Meet Stephaine Aragon | Optician and 3D Printed Toy Vendor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Stephaine Aragon and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Stephaine, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Ha, purely because I wanted more toys. My husband started 3D printing as a hobby a few years ago and started printing some toys to just get better. I started noticing all the model options and the filament colors after awhile. All the dragons and Rose turtles, all the glitter, color shifting, and glow in the dark options. There was so many cool things to do! But my husband reminded me things cost and we have no space for so many fun objects. So to see all the magic happen we needed a plan to get them out after the toys were made and get more materials.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I love that this 3D printing business is just James and I. James does all the manufacturing from 3D printers in our basement. We have all the input and say, how we want to invest in the business, the process of creating magical pets. We hang out and work together to make the business grow the way we want. It’s wonderful. It hasnt be easy, the first challenge was learning how to get the business noticed. We needed to get the toys out to a larger audience without leaving the home very often, James has a job that requires him to be home all the time, hence the 3D printing hobby. Then learning how to make fun social media posts. That took some time. To get better, and with a ton of encouragement from James, I just tried and made a TikTok post. After making a few posts there were questions so we started researching online to find the answers. Now that it has been a few months, there is a routine in place so hopefully the posts can get more creative. Something I would like people to know about my shop is that its made to make everyone smile. I like having little toy creatures in my space that are just fun to be around and I hope most people do too

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Ooh week long trip, I would drag my friends and family to the Nature and Science Museum and to the zoo in Denver. Possibly 16th St. Mall but theres so much construction right now its hard to navigate. So to detour, we would head back home to Lakewood for The Fort, an excellent place to eat for southwest food lovers. They put red chili on their mashed potatoes! Thats a treat. Thankfully, we live in a home that has a very large yard so for a bit of the week we will be barbecuing outside. There will also be baseball games at the Rockies stadium, eating in the town of Blackhawk, Denver Art museum and Red Rocks amphitheater. I really enjoy being in Colorado. There are so many things to do, and this is just in the Denver/Lakewood area. There are so many activities and events in Colorado throughout the year, you can drop in anytime and be able to entertain.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Oh man, my James. My husband. Without him this adventure wouldn’t have been possible or even thought of. He is always trying new things and never stays still. His personal philosophy of wanting to be better than himself for over 10 years now, has helped us personally spread our wings and helped us grow in ways we didn’t know we’re possible for us.

Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/StephsMagicMenagerie

Instagram: Stephsmagical

Other: Tik Tok @stephsmagicalmenagerie

Image Credits
Stephaine Aragon