What is Zazou Dolls?
Almost nine years ago, I found myself a newly single mom with a newborn baby boy and a one-year-old little girl. When I say that ZaZou Dolls was born from a mother’s heart, I mean that quite literally. I was looking for a way to support my children while still having them in my care.
Shortly after my daughter’s birth, I had a custom doll made for her. The experience was a bit disappointing and left me intrigued and inspired to try customizing a doll myself. Art has always been in my blood, and I had gone to design school, so the idea wasn’t completely out of my comfort zone. My motivation, though, came from my desire to provide for my babies.
I bought some inexpensive dolls and hair wefts. I was aware of how much little girls enjoy styling hair, and at the time, there was no long heat stylable hair available in the doll market. I customized my first doll with some fabulous hair, and the doll sold right away. The experience gave me the motivation I needed to keep going, and I quickly fell in love with customizing. Those first months were tough. I spent a lot of long nights working after my children went to sleep, trying to perfect my new craft and forming what would become ZaZou Dolls.
In 2012, I added high-quality heat-stylable custom wigs and hand painted eyes to my business. This allowed me to provide fantastic products for customers who enjoy DIY projects or who can’t afford a fully-customized doll. It also helped provide funding to allow me to expand my brand. Soon after, the market for customized American Girl dolls really began to bloom, and small customizing businesses began to emerge. Rather than viewing this as a threat to my own small business, I chose to embrace the trend. I began offering an expanded wig line and hand-dyed wigs for other customizers. I then created a new doll line unique to my brand, recently expanded to offer paintable blank eyes for American Girl dolls, and released my Rebel Girls Clothing line which include our unique painted Chucks for 18î dolls.
I find inspiration all around me every day. From the gorgeous hues of the ocean to the stunning colors of a sunset, there is beauty everywhere if we only take time to appreciate it. While I still love creating unique custom dolls, I also enjoy empowering others to do the same by offering them tools to create beautiful dolls of their own. Knowing that my products help small businesses also brings me joy, especially as I recall the events that began my own journey here.
As a family-owned small business, ZaZou Dolls seeks to inspire others with beautifully unique creations. My children remain the heart of the brand.They are involved in everything from modeling, packaging, designing dolls and special touches like writing thank you notes to customers. One of my favorite parts of my work comes when I have the opportunity to inspire someone else through my work. Whether it’s a custom creation that brings a girl joy and motivates her to pursue her dreams or products that inspire her to create her own doll to enjoy herself or share with others, it always warms my heart. I believe in giving back and empowering girls to be their best. My desire to be an inspiration led me to create Inspire Kids, a fund that is donated annually to an organization that inspires girls and focuses on self-esteem and mental health issues. For each ZaZou doll we sell, we donate $5 to this fund. By purchasing a doll from our ZaZou brand, you can make a difference for girls around the world.
We currently offer customizable ZaZou Dolls, custom dolls created from other popular 18î doll brands, and many great products for those who enjoy customizing their own dolls. We’d love to work with you on a special project!