How Our Journey Took Us Outta This World... & Back!

Joey Hudicka
Heidi Hudicka 

We have been creators and innovators our entire lives.  We started when we were little kids... in case you are wondering, we’re now 16 and 11! 

One of our family’s core values is to express our ideas freely and to collaborate with each other, making good ideas even better! In response to our sometimes wacky ideas, our parents always say: “As long as it doesn’t harm you or others, why not try it?”

Wacky or not, we try out many of our ideas, and we learn and grow with them. Failure to us is not a bad word, it’s a chance to make things better. For example, one of our big ideas was teaching the values of creativity and innovation to kids all across the U.S. and beyond, using learning games and innovation education tools we designed from our own learning experiences.

We wanted to start with our home state first. We worked with organizations like the YMCA and local chambers of commerce to start putting on events to bring our community together under one innovative spirit.  And in that sense it worked! 

But what a hard sell it was!  We had one awesome event early spring 2017, but nothing else came out of it...it just fizzled.  It seemed like regional schools either were not interested in our innovation programs, didn’t have the budget for them, or the time to teach more. After we were consistently shut down, we decided to venture outside our home state to find places that foster innovation, just like us.

Make no mistake - this has been a difficult journey - but difficulty transforms into adventure when one pursues a mission one truly believes in.  Our journey brought us to partnerships with awesome organizations like NASA, the Henry Ford Museum of Innovation, the Business Excellence Institute, and long lasting relationships with many universities around the globe.

We started to get the ball rolling elsewhere, leaving our home state behind. WE EVEN HAD TO GO OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES IN ORDER TO FIND A WIDELY ACCEPTED CULTURE THAT TEACHES CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION, EVEN TO KIDS!!!

But, we haven’t given up on our state just yet.  We continue to forge new partnerships, and develop relationships with organizations like the New Jersey Association for Gifted Children, who believes that strong and supportive partnerships between parents and educators serves to increase understanding and expand opportunities for children throughout our state.

With passionate partners like this, we are now bringing our innovation programs to schools and community organizations all across country, and the world. Schools now see how innovation and creativity education can enhance their STEM programs, enabling them to reach every child...the artists, the athletes, the business minded!  Each child can unlock and develop the skills to succeed and adapt in an ever-changing world, learning to celebrate creativity, strengthen their confidence, optimize their communication, and maximize their collaboration.

We like to say that we, “invent inventors!” But, we also provide a creative space for kids of every age (even grown up kids) to share, collaborate, and innovate together!

Maybe we had to leave our home state, even our country, in order to discover ourselves...but what we learned far from home was that we have a much bigger purpose than we first thought. Are you ready for you to join us on this adventure?

Please visit us at Booth # 314 at the NAGC 65th Annual Convention in Minneapolis, November 15-18, and check us out at www.fizzeelabs.com!

Joey Hudicka and Heidi Hudicka are the founders of Fizzee Labs. Each company has a journey and Fizzee Labs started with Joey playing with a pile of trading cards after hockey practice at 5 years old. Joey, now 16, turned this pile of cards into a strategy game that would eventually be on the App Store. Heidi began her entrepreneurial career when she was just 4 years old, designing her own fashion clothing line for her dolls.  Now 11, Heidi is combining her love of fashion with her love of play, to make sure everything Fizzee Labs creates is fun! 

The views expressed herein represent the opinion of the authors and not necessarily the National Association for Gifted Children.