Today we’d like to introduce you to Stacey Goodman.
Hi Stacey, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’ve always seen the world through kids’ eyes. I’m not sure why. I seem to have a great connection with little ones. While I was living in Cambodia, I started realizing how hard it was to connect with others from home. Where I lived seemed so different, so hard to relate to. Yes, there were LOTS of differences, but there were even more similarities.
Traveling opened my eyes to a world of possibilities and different ways of living and viewing the world. I wanted to share these learnings with little ones. To show them that most of the time, we are more similar than different. I wanted to help bridge cultural gaps and to spread empathy, compassion, and understanding. I also wanted to help create a platform so that those of us in the United States who are from different cultures could feel proud of their heritage and feel confident enough to teach the rest of us about their practices and beliefs.
I am a big fan of play-based learning and I always wanted my teachings to be done in a fun way. Through that work, I discovered so much inspiration online – sensory play, especially. I fell in love with sensory play! It’s beneficial and inclusive for ALL. A double win in my book! So, I started teaching little ones about the world with arts and crafts and sensory play as the basis. These kits are a big part of my product line.
Through this process, I realized that I also missed getting to actually engage with little ones. To see their play in action. So, I started a play-based sensory camp where we engage in open-ended, non-structured play, with parents and guardians in tow. There is so much to learn from playing and I wanted to be a go-to place for this! I also wanted to help build a community where little ones, pre-pre-school can have more social interactions and parents could meet other families in similar situations. Today, I mostly work with little ones from five months to five years.
Diversity isn’t the focus of the camp, but I do love to showcase diversity in our playroom through dolls, pictures, and unique toys. It’s all about exposure and how we talk about things when we play in my eyes!
So long story, short (or long lol), this is a little bit about myself and my brand, Our Friends Afar.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It has been a smooth road for me. But a very slow, long road. I have been working on this dream for years now. Each and every year, Our Friends Afar transforms into what I’m currently into and what I see as a need. I try not to put myself in a box where I can only stick to doing one thing. That’s too limiting. I also try really hard not to compare myself to others. That is truly the thief of joy. To me, success is not always monetary success. Yes, of course, that is wonderful and definitely a goal of mine. But it’s also about creating a community, making an impact with little ones, and making 400 sales on Etsy in six months. Success is feeling proud of myself, showing up authentically, and actually creating the reality of my dreams. Meditation has been so key to this process. I meditate every day to work on the triggers I face in the industry. It’s really humbling and enlightening. I feel like I’ve grown so much through this venture. And there is still so much more to come.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Our Friends Afar?
Our Friends Afar is a children’s educational company that sells open-ended sensory play items and is the host of Sensory-Play Camp for little ones aged five months to five years. We provide a community for little ones before they start going to school (or on their days off) where they can play, learn, meet others, and get out of the house. We create a space for parents to meet other families, where hopefully friendships can form beyond our playroom.
In addition, we collaborate with parents to help throw kids’ parties with sensory entertainment and host a “kids’ section” for adult parties. And finally, twice a year, we throw a community event for littles and their families, where we have sensory fun in the park.
Our brand is all about educating, inspiring, and exposing little ones to new topics, people, forms of play, and ways of thinking so that we can all have an expanded and accepting worldview.
Our products are hands-on, multi-faceted, colorful, and FUN.
Our brand specializes in play-based education. So much learning comes from play. And I love letting kids be kids. We practice scooping, pouring, climbing, jumping, fine motor skills, and SO much more. These are all key muscle-strengthening activities that get little ones ready for school. And this is all done through play! Everything we do is open-ended and unstructured, yet organized. It’s about meeting the little ones where they are and watching them thrive.
I think brand-wise, I’m most proud of creating this community and also watching little ones have fun with something I’ve created for them. Watching little ones engage with products that I’ve poured my heart into is the most surreal and satisfying feeling.
If you are curious about sensory play and how people use our products, see the list below for examples:
Some of the many benefits of sensory play include language development, cognitive growth, fine and gross motor skills, problem-solving, social interactions, hand-eye coordination, exploration, creativity, imagination, and more.
Kiddos use our products to explore, imagine, estimate, scoop, pour, fill, measure, compare, contrast, transfer, and sort. Our products can be used to discuss cause and effect, to identify colors and shapes, to practice counting and math, to write letters and sight words, to make patterns, to enhance arts and crafts masterpieces, to create jewelry, and so much more.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
At the moment, I am a one-woman show with the help of my family and a few close friends. As we grow, though, I hope to be able to employ others with this same passion! I am a big fan of collaborations and helping to support other small businesses. I love being able to showcase brands I’m passionate about in our playroom. I hope to expand the brand through word of mouth so if you’re wanting to help, please share, share, share. That type of support truly makes me so humbly grateful.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@ourfriendsafar.com
- Website: https://ourfriendsafar.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourfriendsafar/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OurFriendsAfar
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ourfriendsafar
