Daydream Toy

Daydream Story

OK, here's my story. It's a long one, so settle in and make sure you are comfortably seated as I tell the tale of how my Daydream was born… As far back as I can recall, when I was just a boy playing in an empty refrigerator box, I felt the calling. I always knew that I wanted to invent things. Simple fun things to bring joy and creativity to the kids who played with them. I studied engineering in college, and worked in the aerospace industry for a few years, but always knew that I would some day start my own toy company.

Years later, when I had kids, I saw them tearing apart the couch cushions in our living room and Eurkeka! What if I could design a cushion that could build the ultimate couch cushion fort…and SquashBlox was born just like that. Once I invented and patented the design of the "construction cushions", I began to explore all the things you could do with them. I designed a line of products to take advantage of the Velcro-compatible fabric so that you could turn simple cushions into castles, steam trains, house and gardens, and animals. I was so proud of how well received SquashBlox was in the marketplace. The best known specialty retailers and catalogs in the country carried my toy, and we won prestigious design awards. After all those years, I felt like my calling and my patience were paying off and my dream of building a successful, sustainable toy company was about to be realized.

Then something unexpected happened. In July of 2003, I was diagnosed with late stage Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and began chemotherapy immediately. I had thought that all the fatigue and stress was from having 2 toddlers at home and the lack of sleep that comes with it. I was wrong. The doctor gave me a 40% chance of survival and that was quite the awakening. I closed our toy company, and concentrated 100% on healing. I went through intensive treatments and clinical trials. I learned and practiced all I could in alternative treatments to help my body through this illness. Amazingly, a few months later, my body was completely cancer free.

After my recovery, I went out to find another job. But after a year, the urge to follow my dreams bubbled up and it was too strong to resist. I literally was sitting at my desk daydreaming one day, when I said out loud "Daydream Toy, that's it!"

And now Daydream is a reality. We have just begun, but with the overwhelming support of so many people, I know this company will grow into the business I have always seen in my mind's eye. With my new lease on life and perspective on what is truly important and precious in career, life, mission and family, I am laying the foundation for this new venture. I am so happy to have my family involved with the business. My wife Monique, is the real boss, in charge of marketing, finance and a long list of other roles. My boys, now 5 and 7, are in charge of quality assurance (if they can't break it, no one can). They also are my source of inspiration for new ideas including keeping that optimistic and playful boy alive in me.

I have such a vision for building this Daydream into a long lasting brand of truly innovative products. Along the way, I want to give back to the community and causes. I truly know how important many of these support organizations are to people in need, since I was one not long ago. And so, we have just begun our journey. And we have a long, long way to go. But I thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting Daydream Toy and would love to hear from you. To contact me, please email gordon@daydreamtoy.com