Turning a Hobby & a Passion into Something More - Shari Hammond

Author: D. M. Needom
Published: Sat 04 Sep 2021
Episode Link: None

Shari Hammond and I sit down and talk about how she started out inventing with her father and created her company Inspired Product Design Group, all while being a single mother.

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Shari was a marketing director for a variety of businesses. She was better to… creating her own inventions and working side-by-side with her father. Shari Hammond is the Founder/CEO of Inspired Product Development Group and the inventor behind Cabinet Caddy (www.CabinetCaddy.com) and Go Hang It (www.GoHangIt.com).

A single mother of a 13-year-old son, she is a woman of faith, an entrepreneur, a product developer, graphic designer, lacrosse/basketball mom, 9 Round kickboxer, and dog lover. Her company, now called Inspired Product Design Group, first started as a hobby between Shari and her father, Ron Hunt, while he was an engineer for IBM. Ron enjoyed designing products made of wood that were functional; LP holders, bookends, calendars. Having success at local trade shows, the two decided when Shari was 8 years old to open a kiosk store in Highland Mall in Austin, TX. It was a big hit. Shari recalls late nights decorating and stocking the kiosk, taking naps in the car, and working weekends at the mall.

About 10 years later, her dad took early retirement from IBM, and together they launched CD3 Storage Systems, Inc. with the design of our Discgear compact disc holders. At the age of 19, Shari had her first patent. Next came Perfect Petzzz, lifelike breathing puppies and kittens, followed by a break when Shari went on to handle marketing for Ronco. In 2018, Shari and her father went back to their roots developing products.

Through Inspired Product Design Group, products include Cabinet Caddy, a modular organizer for kitchen cabinets/cupboards, and Go Hang It, an all-in-one picture hanging and leveling kit. In 2020, HomeDepot.com began carrying Go Hang It and QVC began featuring Cabinet Caddy. Shari was a winner of “The Big Find,” an invention competition through QVC/HSN.

www.InspiredPDG.com

https://www.facebook.com/InspiredPDG

https://twitter.com/InspiredPD
https://www.instagram.com/inspiredpdg/G

www.Facebook.com/CabinetCaddy

www.Facebook.com/GoHangIt

www.Instagram.com/CabinetCaddy

www.Instagram.com/GoHangIt

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Video of the interview is available here: https://youtu.be/Fge_sTGLXmQ

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