An Interview with Amber. ;)

In honor of FCBD I was very fortunate to be able to do an online interview with Amber of Kokomo Toys

You collect it, it might be here! 😉

HI and thank you for doing this…feel free to take your time, I understand being busy. 😉

Hi Michelle, I apologize for the major delay. We’ve been busy and I’ve been busy catching up after being sick a few days. Yuk!

What impetus made you decide on an action figure toy store?

We worked in the manufacturing world for many years and we decided it wasn’t for us. We wanted to do something more worthwhile with our time and we had some business savvy so we chose what we liked doing the most, which was toys 🙂 But I promise it’s actual work, haha

Was your decision based on location, or something else?

Partially, there was nothing like this around us.  We were online only initially but wanted to be more of a community spot. Somewhere people could talk & enjoy toys. Mingle and mix and be if you will. We opened close to home originally, but the move to downtown seemed only natural as that’s where toys store’s used to always be. We wanted something more nostalgic than the mall or an office space.

Was this your first choice (as a business)? 

It was the only choice!

Are you a geek yourself? or How would you describe yourself?
Probably more than most of the customers that visit the shop lol. We spend half of our time either talking about or quoting movies/TV shows/cartoons and the other half playing with their toys 😉 I work a lot, and I do mean A LOT, so we try to have fun 🙂

Are there any perks to owning your own business? Like what?
Being the boss is awesome because you make all the rules and answer to no one!! But that also makes it extremely more difficult because your success or failure is dependent on you and your choices. So you have to own up all your decisions. And the boss doesn’t believe you when you call in sick.

Do you participate in any way with your local community? How? Here’s your chance to give a shout out to your community projects. 😉
I try to participate in any way I can, although my free time is very limited. I do, however, sit on the local visitors bureau and try to help bring new people to our city. We also donate toys to a local charity telethon auction every year called “We Care”.  As well as donate items & recyclables to different local charities like the Kokomo Rescue Mission, Jackson Street Commons (housing for homeless veterans) & the Domestic Violence Shelter.

Do you feel it’s easier or harder being a female entrepreneur? What advice would you give you a young female entrepreneur or anyone looking to start a business? What advice would you give someone to stay the course, and not give up?
It’s always a little more difficult being a woman in a predominantly male field of work. It’s a little frustrating when people approach your male customer instead of realizing you, the chick behind the counter is actually the owner. But it’s usually a pleasant surprise for them 🙂 Always stay the course, but realize you will need thick skin to do so. Don’t take it too personally that they don’t recognize you as the owner, then drop some nerd knowledge on them 😉

and from one of my readers: What do you collect? Do you go to comic conventions?
I have collected and uncollected many things over the years. I had a very large He-Man/She-Ra collection. But right now I’m really into the Ashley Wood Art that 3A has been putting out. I like to collect things I like and not necessarily a complete line of anything. So I have some different pieces from him, mostly the panda suits O.o

I do not get out of the shop much to get anywhere. I rarely make conventions, as I HATE lines, but I’ll hit a toy show every now and then.

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer these. 😉

Thanks, Michelle!!

We’ll be celebrating “Geek Street” all summer! We will try to have some fun stuff going on so stay tuned! You can follow us on FB & Instagram (plus Geek Street has it’s own FB page now).

And tada, my second online interview has been completed. And I really want to thank Amber for her time! That is the reason for online interviews, we don’t have to get together which for the majority of my friends is highly difficult to do. 😉 And I waited a bit on this before posting as I wanted it for the FCBD weekend!! And Bonus, it’s the opening day of Marvel’s Civil War! 😀 So what a great day to post this interview! 😉   and as for the FCBD angle;there’s a comic book store right next door to Kokomo Toys. 😉 

 

***Want to be interviewed, I’m looking for artists, cosplayers, and hobbiers. My friend, Brad makes proton packs and I’d love to do an interview with him, I have a lot of artist friends and I’d love to interview one of you too. As for the cosplayers, I have a lot of you I want to interview. Message me on FB if you’d like to be interviewed. It’s by email, and I’ll send you the list of questions. 😉

um woot? lol

So yesterday I took ALL my Monster High dolls, and ALL my collectible Barbies and Hubs put in some of his collectible stuff too. And we went to Kokomo Toys and WooHOOO! We made a pretty good deal and so now I can afford to get him his eye exam and glasses.  Which while in Kokomo, we found a much better deal at an optometry place in the mall; exam and two pairs of glasses right under $100. I need to cancel that eye appt at Meijer’s. 😉

And while we were at the Store, hubs took a photo me with Cobra Commander! lol very candid. I didn’t even check out my hair a mirror. LOL 😛

and yes, I asked permission first if I could take a photo with him. Always better to be well-mannered and polite. Some places do not like you to just start taking photos of stuff! ya know! 

Kokomo Toys is an action figure collectible geek’s dream store!!! OH YES! They have pretty much anything you can think of and a few I’d never heard of. lol They even had some figures from the Stargate Movie. I wasn’t there to buy yesterday, but to sell. And I managed to stay on track with that! 😉 okay mostly.…they did have a Kimmi doll for under $10, and hubs talked me into it. I just sold ALL my collectible dolls, so a little Kimmi for under $10 yeah, I buckled.

Her official name is: Sorrow

A bitter sweet symphony, a catching melody that sweeps you off your feet and transports you to a deeper world. (from the official website link above)

But I do like the description of her name. Kind of fits; the transportation into a deeper world. 😉 I just love the boots with the plaid skirt! 😉

And now onto the work week! 😀

Ya’ll have a great day! and if you’re in Central Indiana be sure to check out: Paul Poteet for your weather information. 😉

XOXO