- Tell us something about yourself, your background
My name is Shari Hammond and I am a graphic designer by trade, product inventor and patent holder, and co-founder of INSP!RED Product Development Group (PDG). My father, a retired IBM engineer, and I started the company in 2017 after developing the Cabinet Caddy. I grew up working in my family’s businesses, so entrepreneurship is in my blood. I began my career helping my father develop and sell compact disc (CD) holders and I obtained my first patent at the age of 19. Prior to starting INSP!RED PDG, I served as the creative director for my father’s former companies that he co-founded – Ronco, Perfect Petzzz, and Discgear.
- Tell us about the products you invented with a brief explanation
The Cabinet Caddy is perfect for organizing and storing spices, prescriptions, cosmetics, hardware, crafts and more! It keeps you organized, maximizes space and gives you instant access to whatever you need.
The Go Hang It! is an all-in-1 system that makes picture hanging easy. You can hang and level pictures in minutes with ZERO measuring required.
- How/Why did you start inventing. What set you off?
I get my love of design from my parents. My father, Ron Hunt, is a seasoned inventor with more than 150 patents under his belt. My mother was quite creative and artistic. I grew up making things. I am a designer by trade with a knack for style and knowing the consumer marketplace. Together, my father and I created Go Hang It, an all-in-one picture hanging system with zero measuring required, and Cabinet Caddy, an instant access cabinet organizer.
- How did you get from idea to finished product?
For the Cabinet Caddy, we saw something somewhat similar on the market, but it wasn’t great quality and needed massive improvements. However, it still sold well. We knew the idea had a lot of potential. We read all of the negative product reviews and took the feedback to redesign it. We started in some local Home & Garden shows and the product did really well. We weren’t just selling the product at the shows – we were selling more than one per person. We modified it more and researched how to get a patent on the product. We had three-dimensional drawings and prototypes made (with 3D printers) and kept tinkering with it until it had a wow factor.
- Let us know of useful resources that helped you i.e. Books, websites, software etc.
Industrial designers and prototype models were both key to helping us.
- Where are you with your products?
Cabinet Caddy and Go Hang It! are both currently available.
We have a new product that will be available later this year. We aim to create functional, yet stylish, products that will make life easier and our goal is develop at least one product a year.
- Website: Click HERE
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