December 11, 2025 • 38 mins
Innovation is just a creative response to a challenge. For Amy Hedrick, CEO of Cleanbox Technology, that challenge was the "ick factor" of sharing virtual reality headsets. She saw the future of learning, but she also saw that nobody would adopt it if it meant putting on a sweaty device used by a stranger.
Amy Hedrick is the founder and CEO of CleanBox Technology. Her journey started at Mobile World Congress in 2015 when she put on an Oculus Rift. With a background working with the Smithsonian Institution and its 158 million objects, she immediately saw how immersive tech could transform education and history. But she also identified the massive barrier to entry: hygiene. She founded CleanBox to solve it using rapid UVC LED disinfection. Today, the company holds over 50 global patents and operates in 15 different verticals.
Highlights include:
- Comprehensive XR Hardware Management Guide launched with 10 industry partners. It solves the unsexy but critical backend infrastructure problems for enterprise adoption.
- Helped publish two new hygiene standards with ASTM for the industry. Standards enable trust and scale.
- Founder resilience: you need a mix of "ignorance is bliss" and "knowledge is power." If you knew how hard it was going to be, you might not start. That ignorance protects the vision when you hit a brick wall.
- Using AI clones: "Amy AI" on the website answers technical and strategy questions so she can focus on 2026 planning.
- Innovation isn't a straight line. She pivoted from a think-tank background to running a hardware company with global supply chain complexities because that's where the opportunity led.
Amy's approach to selling hardware is simple: never sell the mayonnaise, sell the sandwich. Nobody wants to buy a jar of mayo to sit in the fridge; they want the result. Similarly, nobody wakes up wanting to buy a UV disinfection box.
They want risk-free XR programs for their enterprise. CleanBox is building the infrastructure that lets VR scale.
Watch The Tech Glow Up on YouTube - https://youtu.be/PGS8PyGiZmk
About Amy Hedrick
Amy Hedrick is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Cleanbox Technology, a pioneering sustainable disinfection company built to solve real-world problems through innovative solutions.
Amy’s leadership has expanded Cleanbox Technology’s reach around the world, establishing the brand as a leader in its field.
Hedrick is a thought leader in the applications of immersive technology as industry disruptors, bringing innovation and new market opportunities and the development of a comprehensive Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for hardware management, setting new benchmarks for excellence in XR enterprise and healthcare adoption.
Ms. Hedrick has been in both the immersive tech and UV product development spaces for close to a decade, supporting innovation in UVC applications, speaking frequently on UVC for surface decontamination.
A "glow up" signifies a positive transformation, reflecting the journey of becoming a better, more successful version of oneself.
At The Tech Glow Up, we humanize the startup and innovation landscape by focusing on the essential aspects of the entrepreneurial journey. Groundbreaking ideas are often ahead of their time, making resilience and perseverance vital for founders and product leaders.
In our podcast, we engage with innovators to discuss their transformative ideas, the challenges they face, and how they create value for future success.
If you're a founder or product leader seeking your own glow up, or a seasoned entrepreneur with stories to share, we invite you to join our guest list via this link.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Amy Hedrick (00:00):
I released the comprehensive XR Hardware
(00:02):
Management Guide, and it's incollaboration with over 10
different companies in theindustry it's very broad.
That was just published likelast week.
And in addition to that we alsohave two XR hygiene standards
published by A STM which is.
It took only three and a halfyears to get those two
published, and I'm hoping thatthe third one will be published
(00:25):
by February, but there's stillone pending.
But that being said, at I apa,my team with a s TM F 24 which
is chaired by co-chaired bymyself and someone from
Universal Studios.
We are going to be talking topeople in the XR space about how
that standard will impact themand.
In a positive way.
(00:45):
So yes, those are two thingsthat are both just happening.
Nathan C (00:49):
Okay, we'll have to make sure that those get in.
And actually, that was a greatintroduction.
Hey everybody, it's Nathan.
Welcome to the Tech Glow Up.
Today we've got our superspecial episode with the founder
and CEO of Clean Box Technology.
Amy Hedrick.
She's gonna talk to us about howshe's taken her patent pending
(01:12):
UV light sanitation tools into15 different verticals, and how
she approaches each of thoseconversations in a different
way.
Amy is a multiple patent holder,a early VR entrepreneur, and an
(01:33):
ardent supporter of the spatialcomputing industry.
She really sees the work thatshe's doing as supporting the
industry at large by solving oneof the main problems that users
face when trying to put on facewor technologies; sanitation has
never been sexier than on thetech Glow Up.
(01:59):
I really appreciate the way thatAmy just jumped in with both
feet in the spirit of the techGlow Up, sharing stories from
her long journey as anentrepreneur, as well as sharing
great advice for other productleaders and founders to think
about in their journey.
(02:19):
She also has some exciting newupdates, uh, that you might just
hear here.
First, welcome to the Tech GlowUp.
Let's get into it.
Hello and welcome to the TechGlow Up.
I'm Nathan C and today I'mtalking with Amy Hedrick of
(02:40):
Clean Box Technology.
Amy, it is so good to talk withyou again.
Thanks for joining me on theTech Glow Up.
Amy Hedrick (02:46):
Nathan, it is always a pleasure to chat with
you.
Nathan C (02:50):
Oh my goodness.
You're one of my favoriteexamples to talk about in
immersive technology as well asin innovative technology.
You're, you have I'll let youshare your accolades, but like
you are literally a patentpending leader in your.
Space and you embody this ideaof, in a gold rush, sell
(03:16):
shovels.
So I would love it.
If in your own words, could youplease introduce yourself and
the work that you do at CleanBox Technology.
Amy Hedrick (03:24):
Yes, absolutely.
And again, thank you for havingme.
It's great to chat with you asalways.
The Clean Box technology, we area we specialize in rapid
U-V-C-L-E-D disinfection.
We were founded in 2018, orrather incorporated in 2018.
We began our patent filings andr and d before that, 2015 and
2016.
(03:45):
And so because of that, we haveover 50 global patents in what
we do.
And yes, innovation is likebeing the cowboy or the cowgirl
in the wild west.
And trust me, I feel like Iactually wear that hat for much
of my life certainly with cleanbox.
And but you know what, we'vebeen focused on innovation, and
the reason is that innovationreally is a response to creative
(04:06):
response.
To a challenge that somebodythinks that we could have a
solution for this.
It's a creative response to achallenge.
And so that's what clean Boxtechnology is.
It's a creative response to thechallenge of and we started with
immersive technology, soheadsets where we when I first
started the company, rightbefore I started the company.
(04:27):
If you'll allow me to tell thestory.
All right.
Before I started the company Iwas doing something along the
lines of technology more on thethink tank side of things.
And I got to put on an OculusRift at Mobile World Congress in
2016.
Ibel 15 maybe?
Yes.
2015 I believe.
So I put on the headset and.
(04:49):
To me it was, it changed my lifebecause I thought, this is how
we learn in the future.
This is how we can engage withcontent.
And I, this is fresh of mine ofcourse, because I have a long
standing relationship with theSmithsonian Institution in
Washington, DC and of coursethey have 158 million objects in
their collection.
Phenomenal.
(05:10):
And all of those things thatteach us about history, science,
arts entertainment politicalmovements and all of that
content, which is very hard as asingle person just by yourself
to assimilate that, all thatknowledge.
So how do we do it currently?
How have we done it?
We study books.
Maybe we now have a computer.
We look at it at a presentation.
(05:30):
But when I put that headset on,I thought this is a way we can
experience history, we canexperience the moments that led
up to why this content mattersto us today.
And that led me on the start ofthis journey that I am at today
solving a very practicalproblem.
Maybe not necessarily the magicthat I knew this technology was
(05:50):
capable of providing.
Other people are providing that.
But I am solving an adoptionchallenge with what we do with
clean box technology.
Nathan C (06:00):
I did not know that you had a content inspiration to
finding your path in the space.
idea of this content could be sopowerful, but there's an I
factor.
If you're sharing with a bunchof, early adopter VR phonetics.
Amy Hedrick (06:22):
Absolutely.
It will definitely, my lifestory is take the road less
traveled, which I certainlycontinue to do.
But that being said, it is myfits well with my personality to
say, okay, what could go wrong?
What are the barriers of entry?
What?
And then past that, what are thebarriers of adoption?
And then past that, what are thebarriers to scalability?
And when you think about thingsin those terms, suddenly
(06:45):
innovation becomes a reallycritical part of how you embrace
the future.
Nathan C (06:52):
I, I love that there's this sort of near short far that
scales with this idea ofinnovation.
Amazing.
I think you you actually reallydid a great job of, talking
about the nexus of clean boxtechnology.
was clean box your, was thatyour origin as an entrepreneur
(07:16):
or like others?
Did you start much earlier?
Amy Hedrick (07:20):
I've always probably had a little bit of
that entrepreneur craziness inmy life.
This is definitely the firsthardware company I've started
and I, it is certainly notsomething I probably dreamed of
doing.
When I was 10 years old, I hadbig a big aspirations and
ambitions, and I have my wholelife.
But I think the one thing that'simportant to think about that in
(07:41):
terms of innovation is.
You never, it's great to have aplan, and I'm definitely a
planner and I like to strategizethings because I like to
optimize and streamline andthink, okay, what could prevent
me from getting from here tothere in the time that I wanna
take?
And let me just eliminate thosethings.
But it's also important torecognize that sometimes the
(08:01):
path doesn't go that way whenyou thought it did.
Sometimes it just goes this way.
And if you see an opportunityand think, ah maybe I should
consider that path your lifemight change.
And you might be in for a lot ofsurprises.
And but it's very, it's a veryinteresting and exciting path
and certainly I would not behere today if I was not so
inclined to take those risks.
Nathan C (08:22):
You, you teased a question that's a little bit
ahead of where I'm at.
but this idea of as anentrepreneur, as an innovator
you're often past where thereare maps and so at, on your
journey you might encountereither roadblocks or just
challenges or potentiallyopportunities that you were not
(08:46):
planning for.
How do you I'd love it.
Maybe if you can talk about, andwith an example, if you have one
of how you like to respond toopportunities and challenges
when you like, learn that maybethe path or the industry or,
consumers aren't quite what youhad understood.
(09:06):
Earlier on.
Amy Hedrick (09:08):
I would say that there are always unexpected
challenges, I would imagine, inevery business, but when you're
coming into two nascent spacesbecause the use of UV UVC
technology in an LED was quitenascent, still quite nascent
today, but certainly when westarted all of our r and d, the
reason that we are have beenable to grow so much in this
space is because we were veryearly on.
(09:30):
The I like to say two things.
One, ignorance is bliss and two,knowledge is power.
And if you don't have a nicelittle mixture of ignorance and
knowledge that ignorance, beingbliss helps keep that vision
alive.
So when you hit your headagainst the brick wall, you're
like, that was just a brickwall.
Let me try this again.
Let me try it another way.
Let me continue to move forwardbecause you really do need to
(09:53):
hold onto that mindset of.
This is innovation.
It's not a straight path.
It's, it's a we've got a fewchallenges that we are not gonna
have any clue what they will be,and we can't prepare them in
terms of how to respond to them.
So how do you respond when thosechallenges hit you?
First of all, you try to like,okay hit my head against the
wall.
Let me regain my composurequickly.
(10:15):
And then let me think about,okay, why.
What would prevent a differentoutcome?
When I try this again, so whatdo I need to tweak?
Is it little, is it big?
Is it everything or is itnothing?
Nathan C (10:34):
I have to tell you, that feels really prescient
right now.
And it, it feels good to hear.
I also, I just did a bunch ofinterviews as I was telling you
about, and so frequently, likethis idea of grit and resolve
and persistence came up.
I love this idea that there's,there is a Founder's Bliss or an
(10:54):
entrepreneur's bliss, right?
Because you get to be exploringand discovering these ideas, so
early, and that in is it in itsown, is like absolutely part of
the joy of that journey.
Amy Hedrick (11:08):
And you know what?
Founders need to hear peoplelike yourself remind them.
That's part of the bliss, that'spart of the journey because it
is very easy to forget in thedrama of business and
entrepreneurism and changingindustries, because this is one
industry, but it's not oneindustry is it?
I'm 15 industries automaticallywith my company.
(11:30):
When we first started sellingproduct, we were immediately in
15 different industries.
For a normal business, thatwould be 15 different go-to
market strategies.
15 different teams that focus ondifferent messaging and just
different, like how do yourespond to a customer's request
for product changes?
How do you even know what, howhealthcare is gonna be different
from automotive, which is gonnabe different from entertainment,
(11:52):
and how can you manage that inan inflexible object?
Which hardware is a bitinflexible when you compare it
to like.
Software.
And how do you address not onlythe actual deliverable to the
customer, but how that customerthinks about that deliverable?
Because if you haven't made a,or built a product before,
you're not really gonna knowwhat it takes to build one.
Nathan C (12:15):
Oh, you touched on so many.
Just first off, bless you forworking in hardware.
Like you said, it is a lot offolks get into computer science
because they can do it at homejust on a laptop.
But there's storage constraints,the ship, like they're all of
these supply chain.
(12:36):
I could imagine, in some.
Some cases like globalnegotiations about rare earth
metals might impact, the nexttwo or three years of what
you're up
Amy Hedrick (12:47):
Absolutely.
Nathan C (12:49):
that's an incredible amount of complexity.
Amy Hedrick (12:52):
Yeah.
Nathan C (12:53):
You teased this thing.
You said most orgs, if theyended up in 15 different
verticals, that's 15 differentteams go to markets, et cetera.
I feel like there's a follow upto that'cause there's are you,
do you have to work at thatcomplexity or have you, is the
(13:15):
nature of your product and thislike clean box, that like
sanitizes almost anything in aminute that just sell itself
when people see it or encounterthe conversation?
Amy Hedrick (13:27):
Yes and no.
Yes and no, and everything inbetween.
Yeah.
So there are two ways to answerthat question.
The first is immersivetechnology itself as an
industry, but as a tool, let'sjust say, because yes, industry
is very.
Sounds big and great, but to behonest, it's a very siloed and
very fragmented industry to thisday.
(13:47):
And I think it's better for, atleast from my perspective on
this call to talk about it as atool.
So how is immersive technology atool in healthcare?
How is it a tool in education?
How is it a tool inentertainment?
And what does that toolaccomplish?
So when you think about it thatway, for the content creator, of
course.
That is multiple differentpaths.
For us though, on the hardwareside, it's okay, you now have
(14:10):
finally understood how to takethis tool.
This tool can help yourbusiness.
Now what do you need to getpeople to use the tool?
How do you maintain the tool?
How do you promote the tool?
And then how do you take thisbeautiful new thing that you've
created and helped createbecause you have a vision, and
how do you make sure that therest of your business and then
(14:31):
subsequently the rest of yourindustry benefits from that?
So when it comes to all dialingall the way back to clean box,
how do we address multipleindustries with selling our
product?
Nothing ever sells itself.
That's, we'll start therebecause if you've got to watch
an advertisement for mayonnaiseon tv I'm pretty sure mayonnaise
has been around for a while now.
I know I'm oversimplifying this,however, you just do still see
(14:55):
people.
Selling mayonnaise on anadvertisement.
Okay?
That means that messaging stillmatters and should never be
taken for granted, number one.
Number two, what are youselling?
Are you selling the sandwich?
Are you selling the mayonnaise?
Ah, you're selling the sandwich.
So the, let's just think aboutwhat's it gonna take to, to get
(15:15):
the whole picture in there.
Nobody just wants to buy.
Some ma mayonnaise and leave itin their fridge.
They might wanna think about,they might buy that mayonnaise
when they're thinking aboutbuilding a sandwich later on.
And I guess I'm tying twoanalogies, maybe loosely
together here, but the point islike when you think about how do
you sell a product like CleanBox, which is a piece of
hardware.
(15:36):
It's a disinfection device.
We've made it look as beautifuland aesthetically pleasing as
and simple as possible so thatliterally a kid can push a
button and safely run themachine.
But how do you integrate thatinto people's mindset about the
technology itself?
And that's where there's alwayschallenges.
And I would say with all thechallenges of being an
entrepreneur, that might be areward spot because I get to
(15:59):
think creatively.
How do I address this in amessage?
How do I talk to an industryleader over here that can't see
how our businesses are relatedwhen I know they are?
I, there's a lot of ways you cango with answering that question.
Hopefully I didn't muddy thewater with my answer.
Nathan C (16:18):
Oh I love a fantastic analogy and technology as a
sandwich is gonna be a favorite.
this I'm really in love withthis perspective of Clean Box is
a tool that supports immersivetechnology.
(16:39):
And if you have that perspectivelike when you're listing
entertainment schools,hospitals, how like what is the
one thing that they all need ifthey're using virtual reality
or, immersive
Amy Hedrick (16:53):
Sure
Nathan C (16:53):
or even technology devices, honestly you need to
clean them between users.
Amy Hedrick (16:58):
that's exactly right.
You're absolutely right.
Yes.
Please do that.
It's hardware managementbecause, okay and we can go very
simple here.
You and I both know that if youput a headset on at home and you
plug it into the wall, you don'thave a complex.
Set of operational protocol thatyou need to follow.
You're one person, you're home.
But the way it's used inindustries in enterprise is not
(17:21):
that way.
It is shared.
It is it's needs to beoptimized.
You need to have throughput, youneed to have a plan.
You need to train your staff,support your content, et cetera,
et cetera.
Where clean box comes in whereit's immersive tech, where we
started, and also beyond thatbecause we've extended past the
immersive tech industry,including other industries.
But really where it comes downto is, thinking with that vision
(17:44):
and understanding, hey, there'smore to this.
So a couple of things that we'vedone, if I can just maybe follow
up with providing thisinformation now as we recently
released the comprehensive XRHardware Management Guide.
For industry, for enterpriseindustry it's a 50 page guide,
no small feat, and we had morethan 10 companies actively
participate.
Another very big feat to getpeople in the industry so that
(18:08):
it's not just, Hey, clean boxes.
Is saying here's steps that youcould take as a business.
This is mobile device managers,this, these are, software
solution providers, othermanufacturers.
How do you plan your space?
How do you integrate with it?
What questions you should ask?
And the goal of that documentwas, first of all, bring the
industry together.
(18:28):
Because it's a collective effortto actually build the
infrastructure that makes anindustry, but also do it in a
way that end user, whether it bea large corporation or a small
business, says somebody else hasalready figured out all the pain
points and solve them.
So therefore, investing in thisimmersive technology is no
longer not an option.
Nathan C (18:51):
It's no longer a risk.
Amy Hedrick (18:53):
no longer a risk.
Nathan C (18:54):
expensive, right?
Amy Hedrick (18:55):
It's de-risk.
It's de-risked.
Yes.
Nathan C (18:59):
this idea that.
I think you and I would agreeimmediately that like any
technology needs way moreonboarding, explanation,
storytelling than you oftenexpect out the gate.
It's just a fact of being thepeople that make it like you're
so much more familiar with itthan anybody else's.
And like to an average consumer,the attention how
Amy Hedrick (19:21):
Yeah.
Nathan C (19:21):
they're reading It's so different.
But this idea enterprise.
Like so many innovativetechnologies see Enterprise as
their path to success.
And honestly, hon, awesomeFutures started with this idea
of you're in deep tech, youprobably don't know enterprise
as well as you think you do.
And it was like really lovinglyand this idea that like
(19:44):
enterprise needs, not just theonboarding, right?
Like not just the supportingcontent, but you need this
backend infrastructure.
You need, there's this wholeecosystem of support that's just
expected as table stakes andthat you are bringing.
These 10 different experts,these actual players as examples
(20:05):
and contributing that back tothe ecosystem feels like such a
gift.
And I, as thinking back to mydays as a startup, how many
hours I could have saved onmeetings that didn't quite go
right.
Or, installations that didn'tmeet somebody's standards
because there was a gap there tohave 10 experts weighing in.
Outstanding.
Congrats on that.
Amy Hedrick (20:26):
Thank you.
Yeah, it's, I think it's very,it's rewarding.
It's a part of the rewardingside of the business.
Because you, because honestlywhat I have just come out of the
gate.
I've been in this industry nowfor 10 years, which is, it feels
like a lifetime to me.
And it actually is a lifetime.
It's a whole, it's a.
It's a whole thing.
But what, and would I be able toproduce something today?
10 years ago?
(20:47):
No, because the industry wasdifferent.
People's adoption was different.
The needs were different.
But being so close to thebusiness and so close to all of
the industries that I work with,whether in they're using
immersive tech or they're not,you get to really have a, your
finger on the pulse of okay.
I wanted us to be here fiveyears ago, but guess what?
We're here today now.
(21:07):
So now's the time to say theseare the best practices.
Here are 10 different industryapplications showing you, if
you're a school and you're likeI don't know if we're quite
ready to do this.
Here's a couple examples ofuniversities who have.
If you are, a whatever, you canextend that into multiple
industries.
And I think, being able to be atthe point where we're still
(21:28):
here, still talking about how tomake it work because we know
how, we know the things thathaven't worked and what's gonna
be necessary going forward.
That's really the win here.
Nathan C (21:39):
This 50 page guide seems kind of like, one of my
favorite topics, is if you setstandards it helps industries
grow and be adopted fasterbecause there's trust, there's
documentation, there's targetsto be hitting.
Do you have an opinion aboutstandardization within emerging
technologies?
Amy Hedrick (22:00):
A hundred percent.
I exactly like you framed it.
Standardization is there tosupport the growth of the
industry, not prevent itsgrowth.
And it is critically importantfor adoption.
And because I do believe thatfor the last two, three years
now, I've been working oncommittees at A STM.
I can tell you in 2025, we havepublished two new standards for
(22:21):
XR hygiene with through A STM.
You can go to the astm.orgwebsite and look for that.
It's on the F 24 24 group, andI'm thrilled that we've done
that because it's taken threeyears of efforts to do that.
But when you get a standardpass, that means that you've had
thousands of people look at itand give their feedback, and you
can't get a standard pass ifthere are remaining negative.
(22:43):
So it forces you to talkthrough.
All of the issues and all of thechallenges.
And I am thrilled that we havebeen able to publish these two
standards.
We have a third that we expectto publish in the very near
future.
And I really do believe thiswill go a long way to pushing
the industry forward and helpingeveryone grow together.
Grow and glow together.
(23:03):
Glow up.
Nathan C (23:04):
Oh, I love this.
What's your favorite way tolearn from your customers and to
understand how people are usingyour tools and how you're
impacting these really disparatebut like very interesting
spaces.
Amy Hedrick (23:20):
I try to just go ask my customers directly, if
I'm involved in the sale of somekind or, it comes across my
email or whatever or it doesn't,and I find it a really
interesting use case.
I'll just say, Hey, how.
Tell me how you're doing thisand tell me why, and tell me
what do you think and what couldbe better.
In the early days of Clean Box,we did we did poll our customers
(23:40):
through email, but again, whenwe were getting email seven
years ago, it was very differentthan how many emails we get
today.
I don't know if there'd be assuccessful today the way we did
it back then, but absolutely thereason that we integrated
certain things into our productswas a direct result of pulling
our customers.
Yeah, that's, I try to stay ontop of that as much as possible.
Nathan C (24:03):
10 years in you're still out there asking people
how it goes.
Thank you.
That's so cool.
You've alluded to this a lot inyour other answers, and I've
been talking with severalleaders recently in this theme
of every leader.
Sort of has a different approachto problem solving, to conflict,
(24:24):
to opportunity.
How they face challenges and,there's so many.
Like the journey isn't alwaysstraight.
There's so many different kindsof decisions you have to make.
So do you have a framework or apreferred way of tackling those
hard business choices?
Amy Hedrick (24:41):
I, I've had to become, I've had to evolve my
own thinking on that.
And some of that has mean, hasmeant that, let's say I have a
brand new business challenge.
I've never faced it before.
With an entrepreneur thathappens maybe four or five times
a week.
And whether it's a challenge orit's a question or something you
hadn't thought of or somethingyou're gonna have to think of in
(25:02):
the future.
I've always liked to be verycollaborative and if I feel, and
I do my best as well, to be ageneralist in terms of my own
knowledge, to be veryspecialized in the ways that I
know nobody else.
On my team or in my immediatesurroundings is or can be, but
at the same time being very mucha generalist when it comes to
all the broad strokes of thebusiness.
(25:22):
And I think that's reallycritical for me anyway, in terms
of how I'm able to do a lot morethings than I wish that I had to
be able to do sometimes.
But that being said, if I'mtackling an engineering question
as an example.
Here, I'll give you a, a verygood one.
And it also is a follow on fromyour last question because how
do you address market changechanges in the market and market
needs?
(25:43):
We have at least one new productthat's coming out very soon that
is addressing still at the XRspace, but in entirely different
part of the market.
Now, why do we have that?
First of all, we've listened tocustomers.
We recognize that businesses areeither, there's not a whole lot
of, let's say, middle class, ifyou will, in the XR space.
There's either the upper echelonor there's all the startups, and
(26:06):
there's a big gap there.
And that could be a productmarket fit gap.
That could be a price point gap.
That could be a number of thingsthat I, that now we're at the
place where we have a newproduct coming out.
So that's one way that we'reresponding to that market need.
Another thing though is how do Ido that?
My background is not engineeringnow.
I think I have a couple of sortof honorary degrees and various
(26:29):
technical after a decade ofdoing certain things, I have
those honorary honoraries, ifyou will.
I need to think and tap into theresources.
I know, for example, anelectrical engineer will be
critical to the ask this set ofquestions and then I will tie it
to what I've already knownmyself and then a mechanical
engineer.
And then then let's talk aboutsupply chain.
Let's talk about where thesecomponents are being built now
(26:52):
and are there supply chain.
Challenges, which this is acrazy world that we live in at
the moment.
Probably not unlike previouscrazy worlds, but at least we
know about it right now.
It's very obviously volatile inmany ways when it comes to
supply chain.
So how do you think about that?
What are your other options?
How do you anticipate achallenge that might happen a
year from now based on shortagesthat are not there yet?
(27:15):
And the way I try to do that isfirst, think about what I know
and think about what I don'tknow.
And then think of all the peoplethat might know more about what
I don't know than what I and tapinto those resources.
And, but in the end though, whatI've really realized, that no
matter what in the end, nomatter what decision you make,
people will love you for it.
And they will hate you for it.
(27:36):
You will be supported and youwill be judged harshly.
And it doesn't matter if it'sthe right decision, the quote
unquote right decision or thequote unquote wrong decision.
Y that's the, that's life,that's business.
And that's life.
And so in the end, I have tolive with the choices and the
business decisions that I make.
And I have to own that everyday.
And and it's great.
(27:58):
It's great because, whetherthat's good or bad.
I've experienced both.
And sometimes I've experiencedthe good and bad from decisions
that were made by other people.
It doesn't matter in the end, Istill have to own my decisions,
their decisions, the industrychanges.
And so I try to tap into otherpeople and see if they can give
me guidance along the way.
Nathan C (28:20):
That's one of the things that you hear.
Founders and CEOs often, right?
Is if you're holding on toeverything you might be holding
back.
And so
Amy Hedrick (28:31):
Yeah.
Nathan C (28:31):
able to go find those advisors to
Amy Hedrick (28:34):
yes
Nathan C (28:35):
if you got an expert, why are you leaving'em?
Why are you just leaving'em onthe shelf?
Amy Hedrick (28:42):
a hundred percent, but I also think there's a lot
of value in that rub.
Okay, because you've got, and Iknow how to be on the creative
visionary side and I also knowhow to turn that side of my
brain off or just mute it alittle bit and go on the
absolute opposite side.
And I think you have to learnthat if you're not so inclined.
It, but the rub of the creativeversus the practical is really
(29:04):
important in business because ithelps you get past some of those
things that could be like thelook, you could make a decision,
a business decision based on anot full information and not
know all the little paper cutsalong the way that will make you
bleed to death down the road.
And so allowing that.
Head butting, if you will fromthose two kinds of sources,
(29:25):
helps you get, fi get rid ofsome of those sharp edges in
advance.
Nathan C (29:30):
Ooh.
Yeah.
There's a very zen kind of waythat I hear you approaching a
lot of this, right?
To be aware of the stakes andthen, to make the kinds of
decisions that you can, thatyou're gonna feel good about
waking up in the morning to it.
I so love it.
(29:50):
Amy.
One of my favorite questions toask recently is this is about
mentors and how people haveencouraged you along your way.
Sometimes for a founder, Ibelieve you keep going, hearing
it from anybody, whether it's acoach, a mentor, even a family
member can be transformational.
(30:11):
For that journey.
You share a moment when a mentoror loved one helped you level
up?
Amy Hedrick (30:19):
Sure.
Yeah.
I would start by first agreeingwith what you just said in terms
of mentorship.
I think that no founder willever really tell you how hard it
is to be a founder.
It is much harder than you'llprobably ever get someone to
tell you on camera.
And it's much harder than youever would've thought of before
you started being anentrepreneur.
(30:40):
So if you start with thatperspective, you can see how
invaluable mentorship or supportis, whether big or small, along
the way.
And sometimes more people hapeople have more of it than
others.
For me, I have, there have beena couple of times in the last
couple of years that someone inparticular who has, who's been
(31:01):
on my team before and continuesto support from the sidelines
sometimes came to me and said,do you, because, I was feeling
very frustrated and exhaustedand.
He said, you do know how muchyou've actually changed and
impacted the industry by whatyou've done.
Do you realize just take aminute and think about what
(31:21):
you've accomplished.
And I am my own worst critic.
Maybe people that don't like memight be more critical, but I'm
pretty critical.
I'm pretty self I'd like toevaluate and judge myself, okay,
you could have done better.
You could do this better nexttime.
And it's easy to forget how muchwork it takes to actually make
something happen.
It takes a lot of work to makeliterally anything happen, but
(31:44):
much less a business and muchless a product and much less a,
an entire industry.
So I would say that if that, ifhe hadn't said that to me at
that time, I was very muchstruggling with what am I doing?
Why am I doing this?
And that just helped me refocusand realign and say, okay,
you're right.
That's right.
(32:04):
I needed to take a moment andappreciate.
And respect the work that I'vedone in order for me to be able
to move and do more work.
Nathan C (32:15):
Yeah, it's when you're so focused on an outcome, The
journey.
Can be easy to discount as justI was gonna do that anyway.
Or, there, there's but havingthose people who can reflect
that back to us can be huge.
Amy Hedrick (32:30):
Yeah.
Nathan C (32:30):
I had a friend just this week who was relaying that
they were having to make somelike hard choices to protect
their time and to do things thatfelt aligned with their
business.
And I was like, friends.
That sounds like a really goodchoice.
Like you're having goodconversations,
Amy Hedrick (32:49):
Yeah.
Nathan C (32:50):
good on you.
Amy Hedrick (32:51):
Yeah.
Nathan C (32:51):
Amazing.
Amy, thank you for that.
I'm hoping that you'll indulgeme in a little speed round.
Amy Hedrick (32:58):
Okay.
All
Nathan C (32:59):
Amazing.
So the first one, easy,
Amy Hedrick (33:01):
Yes,
Nathan C (33:01):
if there's one takeaway that you want our
listeners to get from ourconversation today.
What is it?
Amy Hedrick (33:09):
starting something new is very hard, and being an
innovator is very hard.
But if you have that drive to bethat innovator, it'll be harder
if you don't try it.
Nathan C (33:22):
I'm a
Amy Hedrick (33:23):
Okay.
Nathan C (33:23):
about strategic planning.
It's the end of October.
What quarter is your brain inright now?
Amy Hedrick (33:31):
What quarter?
First of all, I just finishedanother two year performer this
morning, so I'm thinking twoyears out.
But in terms of this newproduct, I'm thinking quarters
one and two of 2026.
Nathan C (33:42):
Amazing.
Ooh, thanks for that correctionthere.
Yeah.
do you have a spicy opinion or asoundbite to share or,
Amy Hedrick (33:50):
Oh, about what?
Don't get me started.
Nathan C (33:53):
Technology trends or anything beyond?
Amy Hedrick (33:57):
I do think AI is has its moment in time.
But I think the changes that arecoming can be very beneficial
for all of us.
And maybe for that entrepreneurwho is struggling, or maybe
they're not maybe they're atthis pivot point in their
business or their life, theymight wanna consider.
Using tech to their advantage,maybe using tech to, to fill in
(34:21):
some stop gap measures of areaswhere they think that their
business is lacking.
They're not quite sure how tofix it yet.
Use tech to your advantage.
My spicy take is that I can do alot more with tech today.
Than I could three or four yearsago, and I am absolutely using
it.
One example is that I, if you goto our website now, which
there'll be a refresh I believeby next week, but there's still
(34:44):
a e ai on there.
There's an a, EA on there.
You go to the little chat botand it has my voice.
Now, sometimes it doesn't get myvoice quite right.
It still has that little kindahigh inflection, but it'll sound
like me.
And you can ask Amy AI anything.
You can ask about all of thescience that has to do with
clean box.
All the technology, all theproducts, business plans.
(35:05):
You can ask it about strategies.
You could probably try to askabout other things.
It probably won't tell youanything else, but yeah that's
my spicy take Use technology toyour advantage.
It's different today than threeyears ago.
It's different today than itwill be in three years, so stay
on it.
Nathan C (35:22):
Oh, love it.
And bravo for right leveragingyour insights in a way that can
help people learn from you evenwhen you're not online.
That's amazing.
last one's
Amy Hedrick (35:34):
Outsourcing myself.
Nathan C (35:36):
I outsource myself to ai, right?
Like I always love thoseapplications where like
technology does the tech partand humans get to do the human
part, right?
And if you can give AI somethingto learn and repeat and share
with a million people that's alot of emails.
You don't have to write,
Amy Hedrick (35:54):
Oh yeah, listen, absolutely.
Let's not go back to the goodold days.
Sometimes they weren't as goodas you might wanna remember them
as.
Nathan C (36:03):
Nah, waiting for dial up was really slow.
Every simple last question.
How can people learn more?
How can they follow up?
Amy Hedrick (36:10):
They can come to the website, clean box tech.com.
I think all of our social mediahandles were on X, Facebook and
Instagram.
It's at Clean Box Tech.
That is the word.
Clean the word box, TECH.
I'm on LinkedIn.
Amy Hedrick, clean BoxTechnology.
You can find me out there.
Look for Amy ai.
And yeah, connect please.
Nathan C (36:32):
Amy Hedrick, CEO of Clean Box Technology.
It has been such a delight tolearn so much more about your
entrepreneurial journey, notjust in immersive technology but
also in hardware.
And 15 different verticals.
I love to see that you're notjust thinking about your work as
(36:54):
a product, but as like a toolthat enables a whole industry.
And like in that tool, you'reproviding technology, you're
providing standards, you'reproviding great advice for
people who wanna manage devicesacross locations.
It has been such a greatpleasure to catch up with you on
the Tech glow up.
Thanks so much.
Amy Hedrick (37:14):
It has been my pleasure.
I'm thrilled to be here.
I'm very honored to be part ofthis.
I've known you for a number ofyears and I've watched many of
your interviews and so I'm veryhonored to to be here.
Thank you so much for your time.
Nathan C (37:29):
If you've made it this far in the podcast, I really
appreciate you.
Thanks for listening.
Please make sure to like andsubscribe so that you never miss
an episode of the Tech Glow Up.
And hey, can I ask you a favor?
If you really enjoyed thisepisode, could you share it on
your Instagram stories or maybepost the link with what you
(37:54):
enjoyed on LinkedIn?
The sort of sharing and engagingreally helps small podcasters
like me reach the dedicatedaudience, uh, that I know really
cares about these kinds ofconversations.
I released the comprehensive XR Hardware
(00:02):
Management Guide, and it's incollaboration with over 10
different companies in theindustry it's very broad.
That was just published likelast week.
And in addition to that we alsohave two XR hygiene standards
published by A STM which is.
It took only three and a halfyears to get those two
published, and I'm hoping thatthe third one will be published
(00:25):
by February, but there's stillone pending.
But that being said, at I apa,my team with a s TM F 24 which
is chaired by co-chaired bymyself and someone from
Universal Studios.
We are going to be talking topeople in the XR space about how
that standard will impact themand.
In a positive way.
(00:45):
So yes, those are two thingsthat are both just happening.
Nathan C (00:49):
Okay, we'll have to make sure that those get in.
And actually, that was a greatintroduction.
Hey everybody, it's Nathan.
Welcome to the Tech Glow Up.
Today we've got our superspecial episode with the founder
and CEO of Clean Box Technology.
Amy Hedrick.
She's gonna talk to us about howshe's taken her patent pending
(01:12):
UV light sanitation tools into15 different verticals, and how
she approaches each of thoseconversations in a different
way.
Amy is a multiple patent holder,a early VR entrepreneur, and an
(01:33):
ardent supporter of the spatialcomputing industry.
She really sees the work thatshe's doing as supporting the
industry at large by solving oneof the main problems that users
face when trying to put on facewor technologies; sanitation has
never been sexier than on thetech Glow Up.
(01:59):
I really appreciate the way thatAmy just jumped in with both
feet in the spirit of the techGlow Up, sharing stories from
her long journey as anentrepreneur, as well as sharing
great advice for other productleaders and founders to think
about in their journey.
(02:19):
She also has some exciting newupdates, uh, that you might just
hear here.
First, welcome to the Tech GlowUp.
Let's get into it.
Hello and welcome to the TechGlow Up.
I'm Nathan C and today I'mtalking with Amy Hedrick of
(02:40):
Clean Box Technology.
Amy, it is so good to talk withyou again.
Thanks for joining me on theTech Glow Up.
Amy Hedrick (02:46):
Nathan, it is always a pleasure to chat with
you.
Nathan C (02:50):
Oh my goodness.
You're one of my favoriteexamples to talk about in
immersive technology as well asin innovative technology.
You're, you have I'll let youshare your accolades, but like
you are literally a patentpending leader in your.
Space and you embody this ideaof, in a gold rush, sell
(03:16):
shovels.
So I would love it.
If in your own words, could youplease introduce yourself and
the work that you do at CleanBox Technology.
Amy Hedrick (03:24):
Yes, absolutely.
And again, thank you for havingme.
It's great to chat with you asalways.
The Clean Box technology, we area we specialize in rapid
U-V-C-L-E-D disinfection.
We were founded in 2018, orrather incorporated in 2018.
We began our patent filings andr and d before that, 2015 and
2016.
(03:45):
And so because of that, we haveover 50 global patents in what
we do.
And yes, innovation is likebeing the cowboy or the cowgirl
in the wild west.
And trust me, I feel like Iactually wear that hat for much
of my life certainly with cleanbox.
And but you know what, we'vebeen focused on innovation, and
the reason is that innovationreally is a response to creative
(04:06):
response.
To a challenge that somebodythinks that we could have a
solution for this.
It's a creative response to achallenge.
And so that's what clean Boxtechnology is.
It's a creative response to thechallenge of and we started with
immersive technology, soheadsets where we when I first
started the company, rightbefore I started the company.
(04:27):
If you'll allow me to tell thestory.
All right.
Before I started the company Iwas doing something along the
lines of technology more on thethink tank side of things.
And I got to put on an OculusRift at Mobile World Congress in
2016.
Ibel 15 maybe?
Yes.
2015 I believe.
So I put on the headset and.
(04:49):
To me it was, it changed my lifebecause I thought, this is how
we learn in the future.
This is how we can engage withcontent.
And I, this is fresh of mine ofcourse, because I have a long
standing relationship with theSmithsonian Institution in
Washington, DC and of coursethey have 158 million objects in
their collection.
Phenomenal.
(05:10):
And all of those things thatteach us about history, science,
arts entertainment politicalmovements and all of that
content, which is very hard as asingle person just by yourself
to assimilate that, all thatknowledge.
So how do we do it currently?
How have we done it?
We study books.
Maybe we now have a computer.
We look at it at a presentation.
(05:30):
But when I put that headset on,I thought this is a way we can
experience history, we canexperience the moments that led
up to why this content mattersto us today.
And that led me on the start ofthis journey that I am at today
solving a very practicalproblem.
Maybe not necessarily the magicthat I knew this technology was
(05:50):
capable of providing.
Other people are providing that.
But I am solving an adoptionchallenge with what we do with
clean box technology.
Nathan C (06:00):
I did not know that you had a content inspiration to
finding your path in the space.
idea of this content could be sopowerful, but there's an I
factor.
If you're sharing with a bunchof, early adopter VR phonetics.
Amy Hedrick (06:22):
Absolutely.
It will definitely, my lifestory is take the road less
traveled, which I certainlycontinue to do.
But that being said, it is myfits well with my personality to
say, okay, what could go wrong?
What are the barriers of entry?
What?
And then past that, what are thebarriers of adoption?
And then past that, what are thebarriers to scalability?
And when you think about thingsin those terms, suddenly
(06:45):
innovation becomes a reallycritical part of how you embrace
the future.
Nathan C (06:52):
I, I love that there's this sort of near short far that
scales with this idea ofinnovation.
Amazing.
I think you you actually reallydid a great job of, talking
about the nexus of clean boxtechnology.
was clean box your, was thatyour origin as an entrepreneur
(07:16):
or like others?
Did you start much earlier?
Amy Hedrick (07:20):
I've always probably had a little bit of
that entrepreneur craziness inmy life.
This is definitely the firsthardware company I've started
and I, it is certainly notsomething I probably dreamed of
doing.
When I was 10 years old, I hadbig a big aspirations and
ambitions, and I have my wholelife.
But I think the one thing that'simportant to think about that in
(07:41):
terms of innovation is.
You never, it's great to have aplan, and I'm definitely a
planner and I like to strategizethings because I like to
optimize and streamline andthink, okay, what could prevent
me from getting from here tothere in the time that I wanna
take?
And let me just eliminate thosethings.
But it's also important torecognize that sometimes the
(08:01):
path doesn't go that way whenyou thought it did.
Sometimes it just goes this way.
And if you see an opportunityand think, ah maybe I should
consider that path your lifemight change.
And you might be in for a lot ofsurprises.
And but it's very, it's a veryinteresting and exciting path
and certainly I would not behere today if I was not so
inclined to take those risks.
Nathan C (08:22):
You, you teased a question that's a little bit
ahead of where I'm at.
but this idea of as anentrepreneur, as an innovator
you're often past where thereare maps and so at, on your
journey you might encountereither roadblocks or just
challenges or potentiallyopportunities that you were not
(08:46):
planning for.
How do you I'd love it.
Maybe if you can talk about, andwith an example, if you have one
of how you like to respond toopportunities and challenges
when you like, learn that maybethe path or the industry or,
consumers aren't quite what youhad understood.
(09:06):
Earlier on.
Amy Hedrick (09:08):
I would say that there are always unexpected
challenges, I would imagine, inevery business, but when you're
coming into two nascent spacesbecause the use of UV UVC
technology in an LED was quitenascent, still quite nascent
today, but certainly when westarted all of our r and d, the
reason that we are have beenable to grow so much in this
space is because we were veryearly on.
(09:30):
The I like to say two things.
One, ignorance is bliss and two,knowledge is power.
And if you don't have a nicelittle mixture of ignorance and
knowledge that ignorance, beingbliss helps keep that vision
alive.
So when you hit your headagainst the brick wall, you're
like, that was just a brickwall.
Let me try this again.
Let me try it another way.
Let me continue to move forwardbecause you really do need to
(09:53):
hold onto that mindset of.
This is innovation.
It's not a straight path.
It's, it's a we've got a fewchallenges that we are not gonna
have any clue what they will be,and we can't prepare them in
terms of how to respond to them.
So how do you respond when thosechallenges hit you?
First of all, you try to like,okay hit my head against the
wall.
Let me regain my composurequickly.
(10:15):
And then let me think about,okay, why.
What would prevent a differentoutcome?
When I try this again, so whatdo I need to tweak?
Is it little, is it big?
Is it everything or is itnothing?
Nathan C (10:34):
I have to tell you, that feels really prescient
right now.
And it, it feels good to hear.
I also, I just did a bunch ofinterviews as I was telling you
about, and so frequently, likethis idea of grit and resolve
and persistence came up.
I love this idea that there's,there is a Founder's Bliss or an
(10:54):
entrepreneur's bliss, right?
Because you get to be exploringand discovering these ideas, so
early, and that in is it in itsown, is like absolutely part of
the joy of that journey.
Amy Hedrick (11:08):
And you know what?
Founders need to hear peoplelike yourself remind them.
That's part of the bliss, that'spart of the journey because it
is very easy to forget in thedrama of business and
entrepreneurism and changingindustries, because this is one
industry, but it's not oneindustry is it?
I'm 15 industries automaticallywith my company.
(11:30):
When we first started sellingproduct, we were immediately in
15 different industries.
For a normal business, thatwould be 15 different go-to
market strategies.
15 different teams that focus ondifferent messaging and just
different, like how do yourespond to a customer's request
for product changes?
How do you even know what, howhealthcare is gonna be different
from automotive, which is gonnabe different from entertainment,
(11:52):
and how can you manage that inan inflexible object?
Which hardware is a bitinflexible when you compare it
to like.
Software.
And how do you address not onlythe actual deliverable to the
customer, but how that customerthinks about that deliverable?
Because if you haven't made a,or built a product before,
you're not really gonna knowwhat it takes to build one.
Nathan C (12:15):
Oh, you touched on so many.
Just first off, bless you forworking in hardware.
Like you said, it is a lot offolks get into computer science
because they can do it at homejust on a laptop.
But there's storage constraints,the ship, like they're all of
these supply chain.
(12:36):
I could imagine, in some.
Some cases like globalnegotiations about rare earth
metals might impact, the nexttwo or three years of what
you're up
Amy Hedrick (12:47):
Absolutely.
Nathan C (12:49):
that's an incredible amount of complexity.
Amy Hedrick (12:52):
Yeah.
Nathan C (12:53):
You teased this thing.
You said most orgs, if theyended up in 15 different
verticals, that's 15 differentteams go to markets, et cetera.
I feel like there's a follow upto that'cause there's are you,
do you have to work at thatcomplexity or have you, is the
(13:15):
nature of your product and thislike clean box, that like
sanitizes almost anything in aminute that just sell itself
when people see it or encounterthe conversation?
Amy Hedrick (13:27):
Yes and no.
Yes and no, and everything inbetween.
Yeah.
So there are two ways to answerthat question.
The first is immersivetechnology itself as an
industry, but as a tool, let'sjust say, because yes, industry
is very.
Sounds big and great, but to behonest, it's a very siloed and
very fragmented industry to thisday.
(13:47):
And I think it's better for, atleast from my perspective on
this call to talk about it as atool.
So how is immersive technology atool in healthcare?
How is it a tool in education?
How is it a tool inentertainment?
And what does that toolaccomplish?
So when you think about it thatway, for the content creator, of
course.
That is multiple differentpaths.
For us though, on the hardwareside, it's okay, you now have
(14:10):
finally understood how to takethis tool.
This tool can help yourbusiness.
Now what do you need to getpeople to use the tool?
How do you maintain the tool?
How do you promote the tool?
And then how do you take thisbeautiful new thing that you've
created and helped createbecause you have a vision, and
how do you make sure that therest of your business and then
(14:31):
subsequently the rest of yourindustry benefits from that?
So when it comes to all dialingall the way back to clean box,
how do we address multipleindustries with selling our
product?
Nothing ever sells itself.
That's, we'll start therebecause if you've got to watch
an advertisement for mayonnaiseon tv I'm pretty sure mayonnaise
has been around for a while now.
I know I'm oversimplifying this,however, you just do still see
(14:55):
people.
Selling mayonnaise on anadvertisement.
Okay?
That means that messaging stillmatters and should never be
taken for granted, number one.
Number two, what are youselling?
Are you selling the sandwich?
Are you selling the mayonnaise?
Ah, you're selling the sandwich.
So the, let's just think aboutwhat's it gonna take to, to get
(15:15):
the whole picture in there.
Nobody just wants to buy.
Some ma mayonnaise and leave itin their fridge.
They might wanna think about,they might buy that mayonnaise
when they're thinking aboutbuilding a sandwich later on.
And I guess I'm tying twoanalogies, maybe loosely
together here, but the point islike when you think about how do
you sell a product like CleanBox, which is a piece of
hardware.
(15:36):
It's a disinfection device.
We've made it look as beautifuland aesthetically pleasing as
and simple as possible so thatliterally a kid can push a
button and safely run themachine.
But how do you integrate thatinto people's mindset about the
technology itself?
And that's where there's alwayschallenges.
And I would say with all thechallenges of being an
entrepreneur, that might be areward spot because I get to
(15:59):
think creatively.
How do I address this in amessage?
How do I talk to an industryleader over here that can't see
how our businesses are relatedwhen I know they are?
I, there's a lot of ways you cango with answering that question.
Hopefully I didn't muddy thewater with my answer.
Nathan C (16:18):
Oh I love a fantastic analogy and technology as a
sandwich is gonna be a favorite.
this I'm really in love withthis perspective of Clean Box is
a tool that supports immersivetechnology.
(16:39):
And if you have that perspectivelike when you're listing
entertainment schools,hospitals, how like what is the
one thing that they all need ifthey're using virtual reality
or, immersive
Amy Hedrick (16:53):
Sure
Nathan C (16:53):
or even technology devices, honestly you need to
clean them between users.
Amy Hedrick (16:58):
that's exactly right.
You're absolutely right.
Yes.
Please do that.
It's hardware managementbecause, okay and we can go very
simple here.
You and I both know that if youput a headset on at home and you
plug it into the wall, you don'thave a complex.
Set of operational protocol thatyou need to follow.
You're one person, you're home.
But the way it's used inindustries in enterprise is not
(17:21):
that way.
It is shared.
It is it's needs to beoptimized.
You need to have throughput, youneed to have a plan.
You need to train your staff,support your content, et cetera,
et cetera.
Where clean box comes in whereit's immersive tech, where we
started, and also beyond thatbecause we've extended past the
immersive tech industry,including other industries.
But really where it comes downto is, thinking with that vision
(17:44):
and understanding, hey, there'smore to this.
So a couple of things that we'vedone, if I can just maybe follow
up with providing thisinformation now as we recently
released the comprehensive XRHardware Management Guide.
For industry, for enterpriseindustry it's a 50 page guide,
no small feat, and we had morethan 10 companies actively
participate.
Another very big feat to getpeople in the industry so that
(18:08):
it's not just, Hey, clean boxes.
Is saying here's steps that youcould take as a business.
This is mobile device managers,this, these are, software
solution providers, othermanufacturers.
How do you plan your space?
How do you integrate with it?
What questions you should ask?
And the goal of that documentwas, first of all, bring the
industry together.
(18:28):
Because it's a collective effortto actually build the
infrastructure that makes anindustry, but also do it in a
way that end user, whether it bea large corporation or a small
business, says somebody else hasalready figured out all the pain
points and solve them.
So therefore, investing in thisimmersive technology is no
longer not an option.
Nathan C (18:51):
It's no longer a risk.
Amy Hedrick (18:53):
no longer a risk.
Nathan C (18:54):
expensive, right?
Amy Hedrick (18:55):
It's de-risk.
It's de-risked.
Yes.
Nathan C (18:59):
this idea that.
I think you and I would agreeimmediately that like any
technology needs way moreonboarding, explanation,
storytelling than you oftenexpect out the gate.
It's just a fact of being thepeople that make it like you're
so much more familiar with itthan anybody else's.
And like to an average consumer,the attention how
Amy Hedrick (19:21):
Yeah.
Nathan C (19:21):
they're reading It's so different.
But this idea enterprise.
Like so many innovativetechnologies see Enterprise as
their path to success.
And honestly, hon, awesomeFutures started with this idea
of you're in deep tech, youprobably don't know enterprise
as well as you think you do.
And it was like really lovinglyand this idea that like
(19:44):
enterprise needs, not just theonboarding, right?
Like not just the supportingcontent, but you need this
backend infrastructure.
You need, there's this wholeecosystem of support that's just
expected as table stakes andthat you are bringing.
These 10 different experts,these actual players as examples
(20:05):
and contributing that back tothe ecosystem feels like such a
gift.
And I, as thinking back to mydays as a startup, how many
hours I could have saved onmeetings that didn't quite go
right.
Or, installations that didn'tmeet somebody's standards
because there was a gap there tohave 10 experts weighing in.
Outstanding.
Congrats on that.
Amy Hedrick (20:26):
Thank you.
Yeah, it's, I think it's very,it's rewarding.
It's a part of the rewardingside of the business.
Because you, because honestlywhat I have just come out of the
gate.
I've been in this industry nowfor 10 years, which is, it feels
like a lifetime to me.
And it actually is a lifetime.
It's a whole, it's a.
It's a whole thing.
But what, and would I be able toproduce something today?
10 years ago?
(20:47):
No, because the industry wasdifferent.
People's adoption was different.
The needs were different.
But being so close to thebusiness and so close to all of
the industries that I work with,whether in they're using
immersive tech or they're not,you get to really have a, your
finger on the pulse of okay.
I wanted us to be here fiveyears ago, but guess what?
We're here today now.
(21:07):
So now's the time to say theseare the best practices.
Here are 10 different industryapplications showing you, if
you're a school and you're likeI don't know if we're quite
ready to do this.
Here's a couple examples ofuniversities who have.
If you are, a whatever, you canextend that into multiple
industries.
And I think, being able to be atthe point where we're still
(21:28):
here, still talking about how tomake it work because we know
how, we know the things thathaven't worked and what's gonna
be necessary going forward.
That's really the win here.
Nathan C (21:39):
This 50 page guide seems kind of like, one of my
favorite topics, is if you setstandards it helps industries
grow and be adopted fasterbecause there's trust, there's
documentation, there's targetsto be hitting.
Do you have an opinion aboutstandardization within emerging
technologies?
Amy Hedrick (22:00):
A hundred percent.
I exactly like you framed it.
Standardization is there tosupport the growth of the
industry, not prevent itsgrowth.
And it is critically importantfor adoption.
And because I do believe thatfor the last two, three years
now, I've been working oncommittees at A STM.
I can tell you in 2025, we havepublished two new standards for
(22:21):
XR hygiene with through A STM.
You can go to the astm.orgwebsite and look for that.
It's on the F 24 24 group, andI'm thrilled that we've done
that because it's taken threeyears of efforts to do that.
But when you get a standardpass, that means that you've had
thousands of people look at itand give their feedback, and you
can't get a standard pass ifthere are remaining negative.
(22:43):
So it forces you to talkthrough.
All of the issues and all of thechallenges.
And I am thrilled that we havebeen able to publish these two
standards.
We have a third that we expectto publish in the very near
future.
And I really do believe thiswill go a long way to pushing
the industry forward and helpingeveryone grow together.
Grow and glow together.
(23:03):
Glow up.
Nathan C (23:04):
Oh, I love this.
What's your favorite way tolearn from your customers and to
understand how people are usingyour tools and how you're
impacting these really disparatebut like very interesting
spaces.
Amy Hedrick (23:20):
I try to just go ask my customers directly, if
I'm involved in the sale of somekind or, it comes across my
email or whatever or it doesn't,and I find it a really
interesting use case.
I'll just say, Hey, how.
Tell me how you're doing thisand tell me why, and tell me
what do you think and what couldbe better.
In the early days of Clean Box,we did we did poll our customers
(23:40):
through email, but again, whenwe were getting email seven
years ago, it was very differentthan how many emails we get
today.
I don't know if there'd be assuccessful today the way we did
it back then, but absolutely thereason that we integrated
certain things into our productswas a direct result of pulling
our customers.
Yeah, that's, I try to stay ontop of that as much as possible.
Nathan C (24:03):
10 years in you're still out there asking people
how it goes.
Thank you.
That's so cool.
You've alluded to this a lot inyour other answers, and I've
been talking with severalleaders recently in this theme
of every leader.
Sort of has a different approachto problem solving, to conflict,
(24:24):
to opportunity.
How they face challenges and,there's so many.
Like the journey isn't alwaysstraight.
There's so many different kindsof decisions you have to make.
So do you have a framework or apreferred way of tackling those
hard business choices?
Amy Hedrick (24:41):
I, I've had to become, I've had to evolve my
own thinking on that.
And some of that has mean, hasmeant that, let's say I have a
brand new business challenge.
I've never faced it before.
With an entrepreneur thathappens maybe four or five times
a week.
And whether it's a challenge orit's a question or something you
hadn't thought of or somethingyou're gonna have to think of in
(25:02):
the future.
I've always liked to be verycollaborative and if I feel, and
I do my best as well, to be ageneralist in terms of my own
knowledge, to be veryspecialized in the ways that I
know nobody else.
On my team or in my immediatesurroundings is or can be, but
at the same time being very mucha generalist when it comes to
all the broad strokes of thebusiness.
(25:22):
And I think that's reallycritical for me anyway, in terms
of how I'm able to do a lot morethings than I wish that I had to
be able to do sometimes.
But that being said, if I'mtackling an engineering question
as an example.
Here, I'll give you a, a verygood one.
And it also is a follow on fromyour last question because how
do you address market changechanges in the market and market
needs?
(25:43):
We have at least one new productthat's coming out very soon that
is addressing still at the XRspace, but in entirely different
part of the market.
Now, why do we have that?
First of all, we've listened tocustomers.
We recognize that businesses areeither, there's not a whole lot
of, let's say, middle class, ifyou will, in the XR space.
There's either the upper echelonor there's all the startups, and
(26:06):
there's a big gap there.
And that could be a productmarket fit gap.
That could be a price point gap.
That could be a number of thingsthat I, that now we're at the
place where we have a newproduct coming out.
So that's one way that we'reresponding to that market need.
Another thing though is how do Ido that?
My background is not engineeringnow.
I think I have a couple of sortof honorary degrees and various
(26:29):
technical after a decade ofdoing certain things, I have
those honorary honoraries, ifyou will.
I need to think and tap into theresources.
I know, for example, anelectrical engineer will be
critical to the ask this set ofquestions and then I will tie it
to what I've already knownmyself and then a mechanical
engineer.
And then then let's talk aboutsupply chain.
Let's talk about where thesecomponents are being built now
(26:52):
and are there supply chain.
Challenges, which this is acrazy world that we live in at
the moment.
Probably not unlike previouscrazy worlds, but at least we
know about it right now.
It's very obviously volatile inmany ways when it comes to
supply chain.
So how do you think about that?
What are your other options?
How do you anticipate achallenge that might happen a
year from now based on shortagesthat are not there yet?
(27:15):
And the way I try to do that isfirst, think about what I know
and think about what I don'tknow.
And then think of all the peoplethat might know more about what
I don't know than what I and tapinto those resources.
And, but in the end though, whatI've really realized, that no
matter what in the end, nomatter what decision you make,
people will love you for it.
And they will hate you for it.
(27:36):
You will be supported and youwill be judged harshly.
And it doesn't matter if it'sthe right decision, the quote
unquote right decision or thequote unquote wrong decision.
Y that's the, that's life,that's business.
And that's life.
And so in the end, I have tolive with the choices and the
business decisions that I make.
And I have to own that everyday.
And and it's great.
(27:58):
It's great because, whetherthat's good or bad.
I've experienced both.
And sometimes I've experiencedthe good and bad from decisions
that were made by other people.
It doesn't matter in the end, Istill have to own my decisions,
their decisions, the industrychanges.
And so I try to tap into otherpeople and see if they can give
me guidance along the way.
Nathan C (28:20):
That's one of the things that you hear.
Founders and CEOs often, right?
Is if you're holding on toeverything you might be holding
back.
And so
Amy Hedrick (28:31):
Yeah.
Nathan C (28:31):
able to go find those advisors to
Amy Hedrick (28:34):
yes
Nathan C (28:35):
if you got an expert, why are you leaving'em?
Why are you just leaving'em onthe shelf?
Amy Hedrick (28:42):
a hundred percent, but I also think there's a lot
of value in that rub.
Okay, because you've got, and Iknow how to be on the creative
visionary side and I also knowhow to turn that side of my
brain off or just mute it alittle bit and go on the
absolute opposite side.
And I think you have to learnthat if you're not so inclined.
It, but the rub of the creativeversus the practical is really
(29:04):
important in business because ithelps you get past some of those
things that could be like thelook, you could make a decision,
a business decision based on anot full information and not
know all the little paper cutsalong the way that will make you
bleed to death down the road.
And so allowing that.
Head butting, if you will fromthose two kinds of sources,
(29:25):
helps you get, fi get rid ofsome of those sharp edges in
advance.
Nathan C (29:30):
Ooh.
Yeah.
There's a very zen kind of waythat I hear you approaching a
lot of this, right?
To be aware of the stakes andthen, to make the kinds of
decisions that you can, thatyou're gonna feel good about
waking up in the morning to it.
I so love it.
(29:50):
Amy.
One of my favorite questions toask recently is this is about
mentors and how people haveencouraged you along your way.
Sometimes for a founder, Ibelieve you keep going, hearing
it from anybody, whether it's acoach, a mentor, even a family
member can be transformational.
(30:11):
For that journey.
You share a moment when a mentoror loved one helped you level
up?
Amy Hedrick (30:19):
Sure.
Yeah.
I would start by first agreeingwith what you just said in terms
of mentorship.
I think that no founder willever really tell you how hard it
is to be a founder.
It is much harder than you'llprobably ever get someone to
tell you on camera.
And it's much harder than youever would've thought of before
you started being anentrepreneur.
(30:40):
So if you start with thatperspective, you can see how
invaluable mentorship or supportis, whether big or small, along
the way.
And sometimes more people hapeople have more of it than
others.
For me, I have, there have beena couple of times in the last
couple of years that someone inparticular who has, who's been
(31:01):
on my team before and continuesto support from the sidelines
sometimes came to me and said,do you, because, I was feeling
very frustrated and exhaustedand.
He said, you do know how muchyou've actually changed and
impacted the industry by whatyou've done.
Do you realize just take aminute and think about what
(31:21):
you've accomplished.
And I am my own worst critic.
Maybe people that don't like memight be more critical, but I'm
pretty critical.
I'm pretty self I'd like toevaluate and judge myself, okay,
you could have done better.
You could do this better nexttime.
And it's easy to forget how muchwork it takes to actually make
something happen.
It takes a lot of work to makeliterally anything happen, but
(31:44):
much less a business and muchless a product and much less a,
an entire industry.
So I would say that if that, ifhe hadn't said that to me at
that time, I was very muchstruggling with what am I doing?
Why am I doing this?
And that just helped me refocusand realign and say, okay,
you're right.
That's right.
(32:04):
I needed to take a moment andappreciate.
And respect the work that I'vedone in order for me to be able
to move and do more work.
Nathan C (32:15):
Yeah, it's when you're so focused on an outcome, The
journey.
Can be easy to discount as justI was gonna do that anyway.
Or, there, there's but havingthose people who can reflect
that back to us can be huge.
Amy Hedrick (32:30):
Yeah.
Nathan C (32:30):
I had a friend just this week who was relaying that
they were having to make somelike hard choices to protect
their time and to do things thatfelt aligned with their
business.
And I was like, friends.
That sounds like a really goodchoice.
Like you're having goodconversations,
Amy Hedrick (32:49):
Yeah.
Nathan C (32:50):
good on you.
Amy Hedrick (32:51):
Yeah.
Nathan C (32:51):
Amazing.
Amy, thank you for that.
I'm hoping that you'll indulgeme in a little speed round.
Amy Hedrick (32:58):
Okay.
All
Nathan C (32:59):
Amazing.
So the first one, easy,
Amy Hedrick (33:01):
Yes,
Nathan C (33:01):
if there's one takeaway that you want our
listeners to get from ourconversation today.
What is it?
Amy Hedrick (33:09):
starting something new is very hard, and being an
innovator is very hard.
But if you have that drive to bethat innovator, it'll be harder
if you don't try it.
Nathan C (33:22):
I'm a
Amy Hedrick (33:23):
Okay.
Nathan C (33:23):
about strategic planning.
It's the end of October.
What quarter is your brain inright now?
Amy Hedrick (33:31):
What quarter?
First of all, I just finishedanother two year performer this
morning, so I'm thinking twoyears out.
But in terms of this newproduct, I'm thinking quarters
one and two of 2026.
Nathan C (33:42):
Amazing.
Ooh, thanks for that correctionthere.
Yeah.
do you have a spicy opinion or asoundbite to share or,
Amy Hedrick (33:50):
Oh, about what?
Don't get me started.
Nathan C (33:53):
Technology trends or anything beyond?
Amy Hedrick (33:57):
I do think AI is has its moment in time.
But I think the changes that arecoming can be very beneficial
for all of us.
And maybe for that entrepreneurwho is struggling, or maybe
they're not maybe they're atthis pivot point in their
business or their life, theymight wanna consider.
Using tech to their advantage,maybe using tech to, to fill in
(34:21):
some stop gap measures of areaswhere they think that their
business is lacking.
They're not quite sure how tofix it yet.
Use tech to your advantage.
My spicy take is that I can do alot more with tech today.
Than I could three or four yearsago, and I am absolutely using
it.
One example is that I, if you goto our website now, which
there'll be a refresh I believeby next week, but there's still
(34:44):
a e ai on there.
There's an a, EA on there.
You go to the little chat botand it has my voice.
Now, sometimes it doesn't get myvoice quite right.
It still has that little kindahigh inflection, but it'll sound
like me.
And you can ask Amy AI anything.
You can ask about all of thescience that has to do with
clean box.
All the technology, all theproducts, business plans.
(35:05):
You can ask it about strategies.
You could probably try to askabout other things.
It probably won't tell youanything else, but yeah that's
my spicy take Use technology toyour advantage.
It's different today than threeyears ago.
It's different today than itwill be in three years, so stay
on it.
Nathan C (35:22):
Oh, love it.
And bravo for right leveragingyour insights in a way that can
help people learn from you evenwhen you're not online.
That's amazing.
last one's
Amy Hedrick (35:34):
Outsourcing myself.
Nathan C (35:36):
I outsource myself to ai, right?
Like I always love thoseapplications where like
technology does the tech partand humans get to do the human
part, right?
And if you can give AI somethingto learn and repeat and share
with a million people that's alot of emails.
You don't have to write,
Amy Hedrick (35:54):
Oh yeah, listen, absolutely.
Let's not go back to the goodold days.
Sometimes they weren't as goodas you might wanna remember them
as.
Nathan C (36:03):
Nah, waiting for dial up was really slow.
Every simple last question.
How can people learn more?
How can they follow up?
Amy Hedrick (36:10):
They can come to the website, clean box tech.com.
I think all of our social mediahandles were on X, Facebook and
Instagram.
It's at Clean Box Tech.
That is the word.
Clean the word box, TECH.
I'm on LinkedIn.
Amy Hedrick, clean BoxTechnology.
You can find me out there.
Look for Amy ai.
And yeah, connect please.
Nathan C (36:32):
Amy Hedrick, CEO of Clean Box Technology.
It has been such a delight tolearn so much more about your
entrepreneurial journey, notjust in immersive technology but
also in hardware.
And 15 different verticals.
I love to see that you're notjust thinking about your work as
(36:54):
a product, but as like a toolthat enables a whole industry.
And like in that tool, you'reproviding technology, you're
providing standards, you'reproviding great advice for
people who wanna manage devicesacross locations.
It has been such a greatpleasure to catch up with you on
the Tech glow up.
Thanks so much.
Amy Hedrick (37:14):
It has been my pleasure.
I'm thrilled to be here.
I'm very honored to be part ofthis.
I've known you for a number ofyears and I've watched many of
your interviews and so I'm veryhonored to to be here.
Thank you so much for your time.
Nathan C (37:29):
If you've made it this far in the podcast, I really
appreciate you.
Thanks for listening.
Please make sure to like andsubscribe so that you never miss
an episode of the Tech Glow Up.
And hey, can I ask you a favor?
If you really enjoyed thisepisode, could you share it on
your Instagram stories or maybepost the link with what you
(37:54):
enjoyed on LinkedIn?
The sort of sharing and engagingreally helps small podcasters
like me reach the dedicatedaudience, uh, that I know really
cares about these kinds ofconversations.
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