From Diabetes to Design Entrepreneur…

Rickina was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes in July ’07 while pregnant with her second son. As you can imagine, a whirlwind full of emotions followed; fear, anxiety, denial. While she had an amazing support team that consisted of her husband, family and friends, Rickina also credits a social network called TuDiabetes for helping her to understand and cope with her diagnosis.

It was during the first month or so of carrying around a simple black nylon bag full of the supplies she needed to treat herself that her creativity began to be stirred up. You see, Rickina is a lady of style and character. And besides, that plain, cold, black bag made her feel sick.

“Not only did it not compliment my style, it made me feel like I was sick, and no body who is dealing with a disease or a sickness wants to ‘feel’ sick” she said in a recent interview.

The lack of appealing options (black or navy blue nylon anyone?) caused Rickina to act on the idea of producing some herself. She browsed through some books on creating handbags and reacquainted herself with the sewing machine, a relationship that is rocky at best, but they were able to get along for just the amount of time it would take for Rickina to create a prototype. She photographed her new creation and uploaded it to the web for opinions and feedback. She said, “The response was fantastic…and the entrepreneurial flicker began.”

Rickina maintains the business’s site, accounting, designing, order fulfillments and customer service. Yes, the whole operation is run from her laptop, at her home, with the exception of the production of the bags. That is done by a contractor. Of course, her favorite part is choosing the fabulous and trendy fabrics. She loves finding fabrics that are hip and retro but she is quick to point out that feel, texture and durability are just as important.

She definitely intends to extend her product line to include more styles that will fit the different lifestyles of people with diabetes. She says, “Because testing your blood sugars is a frequent, daily activity, the bag needs to be able to accommodate that.” She is also considering the suggestions to create a bag for asthmatics and for people who are using an insulin pump.

Rickina is able to maintain her business, her two busy boys and a night job. Her husband is fully supportive of her and her business endeavors. I was excited to learn that they are debt free with the exception of a mortgage and that has allowed them the finances to pursue Rickina’s dream.

Rickina, like many of us, began the college journey only to fall short of the desired diploma. She had difficult pregnancies and chose to care for her body and her baby rather than overworking herself to get a degree. I must say that I totally agree with her way of thinking though. I was all smiles when she told me, “I’ve learned so much about e-commerce, web design, blogs and stuff just from getting out there in the cyber world. No class could ever teach me what I’ve learned from just diving in head-first.” This is so very true. Most of what we learn is what we learn for ourselves.

Here are some suggestions from this savvy business lady:

1. Do your research in that industry or that field.

2. Write down everything you can about your thoughts, your ideas, your product your service. I mean literally write them down, and date your ideas. Keep that notebook(s) with you everywhere you go.

3. Find a company(s) that is/are doing what you want to do, if it applies and see how they run their operation. By understanding what successful companies are doing you can apply those principles to what you want to do too. Or you can even find a way to do an aspect of it better, so you’ll have an advantage in the market.

4. You have to niche yourself. And what I mean by that is, find a little cubby that no one has discovered yet. Something that can sustain your business to where you want to take it, but is still small enough that that industry has forgotten about them. I think that makes it easier to market to them, it makes you unique and stand out and makes what you’re doing more specific.