Representation Through Play: How Dr. Lisa Williams Built An Award-Winning, Multicultural Doll Company

Black representation in toys is one of the ways to combat racism. When children see their beauty and brilliance in the toys they play with, it strengthens their self-confidence and encourages positive play.

Children learn through play. The more diverse the toy box is, the better they learn about diversity, inclusion, family dynamics and how to navigate the world. The 1940s eye-opening study by Kenneth and Mamie Clark used dolls to investigate how young Black children viewed their racial identities. They found that given a choice between Black dolls and white dolls, most Black children preferred to play with white dolls.

Since that study, many ethnic and racially diverse dolls have made their way onto the toy shelves of major retailers. Companies like World of Entertainment, Publishing and Inspiration have given children, girls and boys, an opportunity to see themselves in dolls that look like them.

Dr. Lisa Williams, founder of World of EPI, helps children embrace their beauty, uniqueness and positive play through doll representation. As the creator of the largest Black-owned multicultural doll company, she is spreading joy by providing children with dolls that inspire dreams, promote intelligence and build self-esteem. Her award-winning Positively Perfect Dolls have one-of-a-kind faces and custom-blended skin tones with natural hair textures and styles. The collection has grown to over 65 dolls representing Black, Brown, mixed and blended children. The doll line is distributed in domestic mass retail stores, including Walmart, and in international markets. She recently partnered with Disney and Marvel to create a doll line for Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, for which she was just honored with the industry’s highest honor, Doll of the Year.

“It’s heartbreaking if you think that a child at the age of six, seven years old, didn’t believe or didn’t see her own beauty and her brilliance,” William shares in reference to seeing an updated doll study. “It affected me so much then, and it affects me now. I was that little girl. The difference is I had a mother who told me I could become anything at that age. And somehow, she [the girl interviewed for the study] got a message from playing with her dolls and probably other societal messaging that she wasn’t good enough. She wasn’t pretty; her skin was nasty. That broke my heart. I remember lying on my couch and saying, ‘This can’t happen...’ So I then started, theoretically, that day, the company, the World of EPI. We started with two dolls.”

After earning her master’s degree, Williams realized she wanted to work with students. So she returned to school for her doctorate, focusing on logistics. She believed that the key to success in that area of business is trust; without trust in the supply chain, it collapses. She was the first African American to graduate with a Ph.D. in logistics from the Ohio State University and became the first African American female to get tenure at Penn State.

Williams enjoyed the research aspect of her position in logistics and the global supply chain. Her work quickly became internationally recognized. She then accepted an offer from the University of Arkansas as an endowed chair, meaning the University would dedicate millions of dollars towards her research and projects.

“I became the highest ranking person, not just Black, not just woman, but I was the highest ranking person in my field,” she shares. “I was having a ball. I’m traveling the world. I’m doing research around the world. I’m sharing my findings with colleagues globally, ranked nationally and internationally for my research productivity. When I say, life was good. It was really good.”

Then one day, she watched a news segment talking about the doll study and similar recent studies. Still, more Black girls preferred white dolls. That moment changed the trajectory of her career. In 2003, she gave up her tenure. She relinquished the endowment. As a single mom, it wasn’t easy to give up financial security, but Williams believed in the societal impact she envisioned and launched the World of EPI.

She wrote the book Leading Beyond Excellence, where she interviewed the then-CEO of Walmart, Lee Scott. He offered to sell the book in the stores. That led to a conversation about turning her research into children’s books in which all ethnicities were represented. The leadership team even asked her to create dolls of the characters of her books. Although this was before she saw the doll documentary, this moment led to a partnership with the retail conglomerate, which helped Williams navigate the doll landscape.

The transition from teaching and research to business owner was challenging. She struggled with the loss of identity and redefining who she was beyond the classroom. She decided to bootstrap the company so as not to surrender her ownership of the company’s vision. That decision came at a cost; she had to file for bankruptcy at one point.

However, she remained steadfast. Williams and her team grew the company into a multi-million dollar and leading multicultural toy manufacturing and design firm. Today, she offers six doll collections on her site and in stores, including Rock The Bells by L.L. Cool J and the Fresh Fairies.

As Williams continues to expand her company, she focuses on the following essential steps:

• Know your why. If it’s for the money, what happens if you fail? If it’s passion-driven, you’re more apt to work through the challenges.
• Learn as much as you can about the position or industry before taking the risk. The better prepared you are, the probability of success is greater.
• Understand that just because it hasn’t been done before doesn’t mean it’s impossible. It just might take a little longer.

“We just started producing quality boy dolls,” Williams concludes. “They’re action figures with fashions. They’re still very strong and powerful and masculine. I am thrilled when I see a dad buy one of our dolls for their boys.”