Episode Details

What we do after we find rock bottom is what defines us. Chantel Calloway is the creator and CEO of Rhyme Antics, a fun, engaging and educational game inspired by the roots of hip-hop artistry. Chantel developed the game sitting in jail on New Year’s Eve 2010 after she robbed a bank to provide for her son. Today, Rhyme Antics is the first black-owned game to be sold in big-box retailers, Target and Walmart.

Chantel joins Fran Racioppi as she talks about her fall, her learnings, her path to entrepreneurship and how taking responsibility for your actions and accepting when you’re at rock bottom can inspire you to do more. Chantel also provides her lessons on successful crowd-funding and how iteration is critical to developing a product your audience wants, regardless of what the creator thinks it should be. Dive into an inspiring journey of self-development and be motivated to sing your own path, never letting poor choices define your life or your character.

Read the full episode transcription here and learn more on The Jedburgh Podcast Website.

Highlights:

-Fran and Chantel play a heated round of Rhyme Antics 

-Rhyme Antics as a literacy game to build vocabulary and command of word usage

-Rhyme Antics is the first black-owned board game in Walmart and Target

-The literacy crisis in the United States

-Chantel describes her decision to rob a bank to provide for her son

-Bounceback and recovery from hard times

-Make personal development a priority

-The effective use of crowdfunding and how to develop a crowdfunding campaign

-The first steps in developing a concept, pilot products, market research and focus groups

-The need for founders to remain true to their vision but accept feedback in the iteration of their products

Quotes:

-“The hardest work a person has to