Blog Entry 42 of 85
A Lady's Lair
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kicking a$$. I'm a former YourHub.com staffer who loves to give coverage to people doing great things, because, well, it's contagious.
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Broomfield gal shows ladies how to pee like a man
Contributed by:
Brit Horvat/YourHub.com
on 8/28/2007
When I was seeking out a list of all the woman-owned businesses involved in the Boulder Farmers' Market (which by the way -- who knew there were nearly 30 of them?),
Katie Bauer, Boulder Market Manager, wrote back. She suggested I also get in touch with the BCFM's accounts receivable lady,
Karen Diamond, who owns her own business called Go Your Way.
Of course, I immediately sought her out to learn more. When I clicked on her Web site,
goyourway.net, it hit me: This Broomfield gal promotes a device that allows women to pee standing up. Not sure if you caught
my blog on the Magic Cone, but my perceptions of this kind of device are forever changed, thanks to this lengthy yet eye-opening interview with Diamond.
She's the only North American distributor for this device, and she does it out of her home. Solo. And why the hell would a woman be so passionate about promoting something like this? Well, stop it with the ignorance and read on.
Unless you have your own P-Mate to use while reading, I suggest you hit up the bathroom before ya start. Now, get reading! This woman has great stuff to say!
Brit Horvat: First off, what made you want to start Go Your Way?
Karen Diamond: A good friend received a pack of P-mates for her birthday, and when she showed me I cracked up! She told me her friend regularly bought them from Canada to use in different situations. After I stopped laughing I just couldn't stop thinking about the product and about the fact that this woman had to buy them from Canada. I contacted who was then the Canadian distributor, and she sent my inquiries off to the appropriate people in the Netherlands. After several weeks I was contacted by the company that owned worldwide distribution rights, and long story short -- I am now the official North American distributor!
BH: What were the main steps in making this business happen?
KD: Using $3,000 on a credit card, I put together a website -- with help from a great local company called GOOZMO, sent out a press release nationally - with some more help from an amazing photographer/ex-reporter
Carl Thompson, and I wired $1,800 into a bank account in London. That was extremely scary! Everyone thought I was crazy. I hit a home run with the press release. Within the first few days of being online, I had more than 25,000 hits on my site. The P-mates started selling and I had that originalthree grand paid off intwo months time, and made enough to buy more P-mates. The press release was picked up by the
Washington Post which really made a difference. I still get orders from women that read the article in the
Post-Gazette and put it aside, forgot about it, and pop up on my site to order two years later. I know this because I write to every person who orders -- asking them how they heard about it and what activity they will be using it for.
BH: The business is only a few years old. How have things quickly changed or progressed with your business in the few years it has been running?
KD: Things have changed a lot! Locally, McGuckin Hardware and The Boulder Army Store stocks them. I have several people buying from me as resellers. Two of them have their own websites,
dontsquat.com and
pstandingup.com, and are working hard to spread the word about the P-mate. I have begun negotiations with some people from Mexico, which has brought me into a whole new world to navigate, as I will now be exporting as well as importing. I am also happy to say that AAFES- Army and Air Force Exchange Service - is starting to stock these in their PX's -retail stores- on military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. Peeing can be a major safety issue when it comes to women in the military. A woman with her pants down around her ankles is in a much more vulnerable position, literally.
BH: I read that you run your business out of your home. Is this still true?
KD: For the moment, the business is run out of my home, but I am hoping to get the shipping into a fulfillment house in the near future.
BH: Is anyone else on staff?
KD: No, but my husband does go to the post office for me quite often!
BH: You said you've tried every disposable device out there. What other anti-drawer-droppin' devices have you used? Are their names as creative?
KD: Well, let's see. You've talked on your blog about the Magic Cone. All the Magic Cones fell apart when I opened them or while in use! Bad glue job! I wasn't able to get far enough to test the design. Then, there is
The Whizzy and
My Sweet Pee. I normally wouldn't be name-dropping my competitors but I think I'll let folks try them out and make their own decision as to which product is the best.
BH: After browsing your site, it seems like it's a work in progress in certain aspects. Can you clue us in on any of the other products that will soon be distributed by Go Your Way?
KD: When I first started the business, the people I am in contract with said the only way I could have a website was if I sold other products on it. Also I couldn't use the name P-mate in my website name. Being that I wasn't actively selling anything else, I decided to put my husband's CDs on there to honor the agreement. Then, the parent company saw how well I did and they came over and set up the
pmateusa website. After a few months, I convinced them to let me run it for them, so now I have two sites selling the P-mate,
goyourway.net and
pmateusa.com. As for my husbands CDs, I have sold some, but I think I'll be taking them off soon, as he does very well selling them on his own site, which for the record is,
www.markdiamondmusic.com. (Sorry, we are both in the business of shameless self-promotion). I have been approached by different people wanting me to represent their products, but so far nothing has grabbed me the way the P-mate did. Really, I'm not what I would think of as a sales person, but I guess it's all about believing in something. And I do believe in the P-mate!
BH: What do you hope to eventually accomplish with this?
KD: There is something to be said for a woman being able to take care of a basic bodily function without baring her butt to the world and peeing on her shoes. I know some women don't have a problem with it, but the drop and squat method is not for everyone. Many women tend hold it which can lead to bladder infections, never mind the discomfort. So to answer your question, my goal is to supply women with a product that will offer them safety, hygiene, and dignity, along with providing myself and my family a bit of financial security. And, if this business continues to grow, and I actually start to make a profit, I would love to be able to donate money to help support nonprofits in the area, like the People's Clinic, which has taken care of my family for years.
BH: It makes sense that women in Europe are more open to using the P-Mate than they are in the U.S., but they seem to be slowly warming up to it.
KD: I believe it's a marketing issue, and a comfort issue. In Europe, where they have been very popular for years, people are much more matter of fact about their bodies and bodily functions. It is a harder sell here. Though when I see some of the commercials we air on TV in this country, I can't see where the P-mate is any more shocking. Hemorrhoids, Depends, come on! I know it's going to take off. It's already started. I had my best month yet in July, sold 12, 000 packs between wholesale and retail. I haven't even done any commercial advertising yet. It's all been through guerrilla marketing. Blogs, press releases, pay-per-click, even stood outside the Kinetics race last year and handed out 100's of free samples. Lots of my newest customers are women going to the Burning Man Festival. Portapotties are a great place to use the P-mate. Who wants to sit on a nasty wet seat in one of those? Many of my customers are women that travel. I was recently linked to an adoption site, so I've had lots of women buying them to take with them to China.
BH: I'll admit that I still have a Magic Cone that I could use, but something's holding me back. What if I get addicted to the liberation and want to buy them in bulk? Basically, I'd be paying $1 every time I had to go No. 1. Hmm. Seems a bit pricey. Are there any deals that women can get?
KD: I agree, a buck a pee is a lot, if you were paying that every time you had to pee. But I'm not suggesting that women use these every time they go out. But for those certain situations, where the seat's too gross, or there is no toilet, well they sure come in handy, and I think they are well worth the price. Even at a pack a week, just consider what you pay to eat out or to have a few drinks in an evening. That being said, I am currently investigating manufacturing them here in the states. This will help to lower the price, as it's extremely expensive to ship these over the ocean. Increased demand will also help the cost go down. My goal would be to bring the price down to half of what it is, however I am not willing to compromise the quality of the product to do it. So we'll see. As an aside, I am repackaging the P-mates for North America, with my company name on it, and plan to have the text in English, Spanish and French. I also hope to have them made from recycled paper.
BH: Do you know of any men attempting to use them for any particular reason? Or have you had any ridiculous phone calls or e-mails?
KD: Though I don't know of any men who have tried it, I have had men ask me via e-mail if they could. Really I don't know why one would want to, I mean they have their own for Pete's sake! I get a lot of men buying them for their girlfriends or wives. At least that's what they tell me. On a serious note, they are useful for transgendered people.
BH: Now it's time to sidetrack. How long have you been with the Boulder Farmers' Market?
KD: I have been working for the BCFM since 2001.
BH: What does a typical day consist of with your position?
KD: Well, it depends on which hat I'm wearing. I do the accounts receivable, which means I deal with all the money coming in. I count it, record it, deposit it and when it's owed to us, I collect it. That all happens in the office. Then, I get to go to every market and hand out envelopes to each farmer and vendor for them to pay their fees in. I really like getting paid to go to the market twice a week! I also coordinate eleven Fine Art & Fine Craft Fairs for them. Seven in Boulder, three we started in Longmont this season, though we'll be having four in LM next year, and last year I started the first annual Colorado Diamond Holiday Gift Show & Winter Farmers' Market. That went so well we are doing it again on December 8th at the Boulder County Fairgrounds in Barn A.
BH: What else do you do when you're not saving ladies from an awkward peeing
experience?
KD: The truth is, I am working more now than I ever have, so I don't have time for much else. But, I love to read, eat, hangout with friends, and spend time with my family.
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