32-year-old quit teaching, built fidget-toy business with her dad that brought in $428K
What do you do when you need some time to focus? For thousands of people in the U.S., the answer may be reaching for a piece of technicolor plastic that makes a soft, satisfying “click” sound when pressed.
Many of these people have Victoria Baumann and Charlie Moreton, the father-daughter duo behind Victoria Essie Studio, who produce fidget toys and other ornaments from their home in North Carolina, to thank.
It’s only been a year since the duo debuted among 3D printed fidget clickers, and they’ve already captured the attention (including admiration) of millions. content creator Brittany Broski) via ASMR-style behind-the-scenes social posts.
Baumann, 32, founded Victoria Essie Studio in 2018 to sell her artwork and jewelry as a side business while working full-time as a teacher. Moreton, 51, is a 3D printing enthusiast who joined his daughter’s company in 2025 after coming across a cake-shaped design. The fidget clicker game that suits her daughter’s artistic style: cute, colorful, and inspired by Y2K nostalgia.
Baumann’s artistic style is cute, colorful, and influenced by Y2K nostalgia.
Nathanael Berry from CNBC Make It
Together, they tapped into the market for fidget clickers, or small devices designed to keep the user’s hands occupied when they’re inclined to fidget. Think of these as the next version of the 2010s fidget spinner. In 2025, the global fidget toy market was valued at over $9 billion. Fortune Business InsightsThere are predictions that it will grow in the next decade.
Victoria Essie Studio generated $428,000 in revenue in 2025, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. What started as a two-printer operation has now grown into a full-fledged business with major expansion plans.
Clicking on a trend
Fidget clickers are a type of tactile tool, sometimes with an auditory component, that people press, click, or wiggle to help regulate their emotions or concentrate on tasks. Health experts say they could be especially useful people with anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
Victoria Essie Studio fidgets have “the same type of mechanical component as a mechanical keyboard,” says Baumann. “So it has a really nice tactile and clicking sensation.”
Fidgeting isn’t just for kids, says Baumann. “There are a lot of adults who need to click on something throughout the day.”
Nathanael Berry from CNBC Make It
After finding initial success selling their first cupcake figures, the duo began working with artists who created designs for these toys, from cereal bowls to mushrooms, and then paid a commercial license for the design so they could print them. Baumann and Moreton also use fidgets that resemble inhalers, sticky note keepers, and crayons. “Fidget, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle”
The duo work closely together throughout the production process: Baumann goes to Moreton’s home, they decide which fidget they want to make, choose colors and print. Each fidget consists of roughly two to six 3D printed plastic parts. A printed page produces several dozen wiggly components, depending on their size. Simpler fidgets can take around 17 hours to print; More complex and larger projects in different colors may take up to three to four days.
Moreton and Baumann now have more than two dozen 3D printers for Victoria Essie Studio.
Nathanael Berry from CNBC Make It
The assembly process is pretty simple: Baumann and Moreton say they can put together about 100 fidget clickers in under an hour. After the assembly is completed, Baumann packs the products and takes them home to ship.
They say themed product discounts work: Consider a food collection that includes interesting-looking pastries, ice cream cones, candy bars, and the like. The best-selling fidget is a heart-shaped box of chocolates, like the ones you might get for Valentine’s Day, but with clickable plastic truffles placed inside instead of edible treats. The chocolates look so realistic that often when Baumann posts videos of himself putting the pieces together, people comment (jokingly or otherwise) that he should be wearing food safety gloves.
running the numbers
The business generated gross revenue of approximately $428,000 and net profit of approximately $94,000 in 2025, according to documents reviewed by Make It.
Moreton says the business averages 1,500 orders a month; On discount days when new designs are published, up to 400 orders can be placed at a time. Standard size or handheld fidget Fidgets cost $100 to $125.
Victoria Essie Studio has found success with its fidget food creations made to resemble cupcakes, ice cream, waffles, chocolate, cereal and more.
Nathanael Berry from CNBC Make It
The business’s biggest costs include paying for equipment (they currently have 30 printers), product parts (including filament fed into the printers), shipping supplies, and subscriptions to the artists whose designs they print.
Their customer base generally consists of people with neurodivergence as well as women, and they vary in age.
“People realized that it wasn’t just a thing [for] “Kids,” says Baumann, “there are a lot of adults who need to click on things throughout the day.”
Leaving education for entrepreneurship
Baumann says he never considered starting a business. She started her career as a preschool teacher working with children ages 2 to 5 and taught between 2015 and 2019. Baumann says the pay is low and he often works odd jobs at nights and on weekends.
“I absolutely loved being a teacher, but being a teacher really drained me,” she says. Baumann began creating and selling watercolor paintings and polymer clay jewelry to earn extra income in 2018, and she says her students’ parents encouraged her to continue doing so.
He says he quit teaching in 2019 due to burnout and took a part-time job running an ice cream shop. In 2022, she quit her ice cream business and made Victoria Essie Studio her full-time job.
“I thought I would be teaching and working two part-time jobs for the rest of my life,” Baumann says. “Being able to do this is a breath of fresh air.”
Nathanael Berry from CNBC Make It
“I really thought I was going to be a teacher for the rest of my life, but I am very, very grateful for the opportunity this has all brought me,” Baumann says.
He says he feels good about having a regular income; He says he pays himself $36,000 in 2025 and plans to increase that to $78,000 in 2026, nearly four times his teacher salary. Baumann says that while working from home, she feels like a more prepared mother to her 5-year-old daughter.
“I thought I was going to be teaching and working two part-time jobs for the rest of my life,” she says. “Being able to do this is a breath of fresh air.”
Starting a family business
In addition to his day job as a network security engineer, Moreton works with his daughter. In 2025, Victoria opted not to take a salary from Essie Studio, saying: “That was part of me buying it and making sure the business was healthy enough before I took any money out of it.”
In 2026, he started receiving a weekly salary of $750. In addition to his full-time job, he spends about 40 hours a week on studio-related work.
Moreton says his partners put their profits back into the studio, in addition to their salaries, and never had to take out a business loan.
The father-daughter duo behind Victoria Essie Studio with mother and boyfriend.
Nathanael Berry from CNBC Make It
Both father and daughter agree that their working relationship develops naturally, even during long days when hundreds of orders are packed. “[A] The benefit of working with your family is that we can each see when the other person is falling a little behind or running low on battery, and we can pick up each other’s slack,” says Baumann.
Moreton says the best part of working on the business is spending time with her daughter and choosing new designs together.
Look ahead
Beyond the fidgets that make up the majority of its stock, Victoria Essie Studio still sells a variety of earrings and homewares like trinket plates and coasters.
Baumann says his current lifestyle is much better than when he was teaching and juggling multiple part-time jobs.
“I loved what I did and the impact I made. But today’s teaching environment and [people] “My expectations of teachers are not why I started teaching and are not relevant to where I see myself in the future,” he says, citing the daily challenges, low pay and general stress that he says plague the teaching profession.
Baumann says he’s glad his work still benefits children, especially neurodivergent children. While the majority of their customers are adults, many also purchase products for the children in their lives, such as a teacher purchasing clickers for her students or a dental office replenishing its toy box for children who visit their office.
He has no regrets about returning, saying: “I’m definitely happier running a fidget than being a teacher.”
Looking to get ahead at work? Then you need to learn how to make effective small talk. In CNBC’s new online course, How to Talk to People at Workexpert trainers share practical strategies to help you use everyday conversations to gain visibility, build meaningful relationships, and accelerate your career growth. Sign up today!
