Kevin and Laurie Lane, who own their own company, were featured on the third episode of “Shark Tank” Season 14 to discuss their product, which is called Create A Castle. Create A Castle is a quick and easy alternative to the often long and difficult process of building castles out of sand, snow or other materials. Naturally, the nifty items might have turned quite a few people’s heads, and so we chose to dive in and find out more about the company, and how it has grown since appearing on the show!
Create a castle: who are they and what do they do?
After earning an associate’s degree in fine arts from Green Mountain College, Kevin Lane went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in the same field from Western Connecticut State University. Prior to starting his current role as Director of Information Architecture and Web Design for LifeCare in 2000, he held web designer and design director positions for a number of different companies. between the years 1997 and 2000. His own online production and design company, Code Hounds LLC, was established by him in 2010 and is located in New Milford, Connecticut. Along with working there till date, he also co-founded Create A Castle, LLC with Laurie Lane in June 2017.
On the other hand, Laurie earned her Bachelor of Arts in Retail Management from the University of Connecticut in 1991 and then worked as a store manager for The Gap after graduating from that institution. She began working for the Walt Disney Company as a District Manager in 1993. In June 2010, she began her new job as an Account Manager at Code Hounds LLC, the company owned by her husband, Kevin Lane. . Laurie is not only co-owner of Create A Castle, LLC, but also works as a freelance vacation planner in addition to her current role as an account manager at the company.
Kevin Lane claimed that while vacationing in Laguna Beach, California, he came across a father and son team working together to build sand castles on the beach. Although at first it seemed like the two were having a great time together, it wasn’t long before they started to get worse as the castle continued to crumble. Kevin has always had a strong interest in castles, and that, combined with his natural inclination as a web developer to find solutions to challenges, caused him to put a lot of mental effort into formulating an answer. Create A Castle is the result of him and his wife Laurie finally brainstorming and coming up with the idea.
Create A Castle offers a complete kit for building a castle that makes the process not only enjoyable but also easy and precise. Very durable and dismountable castings 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 unhook the item after placing it on the ground and filling the plaster with sand or snow, the plaster must first be placed on the ground. Additionally, each individual cast features fine detail, such as brick walls, battlements, and the like; nevertheless, the kit comes in several different varieties, each of which includes an increasing number of buildings in proportion to the cost.
Read also: Who is Khasha Touloei? Facts to Know About Doctor and Jada Spices Founder of Shark Tank
Where is Create a Castle now?
After the launch of Create A Castle in 2017, Kevin and Laurie Lane were quite amazed and thrilled with the great response they received to their new business idea. In 2018, the product was featured on the episode of “Live With Kelly and Ryan” which aired when it was selling out quickly on store shelves. This helped to further increase the popularity of the product. Even Kevin couldn’t avoid the limelight as he was chosen in 2018 and 2019 to receive Connecticut Entrepreneur of the Year in the Community Favorite Venture category. Additionally, the Toy Association’s International Toy of the Year Award was presented to Create a Castle in 2020.
Currently, in addition to being offered for sale on the official Create A Castle website and Amazon, the kits are currently stocked at a wide variety of retail establishments across the United States. . These establishments include Dick’s Sporting Goods, Walmart, and Barnes and Noble, among others. Additionally, it was claimed that Kevin and Laurie send their wares to Australia through Japan-based entertainment company Tomy.
Customers looking to purchase a Create A Castle kit should be aware that there are several different sizes and 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, etc., all of which can be purchased at prices ranging from $3.95 to $34.99. We wish Kevin and Laurie the best of luck in all their future endeavours, and think it’s truly fantastic to see Create A Castle’s meteoric leap to prominence.
Create a castle on Shark Tank: founders, history, cost and all about the company