WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE, Mass. --
If you’ve ever been around toddlers, chances are that you have heard the phrases “terrible-two’s” or “tyrannical three-nagers.” For parents, grandparents and caregivers, this period of crying, screaming, hitting and kicking can seem unyielding.
Now, imagine that you’re a member of the U.S. military and the parent of a strong-willed toddler going through that terrible-two phase. That was Lt. Col. Kelly Robinson’s daily reality. Like many reservists, Robinson filled two roles; mom and military officer.
Robinson, the executive officer for the 439th Airlift Wing Operations Group, is also an entrepreneur. Her business, which was sparked out of necessity nearly ten years ago, is now helping thousands of parents globally.
In 2004, Robinson left her active-duty career behind to become a stay at home mom to her daughter, Rachel. She joined the Air Force Reserve and transitioned from one extreme occupation to another.
As her daughter grew, one of the most difficult struggles she encountered was making a daily routine and sticking to it. Like many young children, her daughter did not understand the concept of time, and therefore would become extremely frustrated when things didn’t happen on her terms. Robinson knew it wasn’t her daughter’s fault and decided to try something different.
One night, when her daughter was three, she went online and printed off pictures of their everyday routines, such as bath time, nap time, bed time, etc. She then Velcroed the pictures to a large piece of cardboard, creating what looked like a clock, but with pictures instead of numbers. Each day, she would create a new clock with pictures, and as the day progressed, she moved each picture off the clock as they accomplished each task. Her daughter instantly caught on to the process, and would wake up every morning and yell from her room, “What’s next mommy?” It became a predictable routine.
“She excitedly started moving through the morning routine like a pro and was thrilled to show me she understood what the rest of the day had in store,” Robinson said. The behavioral difference it made was amazing. “Some kids don’t need visual aids, but for kids whose verbal skills aren’t like their visual ones, like my daughter, they do. It makes you a better parent because you’re following through on promises and you’re building confidence, self-management and trust through a communication aid,” she said.
Although the concept worked great, the cardboard and Velcro did not stand the test of time. Eventually, the cardboard transformed into a magnetic board, and her Velcro pictures became magnets.
She started searching online for companies selling a product similar to her daily timeline, but to her surprise, she couldn’t find any. “I thought it was crazy that a company creating a product like mine didn’t exist already.” That’s when the idea for her company came about.
In 2010, she built her first website and hired a manufacturer to produce the magnetic board. She wanted to help other parents struggling in the same manner. With every passing day, she expected to find out that there was another company like hers already on the market and have to bail out. She started slowly, and lived by the motto, “take on as little risk as possible.” She bounced ideas and business names off a friend until they finally came up with the name SchKIDules. She went to the Bexar county clerk’s office in San Antonio, Texas and filed for her business license.
In 2011, she outsourced the magnet portion of the business to another woman because by then, she had cut nearly 25,000 magnets by hand in her kitchen. In the fall of 2014, her kids were both in elementary school, and she decided to take a leap of faith to making this a more full-time occupation. “I figured, what do I have to lose?” she said. Her leap of faith was worth it, and her business became a success.
With sales increasing at a rapid pace, Robinson now had to re-balance her work, home and military life. “When I’m at home, I’m a business owner. When I’m at work, I’m Lt. Col. Robinson. I love this organization enough to balance both,” she said.
She keeps her military life and business life completely separate. “My co-workers don’t know very much about my business,” she said. She doesn’t want her military career to become affected by her business, nor does she want her business affected by her military career. She doesn’t want people to think that the idea for her product stemmed from her strict military background and necessity to treat her children like soldiers.
The executive officer position for a group commander and entrepreneur are both demanding jobs, but entrepreneurship is completely different, she said. “As you can imagine, a military job is very structured. I know exactly what my duties are and when I have questions, I have Air Force Instructions to refer to,” she said. “As the CEO of SchKIDules, the structure is self-built and self-taught. I’m accountable to a customer, not a boss, and there certainly aren't any AFI's or a training and education office to go to when I'm not sure how to get from point A to point B. It’s like you’re standing in the middle of a field and you just start creating,” Robinson said.
Last month, Robinson took another step in achieving her full-potential as a home business owner by attending a three-day conference in Boston hosted by the Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship. V-WISE provides the tools women veterans, active-duty and female family members need to become successful entrepreneurs. It enables women veterans to find their passion and learn business-savvy skills to turn their ideas into successful business ventures.
"I feel confident now. I know who to call to pursue things further,” she said. “It was a great resource.” The program, which is funded through the Syracuse University Institute for Veterans and Families, is completely free to veterans, and includes course materials, meals and lodging for the event at no cost to the member.
With the knowledge she gleaned from V-WISE, along with her seven years of first-hand experience, Robinson continues to move forward. She compares the success of her business to that of a bell curve; right now she’s making her way up the hill, but she’s hoping to be heading down the slopes soon. Although her product has sold to 13 countries and is available for purchase through her website or Amazon, Robinson wants to see it go further.
Regardless of what happens though, Robinson will always, first-and-foremost, be a mom. Her daughter Rachel, who inspired the original idea, is now eleven and “…is proud of me,” she said.