Christoph Frehsee: President of tonies USA
Episode 701
On this episode of The Kara Goldin Show, I sit down with Christoph Frehsee, President and Managing Director of tonies USA—the company behind the wildly popular screen-free audio system for kids, the Toniebox. With more than 7 million Tonieboxes and 100 million Tonies sold globally, tonies is transforming how young children play, learn, and engage—without a screen in sight.
Christoph joined the company with a background in sustainability, entrepreneurship, and global impact, and is now helping tonies scale rapidly in the U.S. market. In our conversation, we talk about the power of audio storytelling in a tech-saturated world, what it means to build a kid-first brand, and how tonies is building emotional connection with families at every level. Christoph also shares his early impression of the Toniebox, why he believes screen-free innovation is the future, and what’s next for the company as it continues to grow its presence in retail, licensing, and original content.
If you’re interested in building a product that kids and parents love—or hearing from a leader who’s helping reshape the future of children’s media—this is an episode you won’t want to miss. Now on The Kara Goldin Show.
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To learn more about Christoph Frehsee and tonies:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophfrehsee
https://us.tonies.com/
https://www.instagram.com/tonies.us
Transcript
Kara Goldin 0:00
I am unwilling to give up that I will start over from scratch as many times as it takes to get where I want to be. I want to be you. Just want to make sure you will get knocked down. But just make sure you don’t get knocked out, knocked out. So your only choice should be go focus on what you can control. Control. Control. Hi everyone, and welcome to the Kara Goldin show. Join me each week for inspiring conversations with some of the world’s greatest leaders. We’ll talk with founders, entrepreneurs, CEOs and really, some of the most interesting people of our time. Can’t wait to get started. Let’s go. Let’s go. Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Kara Goldin show. Super excited to have my next guest here. We have Christoph Frazee, who’s the president and Managing Director of Tony’s USA, the brand behind the Tony box, if you are familiar with that, it is a screen free audio system that’s become a game changer for families with over a million Tony boxes sold just in the US 100 million Tonys globally, and Tony’s has built a storytelling experience kids love And parents trust, and I cannot wait to talk about how this company has built it’s very, very unusual in that many brands, or at least the sort of the going saying, is that many brands are built in the US. This is not a US built brand. This is a brand that is built in Europe and built in Germany, and Christoph is building the US part of this brand, and doing a very successful job doing that as well. So I cannot wait to jump in and talk a lot more about his journey, but also about the Tony’s brand. So, Christoph, welcome to the show. So excited to have you here.
Christoph Frehsee 2:05
Thanks, Kara. I’m thrilled to be here. So
Kara Goldin 2:09
for those who may not be familiar with the Tony’s brand, can you share a little bit about how this company not only started, but also how it has evolved?
Christoph Frehsee 2:23
Yeah, absolutely. So. The company was founded by two dads, Patrick Fassbender and Markus Schall in Germany. And Patrick basically wanted to build a device for his two daughters so that would give them agency, in, you know, selecting their own entertainment and education content. So instead of trying to handle, as, you know, small children scratch CDs or having to ask the parents for for TV or other media, he really, basically wanted to reinvent the Walkman in the 21st Century. And the result is the 20 box, which is a small, padded speaker for children. And audio starts when you’re matching the box with any figurine of your favorite character. Think Lion King, think Elsa, think the power patrol, think Curious George, or also Daniel Tiger for Mr. Rogers. And as soon as you put this figurine on the box, audio starts. Music starts. The library spans, really from nursery rhymes, sing along tracks sleep stories to chapter books and really covering listeners from from toddlers through early readers.
Kara Goldin 3:36
And it started what year? So
Christoph Frehsee 3:40
the product launched in 2016 so next year globally, we will celebrate our 10th Anniversary. Patrick and Marcus grew the brand very successfully in Europe, and then decided in 2020 to also go more global and establish in the US market, and that’s where I come into the picture. I met them around Thanksgiving, 2019 and then on a very short notice, got the mandate to start off the brand in January 2020 here in the US. That’s
Kara Goldin 4:14
incredible. So were you familiar with the Tony’s brand and the Tony box prior to coming on. Yes,
Christoph Frehsee 4:22
of course, I was, I mean, you hear from my accent, I cannot hide it. I’m originally from Germany. I immigrated many years ago to the US, but my mom obviously wanted to make sure that also my kids, her grandchildren, can benefit from really, you know, this magic audio box. So we had the Tony box for our oldest son, and that was for me also ultimately the motivation to join the company, because I could see what a different it made in our own household. In the moment we introduced the box at home, I basically got my phone back, and that was an absolute game changer. Yeah,
Kara Goldin 5:00
I love that, because taking the phone is definitely something that many parents deal with, or at least maybe they initially give them the phone, and then the phone becomes this device that that many parents understand exactly what you’re talking about. So when you’re launching a brand that is already established in Germany, isn’t it really simple to just go into another country and and, you know, really create a I mean, can’t you just do exactly what you’ve done in another country when you’re coming into a country as big as the US, or what are some of the challenges? I’m obviously being facetious. Yeah,
Christoph Frehsee 5:47
well, there are many levels. I mean, I think first, what gave me confidence to sign up for this mission was actually really seeing firsthand the result at home that it has true I would say user Market Fit once it’s in the hands of children, you know, it gives them agency, like I said, it gives them joy. It gives them like endless giggles, and they are in charge. Why? Parents really enjoy the feeling of safety that all the content is basically well curated. The parents decided what figurines come into the household. And so you don’t need the TV as much anymore. Like I said, you know when the child wants to listen to at the time, it was Baby shark to do? Do you remember that song? And then, because before the Tony box, would you do? You would pull out your phone, and you’ll be like, okay, Baby shark, to do YouTube. Here we go, and it goes on. But then once this is over, you’re in the rabbit hole of social media and platforms and and all this. And the Tony box really gave that safety and that joy to kids. So first for me, it was like, Okay, if that works, then really also the belief, ultimately, children around the world behave pretty much the same in this early age. It’s probably more the parents that have different values and are looking for or different ambitions or filters on what they want their kids to engage with. And I think that was the first dimension I wanted to look at, of how do we translate the value proposition that worked in Europe to America. And then obviously, what’s also different is the distribution channels, the retail landscape. I often like to say that, you know, in if we take Europe, or, for example, France, or if you take Germany, German speaking countries, it’s out there, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the US is much larger, but we don’t have a single user group that is as large and basically cohesive as this German speaking user group in Europe. In the US, we are much more diverse in many, many ways, in particular when it’s our belief system around raising children. Now the interesting part is this very diverse user group is mirrored by an extremely consolidated distribution landscape, where in the US, basically, Amazon, Walmart target, have 86% of the US, preschool business. Wow. So these three retailers control the market, basically, plus, then you can obviously do your own website. You have some specialty store left. You have some mid tier accounts. I’m a big fan of Kohl’s and others in this segment. But still, ultimately, you need to build a brand and make sure your brand and the supply chain are ready to meet the demands of an Amazon, a Walmart and a target. And I think so the three challenges are really like, Okay, does it work for the users? Yes, of course. How do we position it for the parents, the decision maker, ultimately, the purchaser and gift givers? And then third, is your brand and company ready to deal with us, mass distribution.
Kara Goldin 9:03
So, so interesting. How has the product changed since the the original product was created to today? I guess, you know, we always hear the upgrades, right? And it, how has it changed from the beginning to today? Yeah,
Christoph Frehsee 9:20
yeah. So I’d say it’s a very fascinating case study in the sense that the core of the product, still today is is the same. So the speaker in its form factor, because a lot of thought went into this before Patrick and Markus actually launched the product, they worked two years on actually developing it, the form factors, and really making sure the UX is right for, you know, the youngest of listeners. Think about, you know, what could all go right? Or also, what could all go wrong with the toddler? Now, though, obviously, under the hood, we, over the years, did many improvements in upgrades, I’d say the biggest difference probably also from. From Europe to the US is we are in the US much more IP driven. So obviously, you know the whole lineup of Disney Princesses of power patrol. But also, I would say heritage IPS like Daniel Tiger or so is much more important than more general storytelling in Europe.
Kara Goldin 10:24
So language, obviously, you’re a global company, so language in all different parts of the world. I mean, English is a very large language, I would imagine. But how many different languages have you created for Tony’s, for consumers, I should say in the Tonys brand?
Christoph Frehsee 10:47
Yeah. So right now, we’re still just focused on our core markets, which so it means we have English, French and German. We also added Spanish now. So we have quite a large Spanish speaking library now in the US as well. And further languages are on the roadmap, but it is obviously for us each time. Want to make sure it is not just a narration. We want to make sure it is not just a translation. If we talk about the space of early childhood development or storytelling in a family, you want to make sure it feels each time, very close to home, literally and there, even for a company like ours, now, it’s still important to very localize the product. So we’re focused so far just on those core languages, but further internationalization will be defined in the coming years.
Kara Goldin 11:40
So you mentioned collaborations like the Disney and Marvel and some of the others that you’ve done, and I would imagine, too, with authors, right? You’re also sharing stories. So how big of a focus is that for the company, I guess it’s licensing deals, right? Yeah,
Christoph Frehsee 12:03
it’s licensing deals, but it’s also content creation in the essence, I mean, we want to be a partner for parents and ultimately, also for kids all along their development, from basically a toddler to preschoolers and also middle schoolers for early readers. So besides the big licenses, it is very important for us to address, you know, educational curiosity. So for us, it’s all about basically, sparking curiosity, sparking imagination, sparking critical thinking through storytelling. And while you know, Disney also has really deep stories. I mean, the story of Frozen Elsa is about friendship, it’s about love, siblings, it’s about mental health. But that only goes so far, and to be authentic in the US, for example, we only started then with, for example, LeVar Burton, we all know from Reading Rainbow, and we took his narrations onto Tony. We worked with Jane Lynch on a series that teaches kids how to tell jokes. We worked with Neil deGrasse Tyson on, you know, a series that tells kids, kids about technology and invention. We worked with calm, on meditation and mindfulness. We worked with go noodle, which is really like a teacher content channel that has really hilarious on, how do you popsicle? And you know, bring that on. On the Tony. So there’s the physical product, but ultimately, our product unlocks the cinema of the mind. And in order to really make that engaging and educational, we have to work with a variety of content and partners there. So
Kara Goldin 14:04
when you think about challenges, and every leader has challenges that they you know, it sounds great to be the leader of the US for this incredible business that is scaling, but it’s a lot of responsibility too. I mean, not just to your consumer and your parents, but also your team and and overall, the the company. But what are some of the challenges and kind of designing a text specifically for young kids? Have you found is really challenging for anyone listening.
Christoph Frehsee 14:42
Yeah, so, I mean, in our segment particular, it’s obviously first privacy and safety first, right? If we give something into into the kids of children for everybody, that’s the group that we want to protect the most and set up for. So it’s first, like, really, privacy by design, safety by design. Then it’s about, you know, a toddler who UX in that sense, what could go right? What could go wrong if you put the device or the product into into the hands of children. And then I think also, families are looking for for durability. So, you know, the toy industry, unfortunately, particular in the US, has sometimes gotten a little bit of a reputation of being, you know, more of a one time, three time use. We try to satisfy our children and their needs. We want to reward them for great behavior, for great grades, for great accomplishments. Sometimes it feels like I observed is also we just buy them something because they behaved in the target aisle. And so I think one thing of products that resonates really there with parents is also longevity and durability, and that’s important for us as well. That’s on the children things. On building a company. Obviously, like you mentioned, the team, let’s put it that way, the last four years, or we, we said we’re going to start the company in 2020 with the launch date in September of 2020 so from when I started in January to then March, obviously, the world came to a stop. And with COVID, we had to rethink our whole go to market strategy in a very, very fundamental way, and also how we would build a team. Yeah,
Kara Goldin 16:27
definitely. And you mentioned you’re entirely remote in the US, yes.
Christoph Frehsee 16:32
So that was the result of basically the COVID development that we had plans to set up an office, you know, in the Bay Area, and quickly, then as COVID Put the world to halt, we thought, actually, this is a great opportunity. It’s a fantastic opportunity to not limit ourselves to the talent pool that would that is here, would be willing to relocate to the Bay Area, but really hire experts in their fields, being it in retail, being it in marketing, be it in childhood development, in storytelling, in logistics and operations and finds, all the things you need to put a company together nationwide. And I would say that is still a strength of us today. We are in the US, a team of completely remote, 100 people now, because all our departments, we’re in 38 states, and it is really working for everybody, because they can bring the best professional self to Tony’s, and at the same time, obviously, stay in the communities and stay with their families, Where I feel most at home.
Kara Goldin 17:41
What has been different about growing in the US, this, this brand in particular, versus maybe what your colleagues have seen over in other parts of the world, whether it’s Europe or what has been kind of the uniqueness to the US, yeah,
Christoph Frehsee 18:01
so I think first, obviously, how we launched in the sense, also with COVID, we, in Europe, retail played a major launch role in the US. We focused on our own website and social media to launch the brand, and then Amazon, because we were simply not sure if in retail, you know, in COVID, where, you know, you wouldn’t touch things in a shelf or so, imagine we had a demo station in retail during COVID, and parents that would be like, don’t touch this. No, you know. So, yeah. Well, these were the things you suddenly had to think about, right? And you obviously, these are also good things we continue to think about now, but yeah, so much more direct to consumer, activating the community, really banking on what we call, you know, word of mouth, like word of mouth, word of mouth in the sense, and then leveraging, you know, an online distribution channel. But then, though, in the second act really changes is obviously the power of us Mars retailer. And once you figure out placement in Mars retailer like Target, and start playing what I would say, retail chess, where one big player moves, other players are also obliged to move because they want a part of the market share and of this developing platform as well, then you suddenly can have much higher step changes in the reach that you have in the US than you would normally have in Europe, where retailers are much more fragmented than they are in the US. When
Kara Goldin 19:37
you think about content development, I mean, I certainly still believe that many people think that this, this is a visual world, right? Yeah, yet Tony’s has really sort of proven the audio space is kind of here to stay. I mean, it’s it definitely you’ve engaged family. Is with lots of content that is really audio driven. What has surprised you the most about that surprised
Christoph Frehsee 20:09
in a very positive way that I think we are living so the one thing I feel observe about America and us here is we are much more flexible in our belief systems, and we’re able to change very quickly as soon evidence is presented to us. And I think I generally sense, and Jonathan Haidt does great work around that, also to bring more awareness of the side effects of smartphones, of social media and teenagers and that. But even for the early ages. Now there’s a heightened awareness of maybe these screens are not that good for our children. Why we like that? It is a very fast and visual way to transmit information like us also. Here we have this conversation now over screens. And you know, we’re 100 miles or more, apart from each other, maybe the way that the brain works or develops, it might be overwhelming. And I think what has really surprised me, in a very positive way, is how this message really activates parents, and once they gain the awareness and they learn that, you know, the way the brain learns and how audio activates basically, you know, in the brain and opens up the pathways. You can see this in MRIs. Listening to audio activates the same pathways as like reading or creative work, and that helps these synapses to develop better. You know, parents get more mindful that that’s probably time better spent and information given to children than over screens, where they’re like more passive. So we then said, Okay, can we actually prove that with scientific studies? So we worked with the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and they just came out, really, with, with, with a very scientific study that showed, really a 32% increase in emergent literacy for kids that use the 20 box, and also 25% reduction in screen time once a 20 box was in the household. And that are just facts that, you know, I hadn’t thought it would be so obvious, and then are very motivating for the team, ultimately, that when kids listen, you know, the imagination paints the picture.
Kara Goldin 22:33
So you had a background in everything from sustainable fashion to landmine clearing. I read, wow, so what through line connects these chapters as you are now leading this incredible division of Tony’s? Well,
Christoph Frehsee 22:55
I think one of the common through line there is that you meet people along the way that tell you that what not going to work well, that will be difficult, or that will be challenging. And I find this each time you’ve talked about this in your book as well. It’s like, as an invitation of, like, great, bring it on. Let’s, you know, let’s do it. And I think the the additional through line is each time from, you know, building up a landmine clearing business that was technology driven to really prove a point and accelerate the rate of how we cleared land mines to then sustainable fashion, to now. Audio, I felt there is an opportunity to be a catalyst in an industry. So also my past company, amover, we were among the first that really brought sustainable fashion that also looked good and classy onto the map, and similar here now with Tony’s is really the brand that in the US, establishes the category and leads that. And I think it’s this kind of pioneering work that I really enjoy, mixed with, you know, building around that an amazing team that that, you know, then makes this dream reality. Because, yeah, every dream needs a team.
Kara Goldin 24:10
When you’re thinking about hiring people, I think it’s, you know, you’ve got an incredible brand, and you’re bringing in this group to a brand, which is a little different than starting it from scratch when you don’t have a brand, but it’s still stressful, right? Because you’ve got to make sure, especially, I think, in a remote situation where maybe you don’t have that casual conversation with your neighbor at the desk next door, you’ve got to make sure that everybody gets along with each other and everybody’s motivated by the same principles. How do you do that? As a leader? What are there any things that you really kind of look at, because it really is a lot of responsibility. Right? Because, you know, especially when you’re hiring somebody that, that maybe somebody is going to have to work with, but they’re not interviewing that person, right? It’s and and people, you just need one bad egg in the room, right? That is going to demotivate people or but how do you do that? How do you find the right teammates that that is going to help you do what you need to do scale without losing the brand’s heart?
Christoph Frehsee 25:34
Fantastic question, and I think it’s at the core of of you know, any entrepreneurs quest to get this right. Because, like you said, it’s, it’s high it’s high stakes. So I would say, first, I do this with a lot of intention. So it comes from, like, really, the moment of thinking, what do we need in capabilities? Where is the gap? How do we get this capabilities? And then understanding, where do you find those hard skills? Are you looking sometimes it’s good to look for Been there, done this. Sometimes it’s also very dangerous, and you rather want to see high potential and go for somebody that is not yet jaded in an industry. At the end of the day, I look for five things. And the first one is really somebody that is motivated, has an ownership mentality, gets stuff done. And I call this, you know, somebody that wants to leave a thumbprint, that has something to prove, that wants to leave a thumbprint. The next one is obviously very important, which is speak the truth. So there’s nothing worse than if a leader never hears the truth. And that can happen in so so many ways. And I think we’ve all seen that. So it needs to be somebody that can say, even in the interview process, the hard conversation, that can say the things that are unsaid. You know, third one is energy. It’s important, particularly in senior levels, but I think on all levels of an organization that you meet somebody that gives energy, that like wakes up and has normally a positive outlook on things, that’s solution oriented and and has a can do spirit, because, you know, we’re all adding so much of our own lives, of our own identity, into what we work and what we do, and if then, you know, energy gets sucked out of this for the unnecessary reasons that’s not helpful. So people that give energy. Third one is collaborative spirit that goes without saying, contribute behind silos. It’s not just you, you, you, you know, we win as a team, we lose as a team. And the last one I find also important is a scrappy mentality. So, and you find this even when people that have worked at very large companies, you know, they need to be willing to, initially, you know, work with duct tape and, you know, pivot then with good information and not make things too precious. And so these are the five things I look for. You know, leave a thumbprint, speak the truth, give energy, a collaborative spirit, and then ultimately, scrap your mentality.
Kara Goldin 28:11
I love it. So finally, what’s the one thing you want listeners to remember about Tony’s and and everything that you all are doing
Christoph Frehsee 28:25
Tony sparks imaginations here first, and it’s giving kids agency and parents basically a screen free ally. So if you have not tried it, try it out. I can tell you, as a parent also, it will change your parenting experience, but it will also leave a very positive and memorable mark in your child’s childhood experience.
Kara Goldin 28:47
I love chatting with you today. Christoph, you guys are doing amazing, amazing work, reimagining, play, learning, storytelling for the next generation, and your work is, I mean, it’s challenging, right? Like, you’ve got a little startup within a large company, which is, it’s, it’s definitely challenging, and you’re doing an incredible job building this. So I love the Tony’s brand, and definitely, if you haven’t checked it out, go to their site. [email protected]’s and as Christoph was saying, you can find it at Amazon, Walmart target, all the local usual suspects that have incredible toy departments, but really, really great brand. And thank you so much, Christoph for sharing everything about what you’re doing too. And as always, if you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend. Leave a quick review. Hit subscribe all that good stuff, and I’ll see you next time on the Kara Goldin show. Thank you so much. Christoph, thank you, Kara. Appreciate it. Thanks again for listening to the Kara Goldin show. If you would please give us a review and feel free to share this podcast with others who would benefit and of course, feel free to subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode of our podcast. Just a reminder that I can be found on all platforms at Kara Goldin. I would love to hear from you too. So feel free to DM me, and if you want to hear more about my journey, I hope you will have a listen or pick up a copy of my Wall Street Journal, best selling book, undaunted, where I share more about my journey, including founding and building hint, we are here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Thanks for listening, and goodbye for now. You.
