My Little Cave & Pitchmen Casting

Where, Oh Where, Have I Been?! I'm sure some of you readers have been wondering... Well, I found a dark little cave and I've been hiding out there. I had a bunch of ducks lined up and I was really making progress on manufacturing my sling and even wholeselling it, but then I ran into a brick wall and all my progress has taken a siesta... I'm sad. :(

I'm in a holding pattern right now because I haven't the funding to get my LLC, get packaging, or get the design layout for my packaging. My biggest problem is the LLC hurdle. The filing fee is a pretty penny here in Texas, so I'm unable to move forward until I get that taken care of.

I know some of you inquired about the logo... that's the other part of the road block... I'm too busy to get to it! I just started homeschooling my 5 year old and that, plus my photography business, children's choir, and Awana's, etc. is consuming all of my time. I walk by my creative space and look at my projects on hold and I want to move forward, but I just cannot at this time.

However, I know that I know that I KNOW that God's timing is perfect and it will come to fruitition at the right time if it is His will for me and for my family. So for now, no logo reveal, BUT, I did have the opportunity to go to a new casting for Pitchmen in Las Vegas! It's nice to have a new vein to daydream in! :) But, my schedule and budget is such that I'm just going to stick to the daydreaming! lol I don't think The Posh Pod is a very good match for Pitchmen either, but it's exciting to be in and around all the buzz! I can't wait to see what's going to happen with Milojo in the next few weeks and I'm keeping my ears peeled for updates on the Pitchmen casting!

Logos & Website

Well, I'm ALMOST ready to unveil The Posh Pod's new website! I found a lady on Craigslist who wanted to trade my photographic services for her logo design services, but as usual, I found that a time-tested fact still holds true... No one, but no one, knows what I want better than me! Now let me clarify that statement... I did not know what I was looking for logo-wise when I started, but I wanted a few completely different options to get my mind going. Well, as soon as I saw my 3 samples, I knew exactly where I did not want to go, and my gut level feeling (that I had been pushing back for weeks), rose to the surface and I realized I already knew what I wanted. And, apparently, I wasn't going to take no for an answer! :)

So, after requesting a few revisions and realizing that poor Ms. Carol just wasn't ever going to be able to read my mind, I decided to just jump in and do it myself. I have some experience doing logo design for myself and a few other businesses, but the picture in my mind of what I wanted seemed beyond my Photoshop capabilities. I even dowloaded a trial version of Adobe Illustrator thinking I'd try to use that (um, yeah, no such luck... WAY over my head!).

So, I was left with old faithful (Photoshop CS4) and a few hours of silence (because the girls were finally asleep!), so I dove in! And, about 4 hours later, I am just minutes away from my final version. Now, I will say this... (this harkens back to a previous post). Normally, I would have just considered it done, posted it to the webmaster and got my site rolling with my new logo. BUT, this time, I did the marinate it thing and printed a couple of versions, taped them to the wall next to my monitor and have been glancing at them since (4 days!).

What I've learned is:

1. What my mother always said was true! I CAN do whatever I set my mind to! :)
2. Input from others is always helpful, but if your gut says 'go with this,' you gotta go with it!
3. Marinating is a delight!

Submitting My Patent Via E-File

Yes, I know, it's been a week or so since my last post. My day job has been taking a lot of my time... that, and I've started homeschooling my kindergartener. Let's see... how many things can I juggle?

So far, so good, but the Sling has been on the back burner. It seems like every time I have a break and can put some time into it, it's 2am! So needless to say I've been feeling stiffled creatively. But, tonight, I decided to put everything else on hold and dedicate my evening to finalizing my provisional patent application and submitting it.

A shout out to the ladies who have so generously given of their time, resources, and experience as I've been struggling with this portion of my journey. Thank you ladies! I plan to do something special for you in the very near future! ;)

Like I was saying, tonight I dedicated about 5 hours to research and development. I created my hand made sketches, scanned them in (this was more tedious than I thought it would be!), and I completed my coversheet and Specifications. However, I will admit that I really didn't do much formatting research prior to writing my Specifications. That caused me a bit of trouble and panic as I tried to fit my work into the mold. I think if I would have started the other way I might not have written as creatively though... Regardless, it's done, I followed the rules and paid my money, so YIIIIIPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!! I AM LEGAL and I AM LOVIN' IT!!!!!!

Now I can get to work on my website and product shoot. I have this awesome vision for my product shoot, now to make it a reality... Praise God I can do that myself or I'd be paying a pretty penny for what I want to accomplish.

And, I've also had a breakthrough on the production aspect... I'm going to start out small by employing Americans in my city who are struggling to make ends meet. So, I'll have several people working as contract laborers until I meet the 1,000 minimum order quota from the manufacturers.

Time to get the ball rolling!

Getting My Ducks In A Row

Well, I FINALLY have a framework for my provisional patent ready. I'm sleeping on it for a couple of days so I can revisit it with a fresh perspective and make the few changes I've thought of. It's funny how as a young person I was so impulsive, I would have submitted that patent the same night I wrote it. But over time, I've learned to actually ENJOY the marinating time. It's like a bittersweet test. Can I stand to wait, and can I wait to see if I'm satisfied? I just entered into the world of "enjoy sleeping on it" this year. I'm impulsive by nature, so it goes against everything I'm likely to do. I think that's part of the pleasure of making myself wait. I'm sort of disciplining myself and feeling good about it too! :)

As far as the process that takes place after the patent has been filed, well, I've been working, working, working, on that. I've got a web template picked out, a hosting company lined up, a logo in the works (a trade for services deal - you can't beat that!), and I'm working on my manufacturing and packaging contacts right now. I feel God's hand on me holding me back from pursuing this as an active production, but I feel very strongly about doing all my research and getting my ducks in a row so that when the time is right, I'm ready to roll!

In the process, I've found a lot of great resources and I'm mulling over how to connect the world with them. I may be placing permanent links on this blog when I transfer live hosting of poshpodsling.com to my website instead of my blog. Regardless, if you are in the process of looking for a website or a logo, I'm chock full of ideas and resources!

I'm also planning a product shoot in the near future. I've got three models and I'm working on getting wardrobes and products for each of them. I'll be using a local photography studio co-op in Arlington to shoot. I'm so excited to get back into a studio setting to work! This process is so fun and so far, I'm spending $0! God is awesome and He's teaching me how to accomplish all my needed tasks in unconventional ways for a whole lot less than I'm told it should cost. Praise the Lord!

Taking Patents By Storm!

So, I've been vascilating back and forth between patent lawyer and do-it-yourself... And, of course, the obvious choice for those of us to whom money is no object... HIRE THE LAWYER. But, alas, it is not so for me and my fledgling sling business. So, I have been doing lots of research on the internet.

I have been searching the US Patent and Trademark Office website, but let's just be real here... I have no idea what all those codes mean! C'mon! Do you gotta be a genius to be an inventor? Maybe so. I don't claim to aspire to a perpetual loftiness of thought. But, every now and then I do have a good idea. Hence, The Posh Pod Sling.

But, I'll be real honest, this whole process has broken my idea down to it's most basic parts and called the validity of the "invention" label into question multiple times. In my head (and on my prototypes) I can see all the ways that my sling is so very different from every other sling on the market. But in writing... uh... (*crickets*)

And, to top it all off, I'm being told over and over again that I need to be vague, very vague. Well good grief! How ridiculous is that? Ok then, I made a sling. There ya' go. Except that won't do it. I have to go through this intricate sidestepping of details to create my vague description of my one of a kind object. Ironic? Maybe.

Until tonight I'd been doing all my research on the USPTO website and pretty much clicking in circles (thanks gov't web guy). But tonight, I was thinking simple. Like, simple terms for a vague patent, so I typed in "baby sling patent" and I found the most miraculous website... http://www.patentstorm.us/! Granted, it probably has all the same information as the USPTO website, but the way they organize it is so much easier for me to navigate. Plus, their image files actually work in IE 7 (shout out to Bill Gates)!

So, I was able to do a concise search on my item, determine the world knows not what will befall it when my sling goes to market, and take some serious pointers on writing my own patent. Yes, folks, that's what I said... I wrote my own patent. Vaguely, but in detail. :)

TLC's Women Inventor Casting

In June I tried out for TLC's Women Inventor show. The casting call was in Dallas as well as Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. I made it through the preliminary 30 second session and miraculously got a green card so I could move on to the 2 minute taped session.

For those of you who know me, talking in front of a video camera as a sales person is probably the last thing you'd think of me doing. I know that I was able to do it because of God. God was all over that casting call.

I had to have a prototype, so I went to the fabric store in a different city where I was already shopping and loaded up my cart with all the necessary items to make my prototype. I was so excited. Well, when I got to the register, my card wouldn't clear. As I was calling the card company an employee from the cutting table came and told me she forgot to give me my discount! So, I got some cash from hubby ;) and proceeded to purchase everything in my basket. As I walked away from the register, I felt this heaviness like I shouldn't have purchased all these items. I found it confusing, but I decided to send Jeremy (haha) back into the store to return everything but the shell material. (I also had found the one button I needed there, but I decided to return it too. I later had to send Jeremy back to the same store to buy it. It's the only one in two stores and it was still there waiting for me!)

Well, later that evening I got home, pulled out all my materials and found out I didn't have enough of my second material to make the sling. So, I sent (guess who) out to our local in-town store and he bought the wrong thing! So, when he went back (don't worry, he enjoys running errands), to the store he found the right stuff and because it was dirty, we got it for almost half price! So, in all, I was able to get all my materials for almost 50% off! I knew God was doing something wonderful.

Then, my next task was to make a PERFECT prototype for TLC. Well, it must be said that I'm no seamstress! I'm really not being modest. I am crazy in the kitchen and in the sewing room. Well, I'm pretty much crazy anywhere I'm supposed to measure something. I just eyeball pretty much everything. So, you can imagine what my homemade clothes look like. My poor girls... it's hilarious actually. But anyway, I am supposed to make this perfect prototype and I've only sewn one other prototype and I had major problems on the finishing seams. Plus, this go-round I'm supposed to be implementing all the changes I wanted to make from the first one. And needless to say, there's no "pattern". I just know in my head approximately where everything should go and how big it should be.

I kid you not, I made the most perfect, flawless prototype ever. :) I remember looking at my hands working with the fabric and the sewing machine and feeling like I was watching a movie. God was totally moving and prompting me step by step until I was finished with this amazing creation. I'm still shocked over how great it turned out. In fact, I'm afraid to use it because I don't want to mess it up!

The whole point is, God made all these doors open so we could afford the materials, I could be bold and fearless in front of the camera and with a crowd of professional women inventors, and He has given me peace about the results of the show's casting as well. (I do want to say a public thank you to my sweet baby girl Emily - 5 months old now - she was in the sling all day at the casting call. She did an awesome job being cute and happy! Everybody was fawning over her. She's my little movie star buddy!)

So now, I've found out that TLC has already sent contracts out to 60 women, expecting to choose 24 for the show. Strangely, I feel just as much peace as I did when I went in front of the cameras and the lights. I don't know what God has planned for me or this sling. But, I know this, I have learned to see the journey as the lesson, not the destination.

So, I decided to create this blog... for me, for other mom inventors, and for my girls, so they can read about mommy's great invention when they grow up. I put a special forum here on the blog so women inventors can come here and chat, discuss TLC, their inventions, plug their websites, etc. I've met an amazing group of women who share openly their struggles, resources, and advice. Encouragement pours out when one of us is down and needs lifting up. To me, this is far more valuable than any TLC show.

Sonrise Manufacturing

Thanks to Judy Clark, I am now "in the know" about Sonrise Manufacturers in Dallas! I called them at 7:15 this morning thinking I'd be leaving a message, and I was when Candice answered the phone! I tried to sound like I have a clue about what I'm asking for, but low and behold, she knew what I needed because.... they make one of my competition's products! How crazy is that?! I had no idea the competition's business is based in Dallas. I was concerned that I'd have to go find another manufacturer, but they've agreed to make mine too! I can totally see how God worked that out... they know exactly what a sling is, but they'll need to see my pattern to learn how to make mine. The downside to all of this is, my sling has so many features, I doubt they'll be able to make one every 8 minutes like they do with the competition's. : I'm working on getting some new materials together to have them make a few samples for me so we can see how long it will take. Not bad at $35 a pop!

And, for those wondering, they have a 100 unit minimum order and they charge $35/hr., but if you order more than 300 units they charge $25/hr. They also offered to help me get my patterned polished and hook me up with a professional pattern maker if I needed it. And, they plan to help me get a professional marker made (plastic template used for cutting out the fabrics).

I'm wrestling with importing materials from China. That's the cheapest option, but I'd prefer to give jobs to Americans. Maybe I'll have to do a trade off... Materials from China and manufacturing in the USA? I'm trying to do my part to help the economy!

I'm also looking into product packaging. I have an idea as to what I want, but I'm new to this too. I've got to get a lot of ducks in a row simultaneously (it seems) to get the intertia going at the speed I want!

And, last, but not least... I'm considering an LLC. Again, money, money, money, is needed for all of these steps. *sigh* Any investors out there? ;)