Suburban Mom With Mission To Snuff Out Sports Stink Lands QVC Gig

Ashburn, Va. mom and entrepreneur Krista Woods can declare victory over her competition after an appearance on the NBC Today Show that has led to an even bigger slot on TV shopping network QVC.

Woods appeared on NBC’s “Today Show” Thursday with her solution to the pungent odors from her kids’ athletic gear. She beat out eight other semifinalists on NBC’s “Next Big Thing” segment — a collaboration between QVC and “Today Show” — with an invention called GloveStix, a disinfectant and deodorizer for athletic gloves and equipment. After submitting her product to the national competition’s “mom-preneurs” group, she was picked from thousands of pitches to present her concept on the show.

Air time on QVC is hardly a small award. The network’s impact can be tremendous, as was the case for startup California-based It Cosmetics. Founder Jamie Kern secured a 10-minute chunk of air time in 2010 after a couple years of pitching the network, and brought the business from $1 million in revenue in its first year to more than $100 million after repeated televised appearances. The 24-hour network reaches more than 100 million Americans.

Woods cooked up the idea for GloveStix as a combatant to her kids’ smelly gym bags on a drive back from a lacrosse tournament. The two tube-shaped ends connected by a rope are placed inside the stinky gloves or shoes, soak up the moisture, and remove nearly all of the bacteria that produce the stench, in about 24 hours.

The product is available in 19 retail locations in seven states and sells for $29.99, with refill bags costing $7.95.

GloveStix was one of three inventions in the “Products to help mom get organized” category, the last of three semifinal rounds of the competition. Chicago-based SheetBNeat, a mechanism for folding fitted sheets, and Acton, Massachusetts-based The Matte, a bathroom sink organizer, were the other two contenders.

As the winner, Woods will get air time on QVC’s “Saturday Morning Q” show Saturday.

Source: Washington Business Journal, Sara Gilgore
Photo: Krista Woods a semifinalist on NBC’s “Today Show” competition. Her GloveStix invention, a disinfectant and deodorizer for athletic gear, could win her air time on QVC.