Shraman Mitra
Entrepreneurs Adrian Zhang and Justine Tiu appeared on ‘Shark Tank‘ season 14 episode 2, where they presented their product, The Woobles. Through The Woobles, the founders hope to make crochet accessible and easy to learn for everyone, young and old. Hence, with the product appealing to such a large audience, people are quite interested in finding out more about the company. Well, fret not because we come bearing answers!
The Woobles: Who Are They and What Do They Do?
Interestingly, Adrian Zhang and Justine Tiu met while studying at Duke University, where Adrian was pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering and Economics, while Justine was working towards a BSE Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Moreover, Justine spent a semester abroad at the Technische Universität Berlin, where she brushed up on her knowledge of German language and literature, computer technology, statistics, and political science.
Naturally, after graduating from Duke University, both of them went on to have impressive careers in their respective fields. Adrian started working as an associate at J.P. Morgan before going on to become a director at Deutsche Bank. On the other hand, Justine interned at Cisco Systems and even worked at Google as a UX Designer (later promoted to Senior UX designer and lead). Furthermore, Justine is currently employed by Kenzie Academy as a Senior UX Instructor, while Adrian has committed the whole of his time to The Woobles.
Although the art of crochet has been around for quite a long time, the idea for The Woobles came into Justine’s head when she wanted to make a small animal figure for her friends. As she was unfamiliar with crochet, it took her some time and multiple tries before she could come up with something presentable. However, Justine realized that the process was quite straightforward and could be mastered by people of all ages. Hence, willing to spread crochet around the United States, she came up with the idea of creating a product that would teach people the art while making it feel like a fun activity.
At its core, The Woobles is a guide on how to make small crochet figures. Although Justine and Adrian came up with multiple varieties of their product, the common items found in each kit include balls of yarn, a 4mm crochet hook, Stuffing, Yarn Needles, accessories to deck up the figure, and a complete instruction video. Moreover, while each pack comes with a carry bag and is curated with the utmost care, one might expect to find variety in color and quantity as they go up in price.
The Woobles is Heading Towards Success
Readers would be surprised to know that Adrian and Justine started their business in July 2020 with a meager investment of $200. However, their product received widespread praise, and with people excited to try out a new hobby, The Woobles witnessed sales skyrocketing almost overnight. Hence, within two years of launching the product, Adrian and Justine had made over $5 million in sales. Moreover, their drive and determination to achieve success finally paid off as the pair were featured on several widely read publications and websites. In fact, sources say that Adrian and Justine were invited to ‘Shark Tank,’ after a producer came across their product in a magazine.
At present, The Woobles are sold in separate packs of different colors, with each allowing the user to make a specific kind of figure. Besides, the company offers bundles that can help if someone is interested in getting their hands on multiple crochet figures at once. Moreover, besides a few regular animal figures, Justine and Adrian drop limited edition Woobles occasionally. We are happy to report that interested customers can buy the kits from Amazon as well as their official website, and while a single kit costs between $25 to $30, bundles have a price tag of up to a hundred dollars. As the company managed to make over $5 million in sales in just two years, we can safely say that it is growing exponentially and is headed toward further success in the future.
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