Female Disruptors: Riyon Harding of Magic Portal Books On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
My ultimate goal is to completely shake up the American education system. And not by changing it, but by giving people other options for education. I want to create an education foundation that offers very different educational tools and processes. Not private schools but more of the wilderness/boarding/vocational/apprenticeship approach. People learn best when they actually want to learn. In fact, people and kids can teach themselves a great many things if they only have 1. the desire, 2. the tools and 3. the environment.
As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, we had the pleasure of interviewing Riyon Harding of Magic Portal Books.
Riyon Harding is the Founder of Magic Portal Books, a print and digital media company that incorporates augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) immersive experiences into physical books. Magic Portal Books specifically produces interactive, educational digital curriculum experienced through children’s picture books. She is an inventor, artist, engineer, entrepreneur, author, and creator who never stops asking questions and has an insatiable desire to learn.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
I’ve always had a love of drawing, illustration and sculpting. My Mom is an artist and art teacher. Naturally I was a guinea pig for art instruction and new project ideas. She had a ceramics studio in the garage and my earliest memory is of making ceramics with molds. I also had a passion for creating new worlds, flying and building stuff out of cardboard. I was quite proud of some cardboard wings I made for my sister once. She was an unwilling test subject and refused to fly off the roof of the house with them. I get it.
When asked what I wanted to be when I grew up I would say, “I don’t know. My job hasn’t been invented yet.” Ironically, most of my professional career has been in the inventing space; specifically around patents and driving future product innovation for large American corporations. Inventing comes very naturally to me. It does to most every human, as a matter of fact. The challenge is to be able to solve problems that don’t yet exist with technologies that ALSO don’t yet exist. And I loved my work doing just that. Creating, innovating, and putting the architectural framework together for next generation products.
Corporate America and I didn’t agree on this, however. Yes, we would get the patent protection and the invention would go into the patent portfolio. And then it would NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY. Not because they wouldn’t be useful future products, but because Corporate American isn’t in it for product innovation. Quite frankly, it doesn’t make sense to innovate if you are corporate America. Turns out to be a much better deal to buy a start-up that has done the innovation for you. I get it. So I left to create my own start-up. Not to be eventually assimilated into an American conglomerate, but to finally BUILD whatever I created.
Another important piece is that I always wanted to have my own business. I’ve dabbled in it over the years, but wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do. I had a partner who was NOT at ALL on board with the idea of “quit your job and pursue your dream. I’ll support you.” I get that too.
Eons ago, I had illustrated children’s books for my Mom, who was trying her hand at being an author. She liked my drawing style for her children’s books. It was much more of a hobby for her than anything else. My MBA brain asked her one day, “how can you differentiate your product from the millions of other children’s books out there?” To her it wasn’t about scale or reaching her target market or even sales goals. She simply wanted to create something and if people bought it great, if not, that was fine too. That one, I don’t get at all.
My last corporate America stint was at TiVo. They aren’t around any more, but they were the inventors of the original digital video recorder (DVR), which eventually brought video tape and VHS players to extinction. TiVo invented the DVR in 1999… and then never. Anything. Else. Again. In truth, the guys who invented it stuck around for a while and then went off to do something else, because that’s what entrepreneurs do. I get it.
Regardless, my job was to work with the teams to innovate new products. Streaming and subscriptions has put the DVR on the endangered species list. TiVo was losing stock value by the minute. I embraced the challenge and soon had my lists of future problems to solve with future technologies. Not the least of which was web-based augmented and virtual realities. The tech was simple (if you knew how to code HTML, CSS and js.three) and allowed augmented content or virtual content to be displayed via a browser. Any browser. Any device. Anywhere.
And then a blog appeared in one of my tech feeds that discussed the 10 best kid’s books with augmented reality. That concept checked all the boxes — I can differentiate my Mom’s kids books from the millions of others out there. I can provide something more engaging and entertaining for kids to learn and explore on their own. I have a very different way of doing AR for kids books than those in the article. But it was the inspirational spark I needed. I still have the article.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
No one has ever done a kid’s book like Magic Portal Books. Nor any book for that matter. I searched and searched and contacted all of the authors/publishers on that list in the original article and even found a few more books, cards, maps, posters, and other graphics that had an associated AR or VR experience. Everything was app-based and had very specific functionality. For example, an image might trigger a 3D model to appear, play a sound, or play a 3D animation loop.
As part of my technology learning at TiVo for AR and VR I studied a lot of existing use cases, products, platforms, studios, marketing agencies, AR/VR providers (both software and hardware), etc. Living Wine Labels was always a favorite of mine. But none of the books or kid’s products with AR had the sophistication of a wine label actually coming to life and talking to you. Okay, maybe I had been drinking a little too much of that wine as well but there was a HUGE opportunity here to take children’s education to a whole new level. One where they could read the books and the books would come to life to show them that place or teach them about some element of history, or a chemical reaction, or whatever. The sky was absolutely the limit and even that was limitless. What about taking them to outer space? Or under the depths of the ocean? Or to ancient Egypt?
You give a child a book, or anyone for that matter, and they expect it to have a written story, some pictures and be enjoyable. Maybe they will learn something, maybe not. But now; now books will never be the same. I mean, they will. I’m not changing print media, nor do I want to. All I aim to do is AUGMENT children’s books with (in this case) educational content for children. It’s very interactive and engaging. There are 360-degree photos of 30 different places in and around Tucson (Sherman, A Tucson Tortoise, published 2022). The characters come to life to tell you about the Sonoran desert, Tucson’s history, the Tohono O’odham people and much more. In each one there are buttons with questions and information. There are sound buttons to hear what a monsoon sounds like, for example. Every day I think of new things to add. I generally end up laughing at a great new giggle sound effect or goofy multiple choice answer.
The second book was just released this July 2023. Sedona’s Quest. It has 360 photos of Sedona, AZ as well as bite size information about the geology, pioneers, pioneer kids and Sinaguan people who lived there in the 1100’s. Plus, what adult doesn’t want to jump through a magic portal to Sedona Arizona and look around for a while?
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I haven’t made a single mistake. Just kidding. My favorite one is getting my first proof printed at a local printer. That way I could see how the text would read on the pages when printed in full color. Print is very different from looking at everything on a screen. I was so proud of it. I took it to my best friend’s house to show her. She took one look and said, “You spelled Tucson wrong”. Indeed I had. It was Sherman, A Tuscon Tortoise. I had been so concerned about spelling Tortoise wrong that I completely missed Tucson.
A couple lessons learned here. 1. No one is perfect and luckily MOST people give me a break on spelling and grammatical errors. And 2. If you’re writing a book, have a LOT of editors. My last book went through 3 editors and myself before I caught a major spelling error that all 4 of us had missed in multiple rounds of previous edits. So, I use the 80/20 rule. I try to catch the biggest mistakes and the others I’ll fix over time in reprints.
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
My only mentor is an ex-Boeing executive, who I met at the then called Industrial Research Institute, a professional organization for peer-to-peer collaboration across different companies. We’ve been friends ever since and had similar career paths in innovation. We both became interested in AR from different influences. It has been nice to learn the technology, service providers, competitors, markets, etc. with someone else going through the same issues. For years we have connected on weekly calls and occasionally get together at conferences. Since I’m farther along my journey, I now mentor him. We joke that the tables have turned. I’m glad that I can reciprocate. If it hadn’t been for him and his genuine interest in seeing this concept grow into a business, I wouldn’t have come as far as fast. They say if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
This is truly an excellent question. I personally value both education and technology. To me, combining the two so that children can have more opportunity to learn on their own is powerful and positive. It’s too easy to surf the Internet and inadvertently land on a site a kid doesn’t need to be on. Creating a smaller, educational Internet for kids is a positive thing in my opinion. I know there is a large population who prevent their children from having any screen time, at all, ever. The risk of detrimental brain development from trauma or overstimulation from digital content is more than some parents are willing to take on. I get it.
My biggest fear is that what I am offering through immersive VR experiences in the hopes of providing engaging opportunities for learning and understanding is not going to be “positive” for some kids. I worry that something may scare them or be overwhelming for them. I want them to feel safe and able to engage and learn without any fear or anxiety. I want them to have complete control over what they want to engage with and what they don’t. High on my list is hiring experts who can guide the digital curriculums for Magic Portal Books and ensure all content is age appropriate.
There’s a story about Alfred Nobel. I’ll say “a story” because there isn’t a lot of fact around the truth or fiction of the story. But, I like the story nonetheless. Mr. Nobel amassed his wealth in the 19th century through inventing, patenting and manufacturing explosives. Many of his explosives were used as weapons of war. Some say he had remorse for inventing products that destroyed humanity rather than promoted peace. Others say he invented these weapons to bring a swift end to wars and therefore minimize human and collateral losses. Regardless of the reason or reasons, we do know that upon his death he created a trust that would award a prize in 5 categories each year. Those categories are: chemistry, physics, literature, physiology or medicine, and works toward peace. The Nobel peace prize is awarded to those who have created something that benefits humankind. I don’t relay the story hoping that I will win a Nobel prize someday, but because I understand the reasoning behind the disruptive technology he invented and that it really could go either way. And often does.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
My ultimate goal is to completely shake up the American education system. And not by changing it, but by giving people other options for education. I want to create an education foundation that offers very different educational tools and processes. Not private schools but more of the wilderness/boarding/vocational/apprenticeship approach. People learn best when they actually want to learn. In fact, people and kids can teach themselves a great many things if they only have 1. the desire, 2. the tools and 3. the environment.
I was considered an at-risk kid growing up because of my family situation. I was chosen to go to a leadership camp for a week one summer. I thought I was chosen because I was such a good student, but it turns out it was really for at-risk kids. Although it really was a great experience and I gained some confidence from it, I really needed more than one week.
Magic Portal Books is (hopefully) going to be able to fully fund the non-profit education foundation. I’m going to call it “Rewrite”. Because it will give kids a chance to rewrite their own story. Just like I have rewritten my own story. And continue to write it every day.
Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?
Well, at the risk of sounding like a complete freak because I don’t read or listen to anything consistently, I’m going to say, the biggest impact on my thinking is the fact that I have learned the importance of taking time to really understand a problem. It takes asking a lot of questions, then giving it time to let things percolate. I TRY not to make assumptions (but I’m human). Or, at least recognize assumptions and turn them into questions. Most importantly, I spend a LOT of time thinking, challenging that thinking, looking at it from other perspectives including various times, places and values. That’s pretty much all I do. Think and research. Create, revise and think some more. Distractions tend to derail me so I try to stay as focused as possible and keep my life as simple as possible. Which reminds me of a story.
I was getting my nails done at a salon in Oregon years ago. A nice Vietnamese lady was engaging in conversation with me. “You have husband?” she asked.
“No” I said.
“Oh, you have kids?”
“No,” I said again.
“You have job?”
“Umm, no,” I said again.
She looked up at me and smiled. “You life easy!” and we laughed and laughed.
“I have a dog,” I said, trying to seem like I had some responsibility for something in my life.
She paused for a moment and I thought she was going to give me a pass, but nope! “You life still easy!” she blurted and we laughed some more. Quite honestly. I like it this way.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I’m too introverted to want to inspire a movement. I just want kids to have better tools at their disposal to use for learning, discovery and exploration. I am disgusted by the standardized testing and “teaching to the test” methods that public education in America has adopted and implemented, but I get it. There needs to be a way to objectively measure the educational system’s effectiveness. I just disagree that standardized testing is the best solution for the kids. I’d say it’s probably a great solution for the administrators. A shift in prioritizing the kids over administration would be my hope.
With any luck, maybe Magic Portal Books will help kids take charge of their own learning.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Let it go”
Every day this is relevant to me. It is important for me to look at something that has happened and find the lesson in it — then let it go — whatever mistake, misjudgment, resentment, disappointment, frustration, good things, bad things — all of them. I learn what I can. Then let it go. Sometimes it takes me quite a while to let it go! But too much baggage eventually impedes forward progress. And I have a long way to go.
How can our readers follow you online?
I don’t have an online presence personally, but my passion does:
Instagram: @Magicportalbooks
Fb: @magicportalkidsbooks
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
