Just a couple months ago, The Physics Dimension was still just an idea—an exciting, half-formed spark that lived mostly in late-night brainstorming sessions between the two of us: a science educator with a love for performance and a strategist-organizer with a talent for turning vision into action.
Today, we’re proud to say that spark has become a reality! We’ve launched our website, soft booked our first events, purchased our materials, started outreach to our community and feel that we’ve built something real. It’s still new and evolving, but it’s ours—and we want to share how we got here.
Where It All Started
We met doing community theater, so it’s no surprise that our shared love of storytelling, performance, spectacle, and community engagement formed the backbone of this business. With almost two decades of science education experience between us—from planetariums and children’s museums to high school physics classrooms—we knew how powerful it could be to combine live demonstrations with strong characters and compelling narratives.
The idea has lived in the backs of our brains since shortly after we married in 2016 as “the dream”, but coalesced as we raised our first son into curious toddlerhood and experienced the birth of our second child. We took our boys to College of DuPage’s STEMcon in April of 2025 and saw a packed demonstration set by Kate the Chemist, who had been brought in from her home base in Indiana. That when we realized how few options existed locally for truly engaging, high-quality science entertainment—especially for audiences who deserved more than a dry lecture or a noisy, unfocused assembly, or the undifferentiated basic demo set to which most existing demonstrators default.
We envisioned a company that didn’t just “do demos,” but told stories. That offered immersive, live experiences that made science feel magical and meaningful. Something that felt like stepping into a comic book—but left you smarter when you stepped out.
From Sketches to Strategy
Like any startup – or perhaps like any house with young children around, our early days were full of randomly texted thoughts and plans, new apps to track different ideas, spreadsheets to see if this could really work, and half-drunk cups of coffee. We mapped out show formats, argued lovingly about names and character quirks, and reworked prop storage plans late into the night, after the day job was over and the kids were asleep.
Some of the biggest turning points included:
- Choosing a name that felt theatrical but rooted in science—The Physics Dimension became our working title and stuck.
- Filing our LLC and working through the many little steps required to open a business bank account, get insured, and operate legally.
- Designing our first modular set piece—a rotating carousel-style table that fits in a Honda Odyssey and can travel to schools, libraries, or corporate events.
- Finding vendors that support our mission, looking for local artists and studios who could meet our needs and timelines, but also let us support other small local businesses.
- Developing a catalog of show formats, from our premium Story Shows with theatrical plots and original characters, to budget-friendly Classic Demonstrations, and our immersive walk-up station experience, The Carousel of Science.
It wasn’t just about building a company. We were building something that reflected our values: integrity, curiosity, theatricality, and a deep respect for young learners and their families.
Balancing Family, Full-Time Jobs, and a Business
We’re parents of two young kids, working full-time jobs while building this business on nights, weekends, and stolen nap times. The juggle has been intense—but oddly motivating. We want our kids to see what it looks like to build something from scratch, to follow your curiosity, and to do hard things for the sake of joy and purpose.
That also meant making tough calls about what we couldn’t do yet. We haven’t hired a team (yet), and we’ve had to scale back or delay ideas we were initially excited about in order to stay sane. But it’s also helped us focus. Everything we build now has to earn its place.
Working With Our Community
We’ve been incredibly lucky to be surrounded by friends and colleagues who believe in what we’re doing. Whether it was borrowing tools, reviewing logo drafts, brainstorming names for characters like Dr. Destructo, or just listening and helping play with our kids when things felt overwhelming—this business has grown in community soil.
Even some of the tough moments—like being priced out of working with a preferred vendor—have ultimately helped us clarify who we are and what kind of relationships we want to build. We’ve been learning (sometimes the hard way) that protecting your time and vision is part of the work.
What’s Next
Now that the website is live and the first few bookings are underway, we’re turning our focus to building strong school-year partnerships, continuing to refine our set and visuals, and exploring ways to make our science storytelling even more immersive. We’ll be blogging, posting behind-the-scenes content, and building an email list to keep everyone in the loop.
We’re also dreaming bigger: long-term, we want to be known not just for entertaining, but for inspiring. For making science feel like a stage anyone can step onto. For being the show that kids (and grownups) remember years later as the moment it all clicked.
If you’re reading this—whether you’re a teacher, a fellow parent, an event planner, or someone with your own wild idea—we hope this gives you a glimpse into the real, messy, joyful process of starting something new. We’re honored to be here, and even more excited for what’s to come.
Thanks for being part of the dimension.
— The Physics Dimension Team
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