At the age when many people are thinking about retirement, Karen Wolters was just getting started.
Wolters shared the inspiring story of what she called her “American born, globally grown” career Oct. 19 for the Entrepreneur Speaker Series at Concordia University Chicago.
After moving back to America after living in Spain for seven years and Taiwan for an additional 12 years, Wolters took a risk and invented many tools in the cooking world that would later launch her career. An example known to many is the lining inside a Domino’s bag that keeps food warm.
After adding knowledge from cooking classes from Taiwan and Spain to her tool box, and analogy she used throughout the evening; Wolters, went to create and patent a tool that could carve a butterfly out of a carrot. She manufactured the product and started shipping it around the world, with little knowledge on what she was doing she managed to teach herself, said Wolters.
“No one in this room is dumb,” said Wolters. She wanted everyone to know that if she could teach herself, so can everyone else in society.
Doris Christopher, the CEO and founder of The Pampered Chef, Ltd recognized her product and made a business deal with the entrepreneur. Wolters was hesitant. She wanted to travel the world with her husband who had just then retired.
“To this day I still look back and think about what a great decision it was,” said Wolters. Wolters and her son went on to invent an induction technology that can be found in kitchens that is safer than most technology when cooking. It’s a black ceramic cooking surface, similar to a stove top. The heat will not activate when someone lays a hand on the surface, only a pot can because of a magnetic field that reacts with resistance in the materials, said Wolters. “A coil is no longer needed” and “it’s energy efficient,” said Wolters.
Travel mugs come in various materials, sizes, and lid styles. Wolters took it upon herself to create a travel mug that doesn’t leak and fits inside the cup holder. To prevent leakage, the user presses “this little button, it opens the aperture. You release it and it’s closed.” The travel mug even has products for children.
When Wolters sold the travel mug product, they had $90 million in sales and sold it for $110 million, and were in 40 countries. Wolters got a call about a year later saying it had sold again to the company Rubbermaid for $300 million. Wolters wants people to know that “everyone can do this” and “America needs you” because entrepreneurs are in demand.
“The biggest thing that keeps people from starting a company is starting and fear.”
Everything can be improved for the need of the consumer. As time evolves so does technology and the things around us. Wolters started her a business at age 50. The risk and reward are something entrepreneurs always calculate, said Wolters. With perseverance, anything is possible.
The last of the Entrepreneurial Speaker Series hosted by the College of Business falls on Thursday, November 16th at 6:00 pm in Krentz 120 with President of PB Industries, Inc. Andrew Park.
