EUCLID, Ohio — A Northeast Ohio mom and entrepreneur is preparing to take the plunge and put it all on the line.
Kayla Lupean is making her national TV debut, diving headfirst into ABC's Shark Tank Friday night on News 5.
She's hoping her product, a portable dollhouse, will score her the deal of a lifetime.
The toy is small and compact, but it's the concept that's gaining major buzz.
Lupean created it during the peak of the pandemic after she was forced to shut down her longtime photography business.
Her goal is to blow the sharks out of the water--and turn the toy market upside down.
"I felt the idea flow through me. Like, my body was buzzing, and I just intuitively knew. This was going to be something," Lupean said.
The idea that came to Euclid's Lupean Christmas evening of 2020 transformed into "Play Maysie".
It's dubbed a "portable world of play".
The compact tin lunchbox or "cozy case" folds out into a little doll house with cute, stuffed characters that you can take with you wherever you go.
"The furniture is attached so the kids can't lose the pieces. So, less mess, more play," Lupean said.
Each stuffed character is diverse and carefully crafted for all kids to see themselves in.
The adoptive mom's inspiration for it all is her own pride and joy—her 5-year-old daughter Elsie.
If you look closely—you'll spot her on the branding and in one of the characters.
"The only one that is based off of someone is the curly blonde. Her name is Kate, but I designed her for my daughter," Lupean said.
Years ago, Lupean bought Elsie a dollhouse, but she noticed she either wasn't playing with it because it was too hard to move, or Elsie would take the items with her and lose them.
"All of these little pieces for the dollhouse would follow me around the house and would end up in the couch, under seats, in my purse. Everywhere except the dollhouse," Lupean said.
In the years to come— Kayla poured her heart and savings into perfectly crafting the product and eventually created a Kickstarter campaign to help further fund its development.
It was there that ABC Shark Tank producers discovered her in 2021 and would give her the opportunity of a lifetime.
What would follow was a rigorous application and casting process.
She actually shot her episode back in September 2022.
Lupean says she's been a longtime fan of the ABC hit show.
She never missed an episode, watching since it first debuted more than a decade ago.
Lupean says in a way she manifested this moment.
"When I first had my idea for Play Maysie I was working at the computer and I stopped and I literally said out loud by myself—'Hi, Sharks! My name is Kayla Lupean and I kind of laughed to myself—someday,'" Lupean said.
Lupean says it's a dream come true to finally experience this day and share this moment with her daughter.
She's hoping to inspire others to follow their dreams and put themselves out there.
Parents.com named Play Maysie one of the best preschool toys of 2022.
Kayla's Shark Tank episode airs tonight at 8 p.m. right here on WEWS.
To purchase Play Maysie products and explore, click here.
For more information on the show, click here.
