Listen to the iHeart Media interview with CEO Colleen Marchi
This Auburn mom created an award-winning toy to help ease her son's sleeplessness and anxiety. It was named Toy of the Year by the Creative Child Magazine Awards and also won a Mom’s Choice Award and Parent’s Favorite Award!
This Gold Star Family donates part of the proceeds to charity: https://tunnel2towers.org/
https://magicalorderofbraveknights.com/
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The Story:
The Creator, Author and CEO, Colleen Marchi They say necessity is the mother of invention. In the case of the Magical Order of Brave Knights and Colleen Marchi, nothing could be truer. Especially if you consider after years of surviving on two to four hours of sleep while raising two young boys, and the worst was about to begin. Her youngest son at about age three began to fear not just the dark, but monsters under his bed. Night after night her son Cooper would awake and run from his room to hers. Then one night out desperation Colleen dressed one of her son’s favorite stuffed bears in the armor of a medieval knight. She explained how this bear had magical powers and would protect him as he slept from anything he feared!
It worked! It worked so well, her other son who was not afraid of the dark but had other fears wanted his own Brave Knight. Years later Colleen sat down and wrote the children’s storybook the Magical Order of Brave Knights. This led to the creation of Sir William (the plush bear), and the mag flashlight that projects eight different images of Sir William. Though, this is her first book, she already has plans for a series and an accompanying plush character for each. As a parent Colleen understood what it was like to function on too little sleep for years. And holding a bachelor’s and master’s degree in psychology, she understands the negative implications sleep loss can have on childrens social development, as well as on adult personal relationships and professional performance.
Colleen explains, “We believe our approach and our solution will empower young children to conquer their fears, build their self-confidence and help them develop the skills, knowledge and capabilities necessary to helping them one day transform our world into a much better place.”
The President, Rob Marchi Rob has been married to Colleen for the last eighteen years. Together they developed the Magical Order of Brave Knights, LLC. Rob has managed the company and its product development to include bringing them to market. His leadership skills were developed over 31 years of service in the U.S. Army, retiring in the rank of Colonel. He holds a master’s degree in Strategic Studies.