Spotlight on Mommy -- Annie Pryor, creator of the Mommy Genius Bib Drying Rack

  Closed.

And, the winner is:  Donna!

I just love Annie Pryor's Bib Drying Rack and wanted to share her product and inspirational mom entrepreneurial story with you all this week.  Being a mom to a 1 yr. old daughter, with another daughter on the way in Nov., I have been going through bibs like crazy on a daily basis for the past year.  Now that I am trying to teach Savannah to feed herself and introducing her to more solid foods, I find myself going through more and more bibs.  But, instead of running to the washing machine 2-3 times a day, I end up hand washing her bibs in the sink and hanging them on hooks around the house or on the dish drying rack to dry.  But, either Savannah finds and pulls the bibs down, dirtying them again, or I have to move the bibs on the dish rack, as I have dishes that accumulate over the day.  Well, thanks to Annie's invention, moms everywhere now have a more convenient and stylish way to dry their child's bibs  -- enter the Mommy Genius Bib Drying Rack.  This innovative invention is so economical and takes up a small amount of counter space.  Now, when you are done washing your child's bibs after each feeding, you simply hang their bibs on the drying rack and you are good to go.  No more searching high and low for places to hang their bibs.  Finally, you will get your kitchen back and it will not look like a laundromat or baby boutique, displaying the various styles of bibs you have accumulated.  

Watch this fun video Annie put together about her Mommy Genius Bib Drying Rack.  And, then, scroll down to read my Spotlight on Mommy interview with her.  

And, as an added bonus, one lucky Inspired by Savannah reader will win their very own Mommy Genius Bib Drying Rack.  In addition, don't forget to take advantage of the coupon code that Annie set up for Inspired by Savannah readers, in which you can take 20% off your total order.  Annie's products make great baby shower gifts and gifts for new moms.  She even does custom orders!!!!  For example, if you want a gift set with 3 or 4 bibs, simply email Annie and let her know.

Enjoy!

Name: Annie Pryor

Company Name/Product/Service: Mommy Genius Bib Drying Rack

Company Location: Bellbrook, Ohio

Company Website: http://www.mommygenius.com/

Facebook URL: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mommy-Genius/114079671960190

Twitter Handle: @MommyGenius

Age of Company: 1 year

Favorite Book: Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum Series

Tell us a little bit about yourself.  How many children do you have?  What are their ages? Your hobbies? Etc.  

I have 3 children. My son, Jon, is 7. My daughter, Katie Scarlett is 3.5 years old. My baby Michael is 10 months old. I enjoy being a stay-at-home mom and spending half of the day in my pajamas. 

Briefly explain your business.  How did it come about?  

Once I became a mom, I noticed that there were a few products that I needed to make my daily life easier that were not available. Originally, I just made these inventions for myself. However, after using my them for a while, I really felt that my inventions would benefit other mothers as well. I did not have any business, manufacturing, or marketing experience, but I decided to start my own business anyway. So far, I have brought my Bib Drying Rack to market, and I hope to bring my other inventions to market in the future.  

The Bib Drying Rack is the perfect place to hang wet baby bibs to dry between meals. I invented it because all the dirty baby bibs were driving me crazy! I hated putting food-covered bibs in the laundry after each meal, because the laundry became moldy. Plus, I needed to own so many bibs in order to have a clean one ready for each meal. I was constantly throwing away moldy bibs and buying new bibs. I liked rinse-off bibs but there was never a convenient place to put them to dry. I had bibs lying all over the counter top and the lunch bib was never dry by dinner. I frequently had 4 wet bibs at a time draped around my kitchen. I decided that I needed to hang the bibs up to dry. Originally, I just shopped for something that would work. I tried every fingertip towel holder, mug tree, and banana hanger on the market but nothing was right for hanging bibs. I felt that I had to invent a Bib Drying Rack. 

My Bib Drying Rack sits right next to my kitchen sink. It holds 5 bibs but takes up less counter space than 1 bib laying out. After meals, I quickly wash the bibs in the kitchen sink while I'm doing the dishes and hang them upside down by the pocket on the Bib Drying Rack. The bibs dry fast and are always ready for the next meal. Now, I only need to own 1-2 rinse off bibs per child. The Bib Drying Rack is also a great place to hang kitchen towels and washcloths. 

What is a typical work day like? 

In the morning, I package up any Bib Drying Rack orders that I received during the night and my husband drops them off at FedEx on his way to work. I answer e-mails and do other business work during nap time and at night when the kids are in bed. 

What has been a struggle while starting up your company?  

My first struggle was finding the right manufacturer for my Bib Drying Rack. I did not expect it to take so long. It took over 2 years to actually get my product made and my business started. Now that I am actually in business, my biggest struggles are getting the word out about my product and generating consistant traffic to my website. 

What did you do in your past work life?  

Before I had children, I attended The Ohio State University and earned my Ph.D. in biochemistry. I attribute my ability to invent to all those years that I spent problem-solving in the research lab. Now, instead of solving problems with experiments, I find creative solutions to problems at home. After I graduated, I got pregnant with my first child and "retired" to be a stay-at-home mom. 

What have been some of your major successes? 

I got to make my television debut in March 2011! I was invited to present my Bib Drying Rack on a local Dayton Ohio FOX morning news show. It was so exciting! I had never been on TV before. 

What have been some of your major challenges?  

One major challenge has been finding a way to keep my Bib Drying Racks manufactured in the USA. People expect a product like this to cost $9.99 at Walmart and that is only possible if it is manufactured overseas. My Bib Drying Rack is manufactured in a small factory in Indiana by workers who get good wages and health insurance...but it makes the product more expensive. 

On those impossible days, what motivates you to keep going? 

I find that eating a few Dove Dark Chocolates in the morning after breakfast helps keep me motivated and energetic.

What is your balancing secret in managing a business and family? 

I try to do most of my business work when my children are sleeping so I still have lots of time to spend with them when they are awake. 

What is next for your business? 

I am currently working with my manufacturer to determine if there are any small design changes we could make to the Bib Drying Rack to make it less expensive to produce.

Do you have any advice for other mom entrepreneurs that are starting out and struggling, or are on the fence about starting a business? 

Read "The Mom Inventors Handbook" by Tamara Monosoff. It is full of great information and helped me get my business started. 

---BUY NOW---

Head on over to Annie's website to place your order for a Mommy Genius Bib Drying Rack today.  Don't forget to use coupon code, "ThanksRobin" to take advantage of the 20% off discount Annie kindly set up for Inspired by Savannah readers.  Act now, as this coupon code is only valid for a limited time!

---GIVEAWAY---

One lucky Inspired by Savannah reader will win a Bib Drying Rack gift set, including 2 Bumkins Superbibs. The winner can select which gift set they want (boy, girl, neutral, black rack, or silver rack).To enter, simply complete the MANDATORY ENTRY first, and then as many EXTRA ENTRIES as you like.  Make sure to include your email address with at least one entry, so that i can contact you if you win.

MANDATORY ENTRY:  Which Bib Drying Rack gift set would you choose if you won this giveaway -- boy, girl, neutral, black or silver rack?  And, who would it be for -- yourself or someone else?

EXTRA ENTRIES:

(Please leave separate entries for each, along with your email address)

1) Subscribe to my blog via email (2 entries)

2) Follow me on Facebook (1 entry)

3) Enter any of my other giveaways, leaving a comment with the name of the giveaway (1entry per giveaway entered)

4) Blog about this giveaway. It must include a link to this specific post, as well as a link to my blog, http://ctmomreviews.blogspot.com/. (In your comment, please leave a link directly to your post – 3 Entries)

5) Follow me on Twitter (1entry)

6) Tweet about this giveaway (1 entry per tweet, per day; please include link to tweet in comment below)

Enter to #win a Bib Drying Rack Gift Set @rmccoy1234 http://ctmomreviews.blogspot.com/ #giveaway (Ends 8/29)

7) Like Annie's FB page and leave a comment letting her know Inspired by Savannah sent you.  Make sure to include the url to this post/giveaway in your comment. (2 entries)

8) Follow my blog via Networked Blogs (2 entries)

9) Vote for me on picket fence blogs (See button on right side of blog -- One entry per vote, per day)

Open to US residents only. Giveaway ends on August 29, 2011 at 11:59PM EST. I will then use Random.org to choose a winner. Winner will have 48 hrs. to respond to my email to claim prize. If I don't hear back from selected winner, I will draw another winner.