by Marcus E. Howard
[email protected]
October 26, 2009 01:00 AM
MARIETTA – Lori Lite, a married mother of three in northeast Cobb, is the author of eight children’s books, a series of CDs and audio books, and has been a successful contestant on ABC’s reality show “Shark Tank.”
2009-10-21 — author lori lite — Children’s book author Lori Lite of east Cobb, who has appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank, has recently gotten a few of her titles at Borders bookstores nationwide. STAFF/THINH D. NGUYEN
Her books focus on helping children with stress and teaching them to gain control of their anxiety and anger through techniques designed to relax them. Her success a s an author can be directly traced to one night, 14 years ago, when she was at wits end about how to put her hyperactive and chronically ill son to sleep. Previously, stress over her family had caused her to get professional help from a stress consultant in her hometown of New York City.
“It took me two hours every single night. My husband and I would alternate turns putting him to sleep,” said Lite, 48. “I began to wonder what would life be like if I can get my son to do these same relaxation techniques that were working for me. So I began to create a story to kind of trick him into following along and doing the actual, research-based techniques for stress management and relaxation that I was doing.”
That night, Lite came up with a story about a boy and a bear that involved deep breathing. Her son followed along and fell asleep in no time, she said.
“My husband had noticed how quiet things were in the room. He came to the door and was listening in and heard the story,” she said. “He saw the effect and came out of the room and told me, ‘Lori, that was incredible. You need to go write that down right now. You can help thousands of parents and children.\’”
Shortly thereafter, Lite followed the advice of her husband, Rick, and wrote her first book, “A Boy and a Bear.” That led to seven other books, most of them self-published. Their common theme involves animals and the stress management techniques. They include illustrations by Kimberly Fox, an art teacher at St. Francis Elementary School in Roswell, and Max Stasuyk of the Ukraine.
“Every story has a technique in it, ranging from diaphragmatic breathing or deep breathing, to progressive muscular relaxation, visualizing and positive statements,” Lite said. “These really speak to children age 4 up to middle school. It’s almost like a safety zone for them. They don’t have to say that they’re the child that wants to relax. They can identify with the animals.”
Lite has also developed stress awareness curriculum kits with lessons based around her stories. She said a variety of people have showed an interest in them, including teachers, parents, yoga enthusiasts, psychology students and counselors.
Borders bookstore has an interest as well. A spokeswoman for the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based company with more than 1,000 stores, said that it will be selling two of Lite’s latest titles, “Angry Octopus” and “Affirmation Weaver,” as well as one of her CDs, “Indigo Ocean Dreams.”
“We have chosen to carry ‘Angry Octopus’ because we feel it will appeal to customers looking for positive techniques to help their kids manage stress and anxiety effectively,” spokeswoman Mary Davis said. “Likewise, we think our customers will like ‘Affirmation Weaver,’ for its positive messages for helping kids build self esteem. The books have beautiful illustrations with characters that kids can relate to.”
The news couldn’t have come at a better time. Lite and her husband, who quit his corporate job to help her, reported selling 30,000 units in 2008 for $180,000 in earnings. However, they say their venture is costly and need additional financial help.
That’s why Lite said she appeared on an episode of ABC’s “Shark Tank” reality show that aired in August.
Contestants pitch their business ideas to a panel of investors, who each decide if they want to invest in the proposal. Lite said she was given three offers. She accepted one from real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran for $250,000. They’re scheduled to meet for further negotiations in November in New York, Lite said.
Her advice for others hoping to follow their dreams: “Never give up. I never thought it would come this far from that one night.”
For more information on Lori Lite and her books, Stress Free Kids.