Innovation Divaz Melinda Knight and Dhana Cohen

With Bangle Stacker™ Chicago-Area Inventor Brings Uncommon Sense to Jewelry Organizing

Kate O'Malley's innovation goes from "Not today, Mom" to The Today Show!

Like so many products, the Bangle Stacker's roots can be traced to a simple problem: how to organize jewelry efficiently.

One rainy day in July 2014, Kate O'Malley tried to enlist her daughters in a project that tackled the issue. Neither was interested in the least, so O'Malley grabbed duct tape to secure two golf tees and a pair of toilet paper rolls atop a plastic plate.

What initially prompted eye rolls from her tween-age children has developed into an eye-catching product called the Bangle Stacker featuring five vertical posts that hold bracelets, rings and other accessories.

It has made a substantial splash, including a January appearance on a NBC's popular Today program, segment led by Stephanie Sisco, a Real Simple magazine editor.

"That was such a validation of my instincts", O'Malley says. "There are so many people, particularly women, whose dressers are a mess because they don't have an efficient, sleek way of keeping their jewelry organized without stashing it in a box."

Specifically, no other product enables the display of jewelry, rings, hair and other accessories neatly atop a dresser. In addition, one of the competitive advantages of the Bangle Stacker, in terms of appeal to retailers, is that it can be stacked in sets of 20 and therefore occupy precious little retail space.

O'Malley, a longtime television advertising executive before becoming a stay-at-home mom to her two daughters and one son, previously demonstrated a penchant for practical invention. In 2007 she created the I'm Hot You're Not dual insulation non-electric blanket. After procuring a patent for the blanket in 2012, she produced I'm Hot You're Not, which addresses the dilemma posed by so many hot-blooded/cold-blooded partners with contrasting insulation needs.

In early 2015, production began on the first samples of the product. By August, barely a year after that rudimentary rainy-day design, O'Malley began receiving large-quantity shipments.

Made of acrylic, and coming in clear and black options, the Bangle Stacker is a 10-inch wide, 7-inch long tray with five vertical posts: two larger (which can fit a bracelet with a diameter as large as 3¾ inches) and three smaller (especially useful for rings and earrings).

The base retail price is $12.99. Soon, O'Malley plans to offer a wider variety of customized prints and textures at additional price points.

FiAir changes the heated debate over Charcoal vs Gas grilling

The first & only TRULY PORTABLE powered blower for Wood & Charcoal fires!
Nearly everyone prefers the flavor of charcoal, but the time it takes for charcoal to reach cooking temperature can be a turnoff. Some have converted to propane gas grilling for speed alone. Others refuse to give up briquettes or lump charcoal, but use accelerants and/or a chimney to hasten the heat. The process still takes 15 to 30 minutes or more with these traditional methods. Now the days of trading taste to save time are over. No matter how you light your coals, FiAir cuts the time to cooking temperature easily by HALF the time you're used to - typically, just 8-12 minutes.

Who cares if there's a chill in the air with FiAir at the hearth or campsite?

There's nothing quite like the sights, sounds and smell of a real wood fire. Now, a cozy fireside is just two minutes away. It's true: FiAir kindles wood to a robust blaze in two minutes or less and keeps it that way with a few well-placed bursts of life-giving air each time you add more fuel. You can blow on it or use ineffective squeeze bellows and there are plenty of fancy fireplace tool sets, costly accessories and special starters on the hearth and outdoors market. But if you simply want to enjoy your wood fires more and mess with them less - all you need is FiAir.

Meet Alan i Harris, Founding Member and FiAir Chief
After 9 year

We are so excited to have Noah McNeely with Product QuickStart back on the Innovation Divaz Show to share once again his knowledge of the industry and product development knowhow.

This show we are focusing on the questions we hear from inventors on a regular basis. Between the Innovation Divaz and Noah it's sure to be an informative, inspiration and fun show!

About Product QuickStart
Don Muntner and Noah McNeely created Product QuickStart out of a passion to meet the product development and manufacturing needs of entrepreneurs and start-ups. They've spent years developing, manufacturing, and launching new products at Slingshot Product Development Group for major brands and companies like the Home Depot, Procter & Gamble, the Coca Cola Company, and Black & Decker.

Even though they love innovating with big name companies, they've always had a special enthusiasm for working with early stage entrepreneurs and teams that are full of passion, ambition, and great ideas. That's why they created Product QuickStart... both to feed their professional passion, and to provide world class product development and manufacturing services to entrepreneurs, start-ups, early stage companies, and inventors.

Product QuickStart is an initiative of Slingshot Product Development Group, an award-winning product development and manufacturing organization that has been involved in hundreds of product launches over the last fifteen years. So, even though their focus is on early stage companies, Product QuickStart is allied with a much broader design, engineering, and manufacturing team that is one of the best in the business.

Product QuickStart is focused specifically around the needs of early stage companies and entrepreneurs, and allows them to offer you cost effective, streamlined services - but still backed by the full technical and creative horsepower of Slingshot.

Melanie Miller is passionate about solving the messiest problems in parenthood. As each of her babies made their way through the infant "diaper blowout" stage and, later, the "soaked-at-midnight-diaper" stage, these disastrous situations inspired her to create solutions to these messy problems.

Like most new moms, Melanie quickly grew tired of those diaper messes and lived in fear of diaper leaks that would ruin bedding, car seat covers, outfits and outings. Yet when she looked for a solution, none was to be found. So Melanie, with the help of her sewing machine and a lot of creativity, made her own solution to these stressful and messy situations. Thus came the birth of her fourth "baby", Melzy Baby LLC.

Melzy Baby products transcend the cloth and disposable diaper markets with the first and only reusable diaper extensions! The Blowout Blocker and Soaker Stopper save parents from the stress and mess of diaper blowouts and leaks!

The Blowout Blocker is an extension to a standard diaper, reaching up the back of the baby. It is intended to protect against soiling clothes, bedding, car seats, carpets, etc. from up-the-back diaper back blowouts. It contains the mess for fast, easy and stress free clean-up! A disposable version is coming soon!

The Soaker Stopper is an extension to a standard diaper, wrapping around the front and sides of the child to catch leaks that escape the diaper. Use at nighttime to prevent waking up to a soaking wet baby!
Melzy Baby is also thrilled to be helping out parents with children who have special needs. Children who have a feeding tube or ostomy experience leaks and the Soaker Stopper offers a solution to these issues. They offer custom made products to these and other children who benefit from them.

The Brains Behind the Blowout Blocker

When Melanie Miller's first two children were young she struggled to find a solution to the diaper blowouts and leaks that always seemed to happen at the least opportune times. So she was inspired to create her own solution: The Blowout Blocker and the Soaker Stopper. Today, she sells both products through her company Melzy Baby LLC.

Melanie earned her Bachelors of Health Science from Brigham Young University and, before becoming a mother, worked in the health and wellness industry as a personal trainer and managed two fitness centers. However, she has always had a passion for business and helping people, especially moms, overcome the messiest problems in parenthood. She enjoys sharing her products with other moms who have similar diapering issues.

Melanie and her husband live in Utah with their children, 9-year-old Maxwell, 7-year-old Lincoln, 4-year-old Malcolm and 1-year-old Penelope.

INSINK 4-1 contains the following items: Katcher,
Kaddy, Kup, two suction bars and one brush.
Never fill your sink to do dishes, soapy water always available, no more food scraps in the sink, frees up space on your cutting board, pre-wash dishes to run the short cycle & more, while saving TIME, WATER, ENERGY & MONEY! Yes a kitchen gadget can do this!

PRODUCT DETAILS

Designed to simplify food prep and washing up, and save water, time and money, this set of three multifunctional containers can be placed, removed and re-positioned in almost any part of the sink thanks to handy suction bars. The katcher fits on top of the kaddy or kup to easily funnel food or scraps from the chopping board; holes in the bottom of the kaddy enable it to be used as a colander for fruit and veg or to drain cutlery and utensils, and the kup can be topped up with soapy water so you can pre-soak cutlery or wash up as you go, without having to waste water by filling the whole sink. Set comprises katcher, kaddy and kup containers, brush and two suction bars. Nest for storage.

Keep hands safe as knives and sharp utensils always remain visible, and reduce your skins exposure to soapy water

Products are dishwasher safe, made from FDA approved materials, BPA free and 100% recyclable. Designed and m

Meet Christine Hultgren, the creator of Can The Barking Dog

Can The Barking Dog is the most humane way to stop your pet from uncontrollable misbehavior. It is a patented, portable, lightweight hand-held dog training device. All the pet owner has to do is pull the tab out on top and shake and push the tab back in when done. It stops unwanted disobedience by changing the thought process of your dog, even cats.

The story behind Can The Barking Dog

I had to have my dogs retrained because I like many pet owners let my dogs become the alpha dogs, we had (2) choices to make at that time. Either pay for some help or get rid of them, fortunately we were able to afford a world class dog trainer and had her come to our house to retrain our dogs. She suggested after the final and costly training to get a soda can and put pennies into it, tuck tape the top and shake it every time they get out of control. Needless to say, it has worked for us for over 8 years. A few years after making and destroying numerous cans, I went on the internet to find one, I knew about clicker and chain training and could find those items, but there was no can to be found. That is when I enlisted some help and decided that I wanted to share with other pet owners what I had learned. That is how I started the process and Can The Barking Dog was founded.

Interview with JoAnn Gross, the inventor of SleevePal


The SleevePal transaction card sleeve was created and patented by me, a single mom, and my daughter, Beni. While she could not find the receipt that would show the remaining balance left on a particular gift card, we had an idea...

In order to help avoid the stress and time consumption that usually results from scrambling to find that little piece of paper, we came up with a new product. A different type of card sleeve that could store a gift or debit card (or any type of account card) and provide the necessary account balance information...in seconds...with just the glance of an eye!

Interview with Margaret Sinclair, Inventor of Maggies, Discover Magnetizing New Looks In A Snap!
Maggies are powerful little American-made fashion magnets designed to hold several layers of your favorite fabrics together. Hiding behind the scenes and under the seams, Maggies allow you to wear your scarves, shawls or sarongs in ways only fashionistas dream about. Just snap together an outfit out of a shawl, scarf or sarong and head out the door. You'll go from flat to flattering in seconds!

Meet Margaret Sinclair

Born in Australia, Margaret has lived more than half of her life in Dallas since moving to the U.S.A. in 1971. She began her career in Australia where she graduated as a registered nurse, midwife and pediatric nurse. She trained as a cardiopulmonary bypass technician at Baylor before moving to Athens, Greece from 1973-75 to assist in the introduction of cardiac surgery. She worked at Massachusetts General Hospital as head nurse in the neonatal unit from 1976-78, then the Medical College of Virginia where she was coordinator of the neonatal and pediatric I.C.U. from 1978-81. In 1981, while working in London, she designed a positioning product for premature babies.
Visit www.mymaggies.com for more info.

Interview with Sheila Benjamin, Inventors of ZipMyself

Do you have hard-to-reach zippers on your clothing that are difficult to zip up on your own? Or, do you have buttons on your dress shirts that are super hard to button? Getting dressed in the morning shouldn't be hard. That's why ZipMyself makes it easy! ZipMyself is an innovation and useful tool that helps you reach hard-to-reach zippers and close tough buttons without the help of a friend. With ZipMyself, you'll never have to arrive at an event half zipped or buttoned again.

Our product is extremely easy to use. Plus, it's small, compact and very lightweight, so you can bring it with you wherever you go. It's perfect for traveling!

Sheila Benjamin, Inventor & Founder of SheGreg Products, LLC
Sheila Benjamin is the Inventor and Founder of SheGreg Products, LLC the umbrella for patent pending ZipMyself. Our zipper tools are useful for ladies who love dresses, men who often wear dress shirts, seniors, and people with limited mobility. Our product makes zippering and buttoning your clothing on your own so much simpler!
Visit www.zipmyself.com to learn more.

Outside of getting a patent, the prototype process can be one of the most intimidating and seemingly overwhelming step in the inventing process, but it's also one of the most important. The good news is that we will be having Noah McNeely, CoFounder of Product QuickStart, on the show to talk about the ins and outs of the prototype process. We will cover many inspirational and educational subjects during our interview so don't miss the show, but if you do it's easy to download on our podcast page!

About Product QuickStart
Don Muntner and Noah McNeely created Product QuickStart out of a passion to meet the product development and manufacturing needs of entrepreneurs and start-ups. They've spent years developing, manufacturing, and launching new products at Slingshot Product Development Group for major brands and companies like the Home Depot, Procter & Gamble, the Coca Cola Company, and Black & Decker.

Even though they love innovating with big name companies, they've always had a special enthusiasm for working with early stage entrepreneurs and teams that are full of passion, ambition, and great ideas. That's why they created Product QuickStart... both to feed their professional passion, and to provide world class product development and manufacturing services to entrepreneurs, start-ups, early stage companies, and inventors.

Product QuickStart is an initiative of Slingshot Product Development Group, an award-winning product development and manufacturing organization that has been involved in hundreds of product launches over the last fifteen years. So, even though their focus is on early stage companies, Product QuickStart is allied with a much broader design, engineering, and manufacturing team that is one of the best in the business.

Product QuickStart is focused specifically around the needs of early stage companies and entrepreneurs, and allows them to offer you cost effective, streamlined services - but still backed by the full technical and creative horsepower of Slingshot.