This Founder Created A Toy That Has Helped Save Hundreds Of Elephants
I am Kristina McKean, a seasoned entrepreneur, product design specialist, and founder of The Elephant Project — a philanthropic toy company that has helped save hundreds of elephants worldwide by donating 100% of its net proceeds to global rescue efforts. I launched the company back in 2017 with the heartfelt mission to increase education about the ethical and physical complexities surrounding elephant tourism and help make a direct impact on the lives and habitat conditions of hundreds of captive elephants.
We craft hand-designed stuffed animals inspired by real-world elephants to offer as cuddly gifts to children with accompanying educational materials. Most importantly, we donate 100% of our net proceeds from any purchase to trusted organizations that help fight the poaching crisis and provide care to injured, abandoned, orphaned, and abused elephants (including The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Elephant Nature Park, The Elephant
Cooperation, Trunks Up Foundation, and Wildlife SOS) — thereby assuring our customers that their purchase is helping make a significant contribution and direct impact on the lives of elephants at home and abroad.
The first stuffed elephants we offered were called “Kiki” and “Tembo” — and both were inspired by real-life elephants who have been rescued by one of our partner organizations. Kiki means “new life” and Tembo means “elephant” in Swahili. We also offer our lion stuffed animal, “Oba” (which means “king ruler”), and those proceeds go to organizations actively fighting against the poaching practices of big cats. Our flagship product is now the newest addition to our stuffed animal collection: “Baby Chaba,” because it is our company's first and only stuffed toy to be named after a living elephant. Baby Chaba plushie represents its real-world, once-captive counterpart that currently resides in Elephant Nature Park, an elephant rescue sanctuary run by legendary advocate and my hero, Lek Chailert, in Thailand.
All of our toys are made out of plush fabric crafted with soft polyester threads that offer cozy cuddles for kids. To date, we’ve successfully aided in the rescue and protection of hundreds of elephants worldwide, while fostering numerous orphaned elephants and delighting families the world over with our adorable Kiki, Tembo, and Baby Chaba plushies.
Our customers become ongoing supporters because it's about much more than just the toy.
What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?
The initial spark for The Elephant Project happened about 23 years ago when I was celebrating my honeymoon with my husband in Thailand. Early on, near the start of our trip, I saw a baby elephant begging on the street (“begging elephants” are elephants that have been taken and held captive by beggars and are typically emaciated and severely malnourished. They are made to walk long hours throughout Thailand’s towns — paraded around to perform tricks to fetch money). When I saw the enslaved baby elephant looking helpless, restrained, and in despair, it completely broke my heart and, frankly, kind of ruined our trip.
I thought, “How could this be? How could humans be so cruel to these beautiful creatures?” It bothered me so much that by the time I came back home, the only thing I had on my mind was how I could help end this practice. I was overwhelmed with frustration at first because I didn’t know where to start. However, I knew this inner, nagging feeling was a calling of some sort. All I wanted to do was figure out how I could play a role in removing this horrible practice from this planet and help save these animals. I started signing petitions.
I joined rallies that would protest and bring awareness to cruel circus practices. Over time, I met others who shared the same passion I had to get as many of these elephants as possible into safe, humane environments. However, our scope of impact was relatively small in the beginning, because we didn’t yet have social media or digital campaigns to amplify the awareness that was needed.
My "aha" moment came a few years later when I was on Facebook and came across a post about a German Shepard that was going to be put to death that day if he wasn’t adopted. The dog’s owner had passed away, and he was found stranded in a vacant home. I brought the dog home and quickly realized he was way too big to live with us. I started putting it out there that this poor dog was left alone, nearly put to death, and needed to find his forever home. This woman came to me out of nowhere to help. She helped me find a loving family who was specifically seeking a senior dog. It ended up being the perfect match.
The dog lived a great life, and this woman quickly became a mentor of mine. She saw deep down that I wanted to do something impactful, and she encouraged me to utilize the resources around me to accomplish that goal.
Then, when I saw my daughter playing with a stuffed animal one day, everything clicked. What if I could make a stuffed animal that taught children about this cause and raised awareness for elephants before they’re completely extinct? I knew from my petitioning days that most of the people who were dumbfounded by the abuse of elephants were young girls. That was my target audience. If I was going to make any kind of impact, it was going, to begin with, them.
I ran with the idea and launched The Elephant Project in 2017. Since then, this passion project has taken on a life of its own, and we’ve been able to help rescue hundreds of elephants from captivity and abuse.
Take us through the process of building the first version of your product.
My background in design gave me a sense of how to properly prototype our product. I was a designer and product development designer for Gap, which taught me how to work with factories to get new products off the ground and mass-scaled. Once I knew what I wanted to make, I found a few seamstresses and had them do rounds of mockups until we perfected the design.
When I first started developing the collection, I put an ad on Craigslist to hire seamstresses who could create the prototype. Several people responded, and I tried to explain to each of them how the elephant should look. I cut and pasted doll ideas — but, with my lack of artistry and bad drawings — they couldn’t understand my vision at first, and I knew I had a lot more work to do. Turns out, designing stuffed animals and creating prototypes is much harder than you might think.
The longest part of the process was finding the right source for the fabric and the design to make it the cuddly toy I wanted it to be. After we did the mockups, I went looking for the right manufacturer. It took a long time to find the right partners to work with because all of our potential manufacturing partners were in China, and I wanted the design to be executed in a very specific way. It was not an easy task going back and forth, and it took a couple of years before I was able to figure it all out and do an official launch of the first two products (Kiki and Tembo).
I have a lot of friends who own businesses that aren't in my field, and I always go out of my way to make time for them and learn from their stories. It doesn't have to be someone in your market, because you'll quickly learn that in some way, aspects of their journey can pertain to your situation as well.
Describe the process of launching the business.
I started with a very basic business plan. Even though the focus of this business is to make a difference with the elephants, I knew that having a mainline product to offer was the best route to draw attention to our rescue efforts. Once I decided to go with a stuffed toy as our main offering, my experience in design came into play in getting the product off the ground.
I had a vision of what I wanted the main plushies to look like and recruited a friend of mine who is an artist to draw out the initial design. After that, I hired various seamstresses to help create the plushie. We tested design after design, prototype after prototype before it became what it was. It sounds simple on the surface but it takes many hours of hard work and due diligence to pick the right fabric, create the right look for the toy, and then find the right manufacturer before we're able to produce at scale. It took over a year of going back and forth with the seamstresses to hone in on the details and make the product perfect.
I started with a soft launch, where I mostly introduced the plushies to friends and family. I received such an overwhelmingly positive response from them, I knew I was on the right track. Since then, we've focused on organic growth by earning media attention, growing our social media channels, and keeping The Elephant Project community strong by offering special/ limited editions of our products to keep our supporters engaged.
Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?
One particular quality that's unique to our company is that our product is a gift that gives back. Everyone wants to help in some way. I knew from the start that our target audience would be those who love animals because they would see our plushies as more than just a perfect snuggly toy for a loved one — it's a gift that goes to a real-world cause of helping these animals in need. It's a great way for people to feel like they're involved, and that's been a huge incentive to help get people to buy.
Storytelling has been a huge component of attracting and retaining new customers. I am always sharing the story of the suffering these elephants go through. Whether I do that on Instagram or in the press, the hardships and torture that these creatures have to go through are usually enough to garner that initial interest. Add to that the fact that they can contribute to the cause while getting something adorable that they can gift to their little ones, which allows them to educate their kids on the issue. I think it gives our customers a way to be a part of something bigger and to carry on the story to their friends and family. Our customers become ongoing supporters because it's about much more than just the toy.
Part of telling that story is using compelling visuals, and Instagram has been a valuable asset to not only share images of our product but to also educate our followers by sharing photos and video footage of the elephants we help rescue. However, there's nothing like a good press hit to bring the right spotlight to our cause. Some of our most notable media appearances were our hits in People, Hollywood Digest, and Santa Barbara Magazine. Organic media attention like this has helped draw eyes to us and our mission.
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
The company has grown almost 50% year over year since we started. I never thought we'd be a small company, I always envisioned us being massive from the beginning. Even though my mission is to protect the well-being of the elephants, at the end of the day, the expansion and growth of the business allow me to help more elephants and make a bigger impact. The goal is to keep this expansion going as we continue to launch new products.
Our next plushie is going to be a dog, and we eventually want to offer more animals so we can contribute to the causes of all animals who are suffering beyond elephants. We've already begun doing that with our Oba product, a plushie lion, and all those proceeds go to ending the poaching of big cats. We want to be advocates for all kinds of animals and help tell their stories, just as we've done for elephants thus far. We’re also looking to partner with more organizations that are doing great work to save elephants and animals as a whole.
Profit incentives were never the goal. I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to donate 100% of the net proceeds to make the difference I was called to make here. From the beginning of this project, my main goal has been to make an impact and to give our customers the confidence to know that by owning one of our stuffed toys, they have helped make a difference, too.
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
I learned that when you start a company with your heart in the right place, genuinely trying to make a difference, people are often more than willing to help. I think most people don't have an opportunity to start their passion project that contributes to a cause they care about, whether due to time constraints or financial obstacles, and that's why they are so receptive to our story and what we're trying to accomplish. Not everyone can drop their day job and do something like this full-time, but they can feel like they are a part of something bigger by purchasing one of our dolls. That's why we’re really "the gift that gives back."
I also learned that it takes a ton of patience to see results. As with any business you're passionate about, it can be frustrating to go through the ringer of getting it off the ground, but it is so worth it in the end. I've put a ton of time, resources, and effort into this company, but it's my passion and desire to make a difference that has allowed me to weather the storms. The payoff, in the end, is, so worth it. Patience and resilience are the key qualities it takes to see it through to feel that payoff.
What platform/tools do you use for your business?
We recently partnered with a public relations agency, NRPR Group, to be able to bring the story of The Elephant Project to a wider audience. Our growth thus far has been truly organic, so we wanted to make sure to partner with an agency that can understand our roots and elevate our brand to the next level.
Apart from that, Instagram has been one of the most valuable tools to build a following around the company. Our account has led to an increase in email subscribers, where I can regularly reach out and give updates to our supporters and drive traffic organically. We also did a lot of pop-ups to increase awareness in the beginning.
Everything I did was based on my mother’s advice: whenever you are starting something, you need to tell everybody or anybody that will listen because you never know where the next sale will come from. That notion has come full circle because word-of-mouth has been an active force in getting The Elephant Project in front of as many eyes as possible.
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?
One of the most important resources for me in launching The Elephant Project was a documentary called Love & Bananas. The documentary spotlights Lek Chailert, one of my heroes and the founder of the Elephant Nature Park, in her elephant rescue efforts. But equally important is the way the documentary details exactly how the elephants are captured, tortured and molded in the first place. It’s a heartbreaking piece that shows how babies are taken from their mothers and beaten, tortured, and mauled in what’s called the “crush box” until their spirit is broken. If anyone needs to understand just how appalling and grueling the realities of captive elephants are, this is the resource we direct them towards.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?
I think it's important to leverage your network and talk to everyone you know. I have a lot of friends who own businesses that aren't in my field, and I always go out of my way to make time for them and learn from their stories. It doesn't have to be someone in your market, because you'll quickly learn that in some way, aspects of their journey can pertain to your situation as well.
Collaboration also helps others who want to get involved once you share your vision with them. People love to help and love to give advice. I encourage people to ask questions of their friends, mentors, or anyone they're inspired by. Ask about how they got to where they are now. Learn about their setbacks and how they overcame each one. (People love to talk about their journeys, so it’s a win-win). When talking to people, look into every resource you can get your hands on. I had no idea of the wide variety of grants I could qualify for to help jumpstart and support business from the ground floor. You'd be very surprised at the options that are out there. It's always a process of learning, being open to new suggestions, and constantly trying new things.
For entrepreneurs, specifically, you have to be willing to put in the extra hours. Expect that you will have to work harder on your business than you have on anything else in your life. Going back to the power of having a strong network, it also helps to just align yourself with like-minded people who are always trying to achieve similar things. Not only can they help you along the way when you get stuck in a rut, but their drive and determination will keep you motivated to see your entrepreneurial journey through.
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
I am! I will probably be looking into hiring in the near future because I do need to start delegating more so that I can focus on the growth of the company. As of now, I wear many hats but soon, I would like to wear a few less so we will have plenty of roles that will need to be filled.
Where can we go to learn more?
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
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