Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Debbie Andrews. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Debbie, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I came up with UpSackit™ after going to another baseball game holding my purse and a giveaway on my lap -refusing to lay it on the ground to avoid the beer and crushed peanuts around me all while trying to balance my nachos , drink and trying to cheer. Only topped off when I had to get up to let someone through and my purse dumped over and my lipstick rolled down the stadium rows. I thought there has got to be a different way!!!
And along came UpSackit™! Now I can go to any event that has stadium seats and my unique design will hold my bag under the seat so I can feel confident it’s safe, secure and stylish, No more wet dirty purse just slide it on and enjoy the event! It’s also good for stadium seats which I discovered since my son went away to college and those can be super messy! Why as women do we lay our purse under a seat which we know isn’t secure, clean and has a good chance of getting stepped on, spilled on or worse yet stolen (had it happen to a friend). We like sports and concerts too and yet the stadiums are still designed with no where to put our purses or giveaways other than under the seat or being stuck sitting with it on our laps.
The unique design is not just for a stadium event but also great for the beach and pool as well. It slides onto the back of most chairs and keeps your things dry and sand free. Imagine going to the beach and not having to lay your things on the sand or under the chair at the pool. It also makes for a great travel bag. No more sitting your things on a germy table or floor in an airport , hotel or restaurant just slide it on the back of the chair! The whole idea of the UpSackit is to keep things off the floor, ground and keep your items safe and secure.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’ve worked in the insurance Industry in sales for my whole career. I had no experience in designing and developing a product so I had to learn everything as I went. I do have an MBA and my Bachelor’s degree was in Business and Marketing which did help some however the social media, designing and even the coming up with a name was a learning process. I spent many hours at workshops, networking events and listening to podcasts to figure out the way to launch this product, trademark, patent and manufacture. While I had no experience in doing any of it, I know this solves a problem and each time I do a vendor show people tell me that I should be on Shark Tank (which I did make it to the 3rd round) so I know it’s a useful product.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I have had to pivot several times through this process. I had originally had a different design that you can put your purse in a bag that attached to the chair and then most stadiums went to a clear 12×12 bag so I had to quickly change the design and dimensions. I launched my product right before Covid. I received my finished product after the shutdown had started. The product was for sporting , concerts, plays and all things Covid had stopped. I figured people were doing outside activities and promoted the bag as a beach bag since the beaches we’re still full and open. I have also used Covid now as a selling point with my bag as it keeps things off the ground and people seem to be more concerned with germs. So I continue to pivot as the environment changes with Covid and policies still vary from venue to venue.
Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.
I do not manufacture the product myself as I can barely sew, I bought a machine and quickly found that out. At first I was using a local refugee group but the price and timeframe were too prohibitive I then hired a consultant to help with the marketing and to find a manufacturer. After wasting months and thousands of dollars and leaning an important lesson I discovered they had not done much of anything. So… I started from scratch and started researching local and overseas manufacturers. I spent a lot of time googling and looking at Alibaba. I made lists of manufactures and called many but found minimum orders were to high for a start up like myself. I found a very reliable and quality one in China that I’ve been using. The lessons I learned were you really have to do the research yourself, go on websites, blogs, podcasts and be very Leary of anyone that wants money up front without any sort of performance guarantees. One big lesson I learned was that most manufacturers will give you a sample for free or minimal price. The consultant had told me they wanted 500 for the sample which I paid. I was so surprised on costs differences and responsiveness of companies as well so like anything do your homework. Working with the time differences and interpretations was also something I had to work through and pictures with measurements was very helpful. I would like to bring it back to the US at some point and I continue to check into companies. My ultimate goal is to employ women and provide them with a skill to be able to provide for themselves and their families.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.UpSackit.com
- Instagram: Upsackit1
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/upsackit/