When Jennifer Romanoff, our NJMOMpreneur of the Week, was searching for an exercise for her two boys that mixed play and studying however didn’t take up a lot area, she launched her children to magnetic tiles—these vibrant geometric shapes that cling to one another magnetically utilizing the creativeness as a information. Little did this former trainer know then how life-changing these tiles could be when she had an concept to make use of them to create a jewel-toned wonderland incorporating STEM rules so children (and adults) might expertise studying and enjoyable with every go to. Quick ahead, and that concept morphed into Genius Gems, an indoor play area in Millburn that blends play and mind with magnetic tiles in all styles and sizes the place no two experiences are alike, and children come again time and again for issues like 3-D printing, coding, Robotic World, and far more. And it’s turn into so successful that Jennifer created Genius Gems merchandise and can open a second location in NYC by the top of the 12 months. We caught up with this West Orange mother of three to learn how she and her husband work collectively, the selfmade actions you are able to do to get your children enthusiastic about STEM, and the Montclair-based vegan restaurant her household calls their “go-to.” (featured picture: Melissa Spector Pictures)
Jennifer Romanoff, the founding father of Genius Gems, and our NJMOMpreneur of the Week, together with her husband, Marc, and three youngsters. Jennifer and her household celebrated her niece’s Bat Mitzvah in Lyon, France, this previous summer time at Château de Saint Trys outdoors of Lyon.
Inform us a bit of bit about your loved ones and background. My husband, Marc, and I’ve been married for 12 years and have three youngsters, ages 11, 9, and 4. We moved from Manhattan to Llewellyn Park in West Orange in 2015. It has a various neighborhood, a ravishing pure setting, and is near town—all issues necessary to us.
Why did you launch Genius Gems? As a younger household residing in an NYC condominium with two very energetic boys, we have been all the time trying to find issues to do this centered on play and mind. We additionally knew we needed to be very selective in what we introduced in so our home wouldn’t be too cluttered. Magnetic tiles all the time made the listing as a result of the boys (and my husband!) cherished them and will “play”‘ with them for hours. Marc had this dream of a enterprise associated to magnetic tiles, and with my academic background, we brainstormed and got here up with the concept of a hybrid of a magnetic tiles wonderland blended with STEM. Initially, we thought we’d open within the metropolis, however after we moved to West Orange, we recalibrated the concept to work for New Jersey and opened our Millburn area in 2018. Quickly after opening, we launched our first product, Robotic Tracks. We continued to roll out others, together with glitter and sweet tiles, slime kits, and dreidel kits, to attraction to a broader viewers. Our enterprise has been so nicely obtained that our second location (in New York Metropolis’s Chelsea neighborhood) ought to be open by the top of 2022.
Was there something in your profession background that’s confirmed useful on this enterprise? I’m an educator by means of coaching and expertise. I taught center college in NYC’s public college system and acquired my principal certification from Columbia College. The “actual world” instructing expertise taught me classroom administration and battle decision, each essential in operating this enterprise and essential to making a protected and calm studying surroundings. Additionally, I guarantee our lecturers are enthusiastic about STEM and may foster that keenness in all who come to Genius Gems.
Genius Gems in Millburn has been so profitable a second location in NYC is opening its doorways at 555 sixth Avenue (between fifteenth and sixteenth) on the finish of December 2022. Rendering: Uhl Structure
How do you and your husband break up up the tasks? Marc is a lawyer by commerce and had been working at Goldman Sachs, however he left his job this 12 months to work on this collectively. Although there are issues we do collaboratively, basically, we every work on facets that talk to our strengths to separate up the tasks. I do lots of the hiring and employees coaching and oversee the tutorial planning and each day Millburn operations. Marc leads the behind-the-scenes works like creating merchandise and initiatives and designing new experiences. He’s additionally doing a number of the Chelsea location hires. And Genius Gems Chelsea shall be a joint effort–we’ll each be serving to out initially to get it off the bottom and operating easily.
Magnetic Tiles are only one facet of Jennifer’s enterprise. There are various totally different STEM actions to discover there. Genius Gems has developed a Robotic World for Ozobot © utilizing Genius Gems-designed Robotic Tracks, 3D printed elements with embedded sensors, and extra.
What makes Genius Gems particular? We work arduous to create an area of curiosity to all ages, not simply younger children–it’s not unusual to see a four-year-old enjoying facet by facet with their older siblings and their grandparents who’re having fun with themselves, too. One other distinction is that Genius Gems is open-ended and presents a special expertise every go to, which is why our common members are right here 7 or 8 instances a month. Additionally, variety is essential to us, whether or not by means of our employees or the actions that may be accomplished. When folks see their heritage and tradition represented, they really feel comfy and seen and may construct a reference to our area. And lastly, magnetic tiles may be very social. For instance, many individuals can collect to construct an enormous fort or different giant buildings. Having youngsters with their pals and households working collectively to create one thing particular could be very social and rewarding on many ranges.
Jennifer’s enterprise, Genius Gems, presents a Design Bar the place prospects can create their custom-made Glitter Tile that sticks to any model of magnetic tiles. DIY Glitter Tile Kits shall be accessible for buy quickly as nicely.
What are you able to advocate you do at dwelling with children to encourage STEM studying? I like to recommend you buy cheap pipettes to arrange a bit of chemistry lab at dwelling for science experiments. Baking soda experiments are one other nice solution to find out about chemical reactions whenever you combine easy elements, and you will discover lots of them on-line. One other factor you are able to do is to take the youngsters outdoors for a nature stroll and acquire objects like acorns and leaves that may be studied. Typically talking, you need children to ask questions and surprise in regards to the world after which flip these questions into experiments that may be accomplished every time and wherever.
What do you hope your youngsters study from seeing you run your personal enterprise? I hope they know to all the time deal with others with respect. I consider you can not run a profitable enterprise with out treating everybody (your workforce and the purchasers) with consideration for every individual. I additionally hope they study that success typically comes with some type of sacrifice–if you wish to achieve success, it’s important to be keen to work on the weekends and quit holidays, if crucial. And at last, I hope they study that you just shouldn’t be afraid to strive new issues. After we first launched the enterprise, we had no product information, however we stepped as much as make issues occur, and now now we have patented merchandise.
Our NJMOMpreneur solely hires these which can be enthusiastic about STEM to allow them to foster that keenness in others. Guests can construct superb small buildings or ones so giant you may match inside them.
What are a few of your favourite NJ companies? We take pleasure in Oh! Canary, which is an artwork studio in South Orange with artwork courses and totally different packages for teenagers of all ages. A buddy of mine owns it, and I actually admire her work. Veggie Heaven, a vegan restaurant in Montclair, is our go-to take-out place. All of us love the “hen” skewers there. My husband has been vegan for practically 30 years, and the remainder of us are pescatarians.
Please share some locations in NJ that you just and your loved ones take pleasure in. We reside in lovely Llewellyn Park in West Orange, which makes it straightforward to make the most of all of the climbing trails close by. South Mountain Reservation is a favourite, the place we’ll go on the Fairy Path and the Regatta playground, too. Additionally, my daughter just lately began classes at Verona Ballet and is hooked.
What’s your finest piece of recommendation for an NJMOMpreneur simply beginning? Begin small. If in case you have an concept, check it out first. We went to each native library and requested to do occasions there. We additionally did Maplewoodstock and different occasions to check our concept and get suggestions earlier than formally launching.
For extra data on Jennifer Romanoff and Genius Gems, please see their web site, Fb, and Instagram pages.
