07/12/2025
I am at a loss for words and completely devastated. I just learned that our dear friend and longtime business associate, Karel Rolli, has passed away. I can barely put into words what I’m feeling. Karel wasn’t just part of our business journey, she was family.
She was there in the very beginning, when Kid Concoctions was just an idea and a videotape series. She’s the one who looked at me and said, “Go write a book.” She believed in us when we were just getting started, and she stayed with us through it all, traveling the world by our side, taking us to QVC, HSN, The Shopping Channel in Canada… for over 15 years.
She drove through the night just to get us to live TV appearances. She was there the very first time we stepped onto the QVC set, and she was the one waiting when we stepped off, thinking we had completely bombed. We were terrified, didn’t know how we’d pay our bills. But then she smiled and said, “You sold out.” I’ll never forget that moment. She knew. She always knew.
Karel was with us when my wife was pregnant with our son Christian, and she was there as he grew up—playing lightsaber battles with him in the parking lot of The Shopping Channel, waving to Joan Rivers, Vicki Lawrence, and other celebrities as they walked into the studio. Everyone knew her. Everyone loved her.
She was a brilliant businesswoman who knew the world of television shopping better than anyone. I can still hear her voice in my wife’s earpiece during a live segment: “Cut the hair on the Grass Head guy again—it spikes sales—that’s when people order!” She was always calm, always right, and always working behind the scenes to make sure everything went perfectly.
We shared so many unforgettable memories traveling together. She gave so much of herself to help make Kid Concoctions what it became. And today, I’m just heartbroken.
Karel, we love you so much. Thank you for believing in us, for pushing us, for laughing with us, for being with us. Thank you for every mile you traveled, every early morning call time, every piece of advice, and every moment of friendship.
Happy Heavenly Birthday, my dear friend.
