Monday, October 19, 2009

WWW (Women's Words of Wisdom)

My night out with the girls on Saturday was a night to remember!

Not only did I get to spend the evening with some great friends, I was able to hear some amazing success stories of Momtrepreneurs.

The MC was Mindee Doney - one of the inventors of Boogie Wipes. Then we had Grace Welch - she invented patemm - a circular changing pad. Katie Kyres - Silly Dilly Tot Spot, Author of "everyone is beautiful" - Katerine Center, Lisa Becker - founder of ostomysecrets.

One thing many of these ladies had in common was that they did not have a business plan, they just "jumped right in". I thought that was very interesting because I have never written a business plan and my Husband gives me a hard time about it. Now I can say "Ha! These Ladies did not do it either"!

There was someone else there that I met - a WI like you and me, with a fabulous idea that she is preparing to launch. She approached me and introduced herself saying that "she has been reading my blog for months and wanted to say hi". By the evenings end, she told me what her invention is and like us here, she was leery of sharing her "baby" in fear of it getting knocked off. I PROMISED not to say a word but let me tell you, this invention of hers is going to be HUGE!

Really, I am surprised that this invention is not on the shelves yet but that's the key here. She found an obvious solution to a common problem and realized that it hadn't been done yet so...she's doing it!

Although I enjoyed hearing what these WI had to say, I did not learn anything I did not already know which was reassuring. What I did hear was that if you have a vision, go for it! Take the risk and believe in yourself!

Sometimes it's nice to be reminded of that...

16 comments:

  1. Sounds sooooo fun. I would have LOVED to been there!

    Deedra
    www.klipzon.com

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  2. It does sound like you had so much fun!!

    On a different note tracy is this part of your clue????? http://www.thego2girlz.com/

    Like I said before it is like a fun game!! :0) #3

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  3. Oh #3, you are very resourceful! :)

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  4. Well I'm I getting hot or cold???? When someone sends me a challenge I have to try to figure it out!! I'm totally a type A personality high strung what can I say. I would bet a lot of us WI are that is what keeps us moving forwarded when the door slams in are face! :0) #3

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  5. ooops I mean our face!! #3

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  6. Hi Ladies,
    I knew I could count on you ladies. A long time ago back in August I believe I posted my youtube links in a note to Tracy and Tracy gave me some comments but I did not hear anything from anyone else. Family and friends are a great support but I think they may hold back a bit. I did not go in person to the WI Auditions so I have not received any "real" feed back So Ladies let me have it. Also could you please read the description I have about each product on youtube as well as watching the videos. Thanks so much.

    The Shoe Tying Tutor:

    I would like to add a little about the STT I first did a video of my son demonstrating it (my thought was that way I would show that a child could use the STT). Problem was you could not see it very well his hands were sorta in the way and I felt it would be better to have a step by step walk through. I then thought it was nice to have his video as an added thing. Also need to know this is just a functional prototype it will look much different - The actual STT will have a spring loaded clamp to attach it to either shoe and the back ground of the STT will have a picture of a bunny with big bunny ears (get it bunny ears shoe tying)with a write on square at each of the four step point locations. Lastly I have added that it will come with a special shoe string half one color half another so the child can differentiate between which side of the bow they are working on. Sorry for all the added info but you know how our little projects evolve sometimes. ie: G2 swivel sweeper.
    Here goes enjoy:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-PqMgWCFzE
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwoOchmBGyk

    The Laundry Butler:
    This one is pretty much self explanitory if you read the Youtube description.
    Here goes enjoy:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxnJhl7GQwk

    Thanks again Ladies and please let me know what you think.

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  7. Hi everyone, I have been enjoying reading your personal accounts and I wanted to introduce myself , I'm Jill. I heard about the WI show 2 days before the deadline, so I quickly uploaded my video. A couple of weeks later, I received an email from Brian requesting a few photos to send to HSN and TLC for final approval. That was in July. After reading your comments, I decided to email Christine yesterday and she replied! Here is her email:
    Hi Jill, Sorry about that. We had such an overwhelming number of applicants, we couldn't reach out to every person individually. Unfortunately we already contacted our semi-finalists. Im sorry :( We wish you the best of luck with your product...

    Warmly,
    Christina

    In case some of you haven't heard about being a semi-finalist, you may want to send her a quick email. One other thing I will leave you with today...have you read Kim Lavine's Mommy Millionaire book yet? I am a Mom, but you certainly don't have to be to relate to her good, bad and ugly account of taking a new product to market. I highly recommend it as it has inspired me over and over. Not to mention the potential train wrecks I have avoided! I read someone's post about the shark that wanted her to send 12k worth of inventory to a Houston trade show. This too happened to Kim, but she was so excited and hopeful that she did give them the inventory. Didn't turn out good at all. I'll be back soon to read some more comments...I feel like a true insider now!take care, Jill

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  8. Jill,
    Thank you for passing along this info!

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  9. Hello Mary,
    I think you have a great talent at being able to see frustrations and coming up with a solution!

    I did a little investigating and found this site http://www.tiebuddies.com/Home_Page.php. I had a hard time following your invention on the SST. This might just be my fault not yours!! I will honestly tell you I would buy the one on the site I sent you because it looks easy for me to show my kids. This is just me opinion and I don't want to discourage you in any way!! :0) I think your amazing and you definitely have a inventors mind!

    On the Laundry Butler I think it is great! I will say I could not buy it for my house because we don't have enough room for us to walk by it. We have a very small area in our laundry room. I do think it is a great invention for people who have a little larger laundry rooms. One thought might be to have some type of net like a basket ball net to catch the clothes. I don't know if that would work or not just a thought.

    I wish you continued success and hope amazing things come your way!!!! :0) #3

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  10. Hi Jill, I just ordered the Mommy Millionaire for less than $9 delivered new on Amazon. Used ones are only $.20 less. I read everything I can get my hands on. Thanks for the heads up. Lisa w BB

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  11. I forgot one important thing Mary!! Your little boy is sooooo adorable he made me smile :0) #3

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  12. Hi Lisa w BB, You will not be able to put the book down! Warning: She is on fire with the motivation so if you read to fall asleep, you might want to pick something else :) your head will be spinning when you turn off the light...I had a lot of ideas and really productive midnight problem solving time...great for my product, but bad for my morning! Jill

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  13. Hi Jill,

    Can't wait!!! I spent most of my creative time long after everyone was asleep...Lisa w BB

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  14. #3,
    Thanks for the words. Checked out the tie buddies. Very cute but I think STT is easier but of course I've actually used it. Just a different way to get the same job done. And my Jackie boy well I think I'll keep him.
    Okay going to get my copy of Mommy Millionaire. thanks for the warning Jill.

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  15. Tracy,

    Thank you for the kind comments! It was so great to meet you! You are super adorable and I look forward to getting together. Did you get my email?

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