Mary Geoghagan

In 1999 I was a single mom working for a company out of New York representing a personal care line of spa products which featured microwaveable slippers, gloves and body wraps for stress relief and a complete line of body care products. We sold primarily to destination resorts, spas and day spas which required a lot of traveling.

After 3 years my company decided to go in another direction. I had just completed a sale to a large chain account. Their first order was for $250,000 which meant I would receive commission for this order and for all future orders. Needless to say I was devastated. I lost my job and a very lucrative commission stream. I told John what had happened and without hesitation he said since I had such passion for what I was selling that I should start my own business. Well, that was not what I wanted to hear. I was a single mom and I didn’t know a thing about being an entrepreneur. I truly felt it was just safer to work for someone.

John said if I didn’t take a step towards entrepreneurship then what had just happened would happen to me again and again. Bottom line, I could continue to work hard for someone else and have no job security or work hard for myself and never worry about losing my job. John was confident that if I put in the time, the hard work, and pushed myself that he could teach me the rest to be a successful entrepreneur. I was confident in my sales abilities and design skills. I was passionate about what I was selling and I worked hard. But I didn’t have any experience in manufacturing, or what it took to run a small business. This was all very overwhelming. But John had the tools and the experience to guide me in this venture. He taught me how to find manufacturers that would make the products for me. (Which we did in less than 2 weeks after leaving my job) He showed me how to source packaging AND to get manufactures to send me “free” samples that I could use to create my own personal care line. He showed me how to create a marketing campaign, how to utilize the right resources to find qualified buyers, what trade shows to attend and ultimately select one to feature my products.

We started with just 3 products; microwaveable booties, mittens and wraps. John created a marketing campaign that targeted the top 25 large retail account buyers.

Bloomingdale’s was the first on the list and when we followed up with the buyer she was very intrigued and asked for samples. They purchased 500 units of each SKU for their 2000 holiday program. We were on our way. The following Valentine’s Day, unknown to us, Dr. Phil’s wife was filmed walking into Bloomingdale’s with her video team. She stopped at our display telling every male viewer that our products are the best gift for their wife! The phone started ringing and stores wanted our products.

It was time to hire my first employee. I was terrified. I didn’t know if I could afford to hire someone or how to manage them. John walked me through his program of identifying unique abilities. What my unique abilities are and what I didn’t do well, delicate. He has performance tests that we used when hiring this first position. I benefited so much from his guidance. It took a little time but this first higher was perfect. It paid off tenfold. I was able to focus on sales, marketing and design and she took care of all the things I didn’t like to do. Success!

With me focusing primarily on sales and marketing the business grew. Our trade shows started bringing in quality buyers from all over the US. We were in all the major retailers and did Costco Road Shows for several years.

During the 18 years of this little company, we grew to 6 employees, a manufacturing plant, distribution center with 3 offices and had our line featured in 4 showrooms.

I can say with absolute certainty that I never, ever would have started my own business if John didn’t encourage me and teach me the tools to do so. I didn’t think it was possible. I had so many “buts” (John forces that word out of your vocabulary); “But what if I fail,” “but what if I can’t find a supplier,” “but what if the economy slows?” John helps you remove your “but what ifs” from your life.

I retired from my company after 18 years and look back with great joy. What I feared of being an entrepreneur, John turned into a wonderful, success story. He took what I loved to do, poured into me all his knowledge and experience, added his techniques and taught me the skills to create a successful business! One with which I have enjoyed and loved for many years.