Internal Motivation: MOMeo’s 30 Day Challenge continues with Managing Editor Maclean Kay
When Carla asked me to talk about “momentum,” I had to stop and think.
What does momentum mean for me?
After a while, I realized the answer was obvious: it’s what I do every day. Internal motivation.
“It is wiser to find out than to suppose.”
~ Mark Twain
Got that? Okay, probably not. Before I explain my annoying and enigmatic answer, let me give you a brief summary of how I got to be doing this. I started my professional life in Ottawa, working for the federal government.
From there, I moved to a large energy corporation in Calgary, before heading back to school to give this journalism thing a try. It was what I always knew I wanted to do, but lacked the…what’s a nice word for cojones? I started working in another large company, CBC Newsworld.
See a pattern? I was never alone.
I only briefly had my own, unshared office. Working surrounded by others – especially in a busy newsroom, where there’s literally zero privacy – makes momentum easy. You really have no choice but to build and maintain momentum, otherwise not only will your performance suffer, it gets noticed – fast.
“You know about the chain of command?
It’s the chain I beat you with until you do what I say.”
~ Jayne Cobb, in Firefly
Let’s call this “external motivation.” For people who have a tough time organizing and starting their workday – and this is a majority – this is perhaps the chief benefit of an office. You have coworkers, bosses and underlings reminding you (not always explicitly) what needs to get done.
One day, I decided my burgeoning freelance career was the right horse to gamble on. I wasn’t exactly rolling in cash, but I could see the possibilities, and realized I was already looking up at a glass ceiling at CBC. I would sacrifice short-term financial pain for long-term career opportunities. I started working almost exclusively from home.
Sounds great, right? Now’s the part when I tell you everything clicked, and everyone lived happily ever after. Not quite. There’s a middle bit.
The bit that comes when you wake up the very first morning of your at-home career, and you wonder: so what do I do first?
There’s nobody to ask, no boss to appease or glean insight from – you’re now officially on your own, for better or worse.
Welcome to Internal Motivation.
I have four little reminders that help me keep and build my personal momentum. These aren’t daily tasks. They’re more like aphorisms; Confucian-style nuggets of wisdom you can interpret however you like.
“I know that I am intelligent,
because I know that I know nothing.”
~ Socrates
1- Identify your demon and conquer it.
Everyone has a weakness. For some, it’s obvious: chatting on the phone, or Minesweeper. For others, it’s something insidious enough to disguise itself as actual productivity. Compulsive cleaning, unnecessary organizing – tasks that feel like work, but aren’t. For others, it’s perfectionism.
The point is, everyone has something that keeps them from accomplishing what needs to get done. The trick is identifying it.
You may not realize how much time you waste feeding your own personal demon. Once you identify it, I find it’s actually pretty easy to avoid.
2- Be reasonable but ruthless.
This is a hard one for me. I don’t like saying “no,” especially to people who give me money. (Boy, that sounds bad, but you know what I mean.) But if you take on too much, (a) something won’t get done, or (b) everything will get done, but rushed and badly.
Nobody can sustain 18-hour workdays. Even if you could, the rest of your life would fall apart, and it wouldn’t be worth it. You have to be able to say “no” –to clients, and to yourself.
3- Write it down.
Some people can organize their lives in their heads. I envy them. I secretly think they’re freaks, but I envy their freakishness.
I’m not like that. At all. (Ask Carla.) Maybe my memory was affected after I was dropped too often as a child, or maybe I’m just anal – but if something isn’t written down, it doesn’t exist. This goes for my daily, weekly, and monthly tasks.
I need to remind myself of this. Often. Whether I add a task from a phone call, skype, email – if something needs to get done, I write out a task. No exceptions.
4- Yes, Virginia, there’s a world outside your door.
This is another tough one for me. Left to my own devices, I’d probably just sit here and work until I passed out. I need to remind myself to take a proper meal break, to drink water, and to take a nice walk or swim at lunch. (That last one goes a long way.)
Why is this important? I come back energized, and find my brain suddenly less cluttered. Things make sense, and more importantly – things get done.
“By golly, Jim…
I’m beginning to think I can cure a rainy day!”
~ Dr. Leonard McCoy, in Star Trek
MOMeo Show: Maclean Kay – An Editor’s View on Pitching the Media
Hone your entrepreneurial skills, create a media relationship and get that publicity! Let’s face it ladies, we love the media, we hate the media, but businesses need the media to help get word out about their business endeavours. Creating a relationship with the media will tap a large and wide demographic of potential clientele.
Get the insider scoop from MOMeo Magazine’s Managing Editor Maclean Kay as he dishes on what editors love and hate to hear when it comes to pitching your business story to the media. In this exclusive MOMeo Show podcast with MOMeo Community.com Founder & CEO Carla Young they will discuss:
- How to find the “story” in your upcoming business endeavor
- The do’s and don’ts of pitching to media editors
- The key ingredients to make journalist salivate to tell your company’s story
- Cultivating long-lasting media relationships
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How To Pitch a Magazine: MOMeo’s Managing Editor Weighs In
So you want to be a magazine contributor – good for you! As far as I’m concerned, there is no more noble enterprise.
(Admittedly I am somewhat biased, but still.)
As you might expect, it’s not just as easy as sending in your article. There’s no guidebook, no code, no secret handshake – and every magazine is different.
That said, there are some general tips that apply across the board.
#1. Refine your idea.
True story: when I was a columnist for the Calgary Herald, a woman I won’t name asked if I would put in a good word. She wanted to write a column about “possibility.”
Seriously.
I did everything I could not to burst out laughing. No way would I embarrass myself with the Editor in Chief, asking about a column on “possibility.” I would have been wasting both my time and his, at the cost of my credibility.
The worst part? This woman should have known better. She owned and published (and I believe, still does) her own magazine, distributed in three countries.
You’d be amazed how many pitches I see that basically say “I want to write an article about being a single mom.” Great. What about being a single mom? That’s an impossibly broad topic.
The more focused your idea is, the better your article will be. It also gives the editor a better picture of the direction you want to go.
As a general guideline, try to refine your idea twice before sending it. Here’s a completely hypothetical example:
First: Mayor Jane Brown
Better: Mayor Jane Brown is in danger of losing the next election
Best: Losing the suburban vote may cost Mayor Jane Brown the next election
#2. Is your idea a good fit?
Say you’ve got a great idea for an article on baseball. A magazine dedicated to mom entrepreneurs may not be a great fit. You can try and tweak your idea to fit a magazine’s target audience, or you can just submit your idea to the editors of Sports Illustrated instead.
Can you do both? Absolutely. But if you don’t see any similar stories in the magazine, you should explain why you think your story idea is a good fit.
#3. Think Ahead
Most magazines plan and work at least two months in advance. This creates the illusion that we’re always prepared. Online magazines have shorter timeframes, but we still work ahead.
What does that mean for you, the prospective contributor? You have to think ahead, too. If you’ve got an amazing Christmas recipe you want published, December 15 is far too late. The early bird gets published.
#4. Don’t go into too much detail
Here’s another ultra-top secret: editors are lazy.
Well, not so much lazy as busy. Consider: how do you deal with four-page emails from strangers? With skepticism and an eye roll, right? Or maybe you just delete them right away?
Your initial query letter shouldn’t exceed one page – for any reason.
#5. Include some samples
There’s no nice way to put this, so brace yourself.
Ready?
There’s an excellent chance you’re a horrible writer.
Okay, I said it. Don’t be shocked, and more importantly, don’t be offended. Not everyone can or should write. But if you’re asking and intending to be published, you should be at least competent.
But Maclean, you ask, what if I don’t have any samples? To get published, you need to be published already? Isn’t that a catch-22?
This used to be a big problem, admittedly. Not anymore. Virtually everyone has their own website, or at least a blog. It’s perfectly okay to include that. Contrary to what you might think, I’m less interested in where you were published than the quality. If that means self-published material, fine.
You probably want to know the magic number of samples to include, don’t you? Well, there isn’t one. Three is a reasonable number, but that doesn’t mean you should panic if you only include two.
#6. Before sending, double-check your pitch. Then triple-check it.
If you’re asking to be published as a writer, it’s not unfair to expect a grasp of language. That means no spelling mistakes, no typos, no bad grammar.
Also, double-check your editor’s name. As you can imagine, I’ve seen every conceivable variation on “Maclean Kay.” I try not to be offended when I get mail addressed to Miss Kaye McLean, I really do. But it’s usually a quick way to tell whether someone doesn’t pay too much attention to detail.
Behind the glory: Olympic wife Aly Pain shares the challenges of supporting her husband’s pursuit of gold
Meet Aly Pain. MOMeo, mother of two, professional relationship coach, author…wife?
“If I’m just a housekeeper and nanny (he) gets to bang, count me out,” says Pain.
Sound angry? She is. What did her husband do to earn such ire? He succeeded.
Aly’s husband Jeff Pain is a skeleton athlete. A Winter Olympic sport, skeleton is essentially luge, only the athletes lie on their stomachs, face down and forward. It’s a thrilling but dangerous sport, even by the advanced standards of the Winter Olympics.
Make no mistake: Jeff Pain is very, very good. From Bobsleigh Canada’s website:
Arguably the most accomplished athlete in the history of the Canadian skeleton program, Jeff Pain has also solidified himself as one of the top athletes in the world having won nearly everything available in his sport. Jeff is a multiple World Cup champion, a two-time World Champion and Olympic silver medallist.
So what’s the problem? To excel at literally the highest level of competition in the world demands total commitment.
“Before the Whistler (bobsleigh and luge) track opened in 2008, Jeff would leave (to train and compete) in early November and come home around the end of February,” says Aly.
During the four month season, Aly says Jeff would make appearances at home “here and there.” In four months, he’d spend maybe three weeks at home with his wife and their two kids – never all at once. Not even close.
Sound tough? It gets worse.
“When Whistler opened, he was gone all of October and March – it became a six month season,” says Aly, “with about same total amount of time at home.”
We spoke with Aly Pain about how she and her kids cope with an absentee husband and father.
MOMeo: Can you share just how difficult this has been for you personally?
Aly Pain: It’s the single hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. You know, I didn’t get married to be a single mom. It demands an enormously high energy level, for one thing. It’s taught me that you have got to ask for support. That’s absolutely necessary.
MOMeo: Usually when people say ‘it’s taught me one thing,’ it means that ‘one thing’ was very difficult.
Aly Pain: Absolutely! I’m not great at it, that’s for sure. But I have to.
MOMeo: Who did you turn to for support?
Aly Pain: When the kids were babies, I would get Jeff’s parents to take them for the afternoon. Now, I have a very strong community of moms around me. They’ve really saved my kids’ lives! I didn’t have the patience, was exhausted, and had a hard time being who I wanted to be.
The kids have playdates every second day, which is great for us both. I function better around people. You know, I can’t do it all. I had to let go of the thought! So now, I have a friend who lives with us in the winters, when Jeff is training.
MOMeo: How does that work?
Aly Pain: (My friend) works in the very vital, yet low income, industries of the world. She basically house-sits for accommodation. She works full-time – not for me, you understand – but helps me in the mornings, for example, to get the kids to school, so I can have breakfast meetings at 6:30. If I need to work in the evening, she babysits. This year’s she’s helped with laundry and groceries. It’s the most I’ve ever let her help.
MOMeo: Is that because this year has been the hardest?
Aly Pain: Definitely.
MOMeo: Have you and Jeff talked about how long he can continue doing this?
Aly Pain: He has until March 1st with this wife. That’s a pretty definite deadline. I won’t do this any longer. (The 2010 Winter Olympics wrap up in February.)
MOMeo: Have you two always targeted 2010 as the end of his athletic career?
Aly Pain: Well, things changed. He used to be a full-time landscape architect, and spent three hours per day training (for skeleton.) At the 2006 Olympics, he won the silver medal. He realized he had a chance to go to the Vancouver Olympics, to compete in his home country, and have a realistic shot at another medal.
MOMeo: You couldn’t possibly pass that up.
Aly Pain: Exactly. But it meant we needed to make a choice. After (the 2006 games), Jeff took two years to shut his landscaping business down. In the summer of 2008, he started training full-time. That was necessary to compete at this level. 2008 and 2009 are the only two years he hasn’t worked two full-time jobs! It was a difficult financial choice. But it was the right choice. Jeff turned 39 in December, and he’s healthier and stronger than ever.
MOMeo: Your situation is obviously unique, but as a relationship coach, you must find some advice that applies to other couples.
Aly Pain: Absolutely! It’s very difficult, living in elite performance levels, and still having a relationship to speak of. It’s not just sports. High-level executives, that’s elite performance in their field. I have a lot to say about that situation. I wanted him to quit. I hated skeleton, and I hated him.
MOMeo: Wow. Do you still hate skeleton?
Aly Pain: Well, I figured out what I really hated wasn’t him or skeleton, but how he was doing it. The dictatorship under which it was being done. I learned a lot about negotiating our relationship. What’s in it for me? There has to be something in it for me. I told him – and I want you to print this – if I’m just a nanny and housekeeper you get to bang, count me out.
MOMeo: Jeff is busy training in Europe, but if he could be here, what do you think he’d say now?
Aly Pain: Jeff would not have had an answer! (laughs) We can laugh now, but our messes were big. I believe he would have continued with skeleton at the price of our marriage. I didn’t give him much choice. I told him, “either you’re done or we’re done.” I only knew ultimatums. I only knew “or else.” I didn’t know about “and.”
MOMeo: What changed?
Aly Pain: No one thing. You know, I asked him to quit three times. I asked for a divorce twice. Times were hard. I feared for losing our house.
MOMeo: Skeleton athletes aren’t exactly well-paid.
Aly Pain: Exactly. I feared buying groceries and gas, in case the machine said “NSF.” There was so much anxiety and fear – coupled with the emotional absence of my spouse.
MOMeo: You asked him to quit, even for a divorce, more than once. He’s still competing, and you’re still married. What happened when you made those ultimatums?
Aly Pain: He’d make a little shift, as much as he could manage. But things would go back to the way they were.
MOMeo: How do the kids feel about all this?
Aly Pain: The boys are 6 and 8 now. They miss their dad like crazy! We sit and cry together. We have to say how mad we are, this sucks, and we can’t stand it! When he’s home, I’m chopped liver as far as the boys are concerned. (laughs) That’s fine! They wouldn’t notice if I went away for four days! (laughs)
MOMeo: How do you help them cope?
Aly Pain: Well, last year we started a daily countdown – 365 days until Dad’s home for good. Before then, it just seemed too far away for them to grasp. Now, there’s just 29 days left. They’re so excited!
MOMeo: What do you think the long-term effects will be?
Aly Pain: I don’t know. We have some healing to do. The boys will be angry. Our oldest is 8. Jeff has missed 3 years of his life.
MOMeo: What will Jeff do when he’s done in a month?
Aly Pain: I want you to print this, too: he will be my manwife. (laughs) It will be rough for him, of course, but he’s had a life before and outside skeleton. He’s got a degree, he had a job, he was self-employed, and he’s got a family. There’s a transition period coming for him. We need to be financially responsible, as his funding ends March 1st.
MOMeo: Will he go back into landscaping?
Aly Pain: He will be my book shipper! (laughs) We hope my book goes well enough to let him take a break. We’ve made an “A to Z” board of options of things he can do after the games. Some are just hopeful, but some have been confirmed. Yes, he can go back to landscaping if he wants or needs to.
MOMeo: Thanks so much for speaking with me today, and for your openness. When is your book available?
Aly Pain: My pleasure! On my website we’re already taking pre-orders. The first batch will ship March 1st.
From handbag designer to TV personality: How Jen Groover built an Empire
Just catching up with Jen Groover is impressive in itself.
“I’m just driving from the studio,” says Groover in her car, “but I’m all yours to talk!”
Groover is a pro, so she says “the studio” in the same casual way you might say “the office.” For her, the studio is a national television studio, where she’s just done another live TV segment.
Which network, you ask? Depends on the day. Groover appears regularly on Fox News’ “Strategy Room,” ABC’s “Money Matters,” CBS’ “Early Show,” CNBC’s “The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch,” and Meredith Corporation’s “Better TV.”
Even more impressive is Jen’s laughter. What’s so funny? It’s been a year since we last spoke, and I’ve just asked her what she’s been up to?
“Well….” she begins, “I’m launching a book (‘What if and Why Not?’) and planning the 24-city book tour; I’m working with Avon to produce a Jen Groover-branded line of accessories – and I’m doing a lot of TV.”
“Wow,” I begin intelligently, “that sounds like a lot.”
“Oh, I should add I’ve also started writing for the Huffington Post as a feature columnist.”
Suddenly my life seems comparatively quiet – and that’s not all. When I last interviewed Jen to be MOMeo Magazine’s original Success Profile, I particularly focused on her first and arguably biggest success, the Butler Bag.
The Butler Bag was worth focusing on. When Jen calls it the first innovation in the handbag industry since the zipper, it’s not hyperbole.
Adding compartments (modelled on dishwasher cutlery trays) to make handbags and purses easier to sort through seems obvious now – but that’s the genius of it. It’s a great story, well worth reading (here at MOMeo Magazine, of course.)
Still, even a year ago, the Butler Bag was hardly Jen’s sole project or accomplishment. She had launched her own entrepreneurial community, Launchers Cafe. She was collaborating with game development company McNeill Designs for Better Minds. She was and is the spokesperson for Girls Take Charge, a leadership organization for girls.
One year later, the biggest single area of change seems to be her impressive media reach.
“I’ve created a niche for myself,” says Groover.
“There were lifestyle experts, and there were business experts – nobody seemed to try and combine the two.”
It’s a niche that obviously needed to be filled. Jen is regularly interviewed (most recently on MSNBC’s “Your Business”), appears as a guest (as on Fox Business’s “Your Questions, Your Money”) where she takes live call-in questions every other Saturday.
Jen Groover appeared as a guest on Fox Business’s “Your Questions, Your Money”.
That’s a lot. Is that all?
“Not at all,” she laughs. She can’t talk much about it yet, but she’s in the early stages of developing film properties – including a TV series inspired by “someone’s” life.
“You won’t see me on screen, though,” she laughs, “acting is definitely not my thing!”
Asked if she’s learned anything in particular over the past year, Groover is assertive.
“Yes! Talking to as many business owners as I do, I really believe small business owners in particular need to start thinking differently.”
“Access to capital is tough right now – but don’t let that be a barrier. People should consider joint ventures – partnering with people with infrastructure – which allows you to incubate your company in their company.
“Don’t give up, just follow a different model. Always think how else you can achieve your goals.”
Why do so many entrepreneurs fail to consider joint ventures? Groover figures they just aren’t seriously considered, but offers this bit of advice:
“100 per cent of $100 is $100, but 20 per cent of $100,000,000 is a lot more!”
It’s been a busy year for Jen Groover – will the next 12 months be just as hectic?
“There’s so much more I want to do, I’m just scratching the surface.”
The Mother of Invention: How Jen Groover built an Empire
“Eureka!” When it hits, your life can change forever. Jen Groover’s “eureka” moment had her dumping out her bag, and inserting the dishwasher cutlery tray. It wasn’t the first time she dumped out her bag – but it was the last. A new mother of twins, Groover struggled with her suddenly ample cargo, including two car seats. She’d be in grocery store lines, trying in vain to find her debit card: “I had to dump out my whole bag out on the conveyor belt,” she recalls, “I couldn’t believe innovation hadn’t come further.” “I always wanted and believed there was a way to see the whole bag without emptying it out.”
Enter inspiration – disguised as the dishwasher.
“I was unloading the dishes, and suddenly I noticed all the forks, knives and spoons standing up, each individually visible.” Groover quickly removed the dish tray and stuck in her bag, thinking “there it is! This is it!” Greek for “I have found it,” the expression “eureka!” is attributed to Archimedes, contemplating the water level rising as he sat in his bathtub. He suddenly understood the principle of displacement, and modern physics is forever in his debt. He was so excited, he ran through the streets of Syracuse, completely naked. Groover’s “eureka” was similar – except for the nudity part. It did, however, prominently feature a household appliance. That’s the funny thing about inspiration – those who have experienced it know you can’t predict when, or what form it will take. That night, Groover barely slept. She skipped bed and went straight to her computer, where she researched bags with compartments. To her delight and very great surprise, they didn’t really exist. “I kept saying to myself, ‘I can’t believe no one has thought of this,’” says Groover, “that’s the post-it theory in a nutshell.” The post-it note theory: if you keep wondering how it’s possible something doesn’t already exist, you’ve got a viable product on your hands. It’s an indication that there’s an obvious need for your prospective product. Just because something seems obvious, doesn’t mean it exists. Groover was right – there was a need. Her company, The Butler Bag LLC, became a multi-million dollar company less than two years later, and is still being tracked as one of the world’s fastest-growing handbag brands.
Taking on the old boys’ club
Of course, success requires more than a single eureka moment. Groover says her immediate circle of friends and colleagues was very supportive…but that was it. 
“There were plenty of naysayers in the (handbag) industry,” recalls Groover. They had done things the same way for so long, and figured there was no need to innovate, or mess with what they thought was a good thing. After all, women love their handbags…don’t they? “The industry was all made up of men, oddly enough.” The handbag industry – specifically, the men who dominated it – didn’t exactly welcome Groover’s ideas with open arms. “It was an old boys’ club,” says Groover. “They’d been around forever. Any new vision just threatens their territory.” In situations like that, complacency sets in all too easily. They feel they know their consumers, but in fact they’ve lost touch. The world – and their market – changes. How do you break down those barriers? Hard, consistent work, says Groover: “I went out on my own, first to prove the idea works, then to prove consumer demand, before industry recognizes.” It helps to consider things positively. Where there is an old boys’ club disconnected from the market, there is an obstacle – but also a tremendous opportunity. Capitalism, like nature, abhors a vacuum. Filling a need, or indeed a vacuum, is hard work – not to mention the full-time duties of raising twins. How did Groover deal with both? “It was tough,” she says with smile, “and it gets harder.” Kids and companies are somewhat similar – the bigger they get, the more time they require. Groover’s twins are almost five. They have their own social calendars: gymnastics, parties, you name it. As Butler Bags took off, so did her own calendar. How does she manage her time? “I don’t cut back on either work or my kids,” says Groover, “if I’m not working, I’m with my kids, or vice versa.” She found other ways to make or cut back on time. “I don’t chit-chat just to chit-chat, I don’t go out for coffee just because, there are no random dinners with friends,” says Groover, “I make sure I go to important moments –birthdays, weddings, that sort of thing – but I don’t just ‘hang out.’”
Celebrating celebrity
Groover is also quick to point out there’s more to commercial success beyond just getting your product in the marketplace – a lot more. Groover harnessed the power of fame. Getting her product in celebrity hands was one of the first things she set out to do. “My publicist showed it to a woman who owned a celebrity gift bag company,” recalls Groover. “She loved it, and wanted to use them for the Miami Vice movie premiere.” Celebrity gift bags are only free for the celebrities. For vendors, it’s an investment, and not a cheap one at that. Groover was asked to donate 75 bags for the event, and had to provide her own travel. That’s not insignificant, especially for a start-up. Was it worth it? “It was an amazing success,” exclaims Groover. At the Miami Vice premiere and similar events that followed, she met with a lot of different celebrities and “created that momentum.” That’s hardly the end of the story. So many products end up in celebrity hands with precious few results, because there’s no follow-up. Celebrity “approval” (it’s not endorsement unless they’re explicitly recommending the product, reminds Groover) is a tremendous opportunity, but just that – an opportunity. “If you don’t leverage that chance, you can’t just sit back and collect money,” says Groover, “that’s where the work actually begins.” How do you leverage celebrity? It opens doors. Stores don’t necessarily want to risk precious shelf space on an unknown product and company. The media isn’t obligated to accept and support you out of the gate. The sooner you realize this, says Groover, the better. Pictures of celebrities with your product are just another way to get seen.
A true MOMeo
Groover is a true mompreneur. To many others, Butler Bag and its undeniable success would be an end in itself. She sees it as yet another opportunity to take advantage of; a springboard product. From brand management deals to a development line, a launchers cafe, a book coming out, and TV shows in development, Jen Groover is its own brand. She is a natural entrepreneur, and had many patents before Butler Bag hit it big. Still, she credits one simple fact for her original idea: motherhood. 
“Every woman gets frustrated with her purse, but becoming a mother of twins placed severe limits on my time – it became intolerable.” In that respect, Groover sees Butler Bag as a symbol. Making existing things better is always the best idea: “It doesn’t have to be rocket science, just something better than before, says Groover.” “Simple innovation is best.” As Groover says, you can learn anything, and you can do anything. You can hire people for everything else. Read the update on Jen Groover Now!
Entrepreneurs Breed Entrepreneurs
Maclean Kay
Today, about 15,000 of Sari Crevin’s signature product, the SippiGrip, sells across North America at stores like Target and Babies R Us. It’s a huge success by any definition.
Like many moms, Sari Crevin was constantly bending over to pick up one-year old son Jake’s sippy-cup. He thought it was hilarious to throw it down to the ground, over and over and over again.
Unlike many moms, did something about it – she invented a hugely successful product.
“As funny as Jake thought it was to watch mommy pick it up every two minutes, I thought ‘there must be something that solves this,’” says Crevin.
Crevin did her homework, investigating retailers and catalogues, performing countless online searches and making dozens of calls, all to no avail.
“There was just nothing out there to solve my problem,” says Crevin.
That’s where many – even most – of us would throw up our hands and give up. But for some, the frustration of discovering no product exists to serve a need leads very quickly to opportunity. Sari Crevin was perhaps pre-conditioned to react in just such a way:
“I come from a very entrepreneurial family,” says Crevin, “my mom, dad, and brother all have their own companies.”
Still, there’s a huge gulf between recognition of a market niche and a potential product to fill it, and actually making one single item, much less a mass-market product. Crevin owned a human resources recruiting and coaching company, so she understood logistics. The problem was physically making one.
“I didn’t know how to sew a bobbin,” Crevin recalls with a chuckle.
Hiring someone to put together a prototype wasn’t in her nature, so she made a trip to Target and came home with a $80 sewing machine. Slowly but surely, she started “playing” with it and teaching herself the basics.
“Just the other day, I came across my first hand-sewn prototypes and laughed,” she says.
“What a drastic difference!”
Enter Bill Gates
The product evolved through trial and error, eventually into the product available nationwide today – but just as Crevin really had the SippiGrip figured out, she dropped the project almost entirely for a year.
The reason? Bill Gates.
Even as she researched and pursued what would (eventually) become the final version of SippiGrip, Crevin’s main focus remained her human resources consulting company. It attracted the notice of Microsoft; they made her an offer she couldn’t refuse, and the Crevins relocated to Seattle.
As she got adjusted to a new city, and a new job working for the software giant, Crevin simply didn’t have time to devote to her then-pet project. Once again, a very successful (and famous) person was the catalyst for what happened next.
Enter Oprah Winfrey
“Oprah had a contest on her show,” Crevin recalls, “partnering with (home shopping channel) QVC to give entrepreneurs a chance (to show their products.”
The winning product would be shown and sold on the network – a huge opportunity for any startup. At first, she didn’t think it was worthwhile, and had no plans to go. A friend gave her the right advice; exactly what Crevin herself had told others in similar positions – go. Try.
“My friend told me ‘you always push people to at least try,’ and now I was balking at a plane ticket to LA,” says Crevin.
Crevin and Sippigrip didn’t end up on QVC, but they encouraged her to keep going, telling her she had a fantastic idea and a real shot at success. Crevin decided her idea was too good to let it simply waste away, and started to get serious about finding a manufacturer, and look for distributors.
Later that same year, (2007), Crevin participated in the ABC Kids Expo.
“My booth was easily the most pathetic there,” recalls Crevin with a laugh.
“My product was made in totally different materials (from now), it was like a dog leash material. Even worse, I didn’t bring enough for the show.”
Crevin got lucky – her admittedly poor presentation was overlooked. Before the show (“on my Dad’s advice”) Crevin sent exploratory emails about SippiGrip to major retailers just before the show. Sitting in her booth at the show, Crevin overheard two women talking about SippiGrip.
“They were pointing at my booth, saying ‘remember I told you about this?’” says Crevin.
The duo were from Target – which, besides being a huge retailer, was in entering the second year of its parent-invented product program. Even after a long conversation with them, Crevin didn’t comprehend their level of interest:
“They were presenting to me, not vice versa,” she recalls, “it was an incredibly surreal experience.”
Target provided Crevin (and 15 other selectees) a thorough education in the manufacturing and distribution ends of the business, effectively allowing her to go from prototype to major retailer in one fell swoop.
Once established with Target, the company had no issues with Crevin expanding her company’s retail reach. She successfully pitched to Babies R Us, and shipped her first units to them just days after giving birth to her second child.
Since then, Crevin has added a second product, PaciGrip, a universal pacifier holder. PaciGrip is actually more successful than SippiGrip, with about 20,000 units sold per month. Crevin has plans to launch a third product (tentatively called “SplatMat”) in the very near future.
How is this possible, given a demanding and rewarding “day job” career with Microsoft?
“I have a great team behind me, which includes my wonderful husband and children – they’re so supportive,” says Crevin.
Her team also means her manufacturers, lawyers, and a supply chain advisor. It also helps that her superiors at Microsoft fully endorse and support her entrepreneurial ambitions and projects, which many, if not most employers, would quietly discourage.
“I want to continue to grow in everything I do,” says Crevin.
“I think that’s the key.”
Listen to Sari’s FAST TRACK interview with Carla Young…
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- I love that @AlyPain tells it like it is --> STOP Blaming Your Children - Why YOUR Failure Isn't THEIR Fault - http://t.co/LPo51mgI
- Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, "Make me feel important." ~Mary Kay Ash
