"Talking Hands" founder Maria M?ller on inclusion, overcoming her shyness and the German shark tank

"We now have the chance to dream much bigger".

You can listen to the full podcast interview here. (German)

Maria M?ller slipped into starting a business more or less by accident:?

"Me and my co-founder Laura are rather the shy type of people and neither had a background in business administration. We just kind of blindly jumped into it. Then, of course, there was a bunch of bureaucracy that almost slays you and we had new problems every week. But somehow we managed to pull ourselves together and get through it all," says the young entrepreneur, summing up the last two years since she founded her startup.?

"Talking Hands" was originally the final project of her co-founder Laura Mohn. As part of her design studies, she developed a series of small flipbooks that help kindergarten children learn sign language through play. Since Laura Mohn's sister was born with trisomy 21, the design student has had a personal connection to the topic since childhood.?

But inclusion concerns us all: Nearly one in ten children suffers from some form of communication impairment. Only by starting in childhood can we ensure that these people become and remain a part of our society. This is precisely why learning sign language should not be reserved only for children with disabilities:?

"If only the children with disabilities learn sign language, then that is not inclusion. Because then no communication [between children with and without disabilities] can take place,"

Maria M?ller clarifies. Talking Hands aims to change that: With the help of the flipbooks, all children can and should now learn the most important signs.?

The decision to found came "completely out of the product," according to Maria M?ller:?

"We tested our flipbooks for 1 year in a daycare center. The educators thought the product was great. That's when it became clear that our product was needed. We then had to found in order to implement [the idea]," the founder relates against her will. And yet she doesn't regret the decision:?

"I was a huge fan of the product from the start. Just that we were able to bring the topic of inclusion in everyday daycare to such a big stage [makes me insanely proud.]"

It's a mission in which the Talking Hands team has already made great strides: for example, the topic was given a Germany-wide platform as part of their participation in "Die H?hle der L?wen."

"Die 'H?hle der L?wen' (= The German Shark Tank) really hit like a bomb,"

recalls Maria M?ller. Because although the duo ended up collecting a donation rather than an investment, their TV appearance generated a great deal of public interest in the product, from which the start-up continues to benefit today.?

Talking Hands' recipe for success lies in the playful approach of its learning materials:??

"The fun factor is insanely important when you want to teach children something. Because if the child doesn't necessarily need signs in everyday life, they won't feel like sitting down and learning sign language."?

And yet, from experience, the biggest hurdle is not the children:?

"It's usually the adults who get their heads around it. The kids themselves don't have a problem [with inclusion]. They're adaptable. A big part of our job is to break down for the daycare centers how inclusion can be implemented through play."??

In the meantime, the idea has also convinced some investors. Because in the meantime, Maria M?ller can also imagine creating new products and tapping into new markets:?

"Over the course of time, we found quite a few great entrepreneurs who wanted to help us implement our project well in the form of mentorship. They said, 'If you ever need a round of funding, we'll do it.' Now we have the chance to dream much bigger and hit the ground running," the young entrepreneur says optimistically.??

Networking also plays a huge role for her:?

"I think we've been able to avoid quite a few mistakes [thanks to our network]. It's also helpful when it comes to collaborations. [Plus] we're still in super close contact with our customers."??

That the team behind Talking Hands is not concerned with profits or the start-up lifestyle is immediately apparent when talking to Maria M?ller. Here, two women have the clear goal of making our world a more inclusive place. It comes as little surprise, then, that she advises other young entrepreneurs to start up out of the right drive:

"You should look deep inside yourself and ask yourself if you're really convinced about your product."?

After all, the journey of starting a business is no walk in the park:?

"The first startup is insanely difficult. You should be prepared for sleepless nights and a wild roller coaster ride. It's a real test of personality. I know now that I can still stick it out and make it, but at the beginning I wasn't so sure," reflects the founder.?German bureaucracy, in particular, really slayed the two entrepreneurs in the beginning:?

"You need a good tax advisor right from the start,"

is therefore her most important piece of advice.?

If you want to learn more about the hurdles of German bureaucracy, the story behind Talking Hands, and the young entrepreneur's plans for the future, then listen in to the podcast!

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