What Seventh-Grade Frogs Taught Me About Entrepreneurship

I didn’t think I knew anything about starting a business. 

Then I found a childhood bin at my dad’s house. Inside was my seventh-grade “product:” frog-shaped bean bags with googly eyes and felt legs.

Back in 1993, I created these bean-bag frogs as part of a small business class. They were an instant hit at Sayville Middle School. Even teachers were asking for them. I spent afternoons on our family room couch, sewing frogs while home sick with the flu, filling orders as fast as my hands could stitch.

At the time, I thought I had invented Beanie Babies. (Turns out, we launched the same year, Ty Warner just had a slightly bigger distribution plan.)

Perhaps that entrepreneurial spark has always been in me. Creating something from scratch, sharing it with people, learning what resonates. Death Readiness and The Death Readiness Podcast just happen to be my grown-up version of bean-bag frogs. Instead of googly eyes and felt legs, I’m stitching together stories, resources, and conversations that help people prepare for life’s most difficult transitions. And just like those frogs, this work is finding its way into classrooms, living rooms, and family conversations.

Turns out, entrepreneurship isn’t always about a big, flashy idea. Sometimes it starts with a pile of fabric scraps and a hunch that you can make something useful (and maybe even lovable). Sometimes it grows into a podcast, a community, and a mission that feels like the work you were always meant to do.