FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
On the grounds of the East-West Center, yo-yo performers Joseph Harris, left, and Jennifer Baybrook, members of Team Wild Styles, show some tricks. Baybrook is the 1998 World Yo-yo Champ.
Yo-yo boom was
a boon for hotshot
enthusiastJennifer Baybrook made
her hobby a profession by
marketing her skills
Being able to knock a coin off a person's ear with a yo-yo isn't a requirement for most entrepreneurs, but it's a skill that has helped Jennifer Baybrook get her business rolling.
She's only 23, but she has already used the skills that catapulted her to the top of the world yo-yo championships in 1998 to secure contracts to design a signature yo-yo and marketing jobs that have taken her to 13 countries. She makes money endorsing products and lending her face to yo-yo commercials. She judges yo-yo contests and demonstrates the toys at trade shows, craft fairs and schools. And she's organized an elite group of Oahu-based yo-yo performers called Team Wild Styles.
Spin concepts tossed around
Jennifer Baybrook offers a free school program called "The Science of Spin." Using multiple demonstrations and class participation, students are introduced to the concepts of gyroscopic stability, rotational inertia, planes of spin, distribution of mass, levers and friction. Reach her by phone at 256-4643, or fax requests to 949-1497.
But even if Baybrook's medium is unique, the young businesswoman isn't an anomaly. She's just one of a growing number of people who are turning their hobbies into professions. The number of self-employed people in the United States grew from 9.3 million in January to 10.1 million in November, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The number of Americans turning their hobbies into careers isn't clear, but Don Meyer, a spokesman for the Hobby Industry Association, said there's no doubt that dips in the economy have spurred a trend.
The value of the craft and hobby industry in the United States grew to $25.7 billion in 2001, an 11 percent increase compared with $23 billion in 2000, according to the latest studies available from the Hobby Industry Association. And residents of 58 percent of U.S. household participated in crafts or hobbies in 2001, up from 54 percent in 2000.
It's just natural that the increasing popularity of hobbies will spur growth in the market, Meyer said.
People like Baybrook, who can identify a popular hobby trend and use their expertise to find their own niche, have the potential to do well, said Joe Mitchell, president of the American Yo-Yo Association.
"Jennifer hit the market at the exact right time," Mitchell said. "If anyone benefited from the 1998 yo-yo boom, it was Jennifer. She's really been able to make a name for herself in yo-yo."
Becoming a top yo-yo player at the height of the toy's popularity probably helped Baybrook's business, said Stuart Crump, editor of Yo-Yo Times Newsletter based in Virginia.
Each year, about 1 million yo-yos are sold, but during the boom in 1998, 100 million toys were sold, Crump said.
At one event in Japan, Baybrook said, she entertained 45,000 children.
"We were superstars. The kids were chasing us and we needed bodyguards," she said.
Although the popularity of yo-yoing has gone up and down, experts predict another boom will cycle into the industry next year, said Valerie Oliver, vice president of Spintastics Skills Toys Inc., one of the companies Baybrook represents.
"Popularity does seem to be increasing again," Oliver said. "It's likely there will be another surge in 2004."
Baybrook is hoping the release of her signature yo-yo next year will help capture a greater piece of the market and build the hobby-based business that she's been running since her teen years.
"When the yo-yo boom hit, I wasn't really as into the business aspect of it as I am now," she said. "For instance, I didn't think about marketing a signature yo-yo or making a line of instructional videos, but now I see the demand."
The decision to move to Hawaii and study marketing at the University of Hawaii has continued to leverage Baybrook's business, she said.
"It's helped me formulate strategy," Baybrook said. "It's taught me more about researching the product, the service and finding venues within the market."
Baybrook turned pro when she was 8 years old and began internationally demonstrating yo-yos in 1997. As part of her marketing plan, she's been on television shows around the world including "David Letterman," "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee" and "Good Morning America." Baybrock has also been featured in numerous U.S. and foreign newspapers and magazines, and she's performed at the White House for the annual Easter Egg Roll.
She continues to demonstrate her yo-yo skills with the help of her comrades at Team Wild Styles.
Members of the team have 30 years' combined experience and have earned two world and three national titles. They are Baybrook, Sky Kiyabu, Cody Kiyabu, Joseph Harris and Ryan Lai. The team has appeared on stages throughout Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, China, France, England, Spain, Germany and the islands. They've also performed at Universal Studios in Los Angeles and on the "Donny & Marie" variety show, "Fox Kids Extreme Saturday," "The Today Show" and "Hawaiian Moving Co."
These promos have helped Baybrook appeal to the young market that she wants to capture, Crump said.
"It's a young market, with the average yo-yo player ranging in age from 8 to about 14," he said, "and she offers a really fun program that appeals to young people."
One of the most successful aspects about Baybrook's marketing plan is that she doesn't just demonstrate her talent, she sells herself and yo-yos by encouraging young people, especially girls, to build their own skills, Crump said.
"I got into yo-yo because of people like Jennifer," said Joseph Harris, a member of Team Wild Styles. "I saw a video on her, and I really thought it was cool. After meeting Jennifer and working with her, a professional career in yo-yo seems like something that could be within my reach."
