Selling soft toys is a relatively trivial task. Organ trafficking is definitely illegal. But Agnieszka Nieradka has come up with an idea for a business which is completely legal and absolutely non-trivial: she manufactures and sells human body organs made of plush.

“It is a plush alternative to discover the human body”, explains the owner of Pluszektorium. “After all, you can’t cut your stomach open to satisfy your curiosity. My soft toys can help you discover your body in a funny way, though. It’s also a fantastic learning tool, especially for kids. Soft toys introduce kids to the basics of anatomy, help them to overcome the fear caused by a visit to the doctor, make their stay at hospital more pleasant and enable them to hug their body organs – literally.”

Agnieszka Nieradka is a dietician, a graduate of the Pomeranian Medical University. Initially, her career plans were centered around the dietician profession. However, she soon discovered that it wasn’t meant for her. Her passion for good food is developed by writing a blog, where she regularly records her impressions of Szczecin restaurants, though. She has also tried her hand at doing a full-time job but has effectively been discouraged by a lack of development opportunities. Setting up her own business turned out to be the only way out. But the requirement was that it should be inspiring and non-trivial enough to be a source of satisfaction, fun and a sense of fulfillment.

She came up with the idea of Pluszektorium at the beginning of the year. “Medicine-related topics have always been close to me”, recalls the author of plush body organs. “Some time ago, I have also seen a little patient’s visit in a modern dentist’s office to learn that details of the treatment may be given in an interesting and patient-friendly way. That’s when I thought that appropriate accessories could make it even easier and more pleasant.”

When the idea started to become clear, its author bought a sewing machine and began the training. “At that point I had the picture of what I wanted to create but didn’t know exactly how to do it”, explains Agnieszka. “It was made by trial and error. I started the project by designing the shapes of individual soft toys. Needless to say, I relied on illustrations and photographs of real human body organs”.

That was when she secured cooperation of those that helped her to complete the project, among others, Alicja Gapińska, a graphic designer from Szczecin, who is the author of the toys’ smiling, angry and sad faces. The business owner has also found a place where these are computer embroidered. That’s the only part which is not hand-made. Apart from that, the entire manufacturing process, including design, cutting out, sewing, filling etc., is carried out by Agnieszka herself.

So far, her apartment has been used as the workshop. Obviously, the owner of Pluszektorium is also responsible for distribution of products. Sales are made through a website but a professional online store is planned to be opened soon. However, the plush business was launched in the real world and Agnieszka’s works were presented at a weekend event held on Jasne Błonia in Szczecin. “Although I had planned to allow myself more time to refine the details, the opportunity to present what I had made opened up a bit earlier”, explains the owner of Pluszektorium. “I received a warm welcome and sold a few toys at the event. And then I was buried under the avalanche of orders”.

The news of a plush liver, heart, thyroid gland and uterus spread across Szczecin like wildfire. The number of “likes” on the company’s social networking website soared dramatically. The newspapers began to write at length about the original soft toys, and most importantly, the first orders, from across the country, appeared in the mailbox. “This week, I have already sent my products to Poznań, Gdynia and Katowice”, says Agnieszka smiling. “Currently, orders are placed mainly by individual clients. However, I would like the body organs to be bought by doctors and dentists in the future. The first negotiations are underway. In the first place, though, I need to receive the certificates required for toys”.

The owner of Pluszektorium hopes that in the near future the scope of her business will be broad enough to find separate premises for that purpose, buy additional equipment and, possibly, hire an employee. She is also considering an external capital injection in the form of an EU grant for further growth. “What is certain is that I will never risk lowering the quality of my products”, she assures us. “They will always be hand-made and unique just like human body organs. New models are already being designed, including the brain and kidney”.

ŁP