Mina Yoo - Be an InventHer: An Everywomans Guide to Creating the Next Big Thing

First and foremost, we are grateful for all the InventHers featured in this book for sharing their triumphs and mistakes so that we could all learn from their experiences.

Second, we are grateful to Jennifer Worick, Sasquatch Books, and Penguin Random House for taking a chance on two new authors and for turning our goal of producing an easily digestible, girlfriend-to-girlfriend invention guide into reality.

MINA YOO: Im thankful to the Heroclip team, who not only contributed content and expertise to the book but also had to deal with their CEO showing up at work haggard and cranky after staying up all night writing. Thanks also to Alia Ellison for keeping my family and household chugging along throughout the writing of this book (and throughout the last eight years, for that matter). Big thanks to my parents, who have supported everything I have done in my whole life and who now believe that the world will run out of paper from all the copies that will need to be printed of this book, due to astronomical demand. Finally, lots of love to my hilarious and amazing kids, Kai and Milawho provided hugs, kisses, jokes, and massages as resets to writers blocksand to my husband, Mark, who deserves endless gratitude for not only being a sounding board but also my bartender, mixing up delicious cocktails to celebrate particularly productive writing sessions (which happened a lot). I love you!

HILARY MEYERSON: Im so grateful to have a team that supports and sustains me every day, as I juggle running my business, writing a book, keeping the house stocked in cat food, and running off for a solo hike now and then. I want to give a shout to my fierce female network, without whom life would be much duller. My college ladies, whom I met in that dorm in Vermont so many years ago: Lynn, Susan, Holly, Lisbeth, and Stephanie. Our girls weekends are one of my pillars. Thanks to Julie for the daily chats and texts that keep me goingI treasure our friendship! Thanks to Christine, who has been taking walks with me since kindergarten, even if they are now by phone. And I couldnt do it without happy hours with Meghan!

But most of all, I thank from the bottom of my heart, my tribe: my husband, Randy, for his unflagging support of me and my writing for nearly thirty years, and my incredible kids, Henry and Harper, who bring me joy every damn day. You guys keep me laughing and thinking and writing, and I am so, so grateful for our family. I love you guys so much.

About the Authors

MINA YOO is a savvy, seasoned entrepreneur and currently the CEO of Heroclip, a consumer brand that makes products to simplify and organize daily life. In her previous life, she was a professor and researcher of entrepreneurship at the University of Washington Foster School of Business and Stanford University. Mina, her company, and her products have been featured in GeekWire, ESPN, Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal, Health, Mens Health, NBC affiliate King 5, GearJunkie, and Outside magazine, among many others. Mina has a dual PhD in business and sociology from the University of Michigan, and a BA from Brown University. Minas favorite activities include CrossFit; traveling; playing with her kids, Kai and Mila; wine tasting with her husband, Mark (without her kids!); and coming up with new ideas for products that help families hang out together.

HILARY MEYERSON is a professional writer and marketing consultant, and holds a BA from Middlebury College and a JD from the University of Washington. She is a regular contributor to Seattle magazine, and has been a writer in residence at Hedgebrook, Soapstone, and Caldera Arts. Her work has also appeared in Seattle Met, Seattle Business magazine, and McSweeneys, among others. She also is the founder of a social marketing company, Little Candle Media, where she helps start-up businesses make the most of their marketing efforts. In her free time, she is usually found doing long urban rambles with her husband, Randy; watching bad Netflix romcoms with her daughter, Harper; geeking out over rocket news with her son, Henry; or solo hiking in the Central Cascades.

The InventHers and Their Inventions

Sarah Blankinship

Siva Patch (SivaPatch.com)

Chez Brungraber

Gobi Gear (GobiGear.com)

Amy Buckalter

Pulse (LoveMyPulse.com)

Fran Dunaway

TomboyX (TomboyX.com)

Judy Edwards

Squatty Potty (SquattyPotty.com)

Lisa Fetterman

Nomiku (Nomiku.com)

Gloria Hwang

Thousand (ExploreThousand.com)

Stephanie Lynn

Sweet Spot Skirts (SweetSpotSkirts.com)

Michele Mehl

Excy (Excy.com)

Leslie Pierson

GoodHangups (GoodHangups.com)

Sirena Rolfe

Tempus Hood (TempusHood.com)

Nancie Weston

Grayl (Grayl.com)