Help Make Caines Games a Reality!

No one I know loves working as much as I do! I once worked an internship and a retail job all while still attending college and enjoyed it so much I continued working two jobs throughout the summer just because. I work multiple jobs because I love the experience of putting my resourceful to work, inspiring others around me to work harder and better and because, oddly, I feel incredibly at home and at peace when I am working. In October 2014 I quit working to answer the question "what would it look like if I put my time and dedication into myself?" I left my full time job in New York to move to Los Angeles to strike out on my own. I set out to start a publishing company for toys and games! I had grown to love the industry the more I learned about it (and played! ...because, let's face it, it's not the most boring industry to get into) and the more I attended lectures, tinkered with making my own games and researched, the more avenues for generating revenue became apparent to me. I put my money where my dreams were and quit my old life...

I was my first investor! Six months before leaving New York City I began saving up as much of my income as I could (even moving home to save on rent), bought a one way ticket and set out to figure out what this self-employed dream really entailed. I used my savings to cover my rent, saved on buying a car (a cost I knew I could not incur upfront) and have been riding around Los Angeles via the bus and subway and YES, LOS ANGELES HAS A SUBWAY SYSTEM - barely- to give every bit of myself to pulling together the building blocks of what would one day become a profitable endeavor. In true Ashley fashion, I could not resist not being in a workplace everyday, so I took on a part-time job in Los Angeles, spending every additional spare moment at the Beverly Hills Library, the UCLA library and Downtown Central library reading, working and networking as much as I could...

Six months later I have a game app in production (it's called Tinsel and will be available for download in the app store by the end of the year!) and a card game ready for first round manufacturing. My new year's resolution of being in the app store and on shelves - even if I am not yet operating with a profit- is so close I can taste it! In these past 6 months I have also used my networking prowess to get meetings with the head designers at Mattel, the head of the international organization, Women in Toys, and the CFO of Activision (publisher of games like Call of Duty and Skylander). I can say with great confidence that neither my time nor my money has been wasted and it is because I was my first investor that I can say that your time or money will not be wasted either!

So why do I need $50k? My savings has run out. I am just now hitting a stride with getting my projects off the ground and I have seen immense value in me pouring all of my time and energy into doing so. Working on these projects full time has allowed me to make as much progress as I have and I know that with a little more time I can be completely financially self-sufficient even if I am bringing in only enough profits to pay my bills at first. With this $50,000 I can buy a used car and start driving my games to game shops around the greater Los Angeles area to play test and market. With this $50,000 I can be sure that my rent and living expenses can be paid for the next 12 months so that I may focus entirely on becoming profitable and networking within the industry. With this $50,000 I can pay the legal fees to incorporate Caines Games and apply for trademarks. With this $50,000 I can have the resources to take industrial design classes to expand my skill set and the types of toys/games I can create. With this $50,000 I can purchase a 3D printer. Most importantly, with this $50,000 I can keep pushing at my dream full time!

Any contribution is GREATLY GREATLY APPRECIATED and I would feel indebted to all of you forever :-)

Ashley