Meet the Team

Meet the Team

Meet the Team

In the midst of the pandemic when much of the world was stuck inside or moving through their days concerned about their health and their loved ones, our now-EVP of Sales & Marketing, Jessica Kubinski, was, like many others, spending a lot of time on her phone.

She saw influencers out there, doing their best to inspire, to motivate, and to cheer us all up. The Influencer Initiative was born from this thinking: What if we could pair our design team's combined decades of product development experience and thoughtful toy and games design ideas with the world-movers that inspire us, to get out there and do something that helps the community - both in every day play and learning, and with giving back monetarily?

The idea really took hold when fearless, "million watt lightbulb of brilliance and kindness" CEO Valerie Marderosian (previously of 4Kids, IG Design Group Americas and Duncan Enterprises success) saw the potential in the brand - to make great products that answered a consumer need, and to make better products with a better community goal. 

Behind Valerie, WeVeel (the small, Pennsylvania based company behind The Influencer Initiative) has spent the last 10+ years working toward becoming the team to create this brand. We're so proud of our cutting-edge product development and branding team, seasoned supply chain team, and powerhouse trend research/sales/marketing squad. With support at every level, from US warehousing to customer service to factory support, we're small but mighty, and a US-operated family. Located in cozy Bucks County PA - halfway between NYC and Philly - we're a small collective of product people, parents, and creatives with a common and joyful purpose.

The challenges of the last few years of pandemic and global supply chain issues have made us sharper, kinder, braver, and more interested in doing more to help the common good. 

For children, we’re focusing on creating cool new formats that build on gross and fine motor skill building, self care, confidence building, self empowerment, non gender-conformity, and screen free play. 

For adults, we’re focusing on digital, physical, and street artists that create amazing works of art using their hands. We’ll combine their talents with a twist on products that consumers know and love.

With a launch of fall 2022 and an in-store launch of spring/summer 2023, this brand has nowhere to go but up and out: into Toys and Games, Crafts/DIY, Health + Beauty, Party, Education/Learning, and so much more. Thank you for joining us and being part of the movement toward a better kind of product! 

Dani Schaeffer (mom of Boss Baby Brody and Influencer in her own right at @citygirlgonemom) had this to say: 

"We are making positivity and play a priority because all kids deserve to have fun, be authentically themselves and share in this beautiful perspective among their peers. This brand represents the infectious love and light beaming from our Brody, and its our way of amplifying the good to kids everywhere. Toys like this don’t exist on the market, and we’re aiming to change that with a playful product promoting empowerment and self expression."