Business, Marketing, and Life Advice for Play-Based Business Owners

Ever curious about what your fellow indoor playground owners (and soon-to-be owners) are listening to?

Kind of like when we were in school and we were always peeking over in the library to look at what our friends were studying up on before the big test?

Well, now's your chance!

Over on my Instagram I counted down the 10 most listened-to episodes of the profitable play podcast, and I wanted to share them with you here as well!

(But psst-- if you don't follow me on IG yet, now's a good time because I...

 In the evolving landscape of work and childcare needs, indoor playgrounds have a unique opportunity to diversify their offerings and tap into a growing market need by incorporating co-working services to their facilities.

This blend can not only maximize the use of available space but also attract a broader customer base, including parents and caregivers seeking productive environments while their children play. 

So before we get into the HOW–let’s first discuss in more detail WHY many ...

A couple weeks back I posted a video tour of a play space called The Friendship Fortress that’s not only local to me, but is also near and dear to my heart. 

And this is because one of my long-time  Play Cafe Academy and Play Maker Society members, Timea, is now the co-owner of the space.

If you’re a longtime listener, or if you watched that tour, you may remember that Timea actually opened her own space first called Tumbles Play Cafe, which I also toured and filmed multiple times. However, sh...

When I first entered the family entertainment and indoor playground industry, the “norm” was for play spaces to just have set open-play hours where customers could come-and-go as they please without reservations. Our open-play hours, for example, typically from 8am-4pm on weekdays and 8am-12pm on Saturdays. During the weekday evenings and weekends we of course did classes, parties– all that good stuff– but here I want to focus JUST on open play hours. Especially since our first location di...

If you're planning to launch an indoor playground business but are finding it difficult to find a larger-sized location or if you are operating within a cost constraint (i.e. you don't want to pay a bajillion dollars per month in rent) and are planning a smaller-footprint space, this article is for YOU.

And if you're a current owner of an indoor playground facility or play cafe business and you're about to skip this article-- let me stop you right there.

MOST of these tips and strategies...

As I am releasing this article it is July 7th which is JUST in time for Amazon Prime Day which begins on July 11!

And even if you’re reading this after it gets released– that's OK because Black Friday or another big sale holiday is right around the corner and this info can still be really helpful for you from someone who has spent MANY years searching for the best business related finds at the best possible price.

In this article I want to quickly share some of my Favorite Amazon finds f...

It’s April and that means it’s Autism awareness month! And while I already have an entire 5-episode series on better accommodating autistic kids and adults at your indoor playgrounds you can find beginning with episode 93 of the Profitable Play Podcast, there are a few more things I think are important to share, especially things I have noticed as I have been traveling a lot this year visiting different facilities and seeing even more of what works and what does not work.

And one thing I ...

A few weeks back I interviewed the amazing Amanda Bybel on my podcast and on YouTube, and we talked about money mindset and we also discussed the different insecure attachment styles we may have with our business, and she also gave us some tips for moving towards a place of more confidence and a more secure attachment style so we can start charging what we’re worth, prioritizing and valuing our time, and really growing and scaling our businesses.

I loved the conversation so much that I asked...

In this article (which is a reader-friendly version of my Profitable Play Podcast episode 131 which you can listen to here), I am going to quickly share three things I loved about my recent visit to Cafe O Play in November 2022! Now, I could truly list dozens of other things– but I want to keep it simple so that you can walk away from reading this with actionable takeaways you can implement in your own indoor playground, play cafe, or family entertainment center!

This was an extra special visit...

One of the biggest reservations I hear from play space owners who are nervous to install a full cafe in their space is,

“well, I can’t afford to hire additional staff a cafe would require..."

If you haven’t listened to episode 55 of my podcast yet, go back and listen to it because I break down this objection in painstaking detail, but today I want to share two ways with you that you use to dispel this fear even further.

And just to recap ONE point from episode 55 in case you missed it, b...