64 REAL-LEADERS.COM / SPRING 2022 CEO SUCCESS By Amy Bennett ENTREPRENEURS OFTEN HAVE A LIGHTBULB MOMENT, A SUDDEN REALIZATION OR INSIGHT THAT DRIVES A BUSINESS IDEA INTO REALITY. FOR JESSICA ROLPH, COFOUNDER AND CEO OF EARLY CHILDHOOD BRAND LOVEVERY, HER MOMENT OF INSPIRATION CAME AS A NEW MOTHER IN WHAT WAS ALMOST AN “ANTI-LIGHTBULB” MOMENT. I remember one morning watching my son pull himself up to this toy and push one button, and suddenly lightbulbs are flashing, a purple cow is popping out, and all of this stuff was happening,” she says. “I asked myself, ‘What is this toy really doing for my connection with my child and his brain development?’” Rolph threw herself into a search for answers, reading a doctoral thesis on infant brain development, making her own toys, and talking to experts, researchers, and specialists. And in 2017, Rolph, along with cofounder and Lovevery President Roderick Morris, put those answers to TheMulti-MillionDollar ChildDevelopment Company Shaping theMinds of the Next Generation “WE’VE DECONSTRUCTED THIS NOTION THAT A TOY HAS TO LOOK A CERTAIN WAY — HAVE FLASHING LIGHTS OR BE COZY AND CUTE — AND THINK OF THEM AS TOOLS FOR LEARNING” — JESSICA ROLPH
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