GRiPPiES, LLC

Web Address: http://www.grippiesonline.com
Business Type: No-slip shapes for apparel

Owner: Corrie Wilder and Yelena Mogelefsky
Number of children:
2 each (Corrie has 2 girls, Yelena has a boy & girl)
Year Started: 2007

What did you do before you became a WAHM?

Corrie: Art Director, Marketing department at Sports Illustrated and Golf Magazine.

Yelena: Still WOHM, Product line manager at Foot Locker, developing and sourcing all private label clothing.

Describe your business/products:

Original GRiPPiES No-Slip Shapes: You’ve already got socks...make ‘em GRiPPiES Socks!

With GRiPPiES, you’ll never have to sacrifice a cute pair of socks or tights for your kid just because they don’t have grippers on the sole. You’ll never get stuck in your child’s gym class with the “wrong” kind of socks for running, jumping and climbing. With GRiPPiES, every sock becomes the right sock! GRiPPiES are available in a variety of shapes, in iron on and stick on options.

GRiPPiES No-Slip Tights: The first of their kind, these 100% nylon girls tights have a real GRiPPiES no-slip sole! Available in sizes 2-14, in 4 colors (black, white, cream and pink).

What was your inspiration?

Corrie Wilder and Yelena Mogelefsky are two moms who bonded on their daily Long Island Railroad commute and hung out together with their children at "mommy and me" gym classes. One day, Corrie's daughter helped take their friendship to a new level—after a tantrum about wanting to wear tights to gym class (when the rule there was to wear gripper socks) Corrie turned to Yelena and said "we have to make it so this doesn't happen ever again!"

After a bit of research in our kids sock drawers, we noticed that not all of their socks had non-skid bottoms and none of the girls' tights had a grippie sole. Without some kind of "grippies" on their socks and tights, there was no way to avoid our kids slipping and falling on our wood and tile floors, and no way to avoid Corrie's "girly girl's" gym fashion freakouts!

We couldn't find a product made specifically to make regular tights and socks non-skid in the marketplace. Unwilling to accept this as a final answer, we decided to make it ourselves!

What has been your most successful marketing technique?
Letting people try the product and seeing that we use them ourselves. Word of mouth marketing is very powerful.

WAHM advice?
Balance is very difficult, but possible. A good sense of humor is absolutely the foremost job requirement.

Blog Address?
http://www.theinventorsnotebook.blogspot.com (a bit neglected though...)

What has been the hardest part of starting your own business?
Selling is a big hurdle! Cash flow is a close second.

What has been the most surprising?
How fulfilling it is to make a relationship with a new customer and to hear good feedback.

What has been the most exciting?
Getting that first call from One Step Ahead catalog that their President tested and liked our very first product (iron on stars)
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