It Was Their Idea
We didn't start this. They did.
Our daughters have been obsessed with 3D printing for a long time — the videos, the models, watching a thing appear out of nothing. And having spent years watching us run our own businesses, they decided they'd like a go.
Not a lemonade stand. An actual business, with products and customers and a website.
So here we are.
Why Ru & Rita?
Putting two kids on the internet was never something we were going to do lightly. So rather than using their real names, we borrowed two of the many nicknames that have been floating around our house for years.
The girls decided those made the perfect business name, and then the characters, Australian animals of course, came after. Ru - a Kangaroo. Rita - a wombat. We're still working on 3D prints of them!
Ru — Head of Quality Control
Ru is ten, and a rule follower by nature, which makes her exactly the right person for the job. Nothing goes on the site until it has passed the kid test, and she has the final say on that. As well as making sure every order that goes out is packed perfectly.
Rita — Head of Ideas
Rita is eight and has never once run out of ideas. There's a print list beside Bob — that's our printer — at all times, and it grows considerably faster than we can work through it. New playsets, new critters, new additions to things we had considered finished. We just have to find the time to design and test them all.
And Us — The Unpaid Interns
We wear a lot of hats around here. Chef. Chauffeur. Cleaner. Person who unjams Bob at eleven at night.
Our actual day job is running our own 3PL warehouses, which means we knew precisely nothing about 3D printing when the girls talked us into this. We've learned it as we've gone, and there is a box of failed prints to prove it.
What we did already know how to do was get your order to you. That part, at least, we're good at!