Meet the Westchester Teen Founder of Inclusive Christmas
We are constantly amazed by the amount of teen entrepreneurs in Westchester. Take Cason Dean, a 1pm’s always 5-year old half-Korean Westchester teen, who was looking for an Asian inflatable for Christmas. However, while looking with his dad he was surprised that one didn’t exist!
Cason realized that there was a huge gap in the industry, and along with help from his family, he expanded his idea to include a line of other underrepresented cultures. Thus, in a little over 10 months Inclusive Christmas was born! Here, you will find Pride Santa, Black Santa, and Sandra Claus. This year, they also expanded the line to include Hanukkah Hank for Jewish and interfaith families and Kwanzaa in the future.
Read on to learn more about Cason and why it was important to start for him to start this business.
Westchester Family: How did the idea for Inclusive Christmas come about?
Cason Dean: Ever since we moved to the suburbs five years ago, my dad has put up outdoor decorations for Christmas. Last year, I wanted to get him an Asian inflatable Santa because I’m half-Korean, and I couldn’t believe one didn’t already exist. So I figured, why not create my own? I originally thought about just making Asian Santas. but my family and I talked about how there are other groups that might also want to see themselves represented. So we added Pride Santa, then Black Santa and then Sandra Claus.
After we launched, based on customer feedback, we also added Hannukah Hank for Jewish and interfaith families. This all happened in about 10 months where, with help from my family, I designed the prototype, found a manufacturer, registered the Inclusive Christmas website, created a logo, built a website, applied for Shark Tank, and started selling the Santas.
Westchester Family: Why was it important for you to start this company?
Cason Dean: My parents instilled in me a strong sense of social justice, and I’ve also always felt really connected to the Asian side of my identity. So I wanted something around the holidays that represented me.
I knew the idea of Black Santa already existed but, I was surprised there weren’t other diverse representations of Santa. I think that in this day and age, it’s important to make people from all backgrounds feel included, so that’s why we branched out to include a lot of different representations of Santa. I’m also donating 10% of profits to organizations that support diversity and inclusion.
Westchester Family: Tell us about some of the products in the line.
Cason Dean: The inspiration for the business was the inflatable Santas. I’ve also added mugs, tote bags, lawn banners, ornaments and hoodies that also feature our Inclusive Santa designs. Those were actually add-on items to try to appeal to a bigger customer base. I’m surprised at how popular those have been!
Westchester Family: Do you have interest to branching out to other holidays?
Cason Dean: Right now, because we’re new, we’re focusing on Christmas, but we’re also developing an InclusiveHolidays line of products and have that URL. Hanukkah Hank was our first step – the reception has been great. We’re now thinking about what other holidays or designs we can incorporate into our vision. We’ve already had requests for Kwanzaa.
Westchester Family: What advice would you’d give to other teens who are looking to start their own business?
Cason Dean: Starting a business is way more work than I thought! My biggest advice is, if you are passionate about something, stick with it! This is important even when there are obstacles and it seems overwhelming at times. I would also say, reach out to as many people as you can for advice and feedback. My parents have been really supportive, and a lot of their friends have more or less been focus groups for the different Santa designs. And just keep trying.
My inflatable Santas are now being sold at Christmas in America, Westchester’s largest Christmas store! I reached out and asked if they would be willing to partner (thank you Dan Casterella!). I sent out a lot of emails, and most went unanswered, but you never know when someone might write back!
Westchester Family: Anything else to add?
Cason Dean: We started out by joining our local Chamber of Commerce and starting small through local Facebook groups. The support and encouragement was great, and that has helped keep us growing. We’ll be at the White Plains Holiday Fair this month. I’m grateful to have such a welcoming community in Westchester!
Check out more about Inclusive Christmas here.
