We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ashley Skandalakis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ashley below.
Ashley, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
I was an out of work 50 year old just looking for a way to make a living. As a college student, I majored in Interior Design and am still in love with color and texture. After school I worked in interior design for a few years then an opportunity came up to totally switch career paths. I went into the pharmaceutical world and stayed there for 15 years. One day I was in the bed with a severe migraine and my daughter brought some soup to me on a bamboo tray. The tray was dirty, the handles were broken, my soup spilled and I had to sit up to eat. I layed in the bed that day and dreamed up a new more ergonomic tray that would go in the dishwasher, have great handles that even a man could pick up, would nest easily and most importantly would hold your dishes in place even tilted at an angle.
I spent hours on the computer trying to find a non slip dinner tray. There wasn’t one that I could find. I drew out the design I had in my head and set out to find someone to make them for me. After a few months of searching I met with a friend who was a frequent flier over to China buying products for a hat company. She introduced me to a man over there and he and I set to work. I was terrified at first to involve China at all, but this man was one of the kindest and smartest guys I’d met in the textile industry.
It took 3 attempts to get the exact prototype but finally it arrived one Christmas Eve. That night my family ate off of the Lapper trays. While waiting on the working prototype, I was busy (while still working my pharmaceutical job) starting a business for the Lappers. I started the company by creating a parent company, Archer Innovations, to host the company for Lappers. I also had the name, Lappers, trademarked, a patent process started, registered for trade shows, had brochures printed (which won an Addy), found a warehouse to house them and a shipper to get them out to shops across the US.
I went to the first trade show with a product that had never been seen and sold my heart out to stores on the East coast, mainly. I then went 2 months later to the National Housewares Show in Chicago. I was there with the biggest and the best of household products. And there I was with my Lappers. One day while showing a TV camera was coming down the isle and jumped out in front of it to do my demo of the Lappers. It happened to be HGTV and they loved the Lappers! They ended up being a “Best in Show” item. From there Rachael Ray picked them up for her magazine and I was off to the races! Ten months later I heard Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America say, “If you’re a Maverick at work, we want to hear from you.” I wrote them and said, I’m not a motherless calf but I am a mother, however, I am a mother, wife and entrepreneur. Two days later they called me and told me they picked me and 2 others out of 1000’s of submissions. They following week they were featured on GMA and I cried tears of joy. A year later I was on The Today Show with Donnie Deutch (The Big Idea) with 2 other female inventors. Later they were featured again on The Today Show with Jill’s Fun FInds. With all the publicity they were getting selling became easier because they were “stamped with approval”. I went on to get them in Coastal Living, ForbesLife, Family Circle, The Washington Post and was a feature article in Georgia Trend. I went on have 8 patents and even created a smaller version for appetizers. I was able to get them on QVC and convinced the buyers that they need to be a feature item year round and not just for Christmas gifts which is where they started. I grew them into a multi million dollar business with QVC alone. They were in 3000 shops across the US, in a dozen catalogs and after getting college licenses (no small feat) were in skyboxes all over the southeast.
The Lappers are melamine trays with indentions where the plate and cup sit. The indentions are fitted with silicone mats and the food will fall off of the tray before the dishes do.
I had a design patent ( the way it looks or is designed) but knew I needed a utility patent (the way it functions). While trying to get a Utility patent, the patent office turned me down. I requested that my patent attorneys get a meeting for me with the patent office. They laughed at me and said, “The examiners don’t normally meet with the inventors.”. The word “normally” was my foot in the door. I asked them to “make it happen” and they did. I flew to D.C. and met with the examiner that turned them down. I had read all of the patents from others that were in any way related to anything non slip and food related. I knew there was nothing like the Lappers and this meeting would make or break all my hard work. I sweetly sold my heart out to this guy. He wasn’t really buying it until I told him they were great for people convalescing from an illness, people in wheelchairs and patients with Parkenson’s disease. I saw for the first time a light come on as he looked at me and told me his Dad had Parkenson’s. I got my utility patent issued 2 months later.
After 10 years, I ended up selling the patents and it was very bittersweet.
I went to work for another pharmaceutical company and was miserable! After getting remarried, I quit my job and was miserable still. I longed to create and be with people. On day in January of 2020 I was helping a friend with a new restaurant by providing orchis arrangements. As I was walking them through her new establishment, 3 people stopped me to ask for my card. I rolled laughing at first then thought “what if”…. So, I submitted pictures of my creations to an antique and garden show in south Georgia. Two days later they called and told me that I was accepted and they wanted me. I asked when I needed to be there and they said “next week”. I had no business license, no orchid source, no wholesale source for pots, no credit card processor, etc. I set wheels in motion and made it happen. I worked 10 hours a day 5 days straight and made 45 orchid compositions. I rented a 16′ truck and drove to Thomasville, GA. I ended up selling 40 of the planters and then knew I had a new opportunity to start another business. Then 2 months later Covid hit and I had a lot of time to figure out my next steps. I was able to secure the name “Atlanta Planters” and knew I wanted to focus more on outdoor planters. I went on social media (FaceBook and Instagram) and by May I was booked! When the fall season came I met with the GM of the RItz Carlton at Lake Oconee and had the job of sourcing pots and planting them for their newly renovated Presidential House. In the beginning I would do anything to get my name and product out to taking potential clients. I set up a booth each month at Scott Markets ( one of the best antique shows in the country). It wasn’t easy to do this each month but I was determined to not fail! I was personally delivering orchids to anyone that wanted to order, finding wholesale sources for plants and planters. My home looked like a nursery and I now needed to find space to house all the planters I was collecting. I found a dilapidated house with a deep back yard and knew I needed it! It was a “for sale by owner” and I tried for 2 months to contact the people that owned it. I was finally able to buy the property from them and decided to remodel the house so I could at least use it to make orchid’s and store things. As the remodeling started I could see that I could turn it into a precious cottage. It took 9 months and finally I had a certificate of occupancy (not easy!). I had gone to Americas Mart in Atlanta to buy for the shop and opened in August of 2022. My client base for seasonal planters was doubling each year and so I hired a guy to help and then another. I also hired a shop manager and eventually a lady to make all the orchid and plant compositions together. It was hard to let go of doing everything myself, but I had to learn to delegate to be more proficient. I also went back to school at Emory University and got my Landscape Design degree and started doing landscaping, and I added Christmas decorating to the mix so that my workers would have more work throughout the year. I have once again grown into a business into a viable livelihood. My clients love to see me coming and are so happy when I leave. I am outside day after day digging in the dirt and couldn’t be happier!
Ashley, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am a creative container designer, a term I came up with to describe my ability. I go to clients home twice a year and take out the expired plants and beautifully replant them. I pride myself on excellent customer service (the customer is always right) and know the importance of going above and beyond – always! I set myself apart by being the best. I am constantly online watching videos, on Instagram and Pinterest looking at what others are doing. I try to emulate the beautiful pots while putting my own spin on them. I think it’s important to always be learning. I am so very proud of growing my business through referrals, Instagram, Nextdoor and Google. When someone sees my work and reach out to book an appointment it means I’m doing something right. I strive for excellence one client at a time.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
It is so important to connect with your workers! I know the fine line of being friends vs being in an authoritative position. I am interested “in them” without crossing that line. I ask about their wives and children, give them cash on their birthdays and tell them that no matter what we are going to laugh each day! I make a point to always remember to laugh! I also share clients comments with them about how beautiful the planters are and what great guys they are. I think it’s important for them to know the message I get about things that pertain to their work.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
When creating the Lappers, my motto was “I am my own limitation”. I can do anything I set my mind to and if I make a mistake it’s ok! You learn from your mistakes and move on…
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.atlantaplanters.net
- Instagram: @atlantaplanters
Image Credits
James Farmer