Eight years ago, I sat at my kitchen table as a new mom, making a prototype to solve a problem all new parents face.  I came up with the idea after a lunch with frustrated girlfriends constantly picking up their babies' dropped toys and utensils from the restaurant floor. 

As an Army veteran who had served for ten years across 14 countries, I was used to solving problems. So I invented a solution – the Busy Baby Mat with patented tether technology that keeps babies' items within reach and off the floor.

What started in my basement grew into something I never imagined possible. I expanded to a 7,000-square-foot facility. I appeared on Shark Tank. We made the Inc. 5000 list two years running. We earned contracts with Target and Walmart. We created eight patented products serving over one million customers.

This April, I was named Minnesota's 2025 SBA Small Business Person of the Year for Minnesota.

I felt like I was living the American Dream.

And then, just weeks later, everything changed.

President Trump's tariffs hit our Minnesota-owned business like a freight train. Our tariff rate jumped from 0% to 145% almost overnight, then settled at levels that still threaten our existence. 

The timing couldn't have been worse.  I missed the shipping deadline by 2 days.  If I had shipped my products, I would have had to pay well over $200,000 in additional duties (tariff tax) when the products arrived 45 days later.

We were forced to leave paid-for inventory overseas for nearly 2 months because we couldn't afford to bring our own products home. Products I invented. Products designed and developed right here in America. 

The impact was immediate and devastating. We sold out completely. Lost critical momentum. Had to end contracts with 8 other American small businesses, service providers who helped run our business. 

I've been watching eight years of my literal blood, sweat and tears (and life savings) hang by a thread.

I've been featured on CNN, BBC, CBS Sunday Morning, and The New York Times Daily Podcast – not to promote our products, but as a spokesperson for the thousands of small businesses facing this same crisis. 

I've worked with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and advocated on Capitol Hill with Senators Markey and Klobuchar on legislation to protect small businesses. I've shared my story across social media to help other Americans understand how these blanket tariffs are destroying the very American businesses they claim to protect.

I had to launche a GoFundMe – an SBA award-winning veteran entrepreneur asking for help to pay tariffs on American-invented products. That's not something I'm proud of. That's the reality of what's happening to small businesses across America