When I first met Sari Wiaz, many moons ago, I knew her as a realtor and an avid golfer and tennis player. Fast-forward to today, and Sari is now the owner of a successful business called Wize Choice Creations Inc. This company serves all your imprinting needs but it also gave Sari the ability to take a small idea from 15 years ago, and turn it into a reality.
In 1998, Sari was sitting in Bandera restaurant on Michigan Avenue trying to entertain her 3-year-old daughter Haley. “I always gave her paper to play with to keep her busy," she said. "I noticed that both she and Myles (my older son) were pulling apart the paper napkins.”
It was that moment that the idea to have a permanent paper that made the ripping noise, without the actual ripping or crinkling was created.
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“I came home and called a friend who sewed and told her what I wanted to do. I went and got the material to make it and had her show me how to do it," she said.
Baby Paper was born.
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Initially, Sari and her friend sewed the products themselves and tried selling to local stores, but soon realized this was something bigger than they anticipated.
Sari said, “This was challenging because I realized that there was no way we could make these on our own. I needed product liability insurance and safety testing. I sought manufacturers but they, of course, wanted a huge commitment.”
Tenacity prevailed as she eventually found a toy manufacturer through her imprinting business that was willing to do a low minimum and carry the insurance. To be gender neutral, the first color produced was yellow.
Baby Paper is now in more than 150 stores nationwide and comes in seven colors and designs. After hiring her first Baby Paper representative and having stores reorder, Sari added reps in Los Angeles, Dallas and New England. She’s still looking for reps in New York and Miami.
Sari has lived in Buffalo Grove for 30 years and not only has a 2003 Stevenson High School graduate Myles and her soon-to-be 2013 graduate Haley; but she also has her “pet rock,” Baby Paper. “It’s simple, yet so effective," she said.
Check out the above YouTube video with a baby playing with real paper and squealing with delight as well as the video a client sent Sari of her child playing with Baby Paper.
Please email me if you know someone who should be in the spotlight. I can be reached at laurenbgpatch@aol.com.
