With the launch of the Little Launchers book series on Kickstarter, we’ve seen an overwhelming amount of local support from our fellow Arkansans. From speaking engagements to news coverage, there’s been much to-do about our project, and we’re very grateful for the encouragement!
Over the past six months, we’ve worked tirelessly to develop what we think is a pretty inspiring book series about real kids with real businesses. One thing is certain, the community took note! We want to say thank you to the following organizations and individuals for amplifying our story and project:
- Lift the Rock: We launched our Kickstarter campaign on March 28th at the Lift the Rock event in the Little Rock Technology Park. This will forever be a great memory, made possible by hostesses extraordinaire Ashley Jones and Jessica Johnston-Myers.
- 1 Million Cups Little Rock: On day two of our Kickstarter campaign, we got to announce that we had hit 20% of our funding goal, and that celebration started with a presentation at 1 Million Cups Little Rock. We love organizers Abby Sims, Eyona Mitchell, and Errin Stanger, who always make the morning engaging.
- Talk Business & Politics: There are some articles that really capture the spirit of a project, and this one by Talk Business & Politics reporter Jennifer Joyner is the one for us. We love that she put so much effort in asking intriguing questions and digging into key elements of our passion and mission.
- Arkansas Business: Our author, Erica Swallow, has lived right next to the Arkansas Business Publishing Group building since moving to Little Rock. It was a particular pleasure to be able to interview with journalist Sarah Campbell on this article. They met twice to discuss the project, Campbell’s pup in stow!
- THV11: In what was the most unexpected coverage of our Kickstarter launch, this THV11 interview and news piece by THV11 anchor Amanda Jaeger came the day of our kickoff. She had seen our Lift the Rock livestream and reached out via Facebook. We can’t say thank you enough. It was the start to a great month!
- KAIT8: In the halls of Oak Grove Middle School, anchor Symphonie Privett interviewed our author, Erica Swallow, about the purpose of her books and first Little Launchers school visit ever. This broadcast will be cherished for years to come by our team!
- Paragould Daily Press: Also extending from Swallow’s visit to Oak Grove Middle School, this newspaper article parked our first print exposure. By reporter Gary Exelby, the article was the first to focus on the future-facing goals of the Little Launchers project. Plus, it was the newspaper Swallow read as a kid, so she was excited to see the project make headlines back home.
- Conway Scene: As illustrator Li Zeng is a graphic design profession at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, we were excited when the Conway community started getting involved in our work. Journalist Todd Jones covered our Kickstarter launch, making Conway Scene the first publication in the city to share the news.
- Central Arkansas Startups: We made the “Who to Watch in Arkansas in 2017” list in February before our book project launched. Even before writing about us in Conway Scene, journalist Todd Jones had been following our work for months, and he was the first on the scoop! We appreciate that he always checks in to see where we are in the process.
- Little Rock Rag: A representative from Little Rock Rag attended our launch at Lift the Rock and reported on our project. We wish we would have gotten his name, because we were so happy to see our books on the site that day!
- Pitch ‘N Pint: Hosted by the Arkansas Venture Center, Pitch ‘N Pint is the startup pitch competition, where we first got validation for our idea. Winning second place in the competition, we took home a round-trip airline ticket to New Orleans and heightened confidence that we could launch our book series to a market interested in what we had to offer!
Thank you to all of the people and organizations in Arkansas who have made our project launch as successful as it is so far, based on your support and amplification. We wouldn’t be where we are today without you!
Posted in Entrepreneur Kid News
