing.
Robin Roberts (00:34):
Liz Carroll easing her children's fear of the tooth fairy by creating its helper, meet the Tooth Bear-y,
Liz Carroll (00:41):
This Teddy bear fixes fears that kids and grownups have around losing teeth and waking a child, but also allows the bear to keep the teeth in its magic heart.
Robin Roberts (00:52):
Liz pouring her heart and savings into her creation, but sales have hit a standstill.
Liz Carroll (00:58):
We were running outta money on storage fees in LA. So we decided to get an 18 Wheeler to ship them here. Now our to bees are warm and dry and we have to park outside.
Robin Roberts (01:09):
I recently stopped by Tooth Bear-y's headquarters. There you go at Liz's home. Well, this was a short commute, hello there neighbor to learn how she is working to boost business. This is your, uh, garage slash warehouse. It is you approximate 2000 tooth bear-ys,
Liz Carroll (01:27):
2000 in there, 18 in each box.
Robin Roberts (01:30):
So tell us about the five years, the process of that, of getting to this point
Liz Carroll (01:34):
Long process, you know, the Manu, trying to find a manufacturer to be able to replicate the mouth piece because my patent is actually this part here and the tube goes inside.
Robin Roberts (01:49):
How did Teddy bear? You just ripped it apart.
Liz Carroll (01:51):
I found a Teddy bear on clearance. I made a Cape. And the Cape is a pouch. So that the tooth fairy still comes.
Robin Roberts (01:57):
What I love is that you all are not trying to replace the tooth fairy. It's a collaboration.
Liz Carroll (02:03):
That's right.
Robin Roberts (02:04):
This is really popular in the neighborhood. Your tooth bear-y van.
Liz Carroll (02:07):
This is fun on wheels.
Liz Carroll (02:10):
It's a snowy day, but even in the snow kids lose teeth,
Robin Roberts (02:15):
Liz have been the biggest challenges and getting this out and letting people know about it.
Liz Carroll (02:19):
The challenges have been, you know, the marketing end of it. And for people to know that it's not just a Teddy bear, like you're, you're getting a whole new magical tradition.
Robin Roberts (02:31):
So to help her create strategies for success, this is Jenna. She's gonna be the, tooth bear-y, fairy coach expert over the next two weeks, GMA teaming Liz up with PR expert, Jenna Guarneri author of the new book, "You Need PR", what is gonna be your initial strategy to help tooth bear-y?
Jenna Guarneri (02:51):
PR is all about perception. So how an end consumer perceives a brand through their messaging and storytelling. So we're going to start by assessing your messaging to make sure that the look, the feel and the tone are all consistent. So the goal for Liz would be to increase her customer base, develop a loyal fan base, increase your profitability. And so it could be for those bears to get that eviction notice, cuz those bears gotta get outta that garage. They need to be sold out.
Robin Roberts (03:20):
Well, we can't wait to see work that you all are gonna do.
Jenna Guarneri (03:22):
I agree. We have a lot to do and I'm really excited to be working with you.
Liz Carroll (03:25):
Thank you so much.
Robin Roberts (03:29):
So we've been following along on Liz and Jenna's journey for months and in a few weeks we're gonna share the progress and that can be applied to any business owner and Jenna's book. "You Need PR" is available, everywhere books are sold. So we shot that April 1st, they've been meeting weekly. And part of it is to show other people when you have a business how many people have a startup like that? And they just need a little help. And so we'll see how they strategize and what happens.
Lara Spencer (03:55):
Yeah. Such a cute idea too. I love the tooth things.
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