What It's About
This inventor had a creative idea, but ran into an unmovable obstacle.
Notes from Chris
Episode 1658
I believe we can learn as much from failure as we can from success, if not more. It’s with this principle in mind that we’re starting Failure Friday, a collection of short stories all about mistakes, missteps, disasters, and of course, failure. Just like our Throwback Thursday segment, you’ll hear directly from side hustlers who have struggled to get something off the ground. They’ll tell you a short story of something that went very wrong. The stories will vary, but often it starts with an idea, what they thought would happen and what really happened—and of course, what they learned. I applaud their courage! I’ll share some of my failure stories along the way as well. Today’s short story features Tracy Bech from Hood River, Oregon. We told the successful story of her invention on Episode #815. What is that invention? It’s the peeLUX … I kid you not. It’s an accessory that helps women use the ladies room while wearing shape wear … which I now understand to be a pressing problem. The peeLUX actually a very profitable product—but when she tries to pitch her product to the founder of Spanx, she runs afoul of the company’s lawyers. Listen to today's episode to learn more...MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- peeLUX: Don't let tight shapewear get you bent out of shape—pick up a peeLUX of your own over on Tracy's website!
- Personal Problem Leads to Profitable Project: Thousands of women struggle to pee while wearing shapewear after a surgery. This side hustler and her product designer husband invent a no-mess solution!
- Failure Friday: Hand Sanitizer Makes Clean Getaway: In this week’s “Failure Friday” segment, a hand sanitizer product line expansion encounters epic delays and misfortune for this natural body care products founder.
- Failure Friday: “Pitching to executives felt like an awful first date…”: In this week’s Failure Friday segment, we hear from a military spouse who sells punny greeting cards. When she’s called to pitch her idea to executives at an incubator, she figures she can wing it. How hard can it be?
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