Episode seven of The Studentpreneur Show highlights an inspiring studentpreneur, Savy Lieser! Savy founded Furever Home Friends in 2017 while attending DePaul University in Chicago for her Master of Arts in Writing and Publishing (MAWP).
In this episode, Savy shares about her business and the tools that have helped her launch and thrive.
What is Furever Home Friends?
Furever Home Friends is a series of children’s books and stuffed animals based on the stories of real rescue dogs. Each book in the series highlights the real story of a dog while addressing a social issue. Savy’s hope is to offer education and awareness to children through the stories and the discussion questions at the end of the book. A portion of Furever Home Friends’ profit is donated to animal rescue shelters.
The book series intentionally integrates social issues into every story. The hope is that kids learn concepts that they can later apply to people not just pets. The social issues addressed in Furever Home Friends books include important concepts like not judging others.
The company intentionally showcases individual stories and talents. This certainly includes the stories of the dogs. More than that, Savy and her team showcase the work of different artists through the illustration of each book.
How did Savy Lieser start her business?
Savy always wanted to be a writer. As she harnessed her talent and her passion, Furever Home Friends came to be in 2017.
While Savy writes books for adults and young adults, this business is focused on kids. Furever Home Friends was the natural path for the stories that Savy wrote about real dogs over the years. She further connects her works with kids by integrating physical products (stuffed animals, sweaters, prints, buttons, and stickers).
On this episode, Savy shares the ins and outs of how to successfully run a Kickstarter. To help launch Furever Home Friends, Savy promoted the idea on Kickstarter. The second Kickstarter campaign recently ended since it met the goal of providing enough revenue for the additional three plush pets to go into production.
Savy shares her strategy about how she promoted and used her Kickstarter for success. If you’re considering doing a Kickstarter to launch give this episode a listen. (Spoiler: Her best tip is to tell everyone you know individually without overwhelming them.)
Even if you are not planning to launch a Kickstarter campaign, Savy also provides tips on networking and promoting your business and project. Like most studentpreneurs starting out, Savy is juggling full-time school, other work, and this business. She hopes to make Furever Home Friends her full-time career soon.
How to stay inspired as a creative entrepreneur?
In Savy’s case, she taps into her talents while also pushing herself to stay inspired. She shares that she’ll often brainstorm, practice free writing and conducts interviews of real stories (like Kringle’s story). Savy also pushes herself to network and connect with people in her field. Talking with people is one of her favorite ways to generate ideas. This provides her with an opportunity to grow the business through word of mouth. Engaging with her audience also helps Savy know what her readers enjoy and want more of with her stories. These tools also help her as a business owner.
Her greatest piece of advice is for those who are both creative and business minded. Savy reminds us that the business world and the creative world don’t have to be separate. You can be both creative and business minded and thrive. Don’t be afraid to play to your strengths or silo yourself on one side or the other.
What is the future of Furever Home Friends?
Taegan asks one of our favorite questions: where does Savy see Furever Home friends in 9 years? This question always calls for more thoughtful answers. Savy starts with where she sees Furever Home Friends next year and grows from there.
Cat lovers, don’t worry! There is talk of potentially introducing cats to the series later on.
Get in touch with Furever Home Friends!
Website: https://www.fureverhomefriends.com
Instagram: @fureverhomefriends
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fureverhomefriends
Twitter: @savyleiser
YouTube: Furever Home Friends Books
Listen to this full Studentpreneur Show episode hosted by BookScouter and subscribe HERE.
