11.28.21

Ep. 149: Veteran Brings Storytelling to Life for Kids!

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Money I'm Home episode 149 - Veteran Brings Storytelling to Life for Kids!

On this edition of Money, I’m Home, Consumers member and U.S. Navy Seabee veteran Michael Hyacinthe shares how his kids’ show Wimee TV encourages imagination, vocabulary building, and storytelling through puppetry, music and more.

 

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0:00:06.7 Lynne Jarman-Johnson (LJJ): Money, I’m Home, welcome in. I’m Lynne Jarman-Johnson with Consumers Credit Union. From finance to fitness, we have it all. And today, we are talking to Michael Hyacinthe, he’s a member of ours that is doing some absolutely amazing creative work here in West Michigan, but I’m telling you it’s beaming all over the world. Michael, thanks for being with us today.

0:00:29.1 Michael Hyacinthe (MH): Thank you, Lynne it’s good to be here.

0:00:30.7 LJJ: So, Michael is the CEO and founder of Wimage. Okay, what is Wimage?

0:00:36.6 MH: So Wimage is a children’s media company that creates technology, books, products, as well as we got our own television show called ‘Wimee’s Words’ that inspires kids to use technology to become producers rather than just consumers. And so the whole goal behind Wimage is to inspire kids to be the next future authors, illustrators, animators. And we initially started by developing this app called Wimage that converts words to images, but we wanted to make sure that it was a very kid-friendly app. And so we created this really lovable robotic character called Wimee, and now, Wimee has his own show which is on PBS, and we’re hoping to expand to working with other television companies like Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon. So, yeah, we’re a children’s media company based right here in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

0:01:37.5 LJJ: Well, I’ll tell you what, I have had the pleasure of meeting you in person. You won the EPIC Awards this year with The Chamber, congratulations.

0:01:46.3 MH: Thank you.

0:01:47.4 LJJ: And now, I look at not only do you have an app, but you’ve shown me books, you really have taken this to a new level. Tell me, where was the vision as to why you had decided to do this?

0:02:02.2 MH: So, prior to COVID, we would take the technology into classrooms and we would use it to inspire teachers to use the app so that they can provide a tool for their kids to become visual storytellers and eventually become authors. But, of course, as you and everybody else know, COVID disrupted everything. And so we were not able to go into classrooms, and so we decided to continue to focus on connecting with kids. And so we created this show ‘Wimee’s Words’ we started in our attic my partner, Kevin Kammeraad. And then we then went from the attic to the basement, and fortunately, now where we have a studio in Cascade where we film all of our shows as well as all of our content. And so as a veteran myself, I’ve always been passionate about service, and whether it’s giving back to veterans or giving back to communities, which sometimes can go underserved. Education through art is something that I’m very passionate about. And so we created the app, then came Wimee, the character, and now of course all the additional products such as books and ‘Wimee’s Words,’ the show, which is on PBS in Michigan, New York, LA, and then we’ll be launching locally here on WGVU beginning January. So, I guess it started as a thing that veterans, when they come back, trying to find their continued purpose, and this was my continued purpose.

0:03:31.2 LJJ: You know Michael, let’s delve into that a little bit. Thank you so much for your service. Tell us about your background. I know, because you and I have met, that you come from the Navy, and here you are creating puppet-fun for kids. How exciting.

0:03:47.5 MH: Yeah, I served as a US Navy Seabee, and in my opinion, one of the bravest and toughest things you could do in the Navy is to be a Seabee. So, I joined the Navy right out of high school, I’m originally from the Bronx, New York, and after the military, I decided to relocate to Grand Rapids.

0:04:06.8 LJJ: Okay. Can I ask how you even knew about Grand Rapids?

0:04:11.1 MH: Well, you know what, ArtPrize.

[chuckle]

0:04:13.9 LJJ: That’s awesome!

0:04:15.6 MH: First, I’ll tell you how I even knew about Michigan. I grew up around the Fab Five era, where the…

0:04:24.7 LJJ: Oh yeah.

0:04:25.0 MH: Michigan Wolverines team, Jalen Rose, Chris Webber, Jimmy King, Juwan Howard, and Ray Jackson, I know all of them by name, because even as a young kid in the Bronx, New York, these guys from Michigan were just completely revolutionizing the game of basketball. So here I am, I’m in the Bronx, in the street, in the school yard playgrounds, and I’m hearing about these guys, and so I grew up a big Michigan fan. And so that’s how Michigan came into my life, it’s through the Fab Five. But then growing up and just hearing about the great artistic innovators that Grand Rapids had, I decided to relocate out here, and that’s how I decided to start my ventures in Grand Rapids.

0:05:15.0 LJJ: So really, you’re looking at the innovation of basketball turns into the innovation of art for children, and it truly is innovating. Michael tell us a little bit about Wimee and how was that part formed? I know that the exciting part for me is to watch when something like that happens and there’s collaboration everywhere, this is just such a really cool program that you’re doing.

0:05:39.7 MH: Thank you, and our hope is that Wimee will become a global household brand that inspires kids all around West Michigan and eventually the country and hopefully globally to have fun using their imagination, creativity and ultimately love to tell stories. One of the things that Wimee does well is really inspires kids to tell stories, and so on our show, ‘Wimee’s Words,’ we ask audience members to submit three words, and then with just three words, Wimee is creating an entire story. And the hope is to inspire kids to become storytellers. And the data shows, especially as we get into a digital age, the more kids at an early age that has access to creativity and understands how to tell stories, the more likely they are to be successful, because we’re living in a visual world.

0:06:30.3 MH: We believe that it’s good to inspire kids at an early age to become storytellers, and so we decided to develop the app, and we wanted the app to be a very kid-friendly app. And so my partner, Kevin and I, we came together and said, “Let’s create a character that would fit the app and that would fit the name.” And so the company is called Wimage, I came up with the name Wimee, Wimee, Wimage, and so that’s how his name was created. Then after that, we just decided to create this fun, lovable character, which is actually a 3D robot. If you ever watched watch the show on wimee.tv, you’ll actually see the actual robotic puppet which my partner, Kevin Kammeraad, plays as a master puppeteer. And so we then took it from a 3D to an actual animated character, and now, we’re on TV and we’re hoping to continue to create more content that’s fun, entertaining, but still educational.

0:07:37.1 LJJ: Well, I love the fact that you can, anyone who’s listening, you can head right to your phone, not driving, of course, on your laptop or a desktop, and you can actually watch Wimee in action. Now, Michael, your partnership with WGVU, you said that launches in January.

0:07:56.5 MH: Yes.

0:07:56.6 LJJ: So, what we’ll do is as that gets closer, we’ll make sure our listeners know the date that that launches too, but can you do me a favor and tell us your website, spell out Wimee so that everybody gets it right.

0:08:07.7 MH: Yes, Wimee, it’s W-I-M-E-E.tv, wimee.tv, and that’s where you can find all of the PBS episodes, hundreds and hundreds of episodes from the very beginning, in addition to additional content that we wanted to provide to our followers to have access to. Or you can go on pbs.org and type in Wimee and all of the Wimee episodes are there as well.

0:08:36.8 LJJ: Congratulations on your success, Michael. We absolutely love to share member success stories, and you are truly a gifted and talented person, and again, thank you for your service, but also for your servant leadership.

0:08:50.7 MH: My pleasure. It’s been an honor. I’m excited to use Wimee to help inspire kids to through various opportunities.

0:08:58.0 LJJ: Hey, thank you for listening today, and I’d like to thank Jake Esselink, our producer. If anybody has a topic or an interesting person like Michael that you just want to know about, please share them with me, we love to share the success stories. I’m Lynne Jarman-Johnson with Consumers Credit Union, Money, I’m Home.

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