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Create A Castle Shark Tank Update: Where Are They Now?
Kevin and Laurie Lane, who own their own business, were featured on the third episode of season 14 of ‘Shark Tank’ to discuss their product, which is called Create A Castle. Create A Castle is a simple and speedy alternative to the often difficult and time-consuming process of building castles out of sand, snow, or other materials. Naturally, the clever items were able to turn the heads of quite a few people, and as a result, we chose to dive in and find out more about the firm, as well as its expansion since it appeared on the show!
Create A Castle: Who Are They And What Do They Do?
After earning an associate’s degree in the Fine Arts from Green Mountain College, Kevin Lane continued his education to earn a bachelor’s degree in the same field from Western Connecticut State University. Before beginning his current position as a Manager of Information Architecture & Web Design for LifeCare in 2000, he held positions as a Website Designer and Director of Design for a number of different companies between the years 1997 and 2000. His own online production and design business, Code Hounds LLC, was established by him in the year 2010, and it is located in New Milford, in the state of Connecticut. In addition to working there up to this very day, he also co-founded Create A Castle, LLC with Laurie Lane in June of 2017.
On the other hand, Laurie obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Retail Management from the University of Connecticut in 1991 and then went on to work as a Store Manager for The Gap after graduating from that institution. She started working for the Walt Disney Company as a District Manager in the year 1993. In June of 2010, she started her new job as an account manager at Code Hounds LLC, the firm that is owned by her husband, Kevin Lane. Laurie is not only a co-owner of Create A Castle, LLC but also works as an independent vacation planner in addition to her current role as account manager at the company.
Kevin Lane claimed that while he was on vacation in Laguna Beach, California, he came upon a father and son team working together to construct sandcastles on the beach. Although at first it appeared that the two were having a great time together, it wasn’t long before they started to get aggravated when the castle kept crumbling. Kevin has always had a strong interest in castles, and this, combined with his natural inclination as a web developer to find solutions to challenges, pushed him to put in a lot of mental effort to formulate an answer. Create A Castle was the result of him and his wife Laurie eventually putting their heads together and coming up with the idea.
Create A Castle offers a comprehensive kit for constructing a castle that makes the process not only enjoyable but also easy and accurate. Casts that are highly long-lasting and can be disassembled along their hinge are provided in the Create A Castle kit rather than the more conventional bucket or box that would have been used for construction. Before the user can gently unhinge the item after setting it on the ground and filling the cast with sand or snow, the cast must first be placed on the ground. In addition, each individual cast features fine detailing, such as brick walls, battlements, and other such elements; nevertheless, the kit is available in several different varieties, each of which includes an increasing number of buildings in proportion to the cost.
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Where Is Create A Castle Now?
After the launch of Create A Castle in 2017, Kevin and Laurie Lane were quite astonished and pleased by the great response they received to their new business idea. In 2018, the product was highlighted on the episode of “Live With Kelly and Ryan” that aired during the time that it was selling out quickly on store shelves. This helped to further increase the product’s popularity. Even Kevin was unable to avoid the limelight, as he was chosen in both 2018 and 2019 to receive the title of Connecticut Entrepreneur of the Year in the category of Community Favorite Venture. In addition, the Toy Association’s International Toy of the Year award was bestowed to Create a Castle in the year 2020.
At the present time, in addition to being offered for sale on the official Create A Castle website and on Amazon, the kits are currently stocked in a wide variety of retail establishments across the United States. These establishments include Dick’s Sporting Goods, Walmart, and Barnes and Noble, amongst many others. In addition, it has been claimed that Kevin and Laurie send their goods to Australia through the entertainment company Tomy, which is based in Japan.
Customers who are interested in purchasing a Create A Castle kit should be aware that there are several different sizes available, and the prices range from $19.99 to $49.99. In addition, the company offers a variety of products, including tool kits, castle flags and lights, castle lights, backpacks, t-shirts, and more, all of which can be purchased for prices ranging from $3.95 to $34.99. We wish Kevin and Laurie the very best of luck in all of their future undertakings and think that it is genuinely fantastic to watch Create A Castle’s meteoric leap to prominence.
Create A Castle on Shark Tank: Founders, backstory, cost and all about the business
The appearance on Shark Tank by Create A Castle is scheduled for the evening of Friday, October 7, 2022 at 8:00 pm Eastern Time (ET) on ABC. On the show Shark Tank, the husband-and-wife duo will present their business idea to the panel of investors and try to persuade them to invest in their company.
The couple will have to convince Lori Greiner, Daymond John, Mark Cuban, and Kevin O’Leary, as well as guest Shark Kendra Scott, that they are worthy of their investment. The following is how the forthcoming episode of Shark Tank is described in its synopsis:
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Who are the founders of Create A Castle appearing on Shark Tank
Kevin and Laurie Lane, a married couple, are the brains behind the creation of Create A Castle. The family’s invention was deemed worthy of the astounding TOTY Award in 2020, despite the fact that they were relative newcomers to the toy industry at the time.
Kevin has “over 23 years of experience in online design and development, front end development, and 5 years of experience in print design and production,” according to his profile on LinkedIn. He has a lot of enthusiasm for website design, which is one of his hobbies. According to him, the primary objective of the websites he designs is to ensure that they are “usable, accessible, and constructed to web standards utilising CSS, HTML, and JavaScript frameworks.”
In 1990, Kevin graduated with a degree in Fine Arts from Green Mountain College. The following year, he attended Western Connecticut State University and obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design.
In 1997, he began his professional career by working as a Web Designer for Digital Madness. Over the course of his career, he has held positions at a number of reputable businesses. In addition to that, he is a co-owner of the company Code Hounds, LLC, which he founded in 2010 along with his wife.
How was Create A Castle appearing on Shark Tank formed?
While that was going on, his wife Laurie graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor of Arts in Retail Management. In 1991, she began her professional life working for Gap as a Store Manager. Currently, she is the proprietor of both Create A Castle and Code Hounds. Having said that, she is also employed by MEI and Mousefan Travel as an Independent Vacation Planner.
Kevin and Laurie started the company that would become Create A Castle in June of 2017. In 2016, while Kevin was on vacation in Laguna Beach, California, he stumbled across a father and kid who were struggling to finish building a castle. This encounter inspired Kevin to think of a concept for a product that would help people in similar situations.
After integrating a number of different concepts in order to manufacture the sand castle, he came up with the idea for Create A Castle, which allows users to construct intricate castles and towers in the sand or snow without the need to struggle with “conventional one-dimensional sand moulds.”
Kevin got rid of the bucket and replaced it with an ultra-durable split-apart cast that had dual open hinges. Additionally, in 2018, the couple’s invention was highlighted on Live With Kelly and Ryan during a summer toy section thanks to the show’s hosts.
Forms That Can Be Used To Make A Castle
The following categories of Create A Castle kits and tools can be purchased separately:
Starter Tower Kit – $19.99
The Create A Castle Tool Kit may be purchased for $14.99.
Build A Castle With The Indoor Activity Kit From BuildmasterTM Costing $34.99
Build Your Own Castle With The Castlemagic Sand Or Snow From BuildmasterTM For Only $14.99!
The website also sells things like backpacks, window stickers, light kits, and T-shirts in addition to the kits themselves. All over the East Coast and the West Coast, the product can be purchased at retailers such as Walmart, Barnes and Noble, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and surf shops. Orders for Create A Castle can also be placed through the company’s main website.
Additionally, in order to market Create A Castle in Australia, this company has formed a partnership with Tomy, a Japanese entertainment company.
Watch the appearance of the Create A Castle product on Shark Tank this coming Friday on ABC. You can also watch it online via Hulu’s streaming service.