A comment from her son sent her on a life-changing mission.
Like all young boys, Yla Eason’s son loved playing with superhero action figures.
But one day when he said to his mom that he could never be a superhero because all superheroes were white, Yla Eason set course on a new mission in life.
Concerned her son would limit his aspirations based on race, Eason scoured toy markets from coast to coast to find an African-American superhero toy. When none could be found, she secured investors and created her own line of multicultural superhero action figures.
Eason grew the company to more than $5 million in sales with worldwide distribution in major retail stores. The success of Olmec Toys remains a case study for business schools teaching multicultural marketing.
Eason garnered many awards for her founding of Olmec Toys, most notably the Business Enterprise Trust Award from President Bill Clinton in 1996.
Yla Eason is now an assistant professor of professional practice at Rutgers University. She received an honorary doctorate from Bloomfield College and earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.A. from Fitchburg State University.
