Creative, unique thinkers have always inspired me. Recently, I came across an inventor on Tiktok, Jillian Van Sice, and was fascinated with her inventions for children. We commented on one another's posts for a while then I asked her if I could feature her in my blog. Enjoy her amazing story and interview!
Born in Lorraine Ohio to a loving, middle class family, Jillian (Jill) always relied on her creativity and imagination to get her through. When she was three-year-old, she moved to Buffalo, NY, with her family, and learned the resilience of a strong and loving background. Jill learned early on, a stable and viable work ethic. From when she was 12- 17, she began getting side jobs babysitting, working for her uncle stocking shelves, and waitressing at night after school.
It wasn't until many years later that Jill realized she had been dealing with Dyslexia all her life, and back in those days, no one knew what it was let alone diagnosed! This left an obstacle that Jill had to overcome on her own. Still today, she struggles, but is never one to let it get in her way. Also being ambidextrous did throw many off back in the day, again no one knew what it was. Making it difficult for teachers to understand her.
After high school in Buffalo NY, she followed her dreams of becoming a hair-dresser and went to beauty school at Peter Piccolo School of Hair Design in Buffalo. Once she graduated and saw the process, she moved to Beverly Hills, CA, to become a Beverly Hills hairdresser. She realized it's much more difficult than one would think to get in the hairdressing circuit, so she waitresses at night to pay her bills.
Being in Beverly Hills, Jill walked the pavement every day trying to assess the good salons from the GREAT salons. She finally found Tovar's Beauty Salon on Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills. For three months she stood behind him for free from morning to night with her hands behind her back, catering to his every beck and call until he needed her, just for a chance to get a position as an assistant for Tovar!
He finally saw her dedication and talent and put Jill on the floor, and since then, she has had many achievements. Being very driven, she marketed heavily to become very successful and privileged to work for many stars, i.e., Lucille Ball, Barbara Carrara, Suzanne Summer, Cher, David Hasselhoff, Princesses of Saudi Arabia, Johnny Carson, Rachel Welsh, Dolly Parton, to name a few. She then moved her clientele to Cristoffe's Salon, located on Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills, and traveled throughout the West coast preparing hair for models and celebrities for magazine photo shoots.
After ten years in the Salon business she moved back to Buffalo and started an Interior design business with her sister. Being a start-up company, she marketed extensively to grow into a very successful business in a very short period of time.
Jill came across an issue when making duplicates of pillows for a client's couch, having to center a flower on each pillow then realizing if she made a rigid clear template to be able to trace resulting in creating and developing a new product line that allows sewers to "Trace, Cut, and Sew" speeding their sewing production by 75%. She then started fading out of Interior designing to focus on Developing her new sewing product. From 1990 till 1995, Jill designed and developed an entire product line, fine-tuning the manufacturing process, designing packaging, formed test markets, press releases getting in 3 local newspapers, aired on Good Morning Buffalo and ABC News.
She marketed vigorously, gathering considerable awareness in Buffalo and surrounding areas. Sold $8000.00 worth and took $6779.00 of orders in 45 days. The Patent Pending process has been complete and was ready to launch Trace-Cut-Sew.
Trace-Cut-Sew [Perfect Pattern Products, the old name] aired successfully on QVC sold 800 units and sold out in 6 minutes but the industry was not willing to change their manufacturing industry to steel-rule die from paper patterns.
A couple of years later, she decided to move to Dallas, TX, in 2000 and became a Loan Officer with Vista Mortgage as a sub-prime Loan Officer. As she mastered the marketing concept, Jill grew her pipeline quickly and became a top producer in 2 years. When the crash hit in 2008, she moved back to Buffalo once again. Needing to reinvent herself again, she decided to open a daycare. Through the daycare, Jill developed the "Bib & Beyond" and decided to start making them and handing them out, doing a small test run to see if she had something. Low and behold, Jill received some super feedback, word spread like wildfire, so she decided to take the product to the next level and "BIB & BEYOND" was born.
As with any venture, Jill needed to do her due diligence. She had to learn how to take her idea and bring it to fruition. As she stated, “Cold calls, research demand, manufacturing and price point (making sure it’s profitable); all of this needed to be researched, itemized and calculated. And, I did it! I learned how to fine tune my product and design my packaging. I learned the front to back of an SEO. I learned how to design a website and retain a patent attorney. ALL if this information and knowledge has been a blessing to me I believe. I take it as me obtaining my Masters! Even with all of this newfound knowledge, I still fall back on my creativity, originality and ingenuity to excel me into the future.”
INTERVIEW WITH JILL, INVENTOR, JILLY J PRODUCTS
When did you first realize you were creative?
I guess I realized I had a gift when I would get A++ in art class when I would barely pass the rest of my classes.
What's your process for bringing an invention from a kernel of an idea to making a product?
So many steps but in a nutshell, researching everything, making sure the numbers are workable. And work on many prototypes with many test markets to iron out all the kinks.
How many ideas do you keep compared to those you discard?
I only come up with ideas when I am having an issue with something, and then once I solve the problem, I make sure that the numbers are there. So to answer your question, I don't discard many.
What inspires you?
Life, I live for today.
How do you move through creative blocks?
Mmmmm, I don't think I have any; I keep trying until it works.
What other occupations have you had?
Hair Dresser in Beverly Hills to the stars, Owned an Interior Design Business, Mortgage Loan Officer, Inventor.
How do you know when you have an innovative idea?
When I solve the problem.
What's your process for testing product ideas?
Give the prototype away to many "like people" and get their honest opinions.
Which social media platforms have you found to be best for your business?
I just started marketing; I am on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok, so I'm unsure yet, but TikTok is my favorite.
What type of movies do you like? Books?
All types of movies, but I don't watch many it's hard for me to sit still. Books, well put it this way, I don't think I have ever read a full book cover to cover. But I love to listen to anything that I can gain from.
For more information on Jill's company, visit www.jillyj.com
Scott Snow is a productivity expert, speaker, podcaster, and life coach. He is the founder of Think Like a Musician, whose purpose is to help you learn the time management skills you need to be joyful, productive, & fulfilled in all areas of life. He teaches a unique and innovative approach to managing your crazy, busy life. It's a musician's approach to time management and work-life balance. Call 774-230-3928 now to customize a training for your organization or to inquire about coaching availability.