From Tax Accountant to Toy Creator with Sara Feldstein — Fem Founder™

Sara Feldstein is the founder and toy creator behind the e-commerce toy company Barumba Play. In her pre-pandemic life she was a tax professional working with small businesses and now spends her days playing with toys and calling it work. She used her experience with depression to stop living a life of chronic stress and exhaustion and find more play in her life.

Can you tell our readers about your background?

I am actually a Chartered Accountant and worked in tax for over ten years. I was a Partner in my family’s accounting firm in Canada. When the first lockdown happened, I found myself transitioning our accounting firm to being a remote office, dealing with my client’s struggling businesses, managing employees, tax season, and full-time parenting a one and three-year-old. It did not go well!

What inspired you to start your business?

Attempting to juggle it all during lockdown I ended up experiencing burnout. With too much on my plate, no childcare support, and no end in sight, my mental health started to deteriorate. I became unfocused, unmotivated, and had difficulty retaining information. I did not make any changes and tried to push through, but you can not outwork burnout. My burnout turned into depression and it got so bad I had to leave my…