Meet Thomas Corkran | Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Thomas Corkran and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Thomas, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
The impetus behind Misfit Unlimited was a series of creative milestones that were built into a company. My business partner, Joe Plascencia and I had spent years creating cartoons and writing stories around dozens of animated characters. Over the course of a few years we had made a lot of cartoons that were geared toward promoting positive messaging for children. We were both working professionally in related fields. Joe was working in graphics and animation and me in sound and music so we had a lot of fun making our own content on a small scale and putting it on YouTube. We had gotten to a point where we had pitched one of our shows to a couple of networks but hadn’t gotten the green light. Neither one of us are one to get deterred so we constructed a business model where we weren’t dependent on networks.

During the Covid lockdown of 2020 we had time to take a step back, reassess what we wanted to do and came up with a dream company that could do everything we’d been trying to accomplish. We always knew we wanted to do something that used our characters to help children so we incorporated different multimedia and merchandising ideas into one toy company and came up with the name Misfit Unlimited. The name really stuck because a lot kids think of themselves as misfits at some point in their lives, I know Joe and I still do even as adults.

Creating revenue was key to getting Misfit Unlimited off the ground so one of the first things we did was create plush pillows and backpacks out of our characters. We both have children of our own with bedrooms filled with plush pillows and stuffed animals so we knew people were buying them. We also knew there were untapped opportunities with our plush toys by creating actual cartoon characters from them that kids could identify with. By seeing their favorite characters on television screens, phones and tablets we could create a great learning environment by using the characters to teach.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We’re particularly proud of recently getting our plush pillows into “S&R Membership”, a major big box store in the Philippines. It was a significant step to be able to break into retail. We still have a long way to go but seeing real progress is something every business needs to have in order to be able to move forward to bigger things.

It also feels good to be able to use my technical background from my sound and music career in the entertainment industry. Combining a plush toy company with multimedia has a lot of technical challenges that uses technical skills. Delegating in a company works better when you have a core background of the skills you’re asking others to perform. It’s rewarding seeing the various skills that Joe and I have from our past careers come into play in the many facets of a company like Misfit Unlimited.

If there is one major reminder that reaffirms the importance of early childhood learning, it’s seeing how important problem solving is as a life skill when the brand you’re helping build consists of cartoon characters who teach problem solving to kids. Is life imitating art or is art imitating life. We’ll be enjoying our time in cartoon worlds trying to figure it out.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’ve always loved hiking and biking and since moving to Granada Hills, CA I’ve become totally obsessed with all the great trails in my surrounding area. Anyone who visits me would likely be coerced into hiking up an area mountain or going on a number of scenic bike trails in the greater LA area. If my visitor wanted to do the more proverbial tourist activities I’d take them to the Griffith Park Observatory but would make sure we hiked up the mountain trail to get there.

I’ve always preferred being outdoors and love going to places like The Huntington botanical gardens in Pasadena. Old town Pasadena would also likely get a visit because if we have to shop it’s gotta be outside and Old Town Pasadena is beautiful. I’m also a taco fanatic. Finding great taco carts around LA is worth every second and would definitely be on list of things to do.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My wife, Bonnie is a first grade teacher who often comes home talking about some of the challenges that her students face in the classroom. Knowing that the early childhood development years are the most important for learning I was inspired by my wife’s work as a teacher and the importance of inspiring children through creative learning.

Joe and I were both influenced by tv shows like “Sesame Street”, “Electric Company” and “Schoolhouse Rock” Those shows really stuck to us later in life and made a big impact on our lives. As a result we feel that kids can benefit from this kind of programming now more than ever. By incorporating art and music in short form stories and skits, kids embrace learning on a different level helping them retain information. If you want to know what I mean, ask yourself, how many “Schoolhouse Rock” songs do you still sing today?

One of our show ideas is based around a rock band of mini monsters called the “Spooksters“ who introduce children subject matter through music. We hope we can make the same impact on children that these influencial shows have done.

Website: http://misfitunlimited.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/giddies_plush

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Spooksters

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SpookstersRocksTV

Other: https://www.youtube.com/@QuipstersTv

Image Credits
Photo by Alexandra Corkran