Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:23):
Hi, how are you. I'm good, how are you doing great?
Thank you?
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Welcome everyone to the Inventor Smart Community. This is our
podcast that we interview independent inventors just to kind of
get the behind the scenes stories and what motivated them,
how they came up with their product. And I'm so
happy to introduce Dianna. You are on episode sixteen and
(00:48):
you are a member of the National Inventor Club, And
of course the Inventor Smart Community will get to a
lot more of that in a little bit.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Diana, where are you from right now?
Speaker 3 (00:58):
I'm currently living in and Diego, California.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
You're in California? Awesome?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
How's what I'm in the Midwest, So I'm in Saint
Louis and we're just now reaching fifty something degrees, so
we're celebrating spring over here.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
How about in California?
Speaker 3 (01:13):
What's it like today? The temperature is going to get
close to eighty degrees farenheit.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Oh man, We're loving that. We're loving it. So are you?
Have you always lived in California? Are you born and
raised a native?
Speaker 3 (01:26):
No? No, I'm originally from East Tennessee, Okay, grew up
about probably an hour from Knoxville. Okay, live there until college,
and after college I moved away and haven't been back
to live, but I go back frequently to visit family.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Okay, so Tennessee, California. You know, I think it's leading
into how you came up with your really brilliant idea.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
I love it so much. I think it's so smart.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
So I'm going to go ahead and let you just
tell us all about it, how you came up with
the idea, what it is, and where we're at with it.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Yeah. Yeah, Well, you know, I, like probably many people
who grew up in the eighties and nineties, I didn't
have a smartphone, I didn't have computer, internet, TV. There
wasn't really that many channels either. So a lot of
the ways that I occupied myself as a kid was
just to get outdoors and go play and explore. So
that's really created this love of nature and also just
(02:21):
a desire to you know, better my health through time
spin outdoors, and that's stayed with me even throughout growing up,
going to different cities, living in more urban environments, just
always that desire to get outside, whether it's actually like
in the mountains or you know, right here in the
city next to maybe a lake or a waterfront walkway.
(02:44):
I just love to get outdoors, and that really kind
of led to my inspiration for a new product.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
So you're making some really good points.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
I'm an eighties kid too, right, good points on the television,
the Internet.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Facebook, all these apps.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
There was there was nothing like that, So we are
forced to go outside and hang out and ride our
bikes and discover new things. So, you know, I love
this energy behind what you're saying. It's so important for
our health reasons, our activities, discovering new things, parts of
the planet and the earth, and you know, and it's
great for kids and adults as well, So all right,
(03:21):
keep going.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Yeah, Well, you know, even though smartphones and everything came out,
the pandemic really put a lot of things in perspectives
for a lot of people, including myself here in San Diego.
In those early stages, even playgrounds were closed. It was
very unclear where you could go, what you could do.
But the thing I did know is that my daughter
(03:42):
and I she was three at a time, we could
go and walk around neighborhoods, just walk on sidewalks and
explore the nature that exist in you know, urban canopies.
So That's what we started doing while the playgrounds and
other things were shut down, is just explore different neighborhoods
in San Diego, walk around and that really changed my
perspective as well on the amount of nature that is
(04:05):
hiding in plain sight, you know, in cities, even in
high density areas. And as I told more people about
the little treasure tropes I found hiding around San Diego,
more people said, Man, you should share it with you know,
other people, whether it's like a blog or you know,
start an Instagram account. But because of the pandemic, I
had actually gotten off social media and was spending less
(04:28):
time just because of the you know, the the perceptions
that were floating around during that time, a lot of
judgmental opinions, and I just wanted to be disconnected from that.
So I started thinking of how could I create a
physical product that shares outdoor adventures with other people. And
that's how I came up with the first product, which
(04:48):
was the Go Dex San Diego. It's a collection of
informational cards. They're about the size of a postcard that
on one side gives you a full size color foe
and on the other showcases what's unique about the spot.
How do you get active there? You know, what are
the pay are the trails paved? Are they dirt trails?
(05:10):
Is their stairs incline? And other things you can see
while you're there. So I put this collection together and
started selling it in late twenty twenty three, and that
was my first Fiver product.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Good for you, I'm genius.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
So now you can replicate that into other cities, obviously,
I'm assuming that's the plan.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Yeah, yes, so let me just move San Diego here.
And you know, I mentioned that I'm from Knoxville. So
once I sold enough of the San Diego deck, I said, okay,
I think it's something people would like. So I came
out with a Knoxville City deck that's been selling well.
So I said, well, let's keep going like why now,
and I've done North County San Diego. This is the sample,
(05:56):
so you're getting to see it firsthand. Hopefully the bulk
you know, production will be here in May.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
That's fantastic. Congratulations, congratulations. So how many are in the
deck like a typical deck card? Is it fifty two
in a deck? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (06:12):
I did fifty two because the idea is you could
have a new adventure every week of the year, it's
a week, right. So for me, I personally have a
goal to get outdoors multiple times a week and to
be active. But for people who are new to the
outdoors or just new to even to maybe physical activity,
(06:32):
you know, maybe once a week is a good place
to start. And it makes it more exciting when you
could say I'll go to a new place, I'll see
a new place. It makes it maybe more attainable and
gives you a little bit of a goal. So that's
why I did fifty two.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
That's outstanding. So how are they selling?
Speaker 2 (06:49):
You're selling them on thego deck dot com is your website,
and you started selling in twenty twenty three, So here
we are in twenty five, just barely getting start. So
what have your sales been? Like, I mean, do you
see this in demand? Are you are other people asking you, hey,
will you do our city? Or are you making contracts
or deals with you know, visitor centers or anything like
(07:11):
that that that you could expand on this great idea.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Yeah, well, you know, it's primarily direct to consumer on
the website. I have some retail stores, you know. That's
that's been one of the I guess challenges of being
a product based entrepreneur is you know, once you bring
a product to life and you learn, okay, how do
I sell online? Then you say, okay, what is wholesale?
How do I do wholesale? How do I get into stores?
(07:38):
You know if usually it takes one store in a
city and then when you can go to the second
store and say, oh, well this store selling my product
and they say, oh well if they are, okay, I can.
But it's you know, it's that first one that's the challenge.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
It is man and it's a you know, we do
a lot of these interviews.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
You know that we have a huge community, you know
at Inventor Smart and you know the number one theme
is you know, well, it's like the dog catch in
the car.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Well, we caught the car, Now what do we do
with it?
Speaker 2 (08:05):
And it is distribution and distribution channels and you know
sometimes people think, oh, just get put it in Walmart
and it's never that simplified. As we know, there's a
lot of boots on the ground really walking into stores.
How many units will they take? Do they have the
real estate space on the store? You know, are you
just focusing on mom and pops? You know, how do
(08:26):
you get into the bigger retail change, so you're definitely
not alone in that space, and it's certainly a challenge
for every inventor. But it's also addicting when you know
you've reached a cool product and you've got some sales
and you're getting I'm assuming some really positive feedback from
your customers that are experiencing.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Some of the activities or the places in the deck.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Yeah, yeah, I've had you know. That's that's partly what
helps motivate me to keep going, because you know, as
a product business, there's a lot of up cost, you know,
compared to service businesses where you go and you get
a client and then you start making money. Product is
so much up upfront expenditures. But when you do hear
from people who say I used your deck and we
(09:13):
loved it, or you hear from a store that says, hey,
we sold out, we want to buy more, it gives
you that motivation to say, Okay, it's a little scary
how much I'm putting into this right now, but I
do see, you know, success coming my way. It's also
great to be a part of a community like inventor
Smart hearing from others who say Yeah, it was really
(09:35):
you know, tough at this point or I struggled here,
but you know, I got past it. It's great to
have that community of like minded people who you know
equally have passion in something and you're seeing them do it,
so you're like, Okay, I want to keep doing it,
even though it's it's tough, and I feel like every
day I encounter something that I thought, oh, I had
no idea this would be something I'd encounter and I
(09:56):
don't know what to do, but you know, you figure
it out in the end.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
You figured out in the end, and you know, and
sometimes you know.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
And again, another theme in our podcast is how long
it takes. You know, we never want to assume that
you can go from concept to market in a year.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
I mean, you just can't do it.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
There's costs involved, there's so many decisions that you have
to make, and you have to pivot on certain decisions,
and like you just said, things are coming at you
that you didn't even know. I remember when I first
started my first product. You know, I didn't really take
into I didn't put that much emphasis on packaging and shipping. Well,
packaging kind of came with the unit, but the shipping
(10:35):
costs and how I was going to ship and how
I was going to charge, and that was a really
big hurdle that we kind of had to figure out
almost late in the game.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
You know, it's like finding.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Ten thousand ways that don't work. So especially as a
young entrepreneur and independent inventor, there's a lot of this
stuff that we have to figure out on our own.
But going back to the community, it is nice to
go in there and you kind of see everybody at
different stages. Many are similar at the stage that you're
at producing marketing, and we're still learning, you know, a
(11:06):
lot from one another. I love this community for that
fact that I don't feel so isolated or so alone
or even crazy with my ideas that I think.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Might work or might not work. I know that you
kind of alluded to.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Part of your challenges is also that internal dialogue that
we way say to ourselves, which I think is really
important as well. We're human, you know, we're automatically going
to go to you know, I can't do this, I'm
not good enough, or nobody's going to buy this, I
can't afford this, you know, all that negative self talk
that you know, and I know everybody can do that,
(11:42):
no matter what industry or business that you're in. But
sometimes as an independent inventor, you don't have a big
business backing you behind you. You know, a lot of
the decisions that you are making are all in your head,
you know, except for you know, like we just does
with the community.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
But I want you to touch on that, because when I
read your response, I'm like, ah, this is really strong.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
This is really very common area for a lot of us,
and you seem like you've really overcome that part of it,
at least for the moment.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
I know it kind of ebbs and flows right for
all of us.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
But yeah, tell me a little bit more about how
you kind of overcome some of that.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
I liked it.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
Yeah, well, you know, I get that question a lot.
Is what's the hardest thing of bringing this all to life?
And honestly, it was just all the the stuff in
my own head. You know, we even not with businesses,
but just when people look in the mirror, we're the
ones telling ourselves so many negative things. And you know,
other people look and say, oh, you're you know, you're
(12:40):
beautiful and stuff, and you say, oh, I'm ugly. But
when it comes to you know, creating a product, there's
so many you know, you think, you know, will people
think differently in me because I'm trying to bring something
to life? Am I wasted? Should I have put the
money into a savings account of so sword instead of
(13:01):
putting it towards the business? And yeah, and also just
when you make mistakes, because I've made them, and I've
maybe spent money on something that didn't give a return
on investment, you say, oh that was you know, why
did I not? Why didn't I see that coming? And
so the hardest thing of a business, I think is
actually the dialogue in your head, because you know, if
(13:21):
you don't have the confidence in yourself, how can how
can you you know, promote your product? How you can
you keep bringing things to life? So for me, what
I've you know, what's helped me the most is that
all these products are things that I've shared with my family,
that I use with my family.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
You know.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
In addition to the city Deck, I have games products
that I use with my daughter when we're traveling. And
so I tell myself, even if nobody else wants it
or buys it, I have created something that I've shared
with my own family it's brought us joy, it's brought
us value. This journey that I'm on. My daughter's got
to watch it because she was five or six when
(14:02):
I first started selling. She's eight, so she's been in
here helping me package you know, shipments, and also watching
me try to do videos on social media and learn
all that. So it's been a you know, even if
it all fails, I tell myself what a great experience
I've had in my life and that I've been able
to share with my own family.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
And you know what, girls, I'm getting like, I always
get emotional on these interviews, so I'm feeling like just
a little wels in my eyes because I get this
so much.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
You know.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
You know there's a saying too, you know, let's fail
fast right before we make these major mistakes or pitfalls
that we can't kind of pull ourselves out of, especially
when we're coming up with new ideas, like you know
that's just not going to work, just accept it and
move on. So I think as inventors to there, you
know you've produced a product, You've inspired yourself, your family,
your friends, people around you.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
You definitely have some success here.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
You know, you have a product on the market, right,
So there's no failure in there whatsoever, even if even
like you said, even if you sell ten more units,
so you know you've done something here.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
You know, I am done at a beach table. You know.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
It wasn't rocket science, but it was really cool and
no one else had done it at the time, right,
And a lot of my friends have this unit, my mom, my, dad,
and you know, so I look at it now, I'm like,
you know, no, I didn't sell a million of them,
but it's a really personal accomplishment to start with a
(15:30):
scratch cocktail napkin is when I first wrote it, this
little table design, and then to see a product produced,
you know, in a couple of years time was just
I never thought that would happen. So even for you,
you know, you had this great idea, you have a
great love for the outdoors, you know, your city, and
I just think it's brilliant, I really do. It does
(15:51):
take us back to the eighties and the nineties. We're like,
let's get up on the planet, let's discover, let's take walks, hikes.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
All of it.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
I did in your little thing too, and I thought
this was just adorable that when you met your husband
he had said, you know, hiking is overrated. Proved me wrong.
And then what happened?
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Yeah, so met him when you know, pandemic restrictions were lifting,
and I was actually looking for a hiking partner because
prior to the pandemic, cycling was my you know, sport
of choice. Okay, but there was no group rides, there
was no racing anymore, and I thought, well, I would
love to do more hiking. So I, you know, like
(16:32):
many people, I got on a dating app and started
looking for somebody and I saw him and I thought, oh,
what an interesting guy. But I you know, you scroll
down the profile and I saw hiking is overrated. But
he did say prove him wrong. So I said, okay,
I'll give him a shot. And you know, he has
been with me for every every single one of these
(16:52):
some yeah and over one hundred hikes we've done together.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Listen, I'm a girls. I'm getting I'm a girl.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
So I'm getting such a big kick out of that
part of your story. I just get so fun and exciting,
and you know, it's just hilarious.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Said He's like, well, prove me wrong. Oh, I'm going
to prove you wrong.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
We're going to do one hundred hikes, and I have
this deck that is going to show you where we're
going to do all these hikes. So great for relationships,
great for family, date nights, date afternoons, even if you
pulled once a month out of your deck, or you know,
you just want to go outside of the box.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
I think it's a great reference to give people.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
And you know, Dan, I really hope that you have
a replica of these in every city like Saint Louis,
Missouri would love something like this. We should talk about
how do you get it here? Because Saint Louis has
so many pockets of such great culture. It's not just
like one district there's just several my noses, but we
(17:57):
have so many little districts and pockets. And I'm sure
that's what's discovered into in your findings as well, that
even local people can explore that they don't remember or
they forgot about that place.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
I think every community has.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
That element, especially when we're talking about Tennessee or California
or almost anywhere really. So what's the fet your plans?
Where are we at today? What are we doing next?
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Yeah, you know I hear that from folks. Is we
tend to get in our own little bubbles. You know,
we tend to explore areas we're comfortable with, maybe ride
around our home or maybe where we work. So a
product like the Go Deck helps people say, oh, I've
never been there, let's go explore it. Or when you
have people like in a place like San Diego, I've
always got people coming to visit me and they say, well,
(18:44):
what do you have planned for me? And I said, well,
I don't know. I've already made you know, decision overloads,
so I hand them the deck and let them choose.
But yeah, like you said, I want to do more cities.
I do also really enjoy creating the products with my daughters.
So you know, this is the Games to Play on
the Go, which is a portable collection of games. This
(19:05):
is our go to when we're commuting on the road,
or even when we're hiking and she's getting a little tired,
I said, well, let's play a game to help us
get to the next bench. We also created my daughter
and I a standard deck of playing cards, but on
each card is a different outdoor activity. So continuing with
the City Deck series, you know, doing more cities and
(19:26):
understanding how do I start working you know, instead of
me doing it all of it myself, how do I
start working with others to expand this in a more
rapid process. But also how do I keep creating products
like this with my daughter? Because I mean, gosh, family memories.
Isn't that one of the best things you can have
in life? So just understanding it all, you know, once
(19:51):
I can figure that out, I'll be set.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Man. I love this so much. I love this for you.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
I mean, what great energy that you're putting into all this,
you know, And I just had a I go, what
a great wedding gift to give somebody?
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Give a couple as a wedding gift something like.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
That where they can explore and travel and make memories together. Because,
like you said, coming out of COVID, it certainly changed
a lot of family dynamics, relationship dynamics, relocation. You know,
obviously a lot of tragedy where people lost their lives
and their homes. So this is just a beautiful product
(20:29):
I think to kind of bring us back to do
things together as families and friends. I mean, I would
like if I lived in one of those cities, I
would buy one just to go with my friends. Go right, guys,
this is what we're doing this weekend. You know, I
just think the marketing on this is just endless. So
so happy that you're part of episode sixteen of the
Invenor Smart Community podcast. You know, guys, if you're out
(20:51):
there in your Inventor and you know you're getting muscled
and bustled with all the noise, come join our community.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
It's free membership.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Of course, there's also a paid membership ten bucks a
months ninety nine dollars for the year. But you have
access to so many resources, so many other members in
our community, like we talked about earlier, that are at
every different stage of development. You know, you come on board,
you can talk with me, you can meet Dan. You know,
just there's all of us there here, and I love
(21:19):
this that we're all so different and we're learning from
one another. And Brian is brilliant for putting this community together.
This is the first app of an Inventor community. You
can find us on the Apple Store anywhere you download
all of your apps, and of course this podcast is
available everywhere you can stream your podcasts. So best of
(21:41):
luck to you, and you're going to stay with us
in the community. You're going to keep keep going and
you know, stay active in the app. Please add your
link there into the app and we may have some
members that are in your area that would love this
and pop.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Up those sales and everything else.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Any closing remarks or anything else that you would like
to tell us what you're other than what you're doing
next are.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
Oh, well, you know, every the every day is new possibilities,
you know, learning, you know, what's what's next for the
business and figuring it out. And so I just encourage
people to find a community like Inventor Smart because I
remember when I was just starting with the idea. You know,
(22:29):
friends and family were like, oh, you know, it's good
for you, but you know, don't quit your day job,
and you know, maybe not put too much money into this,
you know, idea. So when you're part of a community
like this, you're surrounded by people who are encouraging and supportive,
who understand what it feels like to have an idea
and want to see it through. Because I think nothing
(22:50):
for anybody who has an inventor mindset or an entrepreneurial mindset,
nothing would be worse than to, you know, reach the
end of your days and have regret that you didn't try.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Yeah, that is really great advice.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
And you know, like you said, yeah, you go to
your families and your friends, and your mom might be like, well,
you know, you've saved all that for a rainy day,
and then you're internally, you're inside, I feel really passionate.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
About this and I believe in this.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
So you're right, it is nice to be around the
other community where everybody's going to keep you in balance.
We're not saying, hey, you know, second, mortgage your house
just to get this done, right, but we are encouraging, like,
if you believe in this product and you've come this far,
you know, don't stop now.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
And of course we have to agree that inventing takes
a long time. Right.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Sometimes it may seem like overnight success if you're on
Shark Tank and you get a big deal and next
thing you know, you're in every retailer. But you could
also ask those people and boy, how do it didn't
go that fast for them?
Speaker 1 (23:52):
You know, behind the scenes.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
So I think, as you know inventors and as moms,
you know, you have to split your time, you know,
and you work and you have to do everything else involved.
But listen, lady, I love your product. I think it's
you know, I think the time is right for a
product like this, and I envisioned that you're going to
have multiple, multiple cities and multiple versions of what you're
(24:14):
already working on for continued success.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
I'm so proud of you. I'm really happy about this.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
Yeah, thanks so much for having me and let me
tell my story.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
Wonderful.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Well, we'll see you again in the National Invenor Club
and of course with the Invendor Smart Community and to
everyone out there, please if you want to join us,
we want more information, you can go to Nationalinventor Club
dot com. On the website, you can find us at
Invenor Smart Community and all your downloadable apps and anything
through Google.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Here we are. We're looking forward to it.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Thanks again, Dana, and you have an absolutely fabulous day.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
Thank you, buy bye,