Amy Wildman, sales and marketing director at Halilit, talks about the variety and fast paced nature of her role, owning decisions and educational toys now being at forefront of parents’ minds.
How long have you been at Halilit?
I’ve been in the toy industry since graduating, holding roles in private label and more trend led companies however have been with Halilit for seven and a half years now – how time flies.
What is your greatest achievement at the company?
I’m not sure I could identify just one. I’m proud to have played an integral part in our rebrand which we launched at Toy Fair early last year – Halilit has been around for a number of years and so it was great to be able to refresh things a little to keep us looking modern and relevant. It’s also been great to see how our increased marketing efforts over the years have paid off with brand recognition of Taf Toys in particular, plus, receiving my promotion to director was of course a personal highlight.
Favourite part of your job?
I love the variety and fast paced nature that comes with being part of a smaller company. You need to have an all-round knowledge of all areas of the business, and I thrive on knowing that no two days are the same – one day I might be working on brokering a distribution deal with a new supplier, another day planning ahead with our fantastic customers and others I’m working on putting together a marketing launch plan for some NPD from one of our amazing brands.
Who is the unsung hero of the company?
We’re really lucky to have a couple of members of staff who have been with the company for a number of decades and without whom the rest of us would be a bit lost. Mark is a safe and consistent force overseeing our warehouse, a team who are instrumental in supporting our growth and customer reputation. Lynne is the smiley happy face of our office, often being the first point of contact for order placement and customer service enquiries. It’s always so lovely when customers pop by the stands at shows and ask to meet Lynne as her friendly and helpful nature is certainly integral to our close customer relationships.
What is the biggest change within the preschool industry that you have seen since you have worked in it?
I feel like Covid-19 has really brought educational toys to the forefront of parent’s minds. Prior to the pandemic I think many parents felt that their child’s early learning needs were being met to a large extent through their nurseries, preschools, toddler classes, etc and so home purchases were perhaps more fun or licensed focused. With months of closures to usual activities during 2020 and 2021 many parents seemed to arm themselves with knowledge about child development and early educational activities and we’re still most definitely seeing the benefit of this increased awareness as time goes on.
What’s the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
That it is far better to just make and own a decision and then move on from there rather than to spend lots of time trying to weigh up the ‘right’ or ‘perfect’ decision. Once you’ve managed to collate the facts you can only make the best decision you can with the information you have on hand, if it turns out to have been the wrong decision down the line you can always learn and change direction from that. That said, I’m much better at applying that principle in a professional manner than with personal decisions such as what to order in a restaurant.
Biggest lesson you’ve taken away from the past year?
That nothing ever stays the same. We have to bend and adapt to remain relevant and offering our customers the best products with our high levels of service that we expect of ourselves. Business is a constantly evolving force, however, regardless of the challenges we face the customers are always central to everything we do.
If you could change one thing about the nursery/preschool business, what would it be and why?
I would increase the level of awareness among parents about the developmental value of traditional and educational toys. This understanding is definitely on the rise, however if I could shout out to all new parents about the sensory, emotional, physical and cognitive benefits of our toys in one swift move that would be great – it’s certainly something I’m trying to my best to achieve with our marketing efforts.
