Lots of people with clever ideas are making their way to Appleton today for the Ideas to Profits Conference. It gives inventors a chance to demonstrate their creations and get feedback from professionals. WUWM’s Susan Bence met one Milwaukee inventor who hopes the conference will turn out to be her big break.
It all started with one of those post-it notes you stick on the fridge to remind yourself of something. Over the years, whenever Fannie LeFlore is inspired, she scribbles on little bits of paper. One idea came to her when she was cleaning up the bathroom after her son had a sleepover.
“The boys would often be splashing dirty water on my walls in the bathroom when they would stay overnight, you know accidently,” LeFlore says.
The boys splashed her family’s toothbrushes too.
“I thought oh my goodness I need something that’s going to make it possible for me not to have to replace my toothbrush every week,” LeFlore says.
And there you have it, Toothbrush Hygiene Helper! Wait wait, not so fast.
LeFlore was already busy with a full-time consulting business, but had a feeling this invention could work. So she searched the internet, looking for someone to help her figure out how to create a workable design from her sketch and how to get it manufactured. That search led to a company in Virginia that could help design a sturdy covered cup, fashioned of plastic, with slots for toothbrushes.
“You’ve got to make sure you put some vents in because otherwise the toothbrushes could get mildewy ,” LeFlore says.
All of the design modifications took time and cost money.
“You have to end up sometimes paying a little more because it’s your first round and then you learn what to pay attention to,” LeFlore says.
LeFlore laughs. I ask why.
“The realization I could have started locally in the beginning,” LeFlore says.
Eight months ago, LeFlore finally hooked up with Wes Holliday. He’s part of a team of engineers and designers about a 40-minute drive north of Milwaukee. Holliday is helping tweak the design. After the final adjustment has been made, a nearby factory in Sheboygan Falls is standing by to manufacture LeFlore’s product.
Right now we’re on our way to meet with Wes Holliday, so engineer and inventor can put the finishing touches on Toothbrush Hygiene Helper. LeFlore opens her trunk.
That’s where she stores her suitcase filled with design materials.
“As you can see I live in my car,” LeFlore says.
Wes Holliday meets us inside. The engineer looks especially tall and burly next to LeFlore’s petite frame. He guides us down to a conference room, where, after a little chitchat, LeFlore gets down to business.
“Yeah, this is, all the revisions were all done by Wes. And Wes I think our best touch was the snap ins,” LeFlore says.
The “snap in” is the gizmo you put into one of the four toothbrush holes, so a smaller handle can be slipped in and fit better.
These two adults are like kids in a candy shop, they can hardly control their excitement.
“I think this is probably the best feature I like a lot, yeah,” LeFlore says.
“Good, good,” Holliday says.
“I’m very pleased,” LeFlore says.
Holliday shows LeFlore modifications he’s made in the wall mount.
“Actually added another rib in there as well so we’ve got three contact points along there. So that should just be rock solid in there,” Holliday says.
“So that will provide some stability there too,” LeFlore asks.
“Yes, yes,” Holliday says.
Holliday says he loves taking on projects like this one.
“I mean we obviously work with Fortune 500 companies in Milwaukee, but we get a lot of entrepreneurs like Fanny through the door and sometimes we have to send them on their merry way, saying that maybe this isn’t quite what you need to be doing, but this is fantastic being part of something like this,” Holliday says.
“Yeah, and look we’ve come a long way,” LeFlore says.
LeFlore says she’s become a better business woman and it shows. Before we leave, she hands him a stack of promotional flyers.
“Wes, I don’t expect you all to do PR and marketing but you all benefit too from my invention,” LeFlore says. “Oh yes we do,” Holliday says.
While we drive back to the city, LeFlore says she can hardly believe after three years of working two jobs with no sleep, she’s ready to head to a competition in Appleton. If she wins, she’ll get $2000 of in-kind services to jumpstart Toothbrush Hygiene Helper.
“There are 304 million people in the United States and we can assume that most people brush their teeth at some point. So if we even just sell one million of the product that’s twenty million in revenue,” Leflore says.
LeFlore says if her invention really takes off, she’s going to help other entrepreneurs get a start and move on to the next sticky note on her refrigerator.
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