Who We Are

Our Cuddlefish team is made up of close friends, family members, and mentors, who are all working to help the planet in any way they can.

Mirabelle KinG

…Is me! Ever since I was little, the ocean was my favorite place to be. When I was three, my favorite stuffed animal was (and still is!) a stuffed shark. When I was four, I watched Blue Planet religiously. And when I was five, I started Cuddlefish, for other kids like me who might want a stuffed shark of their own. Since then, I’ve become a certified SCUBA diver, worked on getting Cuddlefish launched throughout COVID, and started eighth grade. In addition, I started a school newspaper in 2017, was the two-time recipient of the Ruth Loeb Scholarship Award, and became an officially published author when I was twelve. When I’m not working on the company, I’m probably writing my novel, helping my dad with his TV shows, or watching James Cameron’s The Abyss.

Sue Houghton

Currently a Showrunner for ABC Studios/Disney+, Sue is an award-winning producer, director, and writer who has spent more than twenty years with wild creatures and in wild spaces, both underwater and topside. Based in Washington, DC, she creates, develops, directs, field-produces, and writes original programming for television, print and the big-screen that focuses on nature, wildlife, and the conservation of our planet. She approaches production from both artistic and practical perspectives, having begun her career as a Disney artist. Sue grew up on the ocean on the Monterey Peninsula in California, and has worked extensively in Asia, South America, Africa, Australia, the South Pacific, the Arctic, and many other places. With a background in both geology and art, she believes in blending science with visual dynamics. For Sue, the key to every interaction and every engagement, whether between people, between species or with our environment is respect.

Catharine King

Catharine King is Mirabelle’s mother and one of the first driving forces behind Cuddlefish. She has a bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Michigan where she majored in Ceramics and Painting. Using her artistic talent, she helped to bring the original 3 dimensional Cuddlefish plushies from Mirabelle’s drawings and imagination into reality. Creating patterns, determining sizes, finding materials and choosing colors to match Mirabelle’s vision she is helping to bring cuddlefish into fruition. Catharine is inspired by nature, color, and great design. When not assisting her daughter in saving the world, Catharine loves making and constructing. She is a creator of pies, cookies, paintings, costumes, great parties and decorations.

Matt Yang King

…is Mirabelle’s father and her first SCUBA buddy. A long time environmentalist, he spends his time working in various television and film endeavors. He’s currently developing the TV show Bang and Burn with Gina Torres and Peter Gamble, The World of Steam, a Steampunk adventure set in the Victorian Science Fiction of 1860s Hong Kong, and a new cartoon based on the award winning webseries Goblins by Ellipsis Stephens featuring the voices of Futurama, My Little Pony, and Winnie the Pooh, called Goblins Animated.  He was also a Semi-Finalist for the Nicholl Fellowship for his script The Life and Death of Edison Chen. Matt can also be seen currently on the television series Riverdale and in the Emmy award winning Love, Death and Robots by David Fincher. His main job is to keep Mirabelle safe so she can keep on being so amazing. Other than that he’ll be helping her find the right people to steer her through the rocky shoals of entrepreneurship.

Katie Corbit

… is Mirabelle’s aunt and an advisor at Cuddlefish that helps keep the team organized. She is passionate at creating environments that promote health and address structural racism. She currently spends her time working in philanthropy. Her previous work includes managing a public health research lab and leading an initiative to address racial disparities in infant mortality. Her role at Cuddlefish is to offer Mirabelle advice and help build strong project management skills.

Dawnanne Hinman

…is Mirabelle’s grandmother who has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Western Michigan University. She spent 25 years working in commercial banking, working with small businesses as well as middle-market companies. She worked with manufacturing companies, wholesalers, retailers, and real estate developers. She also spent 3 years managing the sales for a Kalamazoo Michigan-based industrial packaging company. While she retired in 2013, she continues to volunteer for various nonprofit organizations, including most recently being President of the Board for Residential Opportunities, Inc, a Kalamazoo-based organization that provides housing and services for adults who have mental development disabilities and for youth who have autism. She lives in Kalamazoo, MI but spends winters in the Florida keys.