Mark Struczewski
Lynne Eichenbaum, welcome to the show.
Lynne Eichenbaum
Mark, thank you so much for having me. I feel it's a blessing and a privilege to be here.
Mark Struczewski
Now I had the opportunity to talk to Lynne for the first time last week. This is very unusual. Usually people meet me on a pre interview call. And it's three to four months ago on the show. But I had a cancellation today and Lynne jumped into it. Like kids jump into a pool in summertime. We had a fascinating conversation. But I actually had to tell her to quiet Be quiet last week, because she was timing your whole story. And I didn't want to hear the story in the pre interview call. I want to hear it with you listener. And so get ready. Because if you think I have a lot of energy. Lynn does as well. So So Lynn, I want to start First of all, to giving credit where credit's due to your son Zack, so why don't you tell us why Zach is your hero today.
Lynne Eichenbaum
All right, well, Zach is my hero. Thank you Mark, because I am very, very bad with technology. And I knew that I had to get an external microphone in order to do the interview. So I panicked. And I screamed Zach, which I usually do when I have technology issues. And he got me an external mic. He got me the headsets, he set everything up. And when I scheduled the interview with your mark at 10am. I got off the phone and then I panicked again, because I know my teenager sleeps until noon. So I said if something happens at 10am I'm kind of going to be up the creek because I am not going to be able to do anything. So I'm really, really happy that everything worked out. You can hear me I can hear you and God bless. Thank you.
Mark Struczewski
Well, you have to tell Zach, your 17 year old son that we gave him a shout out on the show. We gave him credit for this. So if this goes viral, Zack can certainly play a part in that. So you know, it's interesting. I'm 56 years young and because I'm a productivity coach, I'm all over social media. I know how to use a lot of the the apps that kids are on and I have really gone deep on Tick Tock right now. And it's amazing when I talk to younger people that like you're on tik tok. What's your old I'm like, Hey, listen, dude, I made it the 56 you got a long way to go. So I'm not I'm not hip on the tech now. I'm on the the slang and what the kids say? I I still say you better check yourself before you wreck yourself. And kids tell me. We don't say that anymore. I'm like, Is there a dictionary? Is there a website that parents can go to? To find out what the hips slain sayings are but then I then let the kids tell me we don't want you talking like that.
Lynne Eichenbaum
It's very true, and Mark. First of all, you have to get rid of the dude and change it to bra. Because everything is bruh now.
Mark Struczewski
That's right, bruh. You're absolutely correct. And it's not a sexist thing. You call girls bruh too.
Lynne Eichenbaum
Everybody's bruh.
Mark Struczewski
Okay, write that down, call people bruh. Okay, on my notes here. Okay, so you have a very SAS fascinating story. I read your introduction, and people who are going poison ivy productivity. No, we're not going to tell you how to Well, we're going to tell you how to productively avoid poison ivy. But that's kind of like the backstory. She's going to get into that real quickly here. But then she's going to tell you what I want you to listen to listener is I want you to listen to what she did not her end product. But how she did it. Remember she's a stay at home mom. Okay, so I want you to hear that story. She's going to tell you the product she came up with, because it's part of her story. So Lynne, why don't you share that story which I have to cut you off from on a friend of your car because I want to hear it on the show. And then we'll get into the whole backstory of you know you becoming an entrepreneur when you're just a stay at home mom, right? Okay, so
Lynne Eichenbaum
I love gardening. I live in New Jersey and New Jersey is truly the Garden State. When I was growing up, we had you know, I grew up in Albany, New York and we grew tomatoes but we had a lot of shade in our yard. So I moved to New Jersey about 15 years ago and really started my vegetable garden. I do tomatoes. I do squash I do green beans. I battle cucumber beetles, I battle squash bugs, and we have so many deer I've had about four fences around my garden in order to keep the deer out the hedgehogs, the groundhogs the bunnies and I just love it so gardening has kind of been my passion for the past 15 years. As I've been, you know, stay at home mom, raising my three beautiful children. And I also weed my yard, etc. And I have very, very sensitive skin, very sensitive arms. And about 10 years ago, I'll give you a really quick backstory about 10 years ago, I happened to fall into a big patch of poison ivy, on the Delaware and Raritan canal while I was jogging, I wasn't paying attention, I tripped, I fell. And I didn't think much of it. And about 24 hours later, I was covered on about 30% of my body with blistering poison ivy. And it was horrendous mark, it's so bad when you come down with poison ivy. So, yeah, and every time you get it subsequent to a really bad exposure, you get it worse and worse because your body is trying to push the urushiol, the toxins out of your body. So it's not like you develop an immunity. You actually, you know, it gets worse. So, yeah, so anyway, I was getting out of my car a couple couple years ago, and I saw three sprigs of weed in my rock bed. So I got out of my car I went over, I picked the weeds just with my short little gardening gloves that ended at the wrist. And about 24 hours later, I had poison ivy all up my right arm. And I said this is absurd. Like literally, this is so silly. I, you know, I need and I had like kind of that lightbulb moment. I said, I just want a glove with a sleeve like a blue sign built in sleeve with an elastic band that goes over your bicep so that I can garden My arm is protected. I don't have to wear hot long sleeve shirt. And then I can just throw it in the wash and not worry about what I touched. So I hunted on Amazon, I hunted all over the internet. I couldn't find one. So I said what the heck, you know, I can I get I can so so I made myself a prototype. And I gardened with it for about a month and I absolutely loved it. Loved it. My arms are protected everything. So I made myself a second pair. And that's sort of where my no more poison ivy gloves or acronym nombe. Can I have? Okay, all right, I have to have my own. And ompr MPI. That's where the brainchild for Nomi globs came from.
Mark Struczewski
That is amazing. And what I want the listener to understand is she had a problem. And she went searching for a solution. And most people go well, that's unfortunate and they just live with it. And you said no, there's got to be a way and you probably searched to every corner of the earth. And you said okay, let me see if I can create my own solution. And why that is important because so many people give up and you said well I can make this and now you have these gloves and they're available for sale on the internet and probably Home and Garden stores. And and how many times Lister Do you go into a store and go man, that is such a great idea. I had that idea once but you see you didn't do anything with it. You just go well, I wish someone had this. And it's amazing is that you went to the stages of entrepreneurship. Okay. You didn't want to be an entrepreneur in the beginning. Okay. You kind of fell in the woods when you created this product. And I want to go back to when you started searching how many give us a ballpark how many places did you go look? I mean, obviously everybody goes to Amazon but how many places ballpark? Not exactly how many? How many places did you actually search to see if that you could find your solution.
Lynne Eichenbaum
I don't know if I can give you an actual number but I can tell you I was on for at least two and a half hours searching. I looked at every big garden center you know I looked at all the Lowe's and the Home Depot's I looked at Amazon, I looked at the private sites and no one had the vision that I had this vision in my head of what I wanted what I had envisioned the glove sleeve combination to look like. And literally nobody made it a lot of the manufacturing companies that do the work gloves have the tight Kevlar sleeves that a lot of the you know machinist or the poison ivy guys or whatever like they use them but they're very tight and they're very hot. And they're you know cut resistant and burn resistant but they're not for your average gardener. They're not something that's easy on lightweight and breathable and cool that you can just take off and throw in the wash almost like an article of clothing.
Mark Struczewski
Now, I could also that not tell me if this has happened. But those people who are out in the field who are picking berries and stuff, I could see them using this too.
Lynne Eichenbaum
Absolutely. And that's definitely been on the back of my mind. I wanted to start with the casual gardener, the people at home, the consumers, people who I see at the Flower and Garden shows and the Home and Garden shows who walk up to my booth, and you know, hit their head and say I could have had a VA, like you mentioned and say oh my gosh, Lynn, thank you so much for inventing these, this is exactly what is going to help me and they would actually show me their arms and they show me the you know the scars that they have from the poison ivy blisters from years back. Yeah, it's pretty remarkable. I love the gardening community mark is a really close knit community. And people love sharing stories about horror stories and wonderful stories about their gardening their yards, their vegetable gardens, their flower gardens, everything. It's just they're really wonderful people.
Mark Struczewski
You know, I could see so many potentials for this the people who pick vegetables, for example. The other thing is the customization. So you can have like your while you have to get the licensing for sports teams. But then you can also make it even a little more tougher material for people who are around rosebushes because I don't know if your fabric can withstand the pull of a rose by I've been around rose bushes and those thorns are pretty tight. So I see so many potentials. You know, what's interesting is I once heard Gary Vaynerchuk super entrepreneur, talk about the Yellow Cab people complaining about Lyft and Uber. And he says, Why didn't you create that? Or Airbnb? Why didn't the Hilton the Marriott create that? see everyone is is complaining about Amazon? You know, stores are going out of business. But why didn't they go online first? So I don't think the solution is complaining. I think the solution is I have a problem. I can't find a solution. And well, I'll be the one to be the Trailblazer.
Lynne Eichenbaum
Right? Well, I think a lot of people think that just because you know, say you've been in a job, or you've been in a career for 10 years, just because it's something you've always done. Doesn't mean it's something you always have to do. Yes, you can always think outside the box. And it's important to think outside the box in order to sort of, you know, expand your horizons and make you I think, a better person. And you've got so much potential, I've got so much potential, you've got so much potential. And it's just it's it's amazing to, you know, to come up with an idea and to show my kids that you can take a baby, you can take something that's just sort of an idea and look where it can go, it can go not just me when I think about the evolution of my gloves, I started off with these junky cotton gloves, and I attached a sleeve and there we had it. And as I started going to Flower and Garden shows, the most important thing I learned was to listen to listen, not just not just to listen, but to hear what people were saying. And when I brought the gloves two years ago to the Philadelphia Flower and Garden Show, I had a lot of Master Gardeners not only telling me it was a great idea, but also saying Lynn Can I give you a suggestion and I put down my pen and I put on my gloves and I said what is your name and looks at Mary as like Mary talk to me. What what talk to me I'm listening. And a few of the gardeners had said to me Lynn, we love your product, but we would love you to carry a nitrile glove because I only carried a cotton poly blend glove. So I took it in I absorbed it I thank them hurt Mary profusely and I went home I did a lot of research, I realized that gardeners tend to enjoy using the nitrile gloves because they're more abrasion resistant, cut resistant, puncture resistant. So I added that to my lot my product line and I have to tell you mark, I sell those probably seven to one, the nitrile gloves over the cotton gloves. So just by listening to people and to be open to listening to others ideas really helps you so much You can't be so closed minded into thinking that just because I had an idea that's it like this is the best idea and it can't be molded like clay or a can't be, you know changed a little bit so that I've learned so much just by listening. And by being open. That is that is so key right there.
Mark Struczewski
And when you said thinking outside the box, I once heard Tony Robbins, say who says there's a box? And when I heard him say that I'm like, yeah, who? What is this box people are talking about? Because we've heard for years, think outside the box. Who says they're a box? There's a box? That's true. I did that when I heard that it blows my mind. And like, Yeah, why we've been saying, think outside the box. There shouldn't be a box. So I want to ask you about pushback. Because, yeah, obviously, you didn't create this product. And now you're multicharts millionaire. And you know, you know, it's not reality, you did have some pushback and, and entrepreneurs listen to the show, okay. And they know that there's not a straight line from idea to success. So share with us some of your pushbacks and some of your stumblings and some of your mistakes, be completely honest with us because your vulnerability is going to help some who listened to the show.
Lynne Eichenbaum
Okay, so let's say my first, I would say my first mistake was sticking only with the cotton glove, like I talked about, you know, I did that for a year. And it wasn't until, like I said, I talked to the other gardeners. And, you know, they told me to add the nitrile gloves. Then I had people come up to me and say, Well, you know, like, you mentioned Mark roses. Well, we like your gloves, but we're rose people, so we wouldn't use your gloves because, you know, too many thorns, etc. So I said, Okay, so I researched and I found leather gauntlet. And I added my sleeve to the leather gauntlet, and said, Okay, so now, you can't come now you can't complain about that. So what I tried to do was to reach everybody in the audience, you know, ever all of my gardeners so that when someone came up to me and said, on getting on it, I wouldn't use your gloves, because you know, they're no good for roses or their duck for this or that or go for that I'm like, Alright, I need to carry a little bit for you. And a little bit for you and a little bit for you. I actually have a really interesting story about the patent, because I do have a design patent on it. And thank you. And that was an interesting process. Um, I think I would have had a much more difficult time had I not gotten the patent. And I hadn't even thought about getting it whatsoever, I, you know, was just taking my gloves to little craft and craft shows here and there local ones. And I was sitting in the hair salon. And I told my I was telling my hairstylist, who's also a gardener all about my idea. And my hair was, you know, all in the metal, tin foil foils and everything because I have to admit, you know, I'm 51, I'm going gray, I get highlights. And this woman who is sitting next to me said, I'm so sorry, I don't mean to eavesdrop. She was another client also with foils all over her hair. And she said, I just don't mean to eavesdrop, but you need to patent that idea. And I'm going to be your first customer. And she raised her arms, and her arms were covered with poison ivy, which was amazing. So I asked her about the patent and said, Why do you think and she said, it's an idea. And she's patented, so many things. And, you know, she said, it's just really important to protect it, regardless of where you take it. If you don't take it anywhere. If you do, you need to protect it. So I thought that was just very interesting. And I did, I wound up getting the design patent for both industrial and gardening. So I am protected, which is amazing.
Mark Struczewski
I want to take it to get that from the time you actually file to the time you got it. I'm just curious.
Lynne Eichenbaum
It took me about a year and a half.
Mark Struczewski
Wow.
Lynne Eichenbaum
Yeah. So it was about a year and a half. And you know, the whole thing, everything. You know, they say it takes money to make money. The patenting process was not cheap, I have to admit, and I was, you know, looking at the costs, and I was you know, kind of like, Oh, you know, I'm a stay at home mom. Yeah, I don't know if I want to put all this money into a patent. But I think it's really, really important. And again, networking. I my kids were really into Irish dancing at the time. And yes, the river dance and everything and the Irish dance community is very tight. And I reached out to the ID community and I asked if anybody happens to know a patent and trademark attorney. And one of the dads actually who I'd known for about 10 years was a trademark attorney and he helped me trademark the name which I came up with no be no more poison ivy. And then a woman in his office was also a patent attorney. So she helped me actually patent it and it took it took a while no I'm actually going to say I think I'm incorrect at the trademark took about a year and a half the patent took longer the patent probably took close to two, two and a half years.
Mark Struczewski
Wow, I I'm a big fan of shark tank. And when they come out about the design patent, they tell you how long it takes. It's it's not something you do on the internet and Monday at noon, and by Tuesday you have the patent. It's a long process. Another idea I had for you because I'm one of these. I try not to be a DIY kind of guy. But when I paint, I get paint everywhere and I can see using your product to maybe not get too much paint on my arm. So I'm just thinking, for the guys out there who don't aren't really good painters, but they're too stubborn to go hire a professional, this may save some of the pain on their arms.
Lynne Eichenbaum
Hey, you know the I agree and you know, my contractor used that to lay insulation in the ceiling. Ah, yeah, that's on a job he was in because his wife said, you know, Dave, you're always getting those fibers on your arms. And you're always scratching just use Linz Don't be He's like, Oh, okay. He's like, bruh What a great idea.
Mark Struczewski
You brought it back the bruh. Oh, my goodness. Okay, you know, when I first heard that, when, when I first heard people say that, I thought they're saying pra like bra. Like, why is it been going around saying Brazil? I don't get it. And people know, Mark, it's brah Oh, okay. I'm 56. Okay, I'm, I only have 44 years left on this planet. And I'm gone. Okay, so where can we find out? You know, where can we find these products? Are they only available on your website? are they available to hardware stores? Where can we go to get these products,
Lynne Eichenbaum
okay, so I have a website, it's might not be gloves, you know, I have my website, so you can definitely get it there. And I did reach out to Amazon and I am on Fulfillment by Amazon, I do have select ones on there. That was interesting, because since I make all the gloves myself, I can make them all right now I I'm sort of at a crossroads in my company. And when you start a business, you have to really kind of, you know, it comes to a point where you have to say either this is gonna stay a little mom and pop, or this is I envision this getting bigger, and you have to have that dream. And I'm sort of at the crossroads right now, because I so every waking minute of the day, I am making these things all by myself, I have five machines going in my living room, and in my basement, it's just me. And so I do have them on Amazon, I have them on my website, I have them on Etsy, but, and oh, and I also did reach out to some stores here in New Jersey. So I have them at a couple local beautiful garden centers here in Central New Jersey and my local I have to say my town has been so so supportive, and the local hardware store true value are the first ones to reach out to me and say Len, you know, you You are our patron like you help us out a lot. And we want to help you out too. So you know, the community is key. They've been really, really great.
Mark Struczewski
You know, as you're saying that I want people to understand that we see if you ever watch Shark Tank, we see like the guy who created the ring doorbell the other great products that are you know, all over the world now. But they didn't have an idea. And they became a billionaire. Okay. Everyone who creates a product or service reaches the same Crossroads you're in. Yeah, Shark Tank will tell you, okay, if you're going to if you're going to grow this, if you're going to get into Lowe's and Home Depot, you can't do it from home anymore. You can't because they're not going to place an order for five gloves. They're going to place an order for 5000 gloves for multiple stores. And everyone goes I can't wait till I get to that point. I'm like, be careful what you wish for. Yeah, because you have to get lawyers involved in yo you don't you don't go and negotiate with Lowe's and Amazon or a big Amazon and Walmart, you have to have representation who know because they want to like rake your the calls. And so you're at that point, now your business is growing. But now you have to be very cautious because the bigger you get more people rip you off. Okay, and then you wait to go after them. And so it is a crossroads and anyone's listening to the show. Go Oh, yeah, I've been there. And this is where a lot of people I imagine would quit, because it's a lot of money, a lot of time, a lot of effort, you know, but if you go through this process, there's no telling how far I can go. But you're at that why in the road right now. Do you go Right or left, and it's not a decision you can make quickly, you have to think about, you have kids, you know, you got to live. And it's, it's, I can't imagine it's an easy decision to make.
Lynne Eichenbaum
No, it's not. And I think, especially for women who made the choice to stay at home, which I did, I had a successful television career in my 20s. And I got married at 30. And I made the decision to stay at home with my kids. And now I have, you know, a high schooler graduating, he's going to be going to Rutgers in the fall, my daughter is going to be a junior, but I still have an 11 year old at home and the balancing act between growing this business and being playing the role of the stay at home mom, which I've played for so long, which I adore, is definitely a challenging balancing act. But I think the most important thing, if I can tell, you know, if I can share with your listeners is not to fear. Because, you know, you fear what you don't know. And you fear what you know. So if you go through life, strangled by fear, then you're not going to be able to take that next step. So I try to be as optimistic as I can and say, you know, I'm not going to be afraid, I'm going to learn, because you've got to keep your brain going, you've got to keep learning, you've got to keep listening. And I'm learning so much now about the manufacturing process about distribution. I am doing cost analysis right now to say, Okay, if I hire five people, and I get a space here in New Jersey, what is that going to cost me? What is my cost of goods? What do I have to sell each unit at in order to make a profit? Or do I license it? Do I find a manufacturer somewhere else in the country to manufacture it for me, and do I only distribute be a distribution center. So it is a lot of to think about, and it's a lot of work. But if you go into something like this something that can be giant without fear, and just with an open mind to learn, then I think you can be successful, you really can be successful and look at every job you have as a potential career, then it becomes so much more exciting. And you've got to have passion, like I love my product, because it works. And I'm so passionate about it. And I want to share it with everybody. I just I just think it's so cool. They're colorful, they're cute, they're fun, they work. And I just really want you know, I want everybody to at least have the opportunity to to see it and to understand it, and to see how it can work for them.
Mark Struczewski
Well, if you pitch this on Shark Tank, I'm willing to bet you 90% chance that they would say license it. Yeah. And that way you can just collect the checks and not do the work. But you just don't go in the licensing deal yet to get a lawyer you have to get known someone who knows what they're talking about. So you so the deals fair. So do keep me informed of how your journey is going. I also encourage you have you ever heard of a lady named Jamie Curran? Lima? No. I have to admit that I haven't she created the product. The beauty product, cosmetics brand it It Cosmetics. She is a self made billionaire. I highly recommend you go get her book, believe it. It The story is incredible. She shares the I'm trying to think of the right word, the almost torture of being on QVC. Because I did not know much about QVC. But one of the stories she shares in the book is they give you 10 minutes to pitch your product. And if you don't start selling like right away, the timer goes in 10 minutes down the one minute and you're not invited back it but it's very inspirational. Her story is very incredible how she battled and battle and battle and battle and now she's a self made billionaire. But I think she is one of the most down to earth people I've ever read about. You know, some people when they make it. They're like I'm better than you. She seems like you can meet her at a Walmart and talk about you know, whatever. So check out Jamie currently in his book, believe it the story of cosmetics. It is it's called believe it's incredible book. I want to thank you for being on the show today. I it's your story is inspirational. And I know my listeners really appreciate you coming on. And listener if you got an idea. That's a solution. I hope my conversation with Lynn today gets you off your Duff and get you doing something instead of going. It would be nice. Well, what instead of saying it would be nice. Why don't you go do so Lynn, thank you so much for being on the show today.
Lynne Eichenbaum
Oh, thank you so much mark for having me. You know, bless you and you're great. It was so much fun to be here. I appreciate it.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
