Every
parent who has ever lost something made with love as a gift from a
child knows the panic Shelly
Fisher felt when she lost a beaded earring made
by her 7 year old daughter while the family was vacationing on the
Jersey Shore. What Shelly did not know, is the loss of that earring
would result in a profitable passion and purpose which quite
literally saves lives.
In
an article for the Huffington
Post, Fisher tells how she found a bead store on the boardwalk
and thought the owner of the store could quickly make a replacement
earring and her daughter would not be disappointed with her Mother
losing her special gift.
Fishers
says, “I
just thought she’d make me something but instead, she said ‘I’ll
show you how, but you have to make it yourself.’ At first I
thought, You’ve
got to be kidding.
But actually, it was a great marketing technique. Once you try it and
see the results of your work, you’re hooked and you buy more
beads!”
Shelly
was hooked and after some art classes and a house full of beads and
crystals, she was the one making jewelry for her daughter and her
friends.
At
that point destiny was about to set in for Shelly. As she explains to
the Huffington
Post, “My friend Lisa showed me a pink crystal bracelet she was
going to buy for her mother, who is a breast cancer survivor. It cost
$120 and 10 percent of the proceeds would go to breast cancer
research. But I knew it really only cost $25 to make. So I convinced
her to let me show her how to create one. I knew her mother would
love the fact that she made it herself and that way she could take
that extra $100 and donate it directly to the charity.”
That
is when Shelly and Lisa, both of whom had been active in their
children's school and local charities had an epiphany and realized
they could use their jewelry making talents to help charities and
other groups raise money. Shelly and Lisa “began
designing awareness bracelets -- jewelry that the charities could
sell as fundraisers.”
Shelly
Fisher and her friend Lisa had found their profitable passion and
purpose helping charities raise money and having the time of their
lives doing it, but their purpose was about to evolve in a way they
could have never expected, that would result in saving lives.
Shelly
recalls how it happened, ““I was at a meeting with the local
chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation,” Shelly
remembered, “and one of the other moms stopped me and said. ‘I
think what you’re doing is really nice, but it would be great if
you could create a medical bracelet that younger people would want to
wear.’ Her daughter Kristen was 16 and she was diabetic. She was
about to start driving and her mother was concerned that she could be
pulled over and end up at a police station, rather than a hospital,
because an officer would mistake a drop in blood sugar for drunk
driving. But her daughter wasn’t willing to wear the traditional
silver medical alert bracelet. She thought it would make her stand
out -- to be defined as the girl with diabetes.
“As
a mom, I instantly said yes, as long as her daughter would help us
design it, so we knew she would wear it. But I walked away thinking,
'What
do I know about medical bracelets?'”
 |
Kristin models the Medical Alert Bracelet
She Helped Design with Shelly Fisher |
Shelly
immediately began making phone calls to find out what needed to be
included in a medical alert bracelet. With that information, She and
Kristin began brainstorming design ideas.
It wasn't long before they had come up with a leather watchband
bracelet, replacing the actual watch with a medical insignia that
matched the band. Kristen chose two colors -- neon green and pink.
And it was at that point that Shelly thought, if Kristen was willing
to wear a bracelet like this, maybe other kids would too. So once the
mold was made, she ordered 400 more and posted them on a website a
friend’s son created for her.” (Huffington
Post).
Shelly
says, “We thought if we could just make back the money we invested
and make a difference in even one person’s life, we were doing a
good thing. Lisa and I were doing it from our basements and maybe
selling ten a week. If we sold more than one in a day, we were doing
a happy dance around the table!”
Soon
they were getting requests for other types of medial alert bracelets
and Shelly and Lisa realized they could help others with all types
medical conditions where an alert bracelet would be appropriate.
Shelly says, “And then I walked by a kiosk at the mall,” Shelly
recalled, “where a young person was using an engraving machine and
I thought, 'How
hard could it be?'
So we ordered one. Let’s just say the lesson that was supposed to
take five hours, took nine hours with us. We weren’t as bright as
we thought!”
They
did however catch the attention of a sales rep who thought he could
get their unique medical alert bracelets on pharmacy shelves. He left
his name and number and Shelly tacked it to a bulletin board and left
it there for two years!
Shelly
explains that sometimes timing in everything; “This was just a
hobby for us. Lisa really didn’t want anything more from it and I
was raising three children. I knew it was a big leap and the time
just wasn't right -- so with the engraving, maybe we were selling
30 bracelets a week and we thought that was great! But then one day
it occurred to me that I no longer had to feel guilty about working
between three and six o’clock, since the kids were all involved in
after school sports -- and that’s when I took the piece of paper
off the board and called him.”
Shelly
and the Sales Rep took the concept to a Pharmacy trade show and when
the buyers began asking for custom bracelets for themselves or
members of their families, they knew they were on to something.
The
designer medical alert bracelets caught the attention of the media
too. Shelly recalls, “Just as things were taking off, I got a call
early one morning from someone in our office. He said, ‘Did you
know we’re in the Wall Street Journal?’ And I laughed. I thought
he was kidding. But we were on the front page! A reporter had
discovered our bracelets on the internet, ordered four styles and
featured them in an article called The Jewelry Prescription. That was
my real 'aha' moment, when I realized we could change the way people
looked at medical alert bracelets.”
According
to her website, Medical ID
Marketplace partners with Ronald McDonald House Charities, the
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, The Make A Wish Foundation,
and many others. Other corporate customers and partners (current and
past) include The Coca-Cola Corporation, The McDonald's Corporation
and The Hershey Foods Corporation. The company has more than 150 styles that can be customized for any
medical condition or simply with emergency contact information. (Medical
ID Marketplace ).
"The
little bracelet that once brought on a celebration, when more than
one was sold in a day, is now flying off the shelves -- with as many
as 11,000 going out in any given week. The first year it hit
pharmacies, Shelly’s hobby became a million-dollar business.
“This
all began with the hope that I could help one teenage girl fit in
with her friends -- so that she wouldn't be branded by her
illness,” Shelly said, “And while I feel really fortunate, it’s
important for people to know that success doesn't have to be on a
grand scale, it just needs to be something that fulfills you.
“Find
something that makes you feel like you’re contributing and take the
first step. You never know where it will take you.” (Huffington
Post).
Be
Great!
MB.
