Destination: TINKERLY!

I learned a lot during my first year as an entrepreneur, but I doubt anything could have prepared me for what I’d be facing today. It’s challenging enough to navigate and make decisions just as you’re getting your bearings. That’s entrepreneur life I suppose. Crossroads come up quickly and frequently in the infancy of a business, but the only path to growth is through a gauntlet of decisions that belong to you. Welcome to the entrepreneur’s club! The only bottles we poppin’ are Advil and TUMS! (Maybe some CBD and multivitamins too!)

Before the pandemic, I had been weighing a heavy decision to make a significant financial investment in TinkerTini’s infrastructure that would allow me to scale my business. It was clear that to get to the next level, I needed a proprietary and custom-developed software and online portal to handle our Inventor Relations workflow (among others, but I need the pilot system first). Something that could handle many thousands of concepts in video format through the review, evaluation and contractual process across multiple clients, while also serving as my air traffic control tower to a network of several hundred global inventors. We have created and quickly proven a new business model in our industry overseeing and managing multiple inventor/innovation initiatives for clients. But there is a nuanced complexity to how we do this, and an out-of-the-box software solution doesn’t exist for how we work. Not to my standards anyway. Plus, I (and my team) are the drivers of the software, so I want it built to our specs…a fancy solution without the right driver(s) is meaningless. In the world of innovation: fancy car + skilled driver = results. I have to build and lead it myself with the right developer. It is exceptionally cost-intensive of both my time and resources to take this on, especially right now.

Even in pre-pandemic, smooth-sailing conditions, an expense and time commitment of this magnitude gave me heartburn. I waffled, stalled and challenged my reasoning often. And now what? Do I stand still or keep pushing forward? Do I embrace what appears to be a forced, rapid adoption of virtual and digital solutions? Do I still make this investment despite the immediate and long-term uncertainty we’re facing? Budget cuts, layoffs, changing opportunities, etc. My list of excuses and worries is long. Like most, I’m nervous right now…for myself and all my friends in the Toy Biz.

Throughout this decision-making process, my mind keeps flashing back to a choice I made 20 years ago while living in my childhood hometown of San Jose, CA. The story is familiar and timeless: I was barely out of my teens but knew I was meant for something more, and to get to the next chapter, I needed to take a risk. I tried to talk myself out of it, but an “idea” had spread through me like a dream. I, Trina Ann Johnson, in all my glorious wisdom at 21 years of age, was going to risk it all to move to Los Angeles! To make movies and marry the rock star I had fallen for while he was on tour in my hometown. What could possibly go wrong?

I tossed everything I owned into the back of my black Mustang convertible with the obnoxiously loud sound system (bass tubes and all) and headed off into the great unknown. I’m pretty sure all of Los Angeles must have heard me roaring over Pacheco Pass toward my certain victory. This was when my adult life truly began. And seeing the sprawl of Los Angeles appear in front of me through my windshield filled me with a giddy, unstoppable, boisterous feeling. The feeling of youth and adventure. This is what chasing dreams feels like. Freedom! This is what loud songs are about. "Look at me Mom! I’m doing it!"

Well, in case you haven’t checked my nonexistent credits on IMDB, I never actually made a single movie (although I am now making “cartoons,” which I’ll talk about more in a later article), and I didn’t marry the rock star (who was truly one of the “beautiful people”). But great things did happen to me. I’m now double twenty plus one with a happy family; I have a budding business; and I still have big dreams, which seem to keep getting bigger.

It’s time for this 41-year-old entrepreneur to remember her 21-year-old self.

I, Trina Ann McFarland will once again go for it. My instincts say I’m in a unique position to help others come together and facilitate innovation at a fraction of the cost with flexibility. What I’m building can help navigate the bumpy road ahead. It will evolve into a portfolio of solutions across multiple functions that will help others in different ways. It will grow. I have to do this. I have to try.

I hope I will look back on this decision in another 20 years when I’m 61 years old and tell this story as a rite of passage into the adulthood (OK adolescence) of business ownership. Back when I built “TINKERLY,” the engine of my business, the first Innovation Portal of its kind in my industry…in the middle of a freaking pandemic.

So I’m headed out again in pursuit of another dream! I feel the exact same way I did 20 years ago on my way to Los Angeles - extra bouncy! But this time, my judgment is sharper, grounded in reason, with meaningful purpose. This time, I can help others.

Next stop, TINKERLY!

I hope you packed snacks.