FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18 — A married couple is supporting military families through a project they just launched last week.
Matt Miller, who grew up in Frankfort, teamed up with his wife Jaclyn to create the "My Hero Doll," fostering connections while families are apart.
As of last year, military data shows Kentucky has more than 17,000 active duty military members...almost half of them have spouses and nearly 14,000, children.
"Any sense of connection you can get while you're away, you know, it's priceless," Matt Miller, co-creator of "My Hero Doll" said.
Being away from family is nothing new for Matt whose been in the military for sixteen years, starting in the Air Force, now serving in the Navy in Newport, Rhode Island.
Matt is 3300 miles away from home reading to one of his kids through a plush doll with a recordable feature.
"There's days and weeks when you don't get to talk and so any kind of interaction you can get...there's value there," Miller noted.
So, Matt and his wife, Jaclyn, an audiologist at home with their two kids in San Diego, California, created the "My Hero Doll" under Umbo Books.
The idea for their business goes all the way back to Matt's first deployment in 2020, when Jaclyn was concerned about Matt's connection with their one-month-old son.
"I went out and bought a ton of recordable books and had Matt record. They weren't the best stories, but I had him record you know everything," Jaclyn Miller, co-creator" of "My Hero Doll" said. Every night, Jaclyn played those recordings for their son.
"When Matt got back from deployment our son was like 'who is this guy,' and didn't recognize Matt, but then when Matt started talking, our son lit up," Jaclyn added.
The bond was immediate. Fast forward to this year with Matt writing a book describing his career to his oldest son, Matt and Jaclyn thought about turning his stories into recordable books. When proprietary reasons prevented it, they came up with a different plan.
"We said why don't we make a plush doll with it, and wheels kept turning and why don't we make this a recordable doll and that's what led to all of this right now," Jaclyn said. This plush doll with a sixty-minute recorder and customizable to match any branch of the military, is a source of comfort.
"So that when they are reunited or they do communicate, it's like they never left," Jaclyn noted.
It creates a positive spin on separation and Jaclyn and Matt have multiple ideas in the works.
"Matt and I are actually working on expanding that to where we're creating an app so that there's a library in the app so you can easily go in there, change the story and encrypt Bluetooth it to the doll, making it easier to keep that connection strong. So wherever you are you can easily upload the story, send it to the parent or family member back home and they can easily transfer it into the doll," Jaclyn said.
Matt and Jaclyn have several initiatives. Proceeds from one of the books called "The Adventures of Benny Backwards" will help the family of one of Matt's former sailors in the Navy whose son was diagnosed with stage four cancer.
Also in the My Hero fund, five percent of profits buy prescription glasses for children of heroes.
More information about the "My Hero Doll" from UMBO books can be found on umbobooks.com.
