The Beginning of Chatter Eggs by Mikaela Gilbert

Mikaela Gilbert is the creator of Chatter Eggs, an egg-shaped toy designed for children ages 0–5 years that when wobbled speaks a phrase in English then that same phrase in Spanish or Mandarin.

She is a senior at Indiana University pursuing a degree in Entrepreneurship and Corporate Innovation with a Co-Major in marketing and a minor in Informatics. Mikaela originally came up with Chatter Eggs in high school and has been pursuing the idea ever since. During the beginning of her senior year, Mikaela started a student group for the Center of Excellence for Women in Technology called Entrepreneurs & Tech.

I have had the privilege of becoming good friends with Mikaela from being in the same business fraternity, Alpha Kappa Psi, over the past couple of years, and had the opportunity to learn more about her business to share with you all.

Give us your “Twitter bio” or elevator pitch.

Chatter Eggs is a children’s toy for infants up to age 5 that exposes them to foreign languages when they’re best at learning them.

What entrepreneurial or innovative business or project are you currently working on?

Chatter Products LLC is the business I’ve been starting since my senior year of high school. I’m also working for CEWiT to get the Entrepreneurs and Tech team up and running!

How did you get here? What were some of your entrepreneurial and innovative highlights?

• I will have the opportunity to attend an alumni conference in Naples to speak about my experience as a student and entrepreneur with Mrs. McRobbie coming up soon.
• I have already been a speaker at several events regarding my entrepreneurial experience including Women and Hi-Tech, CEWiT’s annual conference, WIB panel member, and the second largest educator’s convention (Model Schools Conference).
• I have also been featured in the Brilliant Business Kids book.

Could you elaborate on the work you have done for Chatter Eggs? How you got involved in the space?

I got involved in the entrepreneurial space in high school because of a class called Innovations. It’s set up to help students find their passion and has virtually no structure. Being able to work on anything I brought in an old art project and came up with the idea for Chatter Eggs, became passionate about changing the foreign language toy landscape, and began starting the business.

Since then I have gotten a utility patent, gained a business partner who is experienced in the start-up space, gone through several iterations of prototypes, and have become an official LLC.

What has been the most useful entrepreneurial resource or experience at the University?

The network has been most helpful for me. Mentors like Dr. K, Susan Loucks, and so many others have contributed to my direction with Chatter Eggs. They have push me and are supportive, while still offering a critical eye.

What has been the most useful entrepreneurial resource or experience outside of the University?

Again — network. Building a group of likeminded people to be a support system and source of advice has been the most helpful thing.

What’s was your favorite failure or learning experience?

My favorite ‘a-ha’ moment was back in high school. I was planning on licensing the idea to an existing toy company and was not getting very far. Cold call after cold call and I still hadn’t received a single meeting. I was ready to give up when I attended an event called FailFest and heard several local entrepreneurs talking about their failures leading to successes and that was the moment I decided to start a business.

This is my favorite moment because it was pivotal in my realization of my passion for entrepreneurship and has lead me to so many great opportunities. It is also the advice I would give to students interested in entrpreneurship.

What’s the best advice you’ve received as an entrepreneur?

Fail often and fail fast. Failure isn’t scary, it’s a part of life and the experience. Each time you fail you learn something new and that is priceless in the pursuit of making a change.

Where can people find you?

My email address is mkgilber@indiana.edu and my linkedIn profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaelagilbert/