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Starting a career selling his hand-made products at art shows and state fairs, Stephen Key understands the value of a product that sells well in the marketplace. Using his artistic talents and following his dream of being self-employed, Stephen taught himself to design and sculpt plush animals and characters.
"Let's face it. When the rent is due and you are hungry, if the product you spent several hours making doesn't sell, you quickly move on to something else." Others eventually recognized Stephen's design talents and he began freelance work for Dakin Toys, creating plush animals for several different product lines.
Stephen tells a great story about acquiring his first real job, the kind that has a regular paycheck.
"I went for a job interview at a start-up company called Worlds of Wonder. I figured that I could work for them during the day and do my freelance projects at night. That way, I'd make twice as much money! Little did I know that I would land the job and get shipped out to Hong Kong to learn about manufacturing."
Stephen was placed in charge of the Design Group for Worlds of Wonder. Stephen had the opportunity to design and work with engineers of hit toy product lines such as Teddy Ruxpin, the Worlds first talking teddy bear and Lazer Tag, the number one toy of 1986. Five million Teddy Ruxpin’s were sold that first year at $89 a piece, making Worlds of Wonder the fifth largest toy company in the world overnight. Stephen saw the inventor of the Teddy Ruxpin make one million dollars in royalties a month!
During his tenure with Worlds of Wonder his interest in new products blossomed. "I often looked at new product submissions that would come in to WOW (Worlds of Wonder), and would find myself saying 'I can do better than that, I know it'."
Stephen left Worlds of Wonder to start his own toy invention and licensing firm. But of course to pay the rent, he kept some of those freelance jobs for awhile with toy manufacturers such as Disney, WOW, Applause, and Dakin to name a few. Over time, the freelance projects declined while the inventions grew.
One of Stephen's favorite products that he invented in the early days was a small indoor basketball backboard designed to look like a basketball player with his arms outstretched. Ohio Art licensed the idea from him and sold over one million Michael Jordan Wall Ball's that first year.
Stephen had joined the ranks of successful inventors. He loved his work, it actually paid the rent and it gave him more time to enjoy his children.
In 1995, Stephen read an article in a local newspaper about how labels on containers never contain enough information or the information is often printed too small to read. This peaked his interest and he started thinking about how he could solve that problem.
His solution was simple, so he thought. Add another label over the current one. This outer label would have a clear window. The outer label could spin around the container and what ever was printed on the inner label could be viewed through the clear window.
Stephen developed the Rotating Label (or "Spinformation" as it is sometimes called) with the help of the largest pressure sensitive label manufacture in the United States, CCL Label, Inc.
The Rotating Label today is manufactured and sold in countries around the world and in many different label types, including Roll Fed, Pressure Sensitive, Cut & Stack, Shrink Wrap and Stretch Sleeve. Stephen has received over 20 industry awards in the past four years as a result of his innovation and the benefits his label offers to its users.
The Rotating Label was featured on products such as Rexall Sundown Herbal products worldwide, Lawry's Perfect Blend Seasonings in the U.S., a Nescafe product in Japan and a vitamin supplement in China. Other companies, including a multi-national beverage company, are testing and developing the label for their use. He's presented his label to senior executives in the corporate boardroom of several potential licensees.
"The packaging industry is slow to change, but I keep pushing along. This is a better product than what most companies are using today, so it's up to me to change an industry, I guess. I've developed technologies to offer my label at the lowest possible price - sometimes we can even offer our customers a lower packaging cost than they have today."
Stephen speaks at local inventors' organizations, college classes, and seminars. He offers inventors some common sense advice, based on his own personal experiences as to how to develop, market and license their ideas, successfully.
"I enjoy sharing my experiences with others. I only wish I had found someone like myself to guide me along when I started. It has been a tough road, but it has been fun as well."
American Inventor
Stephen was asked to be a consultant on the first season of the hit ABC Reality Show American Inventor.
Here is Stephen with three of the judges from the first season
Ed Evangelista, Doug Hall and Mary Lou Quinlan.
Stephen with American Inventor Season One Host Matt Gallant.
Stephen and American Inventor Season One Winner Janusz Liberkowski
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