1 00:00:10,790 --> 00:00:15,977 It's so exciting to not only be part of this event, but to 2 00:00:15,977 --> 00:00:19,967 follow on the heels of that wonderful Fireside Chat. The 3 00:00:19,967 --> 00:00:24,356 conversation between Coke and Wynn really set the table for the 4 00:00:24,356 --> 00:00:29,144 conversation that I am going to to help to lead with this 5 00:00:29,144 --> 00:00:33,533 amazing panel of women women who serve in various different roles 6 00:00:33,533 --> 00:00:36,326 both as entrepreneurs and supporting the entrepreneurship 7 00:00:36,326 --> 00:00:40,715 community as it was once said, small business isn't for the 8 00:00:40,715 --> 00:00:41,912 faint of heart. 9 00:00:42,260 --> 00:00:45,743 It's for the brave, the patient, the persistent, the 10 00:00:45,743 --> 00:00:50,000 overcomers, an each and every one of these women who's on 11 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:53,870 this panel today can truly be seen as an overcomer. 12 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:59,274 What I'm going to do is I'm going to introduce each of them 13 00:00:59,274 --> 00:01:03,668 to you very, very briefly and then turn to each of them to 14 00:01:03,668 --> 00:01:08,062 have them tell you about their current role and how they play a 15 00:01:08,062 --> 00:01:10,766 role in the world of entrepreneurship. First and 16 00:01:10,766 --> 00:01:14,146 foremost, our first panelist is Jennifer Camacho, who is the 17 00:01:14,146 --> 00:01:18,202 founder in principle member of Title, which is a next Gen law 18 00:01:18,202 --> 00:01:21,582 firm working with companies and investors in the Life science 19 00:01:21,582 --> 00:01:24,624 industry. Previously, she was the chief legal Officer for 20 00:01:24,624 --> 00:01:29,284 Torque Therapeutics. She's also a member of our Patent Public 21 00:01:29,284 --> 00:01:33,387 Advisory Committee. I will allow Jennifer to tell you more about 22 00:01:33,387 --> 00:01:37,863 herself in just a moment. Also on our panel today is Molly 23 00:01:37,863 --> 00:01:41,593 Kocialski. Molly serves as the director of the Rocky Mountain 24 00:01:41,593 --> 00:01:44,950 Regional Office for the United States Patent and Trademark 25 00:01:44,950 --> 00:01:48,680 Office. She brings more than 20 years of intellectual property 26 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:52,410 experience to the USPTO. Most recently, Molly was the senior 27 00:01:52,410 --> 00:01:55,394 patent counsel at Oracle America, where she was 28 00:01:55,394 --> 00:01:56,886 responsible for managing and. 29 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,720 Active patent prosecution docket and was also responsible for all 30 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:04,440 of the post grant procedures and patent investigations for Oracle 31 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:05,556 in its subsidiaries. 32 00:02:06,140 --> 00:02:09,084 Prior to Oracle, she worked for Qwest Corporation. 33 00:02:10,870 --> 00:02:15,248 3rd and certainly not least in though anyway, is Kim Mackwood, 34 00:02:15,248 --> 00:02:20,024 who is the owner and inventor of click and carry and you're going 35 00:02:20,024 --> 00:02:24,800 to be excited to hear her story as truly the entrepreneur panel. 36 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:29,576 She started clicking carry in May of 2008 and prior to that 37 00:02:29,576 --> 00:02:33,158 time had served as an executive neuroscience sales specialist 38 00:02:33,158 --> 00:02:37,138 with Acadia Pharmaceuticals. She had also worked as a market 39 00:02:37,138 --> 00:02:40,720 development consultant for Medtronic and it was a specialty 40 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:43,095 representative In the neurological and psychological 41 00:02:43,095 --> 00:02:47,176 side of Schwarz Pharma and Wyeth Arzt Pharmaceuticals. So as you 42 00:02:47,176 --> 00:02:51,999 can see, we have a wide range of talents and expertise here on 43 00:02:51,999 --> 00:02:56,451 our panel. Today, with that, I would like to turn to Jennifer 44 00:02:56,451 --> 00:03:00,161 to first again introduced herself in her own words and 45 00:03:00,161 --> 00:03:03,871 talk to you about her experience in working with entrepreneurs 46 00:03:03,871 --> 00:03:07,210 and the work that she's doing today, Jennifer, please. 47 00:03:13,350 --> 00:03:15,210 Jennifer, unfortunately you are on mute. 48 00:03:17,490 --> 00:03:21,020 How about that? Thank you Elizabeth and good afternoon to 49 00:03:21,020 --> 00:03:23,844 everybody. As Elizabeth mentioned, I am an attorney, 50 00:03:23,844 --> 00:03:27,374 Anna founder and principal member of Title, which is wholly 51 00:03:27,374 --> 00:03:31,963 a patent and IP centric law firm. It's it's a lot of fun 52 00:03:31,963 --> 00:03:35,493 now. Before launching Title, I was the general Counsel and 53 00:03:35,493 --> 00:03:39,729 Chief Legal Officer for a number of years at a venture backed 54 00:03:39,729 --> 00:03:42,906 startup in cancer immunotherapy And at as synthetic 55 00:03:42,906 --> 00:03:46,789 biology Company and title is the most recent, an definitely my 56 00:03:46,789 --> 00:03:50,616 most significant. Have it yet in my professional career. It's 57 00:03:50,616 --> 00:03:54,653 it's just been fantastic. I'm also a member of the Patent 58 00:03:54,653 --> 00:03:59,057 Public Advisory Committee in PPAC as we call it and It has 59 00:03:59,057 --> 00:04:01,993 nine members from the public representing various interests 60 00:04:01,993 --> 00:04:03,461 in the patent stakeholder 61 00:04:03,461 --> 00:04:08,424 community. I have spent a great deal of time over the past 25 62 00:04:08,424 --> 00:04:11,412 years working with venture backed startups and early stage 63 00:04:11,412 --> 00:04:14,732 companies, primarily in the Life Sciences field. So that's the 64 00:04:14,732 --> 00:04:18,384 perspective that I bring to PPAC now would I'd love to 65 00:04:18,384 --> 00:04:22,368 talk about today is as part of the PPAC I chair the 66 00:04:22,368 --> 00:04:24,360 Innovation Expansion Subcommittee, along with my 67 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:27,348 colleague and good friend Valencia Martin Wallace, who you 68 00:04:27,348 --> 00:04:31,000 will hear from in the next panel now, the Invention 69 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:33,988 expansion initiative is focused on increasing the engagement of 70 00:04:33,988 --> 00:04:37,467 underrepresented groups. Such as women in innovation. In our 71 00:04:37,467 --> 00:04:40,977 patent system, this mission is really, really important to me 72 00:04:40,977 --> 00:04:45,540 and to many others, and it's it's truly personal to me and I 73 00:04:45,540 --> 00:04:50,454 am so happy to be here with all of you today to talk about 74 00:04:50,454 --> 00:04:51,156 women entrepreneurship. 75 00:04:53,950 --> 00:04:57,811 Thank you, Jennifer, and thank you for touching on the National 76 00:04:57,811 --> 00:05:00,970 Council for expanding American innovation, and I'm sure that 77 00:05:00,970 --> 00:05:03,427 throughout our conversation today you'll have another 78 00:05:03,427 --> 00:05:06,235 opportunity to weave in. That content is left. 79 00:05:07,090 --> 00:05:11,710 At this time I'd like to turn to Molly Kocialski. Molly. 80 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:17,824 Hi everybody, I'm Molly, I am the regional director for the 81 00:05:17,824 --> 00:05:21,640 Rocky Mountain US Patent and Trademark Office. Like Jennifer, 82 00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:26,304 I've pivoted a few times in my career, not necessarily those 83 00:05:26,304 --> 00:05:31,392 straying from what I refer to as my first love, which is 84 00:05:31,392 --> 00:05:33,936 intellectual property and helping people understand 85 00:05:33,936 --> 00:05:39,024 intellectual property and how it works for them. I always like to 86 00:05:39,024 --> 00:05:43,264 say there isn't an IP rodeo I haven't written in. 87 00:05:43,590 --> 00:05:48,006 I've had the I've had the absolute honor of being apart of 88 00:05:48,006 --> 00:05:51,318 so many fascinating aspects of intellectual property, both from 89 00:05:51,318 --> 00:05:54,998 the prosecution in the litigation side as well as from 90 00:05:54,998 --> 00:05:58,678 a private practice side and in-house counsel side And I 91 00:05:58,678 --> 00:06:03,094 think you know, and and gotten to do some really neat things 92 00:06:03,094 --> 00:06:06,406 with mergers and acquisitions and bankruptcy, and even a 93 00:06:06,406 --> 00:06:10,822 little bit of trust to the states work when it comes to 94 00:06:10,822 --> 00:06:14,502 intellectual property, but it's been an amazing ride and it's 95 00:06:14,580 --> 00:06:18,507 Even better, being at the agency, you know Coke and Wynn 96 00:06:18,507 --> 00:06:22,791 talked about how amazing this agency is in in having as many 97 00:06:22,791 --> 00:06:27,075 women as we do in our leadership, as many women as we 98 00:06:27,075 --> 00:06:32,430 get to practice with. And it is so amazing to be here and to be 99 00:06:32,430 --> 00:06:37,428 using all of those skills that I gained over the 20 years when I 100 00:06:37,428 --> 00:06:40,641 was an attorney to help others understand the intellectual 101 00:06:40,641 --> 00:06:43,497 property system. Maybe demystify the intellectual property system 102 00:06:43,497 --> 00:06:44,568 a little bit. 103 00:06:44,790 --> 00:06:49,630 And demystify the agency for those people who are so you 104 00:06:49,630 --> 00:06:52,710 know such sophisticated users. So that's Me. 105 00:06:54,550 --> 00:06:58,827 Thank you Molly. I as as as with Jennifer, you certainly bring a 106 00:06:58,827 --> 00:07:01,788 wealth of expertise to our conversation today and and 107 00:07:01,788 --> 00:07:05,078 certainly to your role as the Rocky Mountain Regional Director 108 00:07:05,078 --> 00:07:07,381 working directly with entrepreneurs today. It's it's 109 00:07:07,381 --> 00:07:11,658 lovely to see and it's going to be a great conversation how each 110 00:07:11,658 --> 00:07:14,948 of us pivot in our own professional capacity, but we 111 00:07:14,948 --> 00:07:18,896 also witness and experience and share in the pivot of others and 112 00:07:18,896 --> 00:07:23,173 those that we work with. Without further ado, I'd like to turn to 113 00:07:23,173 --> 00:07:24,489 our final panelist member. 114 00:07:24,620 --> 00:07:28,150 To introduce herself and Kim Meckwood please, the stage is 115 00:07:28,150 --> 00:07:32,739 yours. Hello everyone, it's such an honor to be. Here I I'm Kim 116 00:07:32,739 --> 00:07:36,622 Meckwood and I'm the owner and inventor of click n carry which 117 00:07:36,622 --> 00:07:40,505 is a simple handle device that allows shoppers to manage and 118 00:07:40,505 --> 00:07:44,741 carrying multiple bags at once, either in your hand or one over 119 00:07:44,741 --> 00:07:48,624 your shoulder for hands free carry, this is a really 120 00:07:48,624 --> 00:07:52,154 special honor for me because my proudest accomplishment is when 121 00:07:52,154 --> 00:07:56,390 I was awarded to utility patents by the United States Patent and 122 00:07:56,390 --> 00:08:01,345 Trademark Office. So to be on a panel and to talk about my 123 00:08:01,345 --> 00:08:06,220 invention is it's just a dream come true and I'm here to talk 124 00:08:06,220 --> 00:08:10,345 about my latest pivot which was leaving a secure, safe job 125 00:08:10,345 --> 00:08:14,095 that pays well to be a solo entrepreneur promoting my 126 00:08:14,095 --> 00:08:18,595 product. So I'm I'm thrilled to be here. I can't wait to 127 00:08:18,595 --> 00:08:22,345 share my experiences with you and thank you USPTO for 128 00:08:22,345 --> 00:08:23,845 inviting me. I'm thrilled. 129 00:08:25,900 --> 00:08:29,482 Kim, thank you and congratulations on your two US 130 00:08:29,482 --> 00:08:34,656 utility patents. I'm sure those are just the first of many if if 131 00:08:34,656 --> 00:08:38,636 most entrepreneurs are any example, once you get bit by 132 00:08:38,636 --> 00:08:43,014 that patent bug it's often a lifelong career with that ladies 133 00:08:43,014 --> 00:08:48,188 I am going to turn to our first question an I invite and 134 00:08:48,188 --> 00:08:52,566 encourage each and everyone of you to jump in on whichever 135 00:08:52,566 --> 00:08:55,352 questions that you feel comfortable answering your 136 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:58,633 Insights and expertise are welcomed on each and every 137 00:08:58,633 --> 00:09:03,026 question. Our first question and really tide to the title 138 00:09:03,026 --> 00:09:07,140 of our topic today when is a pivot necessary for a 139 00:09:07,140 --> 00:09:10,880 company or individual and what are some of those key 140 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:14,246 considerations and steps to take for a successful pivot? 141 00:09:20,550 --> 00:09:22,470 I'll jump in and out first. 142 00:09:25,090 --> 00:09:29,913 Kim, why don't you go first? OK, I will. I'll talk about my 143 00:09:29,913 --> 00:09:35,107 recent pivot, it it was. It was a scary pivot for me because as 144 00:09:35,107 --> 00:09:39,930 I mentioned I had a safe and secure job with insurance and a 145 00:09:39,930 --> 00:09:44,011 regular salary coming in. But I had the opportunity because of 146 00:09:44,011 --> 00:09:48,463 Shark Tank to receive pretty much overnight PR and I had to 147 00:09:48,463 --> 00:09:52,544 capitalize on that opportunity. So knowing that I was going to 148 00:09:52,544 --> 00:09:56,996 be on the show, I prepared all summer in my spare time. 149 00:09:57,140 --> 00:09:59,147 To make sure that I had a 3PL 150 00:09:59,147 --> 00:10:03,710 which is a dis. Solution Center set up. I made sure that my 151 00:10:03,710 --> 00:10:08,018 website was going to have the proper amount of capability so I 152 00:10:08,018 --> 00:10:13,044 could handle all of the traffic. I set up PR to capitalize on the 153 00:10:13,044 --> 00:10:16,993 opportunity, so I prepared all these things in time for the 154 00:10:16,993 --> 00:10:22,019 airing of my segment and I was able to quit my job in October 155 00:10:22,019 --> 00:10:27,045 about a month and a half before I was actually on TV and take 156 00:10:27,045 --> 00:10:28,481 advantage of that opportunity. 157 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:34,408 So Kim, it sounds like you got an offer from the Sharks and you 158 00:10:34,408 --> 00:10:36,040 took them up on their offer? 159 00:10:36,990 --> 00:10:40,784 And now my dream job is that I get to invent things for a 160 00:10:40,784 --> 00:10:44,307 living. I can't believe it. I am going to be filing for my 161 00:10:44,307 --> 00:10:46,746 next patent very shortly, so be on the lookout. 162 00:10:48,250 --> 00:10:51,682 We eagerly await its arrival at the US Patent and Trademark 163 00:10:51,682 --> 00:10:54,490 Office. Molly. Did you have something you wanted to 164 00:10:54,490 --> 00:10:59,621 contribute? I did I I really think you know Wynn talked about 165 00:10:59,621 --> 00:11:05,397 this in her in her role and an I'll add a little bit of a piece 166 00:11:05,397 --> 00:11:09,368 to something that Wynn said earlier, which is, you know, I 167 00:11:09,368 --> 00:11:12,256 really think self awareness is is incredibly important, 168 00:11:12,256 --> 00:11:13,700 especially when you're pivoting. 169 00:11:14,690 --> 00:11:18,083 You know, having an understanding of what skills you 170 00:11:18,083 --> 00:11:22,230 bring to the table and how transferable they are and what 171 00:11:22,230 --> 00:11:26,754 that might look like is is hugely important, but I will add 172 00:11:26,754 --> 00:11:31,278 in a piece I think that being able to take feedback, whether 173 00:11:31,278 --> 00:11:35,425 it's good or bad feedback, right? You know, being able to 174 00:11:35,425 --> 00:11:39,195 find that Nugget an in feedback whether it's from your 175 00:11:39,195 --> 00:11:42,588 customers, whether it's from your colleagues or your peers, 176 00:11:42,588 --> 00:11:44,850 or even your boss, is right. 177 00:11:45,180 --> 00:11:49,626 About what you need to do and where you need to pivot and 178 00:11:49,626 --> 00:11:53,388 what skills you might have that will allow you to be 179 00:11:53,388 --> 00:11:57,150 successful in that pivot. I think that's huge, and so I 180 00:11:57,150 --> 00:12:00,912 really think right. And then once you decide to pivot then 181 00:12:00,912 --> 00:12:04,332 I think it's really important that you articulate kind of 182 00:12:04,332 --> 00:12:08,094 the change that you want to make. You have your reasons 183 00:12:08,094 --> 00:12:08,778 for it. 184 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:14,573 You understand the why and the what and the how of of what 185 00:12:14,573 --> 00:12:18,425 you're going to pivot and Kim. What I love about your story 186 00:12:18,425 --> 00:12:22,598 right is is you knew you had time to plan and then you've 187 00:12:22,598 --> 00:12:26,450 planned and you knew where you were going to have it. You 188 00:12:26,450 --> 00:12:29,660 lined everything up so that you can take advantage of 189 00:12:29,660 --> 00:12:32,870 those opportunities, and I think that's really the key to 190 00:12:32,870 --> 00:12:36,401 a successful pivot. Is is not just the self awareness, the 191 00:12:36,401 --> 00:12:39,611 feedback but also the planning that goes into to pivoting. 192 00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:44,443 Jennifer, you look like you have something to say. I was going to 193 00:12:44,443 --> 00:12:47,695 follow up on your on your comment about being able to take 194 00:12:47,695 --> 00:12:50,405 feedback and I think that that's in. You mentioned taking 195 00:12:50,405 --> 00:12:53,386 feedback from your customers. I think that that's a that's an 196 00:12:53,386 --> 00:12:56,096 incredibly important point, you know. Part of the feedback is 197 00:12:56,096 --> 00:12:59,348 from your customers or or the market or or your investors. I 198 00:12:59,348 --> 00:13:02,329 work with a lot of early stage companies startups for example, 199 00:13:02,329 --> 00:13:05,581 and they are often based on a premise. They think that, for 200 00:13:05,581 --> 00:13:08,833 example, this would be a great product that people are going to 201 00:13:08,833 --> 00:13:10,730 want to buy this product for XY 202 00:13:10,730 --> 00:13:14,202 and Z reason. And it is a terrific product, but for 203 00:13:14,202 --> 00:13:17,192 whatever reason that that premise isn't true, or at least 204 00:13:17,192 --> 00:13:21,378 isn't true as of that day. I I had a client, for example, who 205 00:13:21,378 --> 00:13:25,265 thought that they had a box and that everybody would want a box 206 00:13:25,265 --> 00:13:28,554 on their lab bench because it would be so much more 207 00:13:28,554 --> 00:13:31,544 convenient. But of course the box was very expensive. What 208 00:13:31,544 --> 00:13:35,132 people wanted with the service. And So what was great about that 209 00:13:35,132 --> 00:13:38,421 situation was that that company understood they took in all of 210 00:13:38,421 --> 00:13:42,009 the data an and they convert it from being a product company. 211 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:45,273 To services company and the great thing was that they were 212 00:13:45,273 --> 00:13:48,386 prepared for that, and from an IP perspective they had a 213 00:13:48,386 --> 00:13:50,933 patent that covered the product. They also had patents 214 00:13:50,933 --> 00:13:54,329 that covered the method in the service and so they were able 215 00:13:54,329 --> 00:13:57,159 to do a very successful pivot and continue their business. 216 00:13:58,890 --> 00:14:03,210 You know, Jennifer, I think you make a really good point and 217 00:14:03,210 --> 00:14:07,890 that also goes to the concept and not one that we're going to 218 00:14:07,890 --> 00:14:11,850 focus on today. But creating an IP portfolio where you have 219 00:14:11,850 --> 00:14:15,810 different things in your in your quiver. You have different tools 220 00:14:15,810 --> 00:14:20,130 and tricks in your bag that you can bring forward when those 221 00:14:20,130 --> 00:14:22,290 opportunities present themselves. Molly, you talked 222 00:14:22,290 --> 00:14:24,450 about perceiving and understanding and appreciating 223 00:14:24,450 --> 00:14:27,690 feedback and Zig Ziglar once said statistics suggests that 224 00:14:27,690 --> 00:14:28,770 when customers complain 225 00:14:28,770 --> 00:14:32,751 business. Owners and managers ought to get excited about it. 226 00:14:32,751 --> 00:14:35,474 That complaining customer represents a huge opportunity 227 00:14:35,474 --> 00:14:40,142 for more business and Kim and maybe this is an opportunity for 228 00:14:40,142 --> 00:14:45,588 you to jump in. Having met you out. In fact, at a trade show 229 00:14:45,588 --> 00:14:49,089 you shared once, how customers have really changed your 230 00:14:49,089 --> 00:14:52,979 perception of your own product, customers have come to providing 231 00:14:52,979 --> 00:14:57,258 uses for your product that you had never envisioned. How has 232 00:14:57,258 --> 00:15:01,148 that changed how you market your product or how you? 233 00:15:01,500 --> 00:15:05,268 How you present your product. It has been an amazing thing to 234 00:15:05,268 --> 00:15:08,722 listen to the feedback from the customers for that very reason. 235 00:15:08,722 --> 00:15:12,176 Because I never dreamed of all these other uses. For example, 236 00:15:12,176 --> 00:15:16,572 clicking Carrie can now be used for as a ski boot. Oh, it could 237 00:15:16,572 --> 00:15:20,026 be used for paint cans and construction panels to carry dry 238 00:15:20,026 --> 00:15:23,794 cleaning to walk multiple dogs at once. And the most recent is 239 00:15:23,794 --> 00:15:28,190 to use it. The clicking carry as a prop for your iPhone or iPad 240 00:15:28,190 --> 00:15:31,958 and what this has done is it allowed me to expand to 241 00:15:31,958 --> 00:15:36,123 different channels. So initially I was trying to sell to grocery 242 00:15:36,123 --> 00:15:40,647 stores and big box retailers, but now I could sell to places 243 00:15:40,647 --> 00:15:45,925 like Lowe's and Home Depot. Or I can put a logo on the clicking 244 00:15:45,925 --> 00:15:50,072 carry and sell it to dry cleaning chain and they could 245 00:15:50,072 --> 00:15:54,596 give it out for free with a certain number of dollars spent 246 00:15:54,596 --> 00:15:58,366 on dry cleaning. So it's been really instrumental and it's 247 00:15:58,366 --> 00:16:02,136 interesting because as we were talking I was thinking about 248 00:16:02,136 --> 00:16:05,860 customer feedback. I had an issue where the gel padding on 249 00:16:05,860 --> 00:16:09,700 the bottom of my click n carry was coming loose. Now if I 250 00:16:09,700 --> 00:16:13,540 didn't get that feedback, it's not what I wanted to hear. I 251 00:16:13,540 --> 00:16:16,740 wanted to hear that click n carry works perfectly and it's 252 00:16:16,740 --> 00:16:19,940 always in perfect condition, but there were problems with the 253 00:16:19,940 --> 00:16:24,100 glue so I was able to quickly pivot work with my factory and 254 00:16:24,100 --> 00:16:26,340 making accommodation and ultimately provide a better 255 00:16:26,340 --> 00:16:29,540 product and save money for the customer because I've reduced 256 00:16:29,540 --> 00:16:31,140 cost of goods as well. 257 00:16:33,070 --> 00:16:36,710 Outstanding and so fascinating I your comment can really leads 258 00:16:36,710 --> 00:16:41,078 into our next question and that is what what best practices can 259 00:16:41,078 --> 00:16:45,446 each of you share that have helped you or your clients move 260 00:16:45,446 --> 00:16:49,450 forward? And what lessons did you learn in adapting? What were 261 00:16:49,450 --> 00:16:53,454 your takeaways from that moment of experience or that moment of 262 00:16:53,454 --> 00:16:57,094 realization and that moment that required you to take action? 263 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:09,232 I can lead off with the the best practices and it plays on the 264 00:17:09,232 --> 00:17:12,312 story I just I just talked about. It's really about 265 00:17:12,312 --> 00:17:13,544 planning for the opportunity. 266 00:17:13,544 --> 00:17:16,715 You know entrepreneurship. Always has a pivot. There's 267 00:17:16,715 --> 00:17:20,063 some pivot. That's a smart, maybe a small pivot. It maybe a 268 00:17:20,063 --> 00:17:23,690 large pivot will be a series of pivots. Ann and plan for that. 269 00:17:23,690 --> 00:17:26,480 You know. Plan for identify options for your business to 270 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:29,828 pivot or to expand before the need arises. You know you may 271 00:17:29,828 --> 00:17:32,897 be doing again. You may be selling the device today, but 272 00:17:32,897 --> 00:17:36,245 you want to provide the service tomorrow, so plan for that. You 273 00:17:36,245 --> 00:17:39,314 know have your it doesn't necessarily have to be a backup 274 00:17:39,314 --> 00:17:42,104 plan, it's it's really an expansion plan. If you're not 275 00:17:42,104 --> 00:17:45,731 going to use it for pivot, you'll use it to to grow your 276 00:17:45,731 --> 00:17:46,010 business. 277 00:17:48,810 --> 00:17:50,340 And I always like to. 278 00:17:51,010 --> 00:17:54,340 In talking with people about entrepreneurship, I I always 279 00:17:54,340 --> 00:17:56,560 talk about starting with the end 280 00:17:56,560 --> 00:18:01,668 in mind. I think too many people have this great idea. 281 00:18:02,300 --> 00:18:05,545 And and that's where they wanna go. They want to chase 282 00:18:05,545 --> 00:18:09,085 the idea they don't think about. What am I going to do 283 00:18:09,085 --> 00:18:12,035 with that idea, you know, am I building something that's 284 00:18:12,035 --> 00:18:14,100 going to be an intergenerational thing? That 285 00:18:14,100 --> 00:18:17,345 I'm going to pass down to my children and my children's 286 00:18:17,345 --> 00:18:20,885 children? Is it? I'm going to run this company for the rest 287 00:18:20,885 --> 00:18:21,770 of my life. 288 00:18:22,930 --> 00:18:27,820 Is it, uh, I'm going to run this company until I can sell it to 289 00:18:27,820 --> 00:18:32,329 somebody else. Um and and then start over again and invent 290 00:18:32,329 --> 00:18:36,300 something new or come up with something New I, I think 291 00:18:36,300 --> 00:18:39,910 because all of those different things actually sort of come 292 00:18:39,910 --> 00:18:44,242 back to what you're going to do at the beginning, and especially 293 00:18:44,242 --> 00:18:47,130 in terms of intellectual property, right? It's it's 294 00:18:47,130 --> 00:18:48,213 definitely going to. 295 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:52,340 Make decisions alittle bit easier for you if you 296 00:18:52,340 --> 00:18:56,080 know that that's what you want to do, an you know. 297 00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:01,872 With the company I I last worked for before I joined the 298 00:19:01,872 --> 00:19:05,076 government, they are mergers and acquisitions, machine and I 299 00:19:05,076 --> 00:19:09,348 saw it all too often. You know you would have these people 300 00:19:09,348 --> 00:19:13,264 that had these great ideas. They chased the idea they built 301 00:19:13,264 --> 00:19:16,824 up a company. They became attractive enough to be bought 302 00:19:16,824 --> 00:19:21,096 by a much bigger company and then they honestly had no clue 303 00:19:21,096 --> 00:19:22,876 what to do with themselves. 304 00:19:24,020 --> 00:19:28,156 They were not prepared to be absorbed into the bigger company 305 00:19:28,156 --> 00:19:33,420 as I used to joke being absorbed into the Borg and and they were 306 00:19:33,420 --> 00:19:37,556 not prepared for that and they didn't, you know, understand the 307 00:19:37,556 --> 00:19:41,692 pivot that they would have to do from being that successful 308 00:19:41,692 --> 00:19:46,204 leader an entrepreneur, an idea maker to now being part of a 309 00:19:46,204 --> 00:19:50,716 much larger company and those people did not fare well in the 310 00:19:50,716 --> 00:19:54,100 new company, you know. But the people who pivoted. 311 00:19:54,190 --> 00:19:58,488 And who knew all along that that was one of the things that was 312 00:19:58,488 --> 00:19:59,716 probably in their future. 313 00:20:00,580 --> 00:20:04,444 They they really did well and so I always tell people. Please 314 00:20:04,444 --> 00:20:08,630 start with the end in mind. What is it that you want to 315 00:20:08,630 --> 00:20:11,528 achieve with this? Not necessarily just the getting of 316 00:20:11,528 --> 00:20:15,392 a patent, not necessarily just to get the building of a brand, 317 00:20:15,392 --> 00:20:19,578 but what's your end game? Where do you wanna be? If this is 318 00:20:19,578 --> 00:20:23,120 successful and then also be prepared for it not to be 319 00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:24,730 successful, 'cause sometimes they aren't. 320 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:31,150 And I'm going to touch on something that Molly Beth 321 00:20:31,150 --> 00:20:34,835 mentioned in it. It reminded me that getting the utility patents 322 00:20:34,835 --> 00:20:38,520 was provided me with a different level of confidence. It was 323 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:41,535 really difficult because I couldn't say anything about my 324 00:20:41,535 --> 00:20:45,890 product for almost three years I have two in. The first one took 325 00:20:45,890 --> 00:20:49,910 a little bit longer than the 2nd, but I couldn't say anything 326 00:20:49,910 --> 00:20:54,265 for about 3 years. But I did have all that time to prepare 327 00:20:54,265 --> 00:20:58,285 and have the end game in mind. And it's interesting, and I 328 00:20:58,285 --> 00:20:59,290 apologize that I'm. 329 00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:04,170 I'm pertaining all of this to my business, but this is all I know 330 00:21:04,170 --> 00:21:07,855 because I come from a different background so I could only 331 00:21:07,855 --> 00:21:11,540 pertain it to click n carry. But it's interesting when I was 332 00:21:11,540 --> 00:21:15,560 doing my due diligence with the Sharks, my prime way of creating 333 00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:18,910 a successful company was getting into retail. But then covid 334 00:21:18,910 --> 00:21:23,935 happened, so I had to. I had to pivot and I had to transfer the 335 00:21:23,935 --> 00:21:27,955 majority of my sales to online, and it's something that I didn't 336 00:21:27,955 --> 00:21:29,295 really prepare. Prepare for. 337 00:21:29,490 --> 00:21:33,366 Because I didn't think that it was going to be lucrative, that 338 00:21:33,366 --> 00:21:37,242 it was the proper channel for my product. But it turns out 339 00:21:37,242 --> 00:21:42,087 that it was and I had a lot of down time to prepare for that. 340 00:21:42,087 --> 00:21:45,640 So thank you for reminding me Molly Beth about the confidence 341 00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:49,516 level that I had having the the utility patent. It really made 342 00:21:49,516 --> 00:21:51,777 a difference. Huge difference in my world. 343 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:57,945 Molly, one thing you mentioned, I think is is a great thing for 344 00:21:57,945 --> 00:21:59,655 us to discuss as a panel. 345 00:22:00,620 --> 00:22:04,760 And I think it's something we probably all have an opinion or 346 00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:09,245 a story to share on is the role of failure in creating success. 347 00:22:09,245 --> 00:22:13,730 You know? Mary Kay, who we know, created an empire in the beauty 348 00:22:13,730 --> 00:22:17,525 industry. Said when you reach an obstacle, turn it into an 349 00:22:17,525 --> 00:22:21,320 opportunity. You have the choice you can overcome and be a 350 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:26,150 winner. Or you can allow it to overcome you and be a loser. The 351 00:22:26,150 --> 00:22:30,290 choice is yours and yours alone refused to throw in the towel. 352 00:22:30,650 --> 00:22:34,850 Go that extra mile that failures refused to travel. Far better to 353 00:22:34,850 --> 00:22:38,350 be exhausted from success than to be rested from failure. 354 00:22:38,930 --> 00:22:43,718 What do you all see as the role of failure in being a successful 355 00:22:43,718 --> 00:22:46,112 entrepreneur in helping entrepreneurs to be successful? 356 00:22:47,980 --> 00:22:51,220 I'll just go first and say it's absolutely essential. 357 00:22:52,700 --> 00:22:55,900 You don't know what you can achieve until you've already 358 00:22:55,900 --> 00:22:57,500 failed not to achieve it. 359 00:22:58,090 --> 00:22:58,590 I. 360 00:23:00,410 --> 00:23:05,330 No, I mean, I think it is is as long as you approach it with 361 00:23:05,330 --> 00:23:09,922 that right mindset of of growth an you know how am I going to 362 00:23:09,922 --> 00:23:14,803 grow from this? What can I take away from this experience that's 363 00:23:14,803 --> 00:23:19,941 going to help me or my team in the future, so I think it's 364 00:23:19,941 --> 00:23:23,611 essential I my favorite is always the Thomas Edison quote, 365 00:23:23,611 --> 00:23:28,015 right? You know he didn't. He tried 99 times to invent the 366 00:23:28,015 --> 00:23:32,786 light bulb and someone asked him well, what was it like to fail? 367 00:23:32,786 --> 00:23:38,291 He goes. I didn't fail like I I did things 99 times to make sure 368 00:23:38,291 --> 00:23:40,493 that I got the right one. 369 00:23:41,730 --> 00:23:46,475 And so I think that's an example of that growth mindset. That is 370 00:23:46,475 --> 00:23:48,300 is so common among amongst 371 00:23:48,300 --> 00:23:51,639 entrepreneurs. Um but Kim. I mean, you should probably speak 372 00:23:51,639 --> 00:23:55,032 to that. And Jennifer, I want to hear from you on that too. 373 00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:04,240 So to your, you're absolutely right and what I find is through 374 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:08,340 failure. You become a little more thick skinned number one 375 00:24:08,340 --> 00:24:13,670 and you realize that no is just know for now. So you certainly 376 00:24:13,670 --> 00:24:18,180 do learn from your failures. And it's interesting. I love your 377 00:24:18,180 --> 00:24:22,280 quotes, Elizabeth because it's true there there. There are no 378 00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:25,560 failures because you're you're through the process perfecting 379 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:28,020 your item or your product or 380 00:24:28,020 --> 00:24:32,110 your service. And it it becomes more beneficial for the end user 381 00:24:32,110 --> 00:24:36,114 and you know it's it's funny because I don't know if I should 382 00:24:36,114 --> 00:24:39,502 be proud or embarrassed about this. But with Shark Tank I 383 00:24:39,502 --> 00:24:42,890 applied seven or eight times before I finally made it, and 384 00:24:42,890 --> 00:24:47,202 it's one of those things where if I had just given up, then I 385 00:24:47,202 --> 00:24:50,898 would never have made it to TV and received all that publicity 386 00:24:50,898 --> 00:24:54,594 that I couldn't afford. So it was it was a blessing in 387 00:24:54,594 --> 00:24:58,290 disguise. But if I had just rolled over and I didn't take 388 00:24:58,290 --> 00:25:00,138 that last swing at the bat. 389 00:25:00,250 --> 00:25:04,474 It would have happened. So learn from your failures and I was 390 00:25:04,474 --> 00:25:08,346 able to take that information each year and improve my pitch 391 00:25:08,346 --> 00:25:12,570 an improve my sales and I made myself more attractive to them 392 00:25:12,570 --> 00:25:16,442 so they finally picked me and Luckily a couple of Sharks 393 00:25:16,442 --> 00:25:18,906 picked me as well. So thank you. 394 00:25:23,380 --> 00:25:27,916 And I'll, I'll add that I am. I am a big fan of embracing 395 00:25:27,916 --> 00:25:31,804 failure. You have to reach far and you'll fail and embrace it 396 00:25:31,804 --> 00:25:35,368 and share it with others. Will share their failures with you 397 00:25:35,368 --> 00:25:39,256 and you'll all learn. It's, you know, I think it's critical. I 398 00:25:39,256 --> 00:25:43,144 was I went to. I was familiar with the company whose whose 399 00:25:43,144 --> 00:25:47,356 slogan was failure is not an option, and it was a start up. 400 00:25:47,356 --> 00:25:50,596 It was running. It was a research company and an 401 00:25:50,596 --> 00:25:53,836 everybody. The lab got very timid about things and anet. 402 00:25:53,890 --> 00:25:57,946 It became this kind of joke about it. You know, if you 403 00:25:57,946 --> 00:26:02,002 didn't fail it would be called search, not research, know so it 404 00:26:02,002 --> 00:26:06,396 was. It was just interesting study but but I have to say that 405 00:26:06,396 --> 00:26:09,438 I embrace failure. Part of entrepreneurship is apart of 406 00:26:09,438 --> 00:26:12,480 innovation is. Apart of Inventorship, you know and enjoy 407 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:17,888 it and just you never. I guess I had the quote I have is that you 408 00:26:17,888 --> 00:26:21,268 don't fail until you quit trying. So just keep going. 409 00:26:22,930 --> 00:26:26,386 Indeed, in thank you, Jennifer, Jennifer in talking about 410 00:26:26,386 --> 00:26:29,842 failure, you mentioned sharing your failure with others and 411 00:26:29,842 --> 00:26:34,066 they'll share their failures with you and you can both learn 412 00:26:34,066 --> 00:26:35,218 from the experience. 413 00:26:35,830 --> 00:26:40,186 That's a great lead in for our next question, and that's what 414 00:26:40,186 --> 00:26:43,816 resources do you want to highlight that have been useful 415 00:26:43,816 --> 00:26:47,446 to you or your clients or individuals you've worked with 416 00:26:47,446 --> 00:26:51,076 in entrepreneurship for their success. And I know Wynn touched 417 00:26:51,076 --> 00:26:55,432 on resources in her Fireside chat, and I think some of those 418 00:26:55,432 --> 00:26:58,699 that she referenced were incredibly valuable, but each of 419 00:26:58,699 --> 00:27:02,329 you, what would you see as resources that you would 420 00:27:02,329 --> 00:27:05,959 recommend others to seek out or to investigate as to 421 00:27:06,090 --> 00:27:09,258 Possible help in their particular endeavour. 422 00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:17,398 I can start with. With that I I of course want to point people 423 00:27:17,398 --> 00:27:21,151 to the USPTO website. It's fantastic. The resources that 424 00:27:21,151 --> 00:27:24,904 are available there. It's really tremendous. But in particular, 425 00:27:24,904 --> 00:27:29,491 there's the innovation expansion hub on the website, which is a 426 00:27:29,491 --> 00:27:32,827 terrific source of resources. It provides. For example, 427 00:27:32,827 --> 00:27:35,746 demystifying the patent system toolkit, mentoring programs, 428 00:27:35,746 --> 00:27:39,499 communities of innovators together, as well as links to 429 00:27:39,499 --> 00:27:41,167 other you know small. 430 00:27:41,250 --> 00:27:44,445 Business Association all of these other resources that are 431 00:27:44,445 --> 00:27:48,350 available. It's all you know, curated and right there on the 432 00:27:48,350 --> 00:27:51,900 on the patent. Yes, PTO website, so I really recommend 433 00:27:51,900 --> 00:27:55,095 tapping into the to the tremendous resources that are 434 00:27:55,095 --> 00:27:55,805 available there. 435 00:27:57,180 --> 00:28:00,348 Absolutely, and I'll add on to Jennifer, I think. 436 00:28:01,810 --> 00:28:05,518 You know part of expanding American innovation isn't just 437 00:28:05,518 --> 00:28:09,638 looking at it from a demographic perspective, it is that 438 00:28:09,638 --> 00:28:13,758 geographic and then also that economic perspective. So from a 439 00:28:13,758 --> 00:28:17,466 geographic perspective, reach out to your regional offices to 440 00:28:17,466 --> 00:28:22,410 the USPTO. You know as part of the federal government we work 441 00:28:22,410 --> 00:28:26,530 so closely with our sister agencies. You know whether it's 442 00:28:26,530 --> 00:28:31,474 the Export Assistance Council or you know our SPDCs in the 443 00:28:31,474 --> 00:28:33,122 region every single regional 444 00:28:33,122 --> 00:28:38,878 office. And I I know Liz had a chance to ride the bus as well. 445 00:28:38,878 --> 00:28:43,402 Does the SBIR STTR program, you know where all of these other 446 00:28:43,402 --> 00:28:47,549 federal agencies will talk about grants and money that might be 447 00:28:47,549 --> 00:28:50,942 available. We participate in it from an intellectual property 448 00:28:50,942 --> 00:28:53,581 perspective, so that's that geographic expansion definitely 449 00:28:53,581 --> 00:28:57,351 reach out to your USPTO, regional offices, and, worst 450 00:28:57,351 --> 00:29:01,121 case scenario. We can make introductions to, you know, some 451 00:29:01,121 --> 00:29:03,760 of the people that you need to 452 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:07,090 know. On the other federal government side, your state 453 00:29:07,090 --> 00:29:09,930 economic development. Any of the World Trade Centers, 454 00:29:09,930 --> 00:29:14,190 please reach out to them. They have a wealth of resources and 455 00:29:14,190 --> 00:29:18,805 mentors that can help you. But I will also say I love the 456 00:29:18,805 --> 00:29:22,000 USPTO's law School clinics and our Pro bono program. 457 00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:29,170 Or pro Bono program is in all 50 States and we have law school 458 00:29:29,170 --> 00:29:33,670 clinics across the nation's I love the law school clinic for a 459 00:29:33,670 --> 00:29:37,420 lot of reasons. But number one, it gets lost students 460 00:29:37,420 --> 00:29:40,420 experiences working directly with clients which helps them 461 00:29:40,420 --> 00:29:45,670 get jobs. So I think that's a win win and plus it allows the 462 00:29:45,670 --> 00:29:50,545 clients of the clinic to receive free help. And then our pro bono 463 00:29:50,545 --> 00:29:53,545 programs around the nation are unbelievably fantastic in 464 00:29:53,545 --> 00:29:54,670 getting under resourced 465 00:29:54,670 --> 00:29:58,840 inventors. The help that they need to get through the patent 466 00:29:58,840 --> 00:29:59,896 process, you know? 467 00:30:00,250 --> 00:30:04,060 It's not necessarily intuitive even Wynn said that, I always 468 00:30:04,060 --> 00:30:08,632 say, you know, on the failure side as well. I always tell 469 00:30:08,632 --> 00:30:12,061 people, right the first thing you'll probably receive from 470 00:30:12,061 --> 00:30:16,252 the US Patent Trademark Office is a rejection. It's not a 471 00:30:16,252 --> 00:30:20,062 rejection of you personally, it's just an invitation to a 472 00:30:20,062 --> 00:30:23,491 conversation about why your invention is unique. But the 473 00:30:23,491 --> 00:30:27,682 pro bono process I really think does amazing work across the 474 00:30:27,682 --> 00:30:29,968 nation to help under resourced inventors. 475 00:30:31,220 --> 00:30:35,169 And then I would also add our Patent and Trademark resource 476 00:30:35,169 --> 00:30:38,759 centers. So those are librarians that are in all 50 477 00:30:38,759 --> 00:30:43,426 states. I think at this point and they are there to help with 478 00:30:43,426 --> 00:30:46,657 searching and understanding that market as we talked about 479 00:30:46,657 --> 00:30:48,811 earlier. You know, understanding where your 480 00:30:48,811 --> 00:30:51,683 competition is an then also understanding what the 481 00:30:51,683 --> 00:30:55,273 landscape looks for from and looks like from an intellectual 482 00:30:55,273 --> 00:30:55,991 property perspective. 483 00:30:58,810 --> 00:31:04,023 And for me I'm going to start with the USPTO also because I 484 00:31:04,023 --> 00:31:08,434 it's been an amazing resource for me because it just doesn't 485 00:31:08,434 --> 00:31:12,845 stop with the pattern for a business. It also requires a 486 00:31:12,845 --> 00:31:16,053 trademark and also questions into working with other 487 00:31:16,053 --> 00:31:20,464 countries. USPTO has been an amazing resource and I I could 488 00:31:20,464 --> 00:31:25,276 not have come this far without them number one and then another 489 00:31:25,276 --> 00:31:28,484 thing that was suggested was working with lawyers. 490 00:31:28,570 --> 00:31:32,700 And even last students. And actually I hired a law 491 00:31:32,700 --> 00:31:37,243 student to help me with my patent search to make sure 492 00:31:37,243 --> 00:31:42,199 that I could save money and and work with the USPTO to 493 00:31:42,199 --> 00:31:46,329 make sure that my my patent was approved and another 494 00:31:46,329 --> 00:31:50,046 another group that I utilized also from the federal 495 00:31:50,046 --> 00:31:54,176 government is the SBA and score. It's amazing how much 496 00:31:54,176 --> 00:31:57,893 help I received from mentors through both of those. 497 00:31:59,140 --> 00:32:01,961 Groups, it's phenomenal. There's so many amazing 498 00:32:01,961 --> 00:32:05,588 resources out there from the United States government, and 499 00:32:05,588 --> 00:32:09,215 I honestly couldn't have come this far without them. 500 00:32:10,850 --> 00:32:14,207 All the way back to financials planning manufacturing. Just 501 00:32:14,207 --> 00:32:17,937 just amazing resources are available to us and then even 502 00:32:17,937 --> 00:32:22,413 working with local colleges for example, I am I worked with a 503 00:32:22,413 --> 00:32:26,143 local college. I worked with a product design student because 504 00:32:26,143 --> 00:32:31,365 her school had access to a 3D CAD printer and if I had paid 505 00:32:31,365 --> 00:32:36,587 for a 3D CAD printer out in the real world, it would have been 506 00:32:36,587 --> 00:32:40,690 very very expensive. Instead I was able to make iterations for 507 00:32:40,690 --> 00:32:41,809 about $200 apiece. 508 00:32:41,860 --> 00:32:46,020 I went through nine of them, so just like just like we were 509 00:32:46,020 --> 00:32:49,860 discussing before 99 times until you come upon the winner. So I 510 00:32:49,860 --> 00:32:53,700 finally after 1800 dollars I came upon the winner. But if I 511 00:32:53,700 --> 00:32:57,860 had done that in the real world it would have been $2000 in 512 00:32:57,860 --> 00:33:01,060 iteration versus $200 in iteration. So there there are so 513 00:33:01,060 --> 00:33:03,940 many resources out there available to you and it's 514 00:33:03,940 --> 00:33:07,460 interesting because Wynn touched on it before, don't be afraid to 515 00:33:07,460 --> 00:33:11,940 ask for help because I have been helped so often on along the way 516 00:33:11,940 --> 00:33:15,559 and. I'm available to help any person who's interested in 517 00:33:15,559 --> 00:33:19,310 patenting a product or designing a product. Because so many people 518 00:33:19,310 --> 00:33:23,743 helped me. It's an obligation for me to give back. Plus, I I 519 00:33:23,743 --> 00:33:27,153 feel really good about helping others because I received so 520 00:33:27,153 --> 00:33:31,245 much amazing help along the way. And then Lastly, there's a group 521 00:33:31,245 --> 00:33:34,996 that I'm in called WBENC and I'm considered a minority owned 522 00:33:34,996 --> 00:33:38,747 business. As a woman an it's amazing because so many big 523 00:33:38,747 --> 00:33:42,498 companies feel an obligation or have a need to work with 524 00:33:42,498 --> 00:33:43,521 minority owned businesses. 525 00:33:43,610 --> 00:33:46,998 And it's it really opens the door for me. For example, 526 00:33:46,998 --> 00:33:49,770 Walmart, Target, Kroger, all of these companies want to 527 00:33:49,770 --> 00:33:52,542 work with minority owned businesses and give them a 528 00:33:52,542 --> 00:33:56,546 head start. So it's a real foot in the door. So I advise 529 00:33:56,546 --> 00:33:59,318 everyone to go after those sort of accreditations in 530 00:33:59,318 --> 00:34:01,166 addition to the patents and trademarks. 531 00:34:03,710 --> 00:34:08,078 Ladies, this question alone is is a kernel of gold for our 532 00:34:08,078 --> 00:34:12,810 attendees to take away, and I'm so thankful that each of you hit 533 00:34:12,810 --> 00:34:16,450 on such valuable resources and some of those resources are 534 00:34:16,450 --> 00:34:20,454 really unsung heroes. Molly or pro bono program or law school 535 00:34:20,454 --> 00:34:24,094 clinical program? The PTRC program. We can't promote those 536 00:34:24,094 --> 00:34:27,734 programs enough that those are resources that are available to 537 00:34:27,734 --> 00:34:31,738 people, and so many of these resources and resources of the 538 00:34:31,738 --> 00:34:33,558 SBA and score as well. 539 00:34:33,720 --> 00:34:37,361 Often times these resources are for free. Our favorite 4 letter 540 00:34:37,361 --> 00:34:41,002 word, right. So we want people to take advantage of these 541 00:34:41,002 --> 00:34:44,312 opportunities, and Kim, your voice of the insider tips and 542 00:34:44,312 --> 00:34:47,953 tricks that prototyping with a local college. I think that's an 543 00:34:47,953 --> 00:34:51,925 excellent one, and thank you for sharing that. We do have some 544 00:34:51,925 --> 00:34:55,235 additional prepared questions, but I also see we have some 545 00:34:55,235 --> 00:34:59,869 questions from our audience, so I want to be sure in and get to 546 00:34:59,869 --> 00:35:04,503 some of those if we can. And I think this next one is a. 547 00:35:04,950 --> 00:35:06,530 Is a really telling one. 548 00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:10,550 Our our questioner asks I can only imagine the stress 549 00:35:10,550 --> 00:35:13,980 associated with chasing your dream and inventing such a cool 550 00:35:13,980 --> 00:35:17,410 product, so this is obviously directed at Kim, but Jennifer 551 00:35:17,410 --> 00:35:20,840 and Molly. I think you can answer it as well. 552 00:35:21,450 --> 00:35:25,554 How do you handle the anxiety and so it's really a question 553 00:35:25,554 --> 00:35:30,000 about how do you handle the anxiety of of making a pivot of 554 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:33,762 following a dream of perhaps stepping away from you know what 555 00:35:33,762 --> 00:35:37,182 you've always known in done to do something different, whether 556 00:35:37,182 --> 00:35:40,944 it's going from a law firm to corporate practice, whether it's 557 00:35:40,944 --> 00:35:43,338 starting your own legal Association, whether it's 558 00:35:43,338 --> 00:35:46,758 starting your own small business, how do you handle the 559 00:35:46,758 --> 00:35:49,836 anxiety? What are something we can do to help? 560 00:35:51,380 --> 00:35:54,968 So I would say that the most important thing is to have 561 00:35:54,968 --> 00:35:57,958 belief in yourself and failure is inevitable. It's going to 562 00:35:57,958 --> 00:36:01,845 happen, but try to plan. Try to save money or do whatever you 563 00:36:01,845 --> 00:36:05,433 need to do so that you can relieve some of that anxiety. 564 00:36:05,433 --> 00:36:09,918 But the bottom line is you you you can't give up if the if this 565 00:36:09,918 --> 00:36:13,805 is your dream, you have to go after it. For example, it was 566 00:36:13,805 --> 00:36:17,692 really difficult for me to to leave my my job in October, but 567 00:36:17,692 --> 00:36:21,878 this is the chance of a lifetime and I have to strike while the 568 00:36:21,878 --> 00:36:25,930 iron is hot. I I have enough confidence in my product and in 569 00:36:25,930 --> 00:36:29,307 my strategy and all of the preparation that I've done that 570 00:36:29,307 --> 00:36:32,991 of course there's anxiety, but I have no choice that there's no 571 00:36:32,991 --> 00:36:36,368 turning back now I'm just I'm just moving forward and the 572 00:36:36,368 --> 00:36:39,745 worst that's going to happen is that the company fails. And 573 00:36:39,745 --> 00:36:43,736 guess what? I could get a job all over again. Yes, I'll have 574 00:36:43,736 --> 00:36:47,113 to start back from scratch, but that's the worst that could 575 00:36:47,113 --> 00:36:50,797 happen, so why not go for it? Just give it your all. 576 00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:56,901 So I won't talk about any of my inappropriate coping mechanisms 577 00:36:56,901 --> 00:36:58,656 that involve, shall we say, 578 00:36:58,656 --> 00:37:02,286 grapes? Um, in a fermented, you know, in a bottle. 579 00:37:03,750 --> 00:37:05,340 But I I will say. 580 00:37:06,870 --> 00:37:12,554 I I have leaned on my network, I have leaned on my mentors. I 581 00:37:12,554 --> 00:37:17,832 cannot thank any of them enough for all of those people who have 582 00:37:17,832 --> 00:37:23,516 talked me off the ledge and who you know believed in me when I 583 00:37:23,516 --> 00:37:27,576 quite frankly maybe didn't believe it myself. So I think 584 00:37:27,576 --> 00:37:31,636 your mentors, your support network, the the, the people who 585 00:37:31,636 --> 00:37:35,696 will be there for you. Yeah, they definitely help with 586 00:37:35,696 --> 00:37:40,640 anxiety and. I know I always refer to one of my favorite 587 00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:44,024 inventors, Beulah Louise Henry, who invented the vacuum sealed 588 00:37:44,024 --> 00:37:48,536 ice cream freezer. Because, you know, she allows us to have the 589 00:37:48,536 --> 00:37:52,296 relationship with Ben and Jerry's that that some of us 590 00:37:52,296 --> 00:37:56,432 have. So I I really think greatly. Maybe don't adopt by 591 00:37:56,432 --> 00:37:59,440 inappropriate coping mechanisms, but definitely rely on your 592 00:37:59,440 --> 00:38:03,576 support network and your mentors in in your personal board of 593 00:38:03,576 --> 00:38:06,584 directors or your team that Cheers you on. 594 00:38:07,780 --> 00:38:11,685 Boy, this is truly women's History Month. If we can weave 595 00:38:11,685 --> 00:38:14,525 Lady Edison into a conversation. Nicely done, Molly. 596 00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:19,324 Jennifer, do you wanna add to the conversation? Sure, I do a 597 00:38:19,324 --> 00:38:23,185 little bit of both from Kim and from Molly Beth too. You know, 598 00:38:23,185 --> 00:38:27,046 it's it is one of those things where there's a lot of anxiety, 599 00:38:27,046 --> 00:38:31,501 but but I look at others, have done it and I said I say others 600 00:38:31,501 --> 00:38:35,065 have done it. And if it doesn't work, I'll do something else. 601 00:38:35,065 --> 00:38:38,629 But I, as I have to surround, surround myself with people who 602 00:38:38,629 --> 00:38:41,599 have faith in me and and oftentimes almost always they 603 00:38:41,599 --> 00:38:43,975 have far more faith in me than I 604 00:38:43,975 --> 00:38:48,053 have in myself. And and that helps you know my husband has 605 00:38:48,053 --> 00:38:51,737 been a terrific support through through all of this. I also hit 606 00:38:51,737 --> 00:38:55,114 the treadmill, maybe a little too often. I meditate maybe a 607 00:38:55,114 --> 00:38:58,798 little too long when things get tough, but but it's anxiety is 608 00:38:58,798 --> 00:39:03,096 part of the fun of it. You know, if your life is it completely 609 00:39:03,096 --> 00:39:06,166 anxiety free, you know it actually might be a little 610 00:39:06,166 --> 00:39:07,394 boring. So embrace it. 611 00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:13,430 I love that I love that and I think we can all take a take 612 00:39:13,430 --> 00:39:17,096 away from each and everyone of you that that there's no one way 613 00:39:17,096 --> 00:39:20,480 to deal with the stress and anxiety. And maybe it might take 614 00:39:20,480 --> 00:39:21,608 more than one way. 615 00:39:23,680 --> 00:39:28,804 We have kind of a very specific patent question that I'm going 616 00:39:28,804 --> 00:39:33,074 to pose recognizing that we can't provide legal advice, but 617 00:39:33,074 --> 00:39:37,344 I'm going to call on Jennifer and Molly. Although Kim, please 618 00:39:37,344 --> 00:39:42,895 feel free to jump in as well. We haven't. Uh, attendee today who 619 00:39:42,895 --> 00:39:47,165 has filed a provisional patent application and is in the 620 00:39:47,165 --> 00:39:51,008 process of manufacturing their product. But there also filing 621 00:39:51,008 --> 00:39:54,424 for the non provisional. Will the Provisional patent 622 00:39:54,424 --> 00:39:56,110 application. Protect me 623 00:39:56,110 --> 00:39:59,424 sufficiently. Maybe to just touch on what a provisional 624 00:39:59,424 --> 00:40:04,007 patent application is Very quickly and how that May or 625 00:40:04,007 --> 00:40:08,696 may not help in your process of of entrepreneurship, 626 00:40:08,696 --> 00:40:10,259 manufacturing and commercializing. 627 00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:16,190 Jennifer, do you wanna start? Or sure, Sir, absolutely a 628 00:40:16,190 --> 00:40:18,742 provisional application. Sometimes people refer to it as 629 00:40:18,742 --> 00:40:21,932 a placeholder. So it is an application that describes your 630 00:40:21,932 --> 00:40:26,079 invention that you put on file and then you have one years time 631 00:40:26,079 --> 00:40:29,907 to work on your invention to create more data to to develop 632 00:40:29,907 --> 00:40:34,373 it, to learn more about it, to expound upon it and and then you 633 00:40:34,373 --> 00:40:38,201 have to either file a utility patent which is a patent that 634 00:40:38,201 --> 00:40:41,391 then gets examined or patent application. I'm sorry that that 635 00:40:41,391 --> 00:40:42,667 then actually gets examined. 636 00:40:43,090 --> 00:40:46,577 And if you make it through the examination process, that's what 637 00:40:46,577 --> 00:40:50,381 will issue be allowed and be issued. And then you have your 638 00:40:50,381 --> 00:40:53,868 your your actual patent and is that patent that that is 639 00:40:53,868 --> 00:40:57,038 actionable. That's the patent that will protect you. There is 640 00:40:57,038 --> 00:41:00,208 some protection of potentially provided from the date you file 641 00:41:00,208 --> 00:41:04,012 your utility application so it doesn't go all the way back to 642 00:41:04,012 --> 00:41:06,865 your provisional application. But if you file your utility 643 00:41:06,865 --> 00:41:10,035 application conversion after after the one year period of the 644 00:41:10,035 --> 00:41:13,205 placeholder Anuar and what you claim in there, what you 645 00:41:13,205 --> 00:41:16,692 describe as your invention and claim at the very end is. 646 00:41:16,890 --> 00:41:20,102 Yes. Essentially the same as the claims that are 647 00:41:20,102 --> 00:41:22,414 ultimately issued. You might have some protection from 648 00:41:22,414 --> 00:41:25,304 there, but it does not go back to your provisional 649 00:41:25,304 --> 00:41:27,905 patent filing what it protects you from is others 650 00:41:27,905 --> 00:41:30,795 who come along in the intervening year and file an 651 00:41:30,795 --> 00:41:33,107 application that claims something is very similar to 652 00:41:33,107 --> 00:41:35,708 your invention, so that's what it does protect you 653 00:41:35,708 --> 00:41:39,176 out. You have a placeholder, you have a date and time in 654 00:41:39,176 --> 00:41:40,332 with you invented first. 655 00:41:45,410 --> 00:41:46,000 Woo Hoo. 656 00:41:47,610 --> 00:41:49,254 Molly, did you want to add 657 00:41:49,254 --> 00:41:53,484 anything? Absolutely not. Jennifer did a great job. Very 658 00:41:53,484 --> 00:41:54,618 good, thank you. 659 00:41:55,980 --> 00:42:01,260 So I see our time is it is drawing to a close but I have 660 00:42:01,260 --> 00:42:05,836 one question and then I want to give each of you the opportunity 661 00:42:05,836 --> 00:42:10,060 to provide a Pearl of wisdom to share with our audiences. There 662 00:42:10,060 --> 00:42:14,284 take away. But maybe if we could hit one last question relatively 663 00:42:14,284 --> 00:42:18,508 quickly to address the elephant in the room and that is the 664 00:42:18,508 --> 00:42:22,732 pandemic and its significant impact on all of us. How is the 665 00:42:22,732 --> 00:42:25,548 current climate of the digital environment the pandemic 666 00:42:25,548 --> 00:42:29,054 affected How You work how you work with your clients. 667 00:42:29,620 --> 00:42:33,162 And are there some takeaways for how that could help or 668 00:42:33,162 --> 00:42:36,382 hurt your business or the business of those you work 669 00:42:36,382 --> 00:42:39,924 with in the future? Are there some positives, or is it 670 00:42:39,924 --> 00:42:43,466 solely negative so that we have to take away from this 671 00:42:43,466 --> 00:42:45,720 dramatic experience that we've gone through together? 672 00:42:48,510 --> 00:42:53,778 I'll start a little bit, you know the the focus for the 673 00:42:53,778 --> 00:42:59,046 agency really shifted last March and I really I'm so proud of 674 00:42:59,046 --> 00:43:03,875 this agency for how seamlessly we transitioned. I think all of 675 00:43:03,875 --> 00:43:09,143 the investments that we made over the years in Tele work. All 676 00:43:09,143 --> 00:43:14,411 of the other things that we have done to promote inclusion And 677 00:43:14,411 --> 00:43:19,240 and you know, engagement with the agency have paid off in 678 00:43:19,240 --> 00:43:25,433 spades. But I mean, I love the fact that right on average 679 00:43:25,433 --> 00:43:29,024 there's over 13,000 VPN connections to headquarters 680 00:43:29,024 --> 00:43:30,563 every single day. 681 00:43:31,260 --> 00:43:36,525 There's an average of 6000 participants that hold 1200 682 00:43:36,525 --> 00:43:40,620 virtual meetings using our agency secure teleconferencing 683 00:43:40,620 --> 00:43:45,130 tools. We have over 9000 patent examiners and trademark 684 00:43:45,130 --> 00:43:48,820 examining attorney's working virtually and we didn't miss a 685 00:43:48,820 --> 00:43:53,330 beat in in. In our examination it's it's nothing short of 686 00:43:53,330 --> 00:43:57,020 phenomenal. For me personally right, everything changed to on 687 00:43:57,020 --> 00:44:01,940 line. I've had to make some some personal changes, you know, just 688 00:44:01,940 --> 00:44:06,040 in terms of not traveling anymore. My suitcase really is 689 00:44:06,040 --> 00:44:11,370 very upset at me and I missed a lot of the in person 690 00:44:11,370 --> 00:44:15,285 connections. That we've been able to make, but we've been 691 00:44:15,285 --> 00:44:19,035 able to seamlessly transition to the virtual environment, and I 692 00:44:19,035 --> 00:44:22,785 think we've been able to get some very rich conversations 693 00:44:22,785 --> 00:44:26,160 occurring in the virtual environment as we've adapted. So 694 00:44:26,160 --> 00:44:30,285 while I'm looking forward to going back and being able to 695 00:44:30,285 --> 00:44:33,660 visit people, for example, I really miss Kansas City 696 00:44:33,660 --> 00:44:37,930 Barbeque. I have to tell you I haven't been to Kansas City in 697 00:44:37,930 --> 00:44:41,310 like a year and a half and I really miss their barbecue and 698 00:44:41,310 --> 00:44:44,430 I missed the people everywhere in my region. So I am looking 699 00:44:44,430 --> 00:44:47,290 forward to getting back, but we have adapted really well to 700 00:44:47,290 --> 00:44:49,630 this, but Jennifer, I'd be interested in hearing your 701 00:44:49,630 --> 00:44:50,410 insights as well. 702 00:44:53,420 --> 00:44:57,570 I I couldn't agree more. I've been incredibly impressed with 703 00:44:57,570 --> 00:45:01,720 the way that that the Patent Office managed adapted to 704 00:45:01,720 --> 00:45:05,870 continued on during the pandemic an from. From my own 705 00:45:05,870 --> 00:45:10,435 perspective, you know my timing as far as Lawton launching title 706 00:45:10,435 --> 00:45:15,415 was was it coincided with the pandemic and the shut down an 707 00:45:15,415 --> 00:45:20,810 and it it was actually fairly good timing as far as the the 708 00:45:20,810 --> 00:45:22,055 development of the. 709 00:45:22,320 --> 00:45:25,956 Digital, the video conferencing. All of those resources for 710 00:45:25,956 --> 00:45:30,400 working from home and I think it's it's really actually quite 711 00:45:30,400 --> 00:45:35,652 good and hopefully will be. Will be good to to businesses in and 712 00:45:37,210 --> 00:45:40,740 Others in the the legal Facility legal services field. Because, 713 00:45:40,740 --> 00:45:44,976 you know, law firms have a lot of lawyers downtown and big 714 00:45:44,976 --> 00:45:49,212 fancy offices that have really high rent. And he know who pays 715 00:45:49,212 --> 00:45:53,095 for that. The clients do, and now we've learned that attorneys 716 00:45:53,095 --> 00:45:57,331 can work from home and interact with their clients on video chat 717 00:45:57,331 --> 00:46:01,567 and and, you know, have face to FaceTime. An really do you 718 00:46:01,567 --> 00:46:05,097 productive and good legal work without the high rent. So 719 00:46:05,097 --> 00:46:07,921 hopefully this will actually be a benefit to. 720 00:46:08,200 --> 00:46:11,880 Companies and clients everywhere. But I I my heart of 721 00:46:11,880 --> 00:46:15,928 course goes out to everyone who wasn't as fortunate in the 722 00:46:15,928 --> 00:46:19,976 pandemic. And that's really the most important point. I want to 723 00:46:19,976 --> 00:46:23,656 make. But but as far as the development of this 724 00:46:23,656 --> 00:46:26,600 infrastructure for for video conferencing, an for digital 725 00:46:26,600 --> 00:46:30,648 interactions has really been, I think quite good and will be 726 00:46:30,648 --> 00:46:33,960 will be a beneficial to the legal services field. 727 00:46:36,000 --> 00:46:40,005 Great points Jennifer and I have to say that. 728 00:46:41,340 --> 00:46:45,289 Again, not everyone has been so lucky, but the pandemic is 729 00:46:45,289 --> 00:46:49,238 actually been a positive for me. For example, trade shows are 730 00:46:49,238 --> 00:46:52,828 very important when you're trying to promote a product, and 731 00:46:52,828 --> 00:46:57,136 I could do them virtually now, so that has been phenomenal. It 732 00:46:57,136 --> 00:47:01,803 saves me a lot of money as a small business and their their 733 00:47:01,803 --> 00:47:04,675 services. For example, there's easy. Ahriman rangeme.com that 734 00:47:04,675 --> 00:47:08,624 I'm in able to promote my product to specific buyers all 735 00:47:08,624 --> 00:47:12,932 through the computer, so it makes life easy. Plus I could do 736 00:47:12,932 --> 00:47:16,800 it. From home, in my pajamas and it's it's easy to do 737 00:47:16,800 --> 00:47:19,590 research on places like LinkedIn where I could find 738 00:47:19,590 --> 00:47:23,000 buyers there as well. So it's made me become more creative 739 00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:26,720 and it's actually saved me a lot of time because I don't 740 00:47:26,720 --> 00:47:31,060 have to pack and go to a trade show and spend all that money. 741 00:47:31,060 --> 00:47:35,400 And I also don't have to sit in a long commute. I live in 742 00:47:35,400 --> 00:47:38,190 Los Angeles, so that's my favorite thing about the 743 00:47:38,190 --> 00:47:41,600 pandemic is now being in rush hour traffic all the time. 744 00:47:44,420 --> 00:47:48,047 Ladies, thank you. We've all. We've certainly all learned 745 00:47:48,047 --> 00:47:52,077 ingrown And There are some positive takeaways as each of 746 00:47:52,077 --> 00:47:56,913 you have shared. Kim touched on it earlier and that's the value 747 00:47:56,913 --> 00:47:58,928 and importance of paying it 748 00:47:58,928 --> 00:48:03,230 forward. And very honestly, that is what each one of you 749 00:48:03,230 --> 00:48:05,870 is doing today. By participating in this panel. 750 00:48:05,870 --> 00:48:09,500 And I can't thank you enough for your time and expertise. 751 00:48:09,500 --> 00:48:13,460 Share today. With that, I'd like to give each of you the 752 00:48:13,460 --> 00:48:17,090 moment for one last word. One last kernel of expertise and 753 00:48:17,090 --> 00:48:20,720 advice that you might like to leave our audience with. What 754 00:48:20,720 --> 00:48:24,350 does that take away that you would offer to our audience 755 00:48:24,350 --> 00:48:24,680 today? 756 00:48:26,990 --> 00:48:29,246 I'll go first. Ask for help. 757 00:48:30,110 --> 00:48:32,147 Don't don't be afraid to ask for 758 00:48:32,147 --> 00:48:37,397 help. Um And and don't be afraid to come to people that 759 00:48:37,397 --> 00:48:42,558 you might not think would help you, but but ask for help. The 760 00:48:42,558 --> 00:48:46,528 people who are most successful, especially in pivots, ask for 761 00:48:46,528 --> 00:48:50,101 help and I think that's the most important takeaway. 762 00:48:52,950 --> 00:48:56,334 I would say don't allow your dreams to be dashed. You know 763 00:48:56,334 --> 00:48:59,718 when you're you're talking about this new idea you have for this 764 00:48:59,718 --> 00:49:03,102 new invention or this new service, there are going to be a 765 00:49:03,102 --> 00:49:06,204 lot of naysayers out there. Don't listen to them. Believe in 766 00:49:06,204 --> 00:49:09,588 yourself, have confidence and just go for it. I said it before 767 00:49:09,588 --> 00:49:13,536 now is just know for now. It really is no for now. And I 768 00:49:13,536 --> 00:49:16,920 agree with you, it's necessary to ask for help and people are 769 00:49:16,920 --> 00:49:20,304 so willing to help. You'll be amazed if you don't ask. You 770 00:49:20,304 --> 00:49:23,688 don't receive, so be sure to ask for help along the way. 771 00:49:26,330 --> 00:49:30,575 And I'll just say take a leap of faith. Go for it. You got this. 772 00:49:34,230 --> 00:49:38,720 Thank you ladies. Thank you Jennifer Kim. Molly leave you 773 00:49:38,720 --> 00:49:43,659 with a word of wisdom. Dave Thomas our famous founder of 774 00:49:43,659 --> 00:49:49,047 Wendy's. Once said, what do you need to start a business? 3 775 00:49:49,047 --> 00:49:53,537 simple things. Know your product better than anyone. Know your 776 00:49:53,537 --> 00:49:58,476 customer and have a burning desire to succeed. As our three 777 00:49:58,476 --> 00:50:00,272 panelists have shown today. 778 00:50:01,040 --> 00:50:04,615 They each have a burning desire to succeed in have each 779 00:50:04,615 --> 00:50:07,540 in their own individual, right And they've shared that 780 00:50:07,540 --> 00:50:11,115 formula for success with you today. My thanks to them. My 781 00:50:11,115 --> 00:50:14,690 thanks to Sean and all of those in the Office of 782 00:50:14,690 --> 00:50:17,615 Innovation Outreach an the communications team of the US 783 00:50:17,615 --> 00:50:21,190 Patent and Trademark Office. It was a pleasure to be part 784 00:50:21,190 --> 00:50:23,465 of this year's Women's Entrepreneurship Symposium. We 785 00:50:23,465 --> 00:50:26,715 wish you all the best of success in your continued 786 00:50:26,715 --> 00:50:27,365 innovation journey. 787 00:50:29,690 --> 00:50:32,522 Thank you Elizabeth. Thank you, Kimberly, Jennifer and 788 00:50:32,522 --> 00:50:35,000 Molly. Your panel was exciting, innovative and 789 00:50:35,000 --> 00:50:37,832 informative and we appreciate you providing all those 790 00:50:37,832 --> 00:50:39,602 resources for everyone watching today.