The St. Petersburg Times reports this week on inventor Nancy Tedeschi, whose “SnapIt” eyeglass repair kit was inspired by watching her mother, who lives in Sand Key where Tedeschi also winters, perform an emergency fix on a broken pair of eyeglasses with an earring stud.
Tedeschi has sold 4 million SnapIt screws to opticians in two years, and 500,000 of her repair kits to consumers since June.
“I have zero mechanical ability but get obsessed figuring out a better way to do something that’s hard,” Tedeschi, who winters in Sand Key. “Inventing SnapIt was far easier than getting it to market. I made every mistake in the book.”
She faced trademark problems, a three year wait for a patent, manufacturing issues in China, marketing obstacles, which she finally resolved by filming her own commercial spots (starring her mom) and footing the bill to air them on cable, and trying to get her foot in the door at retail outlets. Like any good inventor though, she says her strongest trait is perseverance.
Read the rest of Tedeschi’s story in the St. Pete Times and check out her self-made commercial spot below.
