I've

got a patent in China on the Busy Baby mat.

And then I have trademark in the U.S. for Busy Baby and in about 10 other regions of the world.

So I do have a good intellectual property portfolio.

The other part of that question was manufacturing and that has been a really touchy subject in the last year and a half.

So when I started Busy Baby back in 2018, it's when I started the product development and I was working with a factory in Minnesota because as a tenure army veteran, I wanted nothing more than to be 100% made in the USA and more specifically made in Minnesota.

And the problem is the food grade silicone, the material my products are made out of, is not sourced in the U.S.

How did you work through that, Beth?

So before Sha- Shark Tank, before Busy Baby Mat, what did your life look like in that season of early motherhood?

Well, before motherhood, um, I was in the Army for 10 years, and I had always wanted to be a mom.

I was 30 when I got out of the military and single and didn't find a good partner, um, that wasn't crazy until much later in life.

And I thought by the time I met my now husband that, you know, maybe motherhood just wasn't gonna be in the cards for me, and I was just gonna be the best aunt I could be.

And then I met my now husband, and surprise, we got pregnant, and I had my first son when I turned 40.

So I was an older first-time mom.

I had been working a corporate job, and I took my maternity leave for three months, and when I went back to work, a couple of my stay-at-home mom friends took me out for lunch just to kind of check on my mental health when you do that huge transition from being home all day, every day for three months with your baby to then leaving him at daycare-

... walking into that room? How did it start? How did you get there, um, and how did it feel after?

Mm-hmm.

We grow corn and soybeans.

He's out planting today.

Um, Minnesota is really good at growing crops.

We have great soil.

We have intelligent farmers.

We have great equipment.

Shortly after, Beth sent us a voice memo.