Meet Karalyne Ley

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Karalyne Ley. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Karalyne below.

Karalyne , we’ve been so fortunate to work with so many incredible folks and one common thread we have seen is that those who have built amazing lives for themselves are also often the folks who are most generous. Where do you think your generosity comes from?

I’ve always been an altruistic person and I believe that much of that came from my parents’ role modeling for me. They showed me in various ways what it means to truly help other people and I’m grateful that they instilled good values in me. I saw them taking in rescue dogs, giving money and buying food for people who showed up at our church, donating their time and resources to help different organizations. I was involved in a number of service organizations both in high school and college. I’m just a friendly person who loves people and loves contributing to others in a positive way!

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

In June, 2022 I formed a company called Bene World with a mission to Benefit The World. By November, we had our first product called the Bene Bear® and the world’s first token reward system in a plushie set for kids. Bene Bear helps children learn and practice character traits like Respect, Kindness, Empathy and Giving. The storybook “Bene Bear Benefits The World” teaches what these words mean and the token system allows children to practice those traits. When a child is kind, respectful, shows empathy, or gives to others in some way, they earn a token. The token is put into the stuffed bear’s token slot and all the tokens collect in the specially designed pouch. When a child has collected 15 tokens, including the Golden Token, they can take the tokens out and trade them in for a reward. The best part is that they can be used again and again!

Bene World’s mission is to benefit the world through our toys. I am most proud of the fact that our Bene Buddies kits help children practice positive character traits so that they become a part of their everyday life. When we all practice traits like patience, respect, empathy, etc., we go out into the world and make it a better place!

It’s also important to us that we are able to donate to other organizations. For every purchase that is made for Sparkle the Rescue Dog, we give money to Crisis Dogs NC, an animal rescue organization and No Trouble At All Animal Outreach in Charleston, SC.

Bene Buddies Kits include the plushie, storybook, and 15 tokens for the reward system

Bene Bear®–helps teach children Respect, Kindness, Empathy and Giving

Sparkle the Rescue Dog–helps teach children Respect, Kindness, Empathy and Giving with a pet care focus

Seawhee the Turtle–helps teach children Patience, Sharing Cooperation, Kindness with an additional focus of Ocean Conservation

Haylo the Horse–helps teach children how to recognize emotions like Happiness, Sadness, Anxiety and Anger as well as working through their emotions in a positive way

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I have worked with children my whole life–from being a teacher to co-owning a children’s business for 22 years. So it seemed like a natural progression when I had an idea for a toy that would help children learn how to be good citizens and give back to their communities and others. Being a mom to 3 boys, I have always understood the challenges we face sometimes when trying to instill values in our children in a world that says otherwise.

Resilience is key. I’ve always had a fighting spirit about me and I feel like that has helped me in my journey. The toy industry is extremely difficult to break into because there are so many products out there that help inspire play. Our Bene Buddies are creating our own space within the industry so there is so much to do as far as educating the public about our mission and our brand.

I also had over 20 years experience running a business and that has served me well in terms of strategizing and forecasting growth. Even though my experience has been in a service-oriented business, I have been able to use some of my operational knowledge to help with the new challenge of running a product-oriented business.

I think the best way to improve your skills or areas of knowledge is to make connections in your industry and gain all the wisdom and insight you can from those who have been around for a while! The specialty toy industry is a close group of entrepreneurs and companies who are so willing to help guide those of us who are new to the toy world. That has made a big difference for me!

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

We began by selling the Bene Buddies on our website as well as Amazon and are now getting into some toy and gift stores! Our challenge has been and is still that we have invented a new space within the toy industry. There are lots of great products that encourage social/emotional learning but none that have incorporated a reward system in a plushie. Our Bene Buddies kits are used by parents, grandparents, teachers, caregivers, and childhood therapists and are so versatile as far as what they can be used for. Many people tell us that they use them for helping kids develop habits like remembering to do their homework, clean their room, and even for potty training!

Because it’s such a specialty item, we struggle with marketing and trying to educate people on the purpose and mission of our line. We definitely have a story to tell and want to reach as many families as we can! We have recently implemented new social media marketing strategies as well as direct mail advertising to an extremely targeted demographic. Because the toy line is so versatile and is being used by a variety of people in a variety of ways, we are trying to reach out to organizations we feel could help us spread the word in a more organic way too!

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