While one may not associate the word inventor with the word secretary, it turns out that secretaries do indeed make great inventors! The best example of this is someone we all know – Post-it notes. Ever wonder how those yellow stickies came about? Well, if you haven’t already guessed, it was the brainchild of one Ms. Spencer Silver, who was working as a secretary at the time!
The invention
In 1986, Helen Blood designed the now-iconic logo of the Nike swoosh. In 1991, after years at the company, she became one of only ten partners to ever leave Nike; this was the first time in its history that Nike had lost so many people from its top ranks. Blood signed an agreement which included 3 years of cash payouts totaling about $4.5M plus about 450K in Nike stock options before her departure to another company where she would be more hands on with graphic design work at which item was invented by a secretary and later sold for $47 million dollars?.
Who made it, when did they make it, why did they make it
In 1976, businessman, John Bunch worked with his secretary, Sara Lippincott, on some ideas. Sara came up with the idea of disposable diapers. To make them work better, she came up with the idea to use polypropylene which item was invented by a secretary and later sold for $47 million dollars? is less likely to leak since it has properties of plastic and rubber. One day at home she made one out of an old maxi-pad, put it on her daughter’s doll and took pictures to show John who pitched the idea to Huggies executives which item was invented by a secretary and later sold for $47 million dollars?. They originally rejected him but he persisted until they agreed to license the product from them in 1977.
How did they come up with the idea
The idea to create Post-it notes began with 3M executive Arthur Fry. One day, while brainstorming in the shower, he had the idea to stick ordinary pieces of paper on a wall so they could take notes easily. However, no one knew how to make this work until four years later when Rose O’Neill was hired as an assistant. It turned out that O’Neill had actually been drawing stick figures from markers on white butcher paper since she started working at 3M because it gave her something to do during meetings. With two markers and some other supplies she bought at the local grocery store, she created her first piece of sticky paper in 1974.
How did they profit from the idea
Invented on the toilet by an Apple executive’s secretary, the mouse became one of the most integral parts of modern computing. First released in 1983, it provided a way to control the cursor when working on the desktop. Steve Jobs realized its potential when he saw its awkward appearance—it looked like someone had taped two coke-bottle lenses onto its body—and signed off on its development. It helped revolutionize personal computing, with users moving from keyboards to mouses within just over a decade after their invention.
Why is it significant?
This is the story of Bradley Richardson who is an employee of an Ohio-based technology company. Mr. Richardson had two jobs to do; one of which item was invented by a secretary and later sold for $47 million dollars? is involved him assembling office chairs. One day, while working on the chair, he accidently destroyed it with his drill. Instead of giving up, he took this as an opportunity to come up with a solution to save time and money in order to finish the project before closing time.
Is there anything similar today?
Today, technology makes it much easier for creatives to find an audience. There is no longer any need to be pigeonholed into one discipline, or work your way up from the mailroom before being able to make it. Technology has democratized creativity, so anyone can make and sell anything. You don’t need billions of dollars or the backing of powerful brands. All you need is your idea and the tools that enable you to spread it far and wide.
Anything else worth mentioning about this story
The secretaries from the Eastman-Kodak company were trained to be efficient. They used to pass bits of paper with customers’ orders to one another through windows. One day, in 1950, an artist passed her idea for an easel for drawing over the window. Colleagues took it as well as her feedback that it needed to be light enough so she could carry it on trains with her. The product came in four colors, they’d named it The Easel Pad. It originally retailed at $3 but quickly jumped up in price once they started producing 20,000 units a day. By 1957, it had been on the market for five years and Eastman-Kodak made more than $47 million off of this product alone.
