Today I am so excited to have Brooke Bacon, founder of Bacon Bit Co on The Mag. I discovered Brooke and her stunning sight word sets on Instagram earlier this year and promptly ordered a set (and they are just as amazing in person as I was hoping!). Read more about Brooke and her family, her inspiration for starting Bacon Bit Co, the importance of tactile and sensory play and much more!

We're so happy to talk with you! Can you start by telling us a little about yourself and Bacon Bit?

Hi there!! Yes! Last year my daughter, Bentleigh, was going into pre-k and she was determined to learn to read! I had learned that building sight words was the first step to being able to read and build sentences, so I did a deep dive into everything sight world related. I also knew B learns best through tactile and sensory play since her ability to sit and comprehend through paper/visual tools (ie flash cards, worksheets etc) was very limited. And that’s where the beautiful, sparkly, engaging alphabet sight word sets came in!

How many kids do you have? What ages?

Three! Bentleigh (5), Beckett (3), Bennett (1)

I absolutely loved the Insta video you made talking about why you started Bacon Bit (and that you did
it for kids like your daughter). Can you tell us more about that?

Oh thank you!! It’s always hard to put into words her personality - you almost have to see it first hand. Our family, friends, doctors can’t quite put their finger on it. She’s always been a very challenging child - we look back to her videos from when she was 4mo, 10 mos, 1 yr... and it’s just something that comes from deep inside her soul. She’s high energy, inquisitive, smart, persistent, a big dreamer, independent, sensitive, focused, funny - beyond her age. Oh the list goes on - but gosh, watching her beside other kids her own age we just knew approaching school the same way as the majority of kids do, wasn’t going to be what was best for *her*.

How did you see your daughter’s learning experience change with your sight word and letter kits?

Well, she’s very girly - so glitter makes EVERYTHING more fun and engaging! She always feels like it’s just playing. More than that though, learning through a series of tactile activities has her actually KNOWING and focusing on the task at hand vs staring blankly at paper and guessing. Once we work through our series of activities she concretely knows what it is and doesn’t forget 20 min later, 1hr, a day later!

In your video you talked about your process and how your husband makes the molds for all of your products. Can you tell us the process of perfecting your letter and number sets? Did you get it right away or did it take some trial and error?

Haha! I’m quite certain it’s still not perfect! Working with silicone and resin is very difficult. There’s no instruction sheet really to work with it because there’s so many external factors that come into play - alt, temperature inside/temp weather outside, pre-warming, post heating, stirring tools used, “what” you are molding is made out of.. I mean I’m honestly shocked we’ve figured out as much as we have!

You are a very new company! Over the last few months your following and demand has grown and grown. I know I had to set an alarm twice before successfully grabbing a letter set. When did you realize you were on to something and the product was something people were excited about?

I actually started my Instagram page in November 2019 but kept it private until January 2020 because I was *so* nervous! I would literally post to no one (I think I might have had 10 people I let “follow” me). I feel like I knew I was onto something, but I also am very much a perfectionist, so I wasn’t quite sure I would be able to execute what I was envisioning. From January until now the growth has been crazy! And I honestly think my only “in real life” friends and family that follow my business acct are those 10 original followers! I haven’t been able to keep product on my page for longer than about 45 seconds lately - and while that’s a good business problem to have, I know it can be so frustrating for everyone out there (I mean, *I* would be!!) - and a stressful shopping experience is never what I intended! ️

You just launched a new DIY letter product. How did this idea come to be?

Yes! Omg I am SO excited about the DIY Kits. Long story short - the demand has grown so much so quickly I knew I could never keep up and there is such a need for FUN learning tools in the midst of a “not so normal” start of the 2020 school year. I knew a lot of my followers were crafty moms and teachers, so I put together a plan to help everyone to make their own at home! Certain sets are SO easy to make, you just need to weed through all the info to get there.. and my husband and I love to connect with people and teach them. So this seemed like a perfect next step!

What’s else is next for Bacon Bit?

I would love for nothing more than to be able to scale! I would love for these to be in the hands of anyone who wants to purchase them for their littles. Only so much house space is available here in California so until I can grow, I will be here dreaming up all the themes and making them into an alphabet reality!

In one sentence, can you describe what it means to be a mother?

In one sentence? Haha! I will say, being a mother has refined me into everything I hoped I could be, but could never be on my own. I didn’t grow up dreaming of being a mom - for a while I actually wasn’t sure I wanted kids. I used to make a list of all the attributes I *wish* I had and wanted to “work on” as my #goals. But none of those characteristics ever came to fruition unless I became a mother.

And finally, where can we find you?

Website: www.baconbitco.com

Instagram/social: @baconbitco