“My Hero Doll” Supports military families

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 My Hero Doll, creating bonds while families are separated.

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 that you can get while you’re away, you know, is priceless,” said Matt Miller, co-creator of “My Hero Doll.”

My hero

Being away from family is nothing new for Matt, who has been in the military for sixteen years, starting in the Air Force and now serving in the Navy in Newport, Rhode Island.
Matt is 3300 miles away from home reading to one of his children through a plush doll with a recording function.

“There are days and weeks when you can’t 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 children in San Diego, California, created “My Hero Doll” under Umbo Books.

The idea for their business goes back to Matt’s first deployment in 2020, when Jaclyn was concerned about Matt’s bonding with their one-month-old son.

“I went out and bought a lot of recordable books and recorded Matt. They weren’t the best stories, but I put it on record that you know everything,” said Jaclyn Miller, co-creator of “My Hero Doll.” at night, Jaclyn played those recordings for their son.

“When Matt came back from deployment, our son said ‘who’s this guy’ and didn’t recognize Matt, but when Matt started talking, our son lit up,” added Jaclyn.

The connection was immediate. This year, with Matt writing a book chronicling his eldest son’s career, Matt and Jaclyn thought about turning their stories into recordable books. When proprietary reasons got in the way, they came up with a different plan.

“I said why don’t we make a plush doll out of it and the wheels kept turning and why don’t we make it a recordable doll and that’s what led to all of this right now,” said Jaclyn. With a 60-minute recorder and customizable to fit any branch of the military, this plush doll is a source of comfort.

“So when they get together or communicate, it’s like they never left,” Jaclyn noted.
It creates a positive development of the separation and Jaclyn and Matt have more ideas in the works.
“Matt and I are actually working on extending that to where we’re building an app so that there’s a library in the app so you can easily go in there and change the story and encrypt it over Bluetooth on the doll, making easier to store. that strong connection. So wherever you are, you can easily upload the story, send it to the parent or family member at home, and they can easily transfer it to the doll,” said Jaclyn.

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 Navy sailors whose son was diagnosed with stage four cancer.

Also in the My Hero fund, five percent of profits buy prescription glasses for heroes’ children.
More information about “My Hero Doll” from UMBO books can be found at umbobooks.com.