Former NBA PR Maven Becomes Custom Children's Book Publisher

SUE HILLER LAUNCHES CREATED 4 ME -

ADORABLE CUSTOM DESIGNED

BOOKS FOR CHILDREN

A little birdie (our favorite Role Mommy, Tiffany Smith) told us about Sue Hiller, a terrific mom of reinvention who has created a series of personalized books for children.

Sue's company, Created4Me, publishes customized books that features your child's name with adorable illustrations on nearly every page. Tiffany says it's her favorite baby gift that she shares with all new moms. In fact, the books were recently featured on "The Rachel Ray Show" and since them, the orders have been poring in!

Sue's reinvention story started nearly a decade ago. After spending her entire career in sports communications, Sue decided to take a "temporary retirement" from the work force in 1998 to spend more time with her children, who were 9 and 6 at the time. Sue had worked for such notable organizations as the National Basketball Association in New York, The Metro Athletic Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, and the College Football Association in Boulder, Colorado. Over the course of 16 years she produced close to 500 publications. Sue's love for creating books and publications began in high school when she was entrusted as the editor of the yearbook her senior year.

Over the four and a half years away from work she kept busy carting my children to activities. During that time she kept kicking around ideas for a business that would allow her to set her own schedule while still playing an important role in her children's lives. During those years many friends and relatives had started families and Sue was never able to find just the right baby gift or holiday gift for pre-schoolers. She was always looking for a gift that was educational for the child but could also be treasured by the child and parents. The idea of a personalized children's book that she created from scratch became her goal. One night while watching "The Late Show with David Letterman" the marquee at the beginning of the show caught Sue's attention. She envisioned putting a child's name in the marquee and suddenly had the theme for the book and the title - My Name in Lights. She immediately started jotting down her thoughts, which led to dancing letters and a stage with animated performers representing those letters. One phone call to a printer who she had worked with years before set the ball rolling and My Name in Lights became official in May 2003 under the company name "Created 4 Me."

Sue was very fortunate to find Bob Fuller, a children's illustrator in Denver. When she communicated her brainchild to Bob he was able to put her ideas into a sketch in a matter of minutes. Sue says she knew immediately that she wanted him to create the illustrations for the book! Bob is a nationally known illustrator who has a line of products he has developed with Russ Berrie.

Sue has set out to create a fun book that captures a child's attention while helping them learn to spell their name and recognize the letters of the alphabet. Created4Me is dedicated to operating a business that will get the product to the customer as quickly as possible. She hopes her customers and their children enjoy the book as much as she has producing it.

Her entire family, including her teenage boys, have all joined in the effort to make Created4me a success. Both have helped her during the production process and her husband has also been a part of this venture every step of the way. For Sue, it's been great to involve her family in her business because it has given them a sense of purpose and a vision that if you have a great idea, with creativity, drive and determination, it is truly possible to achieve anything.

To visit Created4Me, Click Here. Or to return to Role Mommy, Click Here.