Why Play Might Be Your Best Medicine: With Sloomoo Institute Founder, Karen Robinovitz

TUP EP 096

Music: [: 00:00:00

Aransas: can continue to uplift others as they uplift themselves. Hi, it's Aransas, and I'm the host of the Uplifters podcast. And every week I get to introduce you to really inspiring women.

And it feels funny on a show [: 00:00:30

And that not only can we get through them, we can have more positive impact on the world through them. [00:01:00] The story I'm going to share with you today is the story of Karen Rabinovitz. Karen's done a lot of things in her career. She's the co founder of the Slimoo Institute, which is an experiential space that gets folks [00:01:15] involved in multi sensory play slime.

Architects, the first talent [: 00:01:30

Forbes called her one of the best branded women in social media, but [00:01:45] she turned to slime. She was doing all this big heady stuff, running big businesses, and then she started playing with slime, which she found after a series of devastating tragedies in [00:02:00] her personal life that she's going to tell you about today, the kind of tragedies would understandably make any of us think.

I possibly get through this? [: 00:02:15

And so I am really, really excited [00:02:45] to introduce you to Karen, my friends. I get to talk to visionaries and trailblazers and people who've turned pain into purpose all day long, but rarely do I get to talk to somebody like you who has done all three. [00:03:00] So it really is such a joy to get to talk to you and to hear your story.

nd so I get to receive those [: 00:03:15

[00:03:30] So I'm really, really glad that. You're here today and that we get to share this story.

Karen: I'm happy to be here with you. So

Aransas: where do we even begin, Karen?

w I came to Slumo Institute. [: 00:03:45

From the outside, my life looked bleak. Great. I had this thriving company. I was at the [00:04:00] forefront of a major movement and upheaval in the way we do marketing and PR and storytelling. And I had this really cool, good looking husband. And behind the [00:04:15] scenes, The last five years of my 14 year marriage were shambles.

mental health challenges and [: 00:04:30

In the last five years of that marriage, it was not the same man I married. And I think I started to feel a lack at work because as you build a company, [00:05:00] sometimes you stop doing the things you love the most. Like I loved finding people and building them and being involved in like their day to day strategy and pushing down doors, bringing them to the forefront when nobody would see them and [00:05:15] helping them get saved.

separation, he passed away. [: 00:05:30

And I had a massive nervous [00:05:45] breakdown. A real hardcore nervous breakdown. I was not hospitalized. In retrospect, I easily could have been. I wound up leaving my company. I wound up being completely incapable [00:06:00] of functioning on any normal level for literally over a year. I was screaming, crying in the middle of the night, waking up.

shambles. I hated myself. I [: 00:06:15

And I remember going to an acupuncturist who asked me if I was in a car accident because my body was such a mess. And I was like, I was basically in a car accident. And nine months into this [00:06:45] journey of pain, my cousin was murdered in the Parkland school shooting. And so watching my family in pain and realizing the preciousness of just never knowing what will happen.[00:07:00]

r. I know this is heavy, I'm [: 00:07:15

And I wanted to see it because I grew up [00:07:30] with slime in the 70s, the first time around, by Mattel in a garbage can with like eyeballs and worms. And it was my favorite thing as a child. So I knew there was a cultural zeitgeist around slime and handmade slime in today's world. I [00:07:45] knew there was a massive phenomenon around ASMR and hashtag satisfying.

said, you've been sitting on [: 00:08:00

So we took that off the floor. When they were leaving, I was like, I just had four hours of complete [00:08:15] unadulterated joy. And I was out of my pain. In those four hours, I was me as a seven year old. And I never thought I would ever see that silly side, that joyful [00:08:30] personality in my energy again. And I never thought I would meet myself as a seven year old again.

e a list of kids slimers who [: 00:08:45

And then I found complete happiness in opening my packages. And then I would sink my hands into these packages and I was enthralled. What it smelled like, what it, the colors, [00:09:15] the textures, the add ins, all of these artful creations. I was obsessed. And when I was in Slime, I was out of paint. So I wanted more.

And it became the [: 00:09:30

Like, in retrospect, I know why the universe did not give me a child, and it was because I could not have handled a child in the pain I was in. And I [00:10:00] wanted to bring slime to a really good friend because, uh, my friend Sarah was struggling with equal levels of trauma. So Sarah and I have been friends for 17 years.

ed us was our joint love and [: 00:10:15

And it was about getting people out of their offices and into new environments to stimulate creativity. And I went to see one of her spaces because I was using it for an [00:10:45] event and I saw all the art and I'm really into art. So I knew all the artists on the wall. And when we realized we both had this passion, I was like, is there any way we can be friends?

s how we became friends. And [: 00:11:00

A beautiful side effect of the syndrome is happiness. So her daughter is [00:11:30] incredibly joyful and laughs a lot and dances a lot, but she goes through life with a lot of challenges. Ten years ago, Sarah's husband had bilateral strokes. Out of nowhere, woke up at the age of 50, And that [00:11:45] led to a brain injury and he now is disabled and nonverbal and unable to do any activities on his own.

, cannot take a sip of water [: 00:12:00

And in a way she lost her husband. What the beauty that she found out of this is she really found this way to appreciate what she calls other, [00:12:30] other ways of thinking, other ways of seeing the world. Because inclusion is not just about the surface of like race and religion or size. It's about abilities, physical, intellectual.

It's about so much more [: 00:12:45

I really had never met anybody until I met Sammy and I embraced Sammy like she was mine from the day I met her. So I watched her grow up, I watch what she experiences and [00:13:15] she is like my niece in a way. And I said, Sarah, all the stress and pressure you have on you, I need to bring you slime. So I, you know, at this time we were in our late forties and I came to her house with [00:13:30] slime and we sat on the floor and both found the same, like, Oh my God, the first time I brought smelled like Froot Loop cereal.

he dining room table and I'm [: 00:13:45

What about that brand doing a slime? This is not just a kid's toy. And then we looked over at her two daughters and that's the moment that changed us when we said this is the first toy they were able to experience equally, that they could [00:14:15] actually play in the same way. and not have to have words, but share their joy.

eal estate. And I said, I'll [: 00:14:30

And Literally, from that day, 12 months later, we opened Slumu Institute, which is a location based experience. You buy a ticket, and it's not just playing with slime, it's, it's a whole journey of scent [00:15:00] and sound and slime and other yummy things that you get to touch and squeeze. But doing things you can't do at home, like you can slingshot slime, you walk on a lake of hundreds and hundreds of gallons of slime.

n a really beautiful setting [: 00:15:15

and neurodiverse inclusivity. So 10 percent of our workforce are neurodiverse adults who have job coaches that support them in getting through their days. [00:15:45] And that is really the crux of how we built our world. And through this, is where I really found a lot of healing. And I'm not the same person, but I am fully living.

And I'm not saying [: 00:16:00

And it's hard because I'm doing things I've never done before. Like, I've never had five pieces of real estate across the [00:16:30] country. Five real retail spaces. Yeah. Anyway. 12, 000 to 28, 000 square feet and 400 employees and 750, 000 to a million guests. And like, it's a real challenge. And at the [00:16:45] same time, I get to literally play with slime at all my meetings and exercise this childlike wonder in my soul all

Aransas: the time.

feels so powerful. The thing [: 00:17:00

And yet there are these moments like. You were describing here [00:17:30] where all the fragments seem to come together to create something that never could have existed without that. So what has that experience been like for you? I

vel, it felt really natural. [: 00:17:45

And if you're an adult unleashing your inner child. And just letting all the other crap [00:18:15] go, right? The world is so hard. Nobody can read the news. Every minute is something devastating. And it is so nice to have a moment where you just leave all that behind. My entire career, which began in fashion, [00:18:30] there was a piece of me that always felt unfulfilled because I love fashion and I, I love the superfluousness of all of it.

artistry of all of it. It is [: 00:18:45

I was completely caught up in, I need these shoes, I need this bag. This makes me a better person. [00:19:15] This makes me more lovable. This is where I fill my voids. And at the end of the day, no handbag makes somebody a better person. No shoe solves a problem. And I don't think that I was ever really. [00:19:30] in my truest form until I started Slumu.

w I'm making these faces. My [: 00:19:45

And all my inspiration, when I think about the space, is coming from this space. world of [00:20:15] whether it's fashion or contemporary art or modern art. And I'll be like, Oh my God, we should hang the mannequins upside down because slime is a non Newtonian fluid and it's the gravity pulls it down, but you're still holding it up.

So that's what [: 00:20:30

Aransas: What a freeing place to be. And I love that question you ask about where am I not being nourished, where, which elements of myself are not [00:21:15] being fueled. Do you continue to ask yourself that question?

Karen: All the time. I mean, when I think about having a life that was largely based in the fashion industry, It is really based on what you look like.

curities about that my whole [: 00:21:30

And I, Think about how do I spend time with people I love? How do I fill my cup in other ways? During the period [00:22:00] of my grief and my pain, I'm really into meditation and yoga. I couldn't do any of it. I actually literally physically, A, I couldn't sit because I would be hysterical, and B, the craziest thing happens to your body when you're in pain.

ve your memories are in your [: 00:22:15

And now I realize there was nothing I could have done. Because everybody's journey is their own journey. And if you offer [00:23:00] somebody the olive branch, they have to take it. And I am a huge believer in asking for help as a sign of strength and not to hide when you need help. Whether it's with a deck you're working on or an emotional [00:23:15] situation or a deadline, anything, anything.

or help. It's okay to make a [: 00:23:30

Now let's say, what, what could you do? How do you grow from this? How do you accept yourself? I know I sound. [00:23:45]

that humans can get through [: 00:24:00

More appreciation, more presence. And I hear in your story, of [00:24:15] course, so much loss and so much pain and so much proof. But in the moment that you were in all that pain, even if it's as small as I got a bad grade on a test that I worked really hard on, or it's [00:24:30] as great as I lost the love of my life. Yeah.

It feels kind of catastrophic in the moment. And so, what do you want to say to the people who are in the moment of pain? I think it's ask

: for help, ask for support. [: 00:24:45

And what I want to leave behind in the world, which is just [00:25:00] permission for joy and to play. I think it's be patient with yourself because it can take years. I don't think there's, you know, one answer. It's not like, Oh, play with Simon. You'll be better. It just, for me, it provided [00:25:15] escape. So maybe it's a coloring book.

on the floor bawling, crying [: 00:25:30

And you have to just grab onto the moments [00:25:45] that aren't easy. are there. And it's, I can say that the second, cause like the second I'm in a really great, joyful place, I'm having fun talking to you, my family in Florida, when we get off, I'll go into 900 emails and [00:26:00] just get in my zone and get really stressed and anxious.

very day, think of one, just [: 00:26:15

That's who you really are. So I have been now keeping a little journal and it's like, I wrote down there something I had forgotten about, like got the school principal to give me the auditorium to produce and direct Annie for [00:26:45] my school play. Little mover and shaker you. Yes. Third grade I was making Annie happen.

elt like, even though it was [: 00:27:00

Yeah. To live the rest of my life in a way that I actually believe the people who are no longer here would want me to live it.

d maybe easy isn't the goal. [: 00:27:30

Karen: I think you just hit it. It's when we're on the other side, if our souls go somewhere, and I actually believe our souls go somewhere, we realize the meanings are, and they're never more money [00:27:45] or more something.

It's the joy, it's acceptance, it's resilience, it's connection.

ion to other human beings is [: 00:28:00

Karen: So we have done research, uh, with. the National Institute for Play, and there is a lot of science behind how play [00:28:15] connects you to other people and connects you back to yourself.

We did a study with a group called Good Quests and

Music: we

percent said they felt [: 00:28:30

Aransas: Yeah, I'm blanking on that guy's name in Northern, [00:28:45] California

Karen: Dr.

Stuart Brown. Stuart. Yes. I love him. Guess who I'm spending the day with on December 10th

ome work with him years ago. [: 00:29:00

I was thinking about it the entire time you were talking here. It is this deep primal need to play [00:29:15] that as children we don't think about, we don't intellectualize, we just do. And we lose it as adults. Yes. And we rob ourselves of the opportunity to heal is what I take from your story because we're [00:29:30] so, we bear down on healing, we bear down on hurt instead of just getting out of our heads and.

ing about how our body holds [: 00:29:45

Karen: Yep. And movement is tied to mental fitness. They're all one. And, you know, if you think about that play language of children, you can put children [00:30:15] who don't speak the same language in a room together and they will play and feel connected without understanding any words. I

Aransas: think the themes here are play, presence, and a place for your purpose.

Karen: [: 00:30:30

Aransas: literally built a place for your purpose that invited others to play. It's been a joy to talk to you. It has been. I can't wait to meet you in person.

Karen: I

Aransas: can't [: 00:30:45

Where in [00:31:00] Brooklyn we're doing it and Brooklyn Brewery. Okay. Yeah. Amazing. Yeah. So you have to come. I will definitely be there. And, uh, meet all these other inspiring women. I feel like the greatest way to boost our own energy to do big, [00:31:15] brave things in the world is to hear stories and to be around other people who are doing big, brave things in the world.

outside ourselves. So yeah, [: 00:31:30

And then. Join us in conversation over at theuplifterspodcast. com, head over to Spotify, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your [00:32:00] podcast and like, follow and rate our show. It'll really help us connect with more uplifters and it'll ensure you never miss one of these beautiful stories. Mmm.

Music: Big love [: 00:32:15

And I'm dwelling the perplexing, though you find it flexing. Toss a star in half for beer around. Best love for relish [00:32:30] in a new prime land, a tree in springtime dance. With that all hindsight, bring the sun to t. Lift you up, whoa, Lift [00:32:45] you up, whoa, Lift you up, whoa,

Lift you up.

Lift you up, [: 00:33:00

I cried. It's that little thing you did with your voice. Right, in the pre chorus, right? I was [00:33:30] like Mommy, stop crying. You're disturbing the peace.