July 31, 2024 • 41 mins
If you’ve ever turned on QVC or HSN, you’ve probably seen Joy Mangano or one of her many inventions, like the Miracle Mop. Or you may have seen Jennifer Lawrence portray her in the 2015 hit movie, “Joy.” But Joy’s wild success started with a simple idea—and a big risk. On this episode of She Pivots, Joy talks with Emily about her early invention ideas (a fluorescent flea collar for pets!), getting Miracle Mop off the ground as a single mom with three young kids, the decision to sell her company to HSN, her new partnership with Pitbull, and the central role of family in her business decisions.
She Pivots was created by host Emily Tisch Sussman to highlight women, their stories, and how their pivot became their success. To learn more about Joy, follow us on Instagram @ShePivotsThePodcast or visit shepivotsthepodcast.com.
Support the show: https://www.shepivotsthepodcast.com/
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So welcome back to She Pivots. I'm Joy Magano.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to She Pivots, the podcast where we talk with
women who dared to pivot out of one career and
into something new and explore how their personal lives impacted
these decisions. I'm your host Emily Tish Sussman today I'm
delighted in welcoming Joy Mangano to the show. If you
(00:37):
don't recognize her name at first, I promise you know her.
She's the inspiration behind the movie Joy, starring Jennifer Lawrence.
And remember she's the inventor and creator.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Of the Miracle Mop.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Joy is a household name for millions and has transformed
industry after industry. Her groundbreaking in vengeance have changed how
many of us clean, organize, and live. As a single
mother of three, she was constantly juggling the demands of
family life while constantly sketching out ideas and inventions, dreaming
of something bigger. In true Joy fashion, she saw an
(01:10):
opportunity when she became fed up with the mops that
were sold at the time, so she decided to create
a more efficient and user friendly cleaning tool, the Miracle mop.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
She knew this.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Little invention could change her life, so she took a
leap of faith and made her pivot. It wasn't perfect
at first. She had to fly across the country to
claim her designs and patents after several vendors tried to
steal them. But soon the miracle mop was selling record amounts,
launching Joy to the success she had always dreamed of.
(01:41):
But Joy's story is more than just about an innovative product.
It's also about perseverance, balancing personal and professional challenges, and
never giving up on your dreams. From selling her mops
on QBC to building an empire of innovative home solutions,
Joy has shown that with creativity and tenacity, anything is possible.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Enjoy.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
So my name is Joy Mangano, and I am first
and foremost a mom and an inventor.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
I think I'm going to ask you this question now
at the beginning of the podcast and actually again at
the end. I'm interested to hear how it may change
once we go through many various steps of your career
in life. But the premise of this show is that
I'm trying to change culture, and particularly the culture around
the way we think about our careers and even within
that the interplay of how our personal decisions impact our
(02:40):
professional wives. And I think that's happened to you over
the course of your career. Like I feel like there's
so many pieces that I could point to. How do
you think your personal decisions have impacted your professional choices?
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Well, my personal decisions guided everything in my career. They
were so intertwined. I always said, my life, my family life,
my personal life and principles are the same as they
are in business. It's not you know how You'll hear
people often say, oh, it's just business, don't worry about it.
(03:16):
So for me, you know, my growing up being a
caretaker so to speak, with my family, going through the
various stages. You know, I grew up in an Italian family,
and of course you know, they say, you grow up,
you get married, you have children, and you cook, and
(03:38):
so you know, I started to follow that pattern, rite
and things in that way. It kind of didn't go
exactly as it was supposed to. So I had to
make very hard personal choices and actually find the courage
in me to discover who I was and what I
(03:59):
actual truly did. Going back to not knowing, you know,
I didn't start my career so to speak, in my
mind until I was in my thirties.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
When you were young, did you think that you would
have a career at all? Like, how did you envision
yourself as being a like a grown up?
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Right? So, when I was young, I always I loved animals.
I always thought I wanted to be a veterinarian, and
I was very, very studious person. So I graduated high
school a year early and I went to work in
an animal hospital and the doctor was creating a healthy
pet food before everybody was focused on that, and designing
(04:40):
the packaging and creating the recipe for that was fascinating
to me. So I ended up realizing the business aspects,
the creation aspects in my brain took over everything else,
and that started me in the direction of product and
I actually invented my first product.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Then.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
It was a fluorescent flea collar because at the time,
the most common thing that happened in an animal hospital
where dogs or cats hit by cars, and there was
there was no such thing at the time. So I said,
what does every animal what does every owner put on
their animals? And it was a flea collar. So I said,
if I can get one, that's make one. That's reflective. Now,
(05:22):
remember you have to reel back how many years it
didn't exist. So I got a lot of veterinarians together
and I started it, but I never followed through with it.
And a year later, a major major company came out
with the first ever fluorescent flea collar. So I said,
next item, I'm going to follow through with. So I
was doing that my entire childhood. I was transforming things
(05:48):
into other products because I see the world through product.
That's how I view the world. And so when we
went to build a treehouse in the back, you know,
my brother was like, you know, help me build a treehouse.
And I built a seven story treehouse with slides and
this and that. And even before I even knew what
organic gardening was, I ripped up my parents back lawn
(06:09):
and was planting vegetables and things. I always tried to
create a better, better, a better mouse trap, so to speak.
It was just something I did naturally, and I never
really thought about it. It just happened organically. I would
see something and I'd say, I'm going to do this
in a bigger, better way so that it helps the
(06:31):
person or helps people in a better way.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Still, Joy did what was typical at the time she
got married straight out of college and had three children.
And as someone who had three kids in four years,
I know how overwhelming that can be.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
It shifted everything I did, and much like you, I
just you know, when I decide things, I decide to
do them. So I had three children in three and
a half years, and it obviously was the life change.
That is it's what I live for today. But it really,
you know, that's hard, and it's you know, as everybody
(07:09):
knows that's a parent. If you put your heart and
soul into it, it's all consuming. So I was at
the time the miracle mop was in my brain. So
I would just be in my bedroom at night with
them and I'd be sketching and I'd be trying and
I and I kind of was almost like in a
holding pattern, knowing I was headed in a direction, you
(07:32):
know at the time. So yes, that you know, that
was a time where I took a little bit of
a time out. I still, you know, because I didn't
have a lot of money or anything. I still was
working doing things here and there. I was making grapevine
reaths and selling them where I could at you know,
fairs and flea markets. I always. I was always working
in some form or fashion, you know, it's just something
(07:54):
I did. But it was inclusive now of children. You know,
I was pretty much in a very very short period
of time doing it on my own. But what I
find more than anything having had the children was that
I learned this capacity of love that I never had
even knew I had, And it just for me opened
(08:17):
up a different kind of world. It wasn't you know.
It was it was about me and what I could
do to make them have a happy, healthy life.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Eventually, all her scheming and sketching led her to her
breakthrough idea, the Miracle Mop. By this point, Joy was divorced,
a single mom, working tirelessly to make ends meet while
raising her kids.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
When we come.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Back, Joy talks about what it took to get the
Miracle Mop off the ground. Well, you put so much
at stake to bring the Miracle Mop to the market
and mortgaging your house, going into debt, you know, you
put so much in their But you had had a
number of ideas. What made you so sure that this
(09:04):
was the product that you should go for?
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Broken?
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Well, because I was broke, now that's what you're true.
It was in my instincts, and I say, you have
to follow your instincts right, because you know, it's some
people think they have a great product, but you know
their instincts are wrong. It's it's not right. But I
hate to say that. But nonetheless I knew that this
(09:28):
was a great product. It was a different moth. There
was a whole story behind it. And at this point
in my life, I said, you're either you know, you
don't know you're brave until you have to be brave, right,
So you know, I had really what were my choices,
and I said, I'm going to go for this, and
I am going to go for this. So it was
(09:49):
I put everything on the line. But it wasn't even
that simple. It was one obstacle after another. It was
it just from discovering something about the patent to discovering
that the people who I ended up you know, my
father actually ended up having make it were not reputable.
There was just every discovery along the way. And I think,
(10:12):
you know, that's why I say to somebody, just don't stop,
because my if I stopped one hundred percent, I would
have failed. But if I tried to keep going and
figure out another way to get there, my odds were
still better than zero.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
She had risked it all and it was paying off.
Soon she had hit her goal of selling to Kmart
and had a huge order in from QBC.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
She was getting her legs under her or so she thought.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
If you've seen the movie, you'll know that. Joy soon
realized that her manufacturer was taking steps to steal the product,
idea and freeze her out all because she didn't have
proper guidance on her patent.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
In fact, she had no guidance at all, just her father.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
So my father was and father like, listen, we'll do
a deal. I'll take care of it. Don't worry about it.
So that's a lesson you learn right away after you
know anyway, find out that. So there was a gentleman
we were paying royalties to for the patent to make
the mop, the mop that I thought I designed. He
(11:20):
said somebody already designed it, which okay, So then they
were they started to manufacture it. He did a deal.
I discovery one night after, to make a long story short,
that the patent we were paying royalties to was not
the mop I created at all. It was the mop
we were making, but it was my design was an
(11:41):
original design. My father, mistaken lee a very long story,
said Oh, there's already a patent. We'll just pay him
a royalty. We'll make the mop. So this gentleman in
Texas knew it was not the mop we were making,
that he was getting a royalty on a patent that
was very different. So, to make a very long story short,
(12:02):
Eye and the people in California, what had happened is
I had been on QVC, it had been successful, and
they ordered sixty thousand mops. So the manufacturers in California said, oh,
we'll make the mops for you, but we're going to
raise the price, which would have meant we were going
to lose money. So my father said, and his girlfriend
at the time said, that's it. We're at a business.
(12:24):
We can't do this. And I said, Okay, I am
going to figure this out, and if I do, I'm
going to run this company, and so on and so forth.
So I flew to Texas. I literally showed him the
patent and what he had been getting royalties too, and
in a very serious way, I told him that that
(12:47):
was unlawful and that he had to sign a letter
to say that he would not get the royalties and
that I could go directly to deal with the manufacturers.
So when I went to California, he did. When I
went to California, And I'm minimizing this whole thing because
it was really very like I could have been. You know,
(13:09):
it was just amazing. How I was shaking when I
came out of the hotel room that I met him in.
When I went out to California, claim the mop molds,
because you have to make the mops from a mold.
I went there, landed there and they said, oh no, sorry,
we don't have the molds. We're not giving you the molds.
We own them. And I said, no, no, no, you don't, Mike,
(13:32):
cause my father never did contracts with anybody. He never
signed contracts. So I said, no, here is the money
that's owed for the parts. I'm going to pay you.
Those are my molds. And I'll never forget. This guy
was not a good guy. And I was sitting there
and he had a can of Pepsi on his desk
and he said, little girl, go away. He literally said,
(13:55):
little girl go away. Just don't. We're going to do
this and you're out of it now. I'll never forget.
I took the can of pepsi and I slammed it
on the desk and the Pepsi just flew all over him,
and I said, you're going to see me in court.
That night, I got the lawyer because I had brought
my lawyer with me. We met with a California lawyer
(14:19):
and it was an entire night of going through everything.
They said, you can't go to court with this. No
judge will ever give you because I needed the mop
mold back to make the mops to make the order.
And I said, no, we're going to go to court
because the judge is going to know with all this
information that I have, he's going to know who's in
the right and who are the bad guys. So they
(14:40):
were like, okay, we'll go to court, but they never
will hand these molds over to you. You're in California,
give them to you to take back to New York.
It's going to take years to make a long story longer.
We went into court the next day, you know, and
the lawyer said to me, don't say a word, just
sit there right. So they walk in unbeknownst to me.
(15:02):
I think they had been in front of this judge before.
So everything you know, they're saying, we have manufactured them,
we have no contract that she owns them. And I said, Judge,
here is the money that we she owes me money.
I said, here's the money, here's the you know, the
evidence that we paid for the mold, so therefore we
should own them, even though we don't have a contract.
(15:23):
And everything was done, and I hadn't talked yet that
they were showing all this information and the judge that
is there anything else? I said yes, and I got up,
and the lawyers were like, oh my god, oh my god,
what's she going to say? And I said, you know,
this is my whole livelihood. And I talked earnestly to
the judge. He sat back, I sat down, and he said,
(15:45):
I'll never forget. He slammed down the gavel and he
looked at them and he said, tomorrow at noon, I'm
going to have the sheriffs at your manufacturing plan and
Joy will be there as well. Joy you're going to
have a truck to take the molds. I'm like, yes,
of course, I had no truck and I had so
and he said, and if you don't hand over the
(16:07):
molds to Joy, I'm going to have the sheriff's arrest you.
So the lawyer at the time had never it's called
a certain kind of injunction. He had never seen it happen,
and he's never seen it happen after that, and he
wrote serious law briefs about this. It was the most
(16:27):
incredible thing. And so the next day there was a
truck there. The molds were on the truck. They were
headed back to New York. I flew back to New
York and had to create a fine molders to mold them,
create a business to make the mops. And then the
(16:48):
last day that the sixty thousand mops had to be
on their way to QBC, sixty thousand mops were on
their way to QBC.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
You were so young when you started. Do you remember
what was going through your when you not just walked
into QBC and said take my product, but then you
went back and said it has to be me.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
So at the time, as we know, you know, the
miracle mop was something that I did bring to fruition,
and I thought the perfect place for that because I
used to go to fairs and flea markets and demonstrate
it and people loved it. Everybody who watched the demonstration
would buy it, So for me going to QBC being
(17:29):
able to replicate that, but on TV, I said, this
has got to work. And of course at the time,
so it's interesting, you know, I was the only female
at a table with men. At the time, this was
an industry that loved celebrity, so there was you know,
I was like nobody again, you know, So they put
(17:52):
the miracle mop on the first time with one of
the hosts because they said, you know, you don't go
on TV. You know you're not who are you? And
it failed and I was I that was it. I
had everything to lose. So I said, you have to
put me on with that miracle mop and it will work.
So they did. You know, there was an executive there
(18:14):
who I could see. He saw the determination. He said, okay,
we're going to give her a shot. I'm forever grateful
for that. And it was unbelievably successful, so successful at
the time, it was probably out of all the thousands
and thousands of products they had. It became their single
biggest success. Not only did we sell twenty thirty forty
(18:36):
fifty sixty thousand in a day at a time they
created a commercial on TV and at the time if
you remember direct response, it was very interesting. It was
always a commercial with a male voice talking through the commercial. Always.
It was never any different. So this same executive, I
(18:59):
was like his thorn in his side. He said, we're
going to make it commercial. It's so successful. We're going
to make a short form commercial, two minute commercial with
the miracle mop and we're going to have a gentleman
talking over it. And I said, nope, it's going to fail.
I said, I want to do it this way with
me demonstrating it with another this other female host. And
he said, okay, well, we'll let you do that, but
(19:20):
we're only going to put a budget of very little
into it. But we're going to film it the other
way with a voiceover, and we're going to test both.
So they did, and the one with myself and Jane
demonstrating the mop, you know, naturally organically right, was like
through the roof compared to the other one, and it
(19:41):
became the number one direct response TV product in its
time at the time and first time ever it was
in the forum where you were watching two women talk
about a product. So it was pretty cool.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
Hi, I'm Joymangano, and I invented the miracle Mop. It's
the original cotton self ringing mop.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Therefore the most absorbent.
Speaker 5 (20:01):
It will clean that mess again and again and again.
That I'm Jane Erdulf Tracy host on QVC, where we
have sold over three hundred thousand moths to people all across.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
The country just like you.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
In fact, let's hear from some of them. I love
your mop. It's been a lifesaver, is wonderful.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
I would tell anybody to buy it.
Speaker 5 (20:18):
I I'm Joy Magano and I invented the Miracle Mop.
It's the original cotton self bringing mop. You've seen a
clean even the toughest mess again and again and again.
Hundreds of thousands that satisfied customers have ordered their Miracle
mop and love it. And now the Miracle Mop has
earned the Good Housekeeping seal.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
It's quite easy.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
I mean it really changed the industry, Like it changed
the way that we thought about women marketing, women being
the face of something but also giving value, like business
value to a product that really only in this case
it was women.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
They were doing the majority of the housework. Could understand
like considered a real serious business category. Did you have
those kinds of conversations at the network yes, very much so.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
So then at the time became this big awareness that
you know, the story telling, the authenticity behind a product
is more important than just somebody talking about it or
celebrity endorsing it. It's all about the authenticity. And it's
a funny thing that for now twenty five years, probably
(21:32):
I do. I've always done the most business out of
any I just it's something that I do, right. I
can't sing or dance, but this I do. And I've
been creating product, you know, and it's an interesting thing
because you know when you create something new. Example, for
the first time, I launched the first non stick ceramic
(21:52):
cookware in the world before anybody was to now the
whole industry is non stick ceramic cookwaar. But I was
like zest because I knew that the traditional nonstick was
not healthy when it got to high temperatures. And I
even with a chef. I got a chef because they
were like, you know, you know you have to cook
(22:14):
and everything. I'm like, fine, I'll get a chef, and
so we for two years, I fought the battle to
launch this product because it's a healthier alternative to the
traditional nonstick and I mean batteries of lawyers saying we're
going to get sued because there was only one major
company that made the nonstick in cookwar and you can't
(22:35):
say this and you can't say that. And they said
they're not going to understand it. The consumer isn't going
to care. And I said, oh no, they're really going
to care, because remember, you have to have a heart
for that consumer and know how smart they are. And
we launched it and the phones literally blew up. I
mean literally the whole system went down. People were so
(22:58):
excited about this and obvious we changed an industry, totally
changed in industry. So it was it's been an amazing path.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
So you've told the story of your life yourself in
your own book and then became a huge blockbuster movie,
Academy Award nominated, Golden Globe winning, and now a Broadway musical.
How involved were you with those retelling of your life
stories in different mediums?
Speaker 1 (23:26):
So the movie, you know, is interesting because I'll go
back to the story where Barry asked me to go
out to California and make this show with him. The
producer of that show a very amazing, brilliant man. At
the end of this series, he said, come on, let's
go out to dinner. Because I'm always working, right, No, no, no,
no no. Everybody used to go out to dinner and
I would go home to bed at the hotel. So
(23:47):
we went out to dinner and I don't know how
he got me talking about my life, my path. And
he got up from dinner and he said, one day,
I'm going to write a movie about your life. Years later,
I get a phone call from him. Joy's kenna, I'm
in here with a bunch of Hollywood producers. We're going
to write your movie. And they did. So, you know,
(24:08):
I feel blessed that David o'russell was the writer and
you know, director and producer and everything. And obviously it
goes without saying Jennifer Lawrence was amazing. She's just I
love her, love her, love her way beyond her years.
And everybody else involved, obviously, Robert Jennioro, Bradley Cooper. I mean,
(24:29):
he just couldn't pick a better family than me in Hollywood, right. So,
but David o'russell, he is like a saffon. He just
you know, he he would talk. He'd call me like
at dinner time and we'd still be talking at three am.
So he really wanted to, you know, to really understand
and go even deeper into things I had already therapy
(24:51):
in life. I mean, that was it.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
You know.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
It was really incredible. But you know, at a point,
you know, I you have to trust people, right I
trusted him and he's like, whatever he did, I had
to entrust in him at that point. So I really
at the end of the day, he was the creative
artist for the movie. But I will tell you the
(25:14):
story is true. I mean, there are little tiny aspects
of it. You know, like I had three children in life.
There were two in the movie. They thought Jennifer was
too young to have three children, so I'm like, wait
a minute, I was young. But it was very surreal.
They flew me to Hollywood. They put me in a
(25:35):
studio and actually I was with my son, and I
was like, they didn't think I really knew, but they
said there'll be people watching it. You know. For the
first time I was watching it, they were all the executives.
Everybody was like worried about my reaction, and I was
watching it and I was like, this is amazing. It
was so surreal, and to see like his interpretations of things,
(25:58):
and you know, obviously different people being me and my
father being you know, it was just you know, and
everybody was still alive, right, So it's a very touchy thing.
So oh my gosh. So I just to to this
day consider it to be an honor. I'm not like
the Hollywood type, you know. I'm like, you know, in
the sense of like I went to the Oscars and
(26:19):
I looked at my daughter after it were over, I said,
let's go back to the hotel and have cheeseburgers and
thick shakes, you know, so, you know, instead of all
the parties we were supposed to go to, but it
was I think people have told me that it's inspired them,
and to me, that's what matters. I you know, I
just recently, I hear it all the time. I watched
that movie every year, and it just inspires me to
(26:43):
keep doing what I'm doing. And if that's the result
of that movie, that's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
After the break, we dive into how Joy became a
leader both in her own company and to entrepreneurs around
the world, and she talks about her second pivot, selling
her company to HSN, the direct competitor to QBC.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
All that and more when we come back.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Something that I'm noticing as we're talking through you as
a manager and as a boss is that it seems like,
not only do you have a talent for inventing coming
up with the ideas, but you also have a talent
for putting people in.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
The right roles.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Has that been something that you've always had a natural
talent at doing or has evolved as a manager.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Yeah, well that's something I think that evolves because in
the beginning, you know, when I started this, it would
be like, Okay, Mo, my girlfriend Jan, she used to
be a graphic artist, so we need packaging. Jan, do
you want to work for me? And so over time,
you know that those are the resources I had at
(27:52):
the time, right, you know, and then over time as
the business grew, you know, and I mean I think
I'm now nearing you know, four billion dollars worth of
product in homes across America. It's important to get the
right people doing the right thing so that, you know,
so that you don't have to worry about it. But
(28:13):
I still am one of those people that still gets
involved in you know, I can't help myself sometimes because
I love it right, and I love you know, when
they're creating the label, or they're creating the texture on
something or picking out the colors. You know. I was
famous for walking into the room and say, okay, can
I be.
Speaker 3 (28:32):
Part of this.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
That's why I often say anybody that would ever listen,
you know, you don't have to build rocket ships. If
you have something that's going to benefit somebody's life and
change their life and it's a better way and it's
not out there, you will have success. You know, a
really big advocate. There are no experts. You know, don't
stop yourself if you feel like, well, I'm not an
(28:55):
exact expert in this, because if you have no matter
what it is, if it's a service, if it's a product,
you know, it doesn't matter what. If you really believe
in it and you have something to offer that's better
than what's out there, I say, go for it.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
A defining characteristic of Joy is her family. From the
time they were young kids running around the warehouse all
the way to now she has involved them. Her daughter
Christy was even at this interview. Her life and business
are all one and she's mastered that symbiosis better than
perhaps anyone I know.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
So I think we create a great atmosphere now as well.
It doesn't get better than when you're able to live
your passion and what you do and do it with
the people you love. So for twenty years, my oldest
daughter has created product with me. She I don't think
(29:53):
anybody can get a better price and a better quality
product than her, you know. And it's and my son
who went to Georgetown and then Columbia law school, went
to a really big law firm. Eventually I grabbed him
and we are in business. And my daughter, my youngest daughter,
was in Project Runway and you know, a fashion personality
(30:16):
and is on Amazon Live presently and doing other things
in fashion. But I came on TV with me and
did a lot of things with us on Live TV.
So you know, we're all you know, my son in
law was my producer for twenty years at HSN, So
you know, now we have our business clean boss, and
we're all working together. And the people there worked with
(30:40):
me in the past, so it's kind of it becomes family.
So when you I think, when you love what you
do and you have a beautiful business and environment and
care about the people that work with you, they stay there.
They don't go away. You know, it's a quality of life.
That's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Well, you were with QB's for so long but ended
up selling to HSN, the direct competitor.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
Can you give us a little backstory?
Speaker 1 (31:06):
Yeah, no, it sounds sinister, doesn't it. But it was
not at all. It was not at all. So when
I was at QBC at the time, Barry Diller was
the CEO, and he had asked me to go out
to after the success of Miracle Mop and other products,
Jewel kit, Rollicut, many things there, he had asked me
to go out and do a show in California for
(31:27):
him be a judge. And so I think Barry, I
think the world of Barry Diller is brilliant. And so
after a certain amount of time, so I did a
lot with him and for him. There he left, He
owned what expedia, dot com, Ticketmaster, He bought HSN iac
the company. He kept asking me to come to HSN.
(31:49):
And of course, you if you haven't figured out how
loyal I am in life, I'm like, no, I can't.
I can't. He goes, well, then I'm going to buy
your business. And when somebody says that, you have to
think twice about it. I didn't even think twice because
it was such an amazing offer. But the offer was amazing,
not you know, money's one thing, but he was giving
(32:10):
me the ability, you know, in our conversations to really
expand what I did, and really, you know, I became
an executive HSN. I ran their only sourcing division. We
sourced products. We actually created product for other brands. So
whether it was a chef, we sold more guitars than
(32:30):
Gibson and Fender. I was creating guitars for Keith Urban,
and with Keith Urban and Serena Williams and Emon, we
did all her fashion with her, So I expanded. I
was able to do so much more. So it was
it was a really good move. And it was nice
to get off the plane in sunny Tampa from New
(32:51):
York in January, I must admit that. So that was
the time that I was able to grow, oh so
much so, and I had the liberty to create something
like change the cookwear industry or you know, many other things.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
Do you consider that to be like a second big
pivot of your life?
Speaker 1 (33:14):
Yes, absolutely, absolutely, you know that really changed everything. And
then obviously my third big pivot was leaving there when QB.
Ironically enough, after QVC purchased HSN. Right, you go figure this, right,
it's like, you know, a family drama. But I knew
it was time, you know, because in that industry it's
(33:34):
very important that it's exclusive on TV, you know, and
they can't get it anywhere else. So for me, there
was a whole big vista out there in the retail
world direct to the consumer, and I really wanted to
focus in, as I said, on the whole health and
wellness aspect of creating great product. And so you know,
(33:56):
so now in lieu of everything, you know, my company
is Clean Boss, and I am very much focused on
the health and wellness aspects of everybody in life. And
I want that to be my legacy because we're creating
a safer choice in your home to clean with.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
If you're keeping up. Joy is on her third pivot.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
Inspired by her grandchildren, she wanted to make safer cleaning products,
and the opportunity to create Clean Boss came along when
she met none other than Pitbull.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
So together Armando, Christian Perez, Pitbull and I are going
to be the face of changing the way the world
cleans and its way beyond that, it's you know, laundry
detergents that are incredible in the You know, you really
don't know about the ingredients of things until you really
know about the ingredients of things, right, So that's what
I'm passionate about. We both want to leave that legacy
(34:55):
so that you don't have to worry. You know, my daughter,
I watch her spray the high for two little boys
with clean boss. And you know, when that my kids
were young, I was using something. I didn't have a choice.
I was using you know, whatever with ammonia in it
or whatever. And now, you know, I feel like this
is such a beautiful thing. And so that's what we're
(35:17):
focused on. What was something in your life? I know
there's been a lot, You've done a lot, but what
is something in your life that at the time you
thought was a negative but then now in retrospect, you
see it as having like.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
You couldn't have had this kind of success without it.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
So I guess so be pre QVC, right. My goal
I was demonstrating affairs and flea markets, and my goal
was to get in every kmart because I felt like
everybody went to kmart to buy a mom So my
goal was to get into retail across the country start
there and then get it everywhere. And I tried to
(35:56):
call I talk to a buyer, and nobody, you know, no, no, no,
you know, nobody talked to me. I sent letters at
the time, letters and finally I got through to a
VP there and I talked to him about the mop.
I said, let me just come out there and show
(36:17):
you this product. And again why he said, yes, I
don't know, but flew out there demonstrated the product. And
you know, there were major stick goood companies that you
know they made not only they made a whole display
of things for these stores. Right, I have one miracle
mop and a mophead. So I had my meeting with
him and he said, all right, He said, why don't
(36:39):
you let me see you demonstrate the mop in our
flagship store in a couple other places, and let's see
what happens. I guess he was being kind, I think,
you know. So we did. We went to the flagship
Kmart store and I literally was demonstrating and ringing that
mop up. My hands were raw. But everybody that's stood
(37:00):
around and watched it basically bought it. And I'll never forget.
He came and he was standing back and he was
watching this happen because he said, you know, we sell
five dollar mops, We're not going to sell a twenty
dollars mop. So after that I went to various other stores,
you know, to demonstrate, and he saw the sales. So
afterwards he said, Okay, this is what I'll do. I
(37:20):
will give you every kmart east of the Mississippi and
leave this major stickwood company with west of the Mississippi
in the country, and whoever brings in the best dollars wins.
And I was like, wow, I mean east of the Mississippi.
Speaker 3 (37:39):
I'm in every k marty that.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
It was like the biggest thing in my life. And
well we won. But then I went on QBC and
I couldn't even make enough, you know. It was just
like amazing. So and QBC investing in the commercial and
everything said you have to come out of retail, so
that my whole life then became electronic retailing at the time, right,
(38:01):
everything I did was for QBC, THN, HSN interesting, but
it was perfect because it was instead of standing in
front of people and having a group of people, I
had millions of people watching every creation that I made.
Speaker 2 (38:18):
Yeah, I have to ask the question again that I
asked you at the beginning. The premise of this show
is that we yet use personal factors in our decision
making when we make professional decisions. How do you think
you've done that?
Speaker 1 (38:30):
I think more than not. I think about because my
family works with me, right, and because I love my
family and the consumer, my personal decisions about how everything
I do is going to impact them guides what I
do in business. So that's really important to me. And
(38:53):
I feel like because I've been able to stand in
front of it's you know, America and and many other
places around the world, but you know, primarily here, you know,
I think, you know, people will come up to me
and when they look at the products, they see me, right,
because that you know I'm standing there, I'm talking to
(39:16):
them directly about that. So for me, everything I do,
I know that I'm not invisible. It reflects me to them,
and so everything is personal. It's everything I do is personal.
It's not a business. It's all kind of it just
(39:36):
all intertwined together.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
Thank you so much for coming on. It's been so
great having you. Oh yes, it's a great conversation.
Speaker 1 (39:45):
And I will say that, you know, she pivots is
a perfect, perfect name because I as a skier, I
always say you have to shift your skis right, so
you always have You can't feel like you're in a
path and it's unchangeable. It constantly changes, constantly and you
(40:06):
have to be open to that.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
Yeah, thank you so much, thank you.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
It's We're top we day. So that was great. That
was amazing.
Speaker 2 (40:24):
Joy still lives on Long Island with her kids and
grandkids right nearby, and in true Joy fashion, she is
still busy building clean boss and I hear she has
some exciting new announcements on the horizons. You can keep
up with Joy by following her on Instagram at Joy Mangano.
Thanks for listening to this episode of She Pivots. If
(40:47):
you made it this far, you're a true pivoter, so
thanks for being part of this community. I hope you
enjoyed this episode, and if you did leave us a rating,
please be nice.
Speaker 3 (40:56):
Tell your friends about us.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
To learn more about our guests, follow us on Instagram
at she Pivots the Podcast, or sign up for our
newsletter where you can get exclusive behind the scenes content,
or on our website, she Pivots the Podcast. Talk to
you next week. Special thanks to the she pivots team,
Executive producer Emily eda Velosik, Associate producer and social media
(41:20):
connoisseur Hannah Cousins, Research director Christine Dickinson, Events and Logistics
coordinator Madeline Snovak, and audio editor and mixer Nina pollock
I endorse she Pivots
So welcome back to She Pivots. I'm Joy Magano.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to She Pivots, the podcast where we talk with
women who dared to pivot out of one career and
into something new and explore how their personal lives impacted
these decisions. I'm your host Emily Tish Sussman today I'm
delighted in welcoming Joy Mangano to the show. If you
(00:37):
don't recognize her name at first, I promise you know her.
She's the inspiration behind the movie Joy, starring Jennifer Lawrence.
And remember she's the inventor and creator.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Of the Miracle Mop.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Joy is a household name for millions and has transformed
industry after industry. Her groundbreaking in vengeance have changed how
many of us clean, organize, and live. As a single
mother of three, she was constantly juggling the demands of
family life while constantly sketching out ideas and inventions, dreaming
of something bigger. In true Joy fashion, she saw an
(01:10):
opportunity when she became fed up with the mops that
were sold at the time, so she decided to create
a more efficient and user friendly cleaning tool, the Miracle mop.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
She knew this.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Little invention could change her life, so she took a
leap of faith and made her pivot. It wasn't perfect
at first. She had to fly across the country to
claim her designs and patents after several vendors tried to
steal them. But soon the miracle mop was selling record amounts,
launching Joy to the success she had always dreamed of.
(01:41):
But Joy's story is more than just about an innovative product.
It's also about perseverance, balancing personal and professional challenges, and
never giving up on your dreams. From selling her mops
on QBC to building an empire of innovative home solutions,
Joy has shown that with creativity and tenacity, anything is possible.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Enjoy.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
So my name is Joy Mangano, and I am first
and foremost a mom and an inventor.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
I think I'm going to ask you this question now
at the beginning of the podcast and actually again at
the end. I'm interested to hear how it may change
once we go through many various steps of your career
in life. But the premise of this show is that
I'm trying to change culture, and particularly the culture around
the way we think about our careers and even within
that the interplay of how our personal decisions impact our
(02:40):
professional wives. And I think that's happened to you over
the course of your career. Like I feel like there's
so many pieces that I could point to. How do
you think your personal decisions have impacted your professional choices?
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Well, my personal decisions guided everything in my career. They
were so intertwined. I always said, my life, my family life,
my personal life and principles are the same as they
are in business. It's not you know how You'll hear
people often say, oh, it's just business, don't worry about it.
(03:16):
So for me, you know, my growing up being a
caretaker so to speak, with my family, going through the
various stages. You know, I grew up in an Italian family,
and of course you know, they say, you grow up,
you get married, you have children, and you cook, and
(03:38):
so you know, I started to follow that pattern, rite
and things in that way. It kind of didn't go
exactly as it was supposed to. So I had to
make very hard personal choices and actually find the courage
in me to discover who I was and what I
(03:59):
actual truly did. Going back to not knowing, you know,
I didn't start my career so to speak, in my
mind until I was in my thirties.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
When you were young, did you think that you would
have a career at all? Like, how did you envision
yourself as being a like a grown up?
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Right? So, when I was young, I always I loved animals.
I always thought I wanted to be a veterinarian, and
I was very, very studious person. So I graduated high
school a year early and I went to work in
an animal hospital and the doctor was creating a healthy
pet food before everybody was focused on that, and designing
(04:40):
the packaging and creating the recipe for that was fascinating
to me. So I ended up realizing the business aspects,
the creation aspects in my brain took over everything else,
and that started me in the direction of product and
I actually invented my first product.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Then.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
It was a fluorescent flea collar because at the time,
the most common thing that happened in an animal hospital
where dogs or cats hit by cars, and there was
there was no such thing at the time. So I said,
what does every animal what does every owner put on
their animals? And it was a flea collar. So I said,
if I can get one, that's make one. That's reflective. Now,
(05:22):
remember you have to reel back how many years it
didn't exist. So I got a lot of veterinarians together
and I started it, but I never followed through with it.
And a year later, a major major company came out
with the first ever fluorescent flea collar. So I said,
next item, I'm going to follow through with. So I
was doing that my entire childhood. I was transforming things
(05:48):
into other products because I see the world through product.
That's how I view the world. And so when we
went to build a treehouse in the back, you know,
my brother was like, you know, help me build a treehouse.
And I built a seven story treehouse with slides and
this and that. And even before I even knew what
organic gardening was, I ripped up my parents back lawn
(06:09):
and was planting vegetables and things. I always tried to
create a better, better, a better mouse trap, so to speak.
It was just something I did naturally, and I never
really thought about it. It just happened organically. I would
see something and I'd say, I'm going to do this
in a bigger, better way so that it helps the
(06:31):
person or helps people in a better way.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Still, Joy did what was typical at the time she
got married straight out of college and had three children.
And as someone who had three kids in four years,
I know how overwhelming that can be.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
It shifted everything I did, and much like you, I
just you know, when I decide things, I decide to
do them. So I had three children in three and
a half years, and it obviously was the life change.
That is it's what I live for today. But it really,
you know, that's hard, and it's you know, as everybody
(07:09):
knows that's a parent. If you put your heart and
soul into it, it's all consuming. So I was at
the time the miracle mop was in my brain. So
I would just be in my bedroom at night with
them and I'd be sketching and I'd be trying and
I and I kind of was almost like in a
holding pattern, knowing I was headed in a direction, you
(07:32):
know at the time. So yes, that you know, that
was a time where I took a little bit of
a time out. I still, you know, because I didn't
have a lot of money or anything. I still was
working doing things here and there. I was making grapevine
reaths and selling them where I could at you know,
fairs and flea markets. I always. I was always working
in some form or fashion, you know, it's just something
(07:54):
I did. But it was inclusive now of children. You know,
I was pretty much in a very very short period
of time doing it on my own. But what I
find more than anything having had the children was that
I learned this capacity of love that I never had
even knew I had, And it just for me opened
(08:17):
up a different kind of world. It wasn't you know.
It was it was about me and what I could
do to make them have a happy, healthy life.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Eventually, all her scheming and sketching led her to her
breakthrough idea, the Miracle Mop. By this point, Joy was divorced,
a single mom, working tirelessly to make ends meet while
raising her kids.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
When we come.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Back, Joy talks about what it took to get the
Miracle Mop off the ground. Well, you put so much
at stake to bring the Miracle Mop to the market
and mortgaging your house, going into debt, you know, you
put so much in their But you had had a
number of ideas. What made you so sure that this
(09:04):
was the product that you should go for?
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Broken?
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Well, because I was broke, now that's what you're true.
It was in my instincts, and I say, you have
to follow your instincts right, because you know, it's some
people think they have a great product, but you know
their instincts are wrong. It's it's not right. But I
hate to say that. But nonetheless I knew that this
(09:28):
was a great product. It was a different moth. There
was a whole story behind it. And at this point
in my life, I said, you're either you know, you
don't know you're brave until you have to be brave, right,
So you know, I had really what were my choices,
and I said, I'm going to go for this, and
I am going to go for this. So it was
(09:49):
I put everything on the line. But it wasn't even
that simple. It was one obstacle after another. It was
it just from discovering something about the patent to discovering
that the people who I ended up you know, my
father actually ended up having make it were not reputable.
There was just every discovery along the way. And I think,
(10:12):
you know, that's why I say to somebody, just don't stop,
because my if I stopped one hundred percent, I would
have failed. But if I tried to keep going and
figure out another way to get there, my odds were
still better than zero.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
She had risked it all and it was paying off.
Soon she had hit her goal of selling to Kmart
and had a huge order in from QBC.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
She was getting her legs under her or so she thought.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
If you've seen the movie, you'll know that. Joy soon
realized that her manufacturer was taking steps to steal the product,
idea and freeze her out all because she didn't have
proper guidance on her patent.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
In fact, she had no guidance at all, just her father.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
So my father was and father like, listen, we'll do
a deal. I'll take care of it. Don't worry about it.
So that's a lesson you learn right away after you
know anyway, find out that. So there was a gentleman
we were paying royalties to for the patent to make
the mop, the mop that I thought I designed. He
(11:20):
said somebody already designed it, which okay, So then they
were they started to manufacture it. He did a deal.
I discovery one night after, to make a long story short,
that the patent we were paying royalties to was not
the mop I created at all. It was the mop
we were making, but it was my design was an
(11:41):
original design. My father, mistaken lee a very long story,
said Oh, there's already a patent. We'll just pay him
a royalty. We'll make the mop. So this gentleman in
Texas knew it was not the mop we were making,
that he was getting a royalty on a patent that
was very different. So, to make a very long story short,
(12:02):
Eye and the people in California, what had happened is
I had been on QVC, it had been successful, and
they ordered sixty thousand mops. So the manufacturers in California said, oh,
we'll make the mops for you, but we're going to
raise the price, which would have meant we were going
to lose money. So my father said, and his girlfriend
at the time said, that's it. We're at a business.
(12:24):
We can't do this. And I said, Okay, I am
going to figure this out, and if I do, I'm
going to run this company, and so on and so forth.
So I flew to Texas. I literally showed him the
patent and what he had been getting royalties too, and
in a very serious way, I told him that that
(12:47):
was unlawful and that he had to sign a letter
to say that he would not get the royalties and
that I could go directly to deal with the manufacturers.
So when I went to California, he did. When I
went to California, And I'm minimizing this whole thing because
it was really very like I could have been. You know,
(13:09):
it was just amazing. How I was shaking when I
came out of the hotel room that I met him in.
When I went out to California, claim the mop molds,
because you have to make the mops from a mold.
I went there, landed there and they said, oh no, sorry,
we don't have the molds. We're not giving you the molds.
We own them. And I said, no, no, no, you don't, Mike,
(13:32):
cause my father never did contracts with anybody. He never
signed contracts. So I said, no, here is the money
that's owed for the parts. I'm going to pay you.
Those are my molds. And I'll never forget. This guy
was not a good guy. And I was sitting there
and he had a can of Pepsi on his desk
and he said, little girl, go away. He literally said,
(13:55):
little girl go away. Just don't. We're going to do
this and you're out of it now. I'll never forget.
I took the can of pepsi and I slammed it
on the desk and the Pepsi just flew all over him,
and I said, you're going to see me in court.
That night, I got the lawyer because I had brought
my lawyer with me. We met with a California lawyer
(14:19):
and it was an entire night of going through everything.
They said, you can't go to court with this. No
judge will ever give you because I needed the mop
mold back to make the mops to make the order.
And I said, no, we're going to go to court
because the judge is going to know with all this
information that I have, he's going to know who's in
the right and who are the bad guys. So they
(14:40):
were like, okay, we'll go to court, but they never
will hand these molds over to you. You're in California,
give them to you to take back to New York.
It's going to take years to make a long story longer.
We went into court the next day, you know, and
the lawyer said to me, don't say a word, just
sit there right. So they walk in unbeknownst to me.
(15:02):
I think they had been in front of this judge before.
So everything you know, they're saying, we have manufactured them,
we have no contract that she owns them. And I said, Judge,
here is the money that we she owes me money.
I said, here's the money, here's the you know, the
evidence that we paid for the mold, so therefore we
should own them, even though we don't have a contract.
(15:23):
And everything was done, and I hadn't talked yet that
they were showing all this information and the judge that
is there anything else? I said yes, and I got up,
and the lawyers were like, oh my god, oh my god,
what's she going to say? And I said, you know,
this is my whole livelihood. And I talked earnestly to
the judge. He sat back, I sat down, and he said,
(15:45):
I'll never forget. He slammed down the gavel and he
looked at them and he said, tomorrow at noon, I'm
going to have the sheriffs at your manufacturing plan and
Joy will be there as well. Joy you're going to
have a truck to take the molds. I'm like, yes,
of course, I had no truck and I had so
and he said, and if you don't hand over the
(16:07):
molds to Joy, I'm going to have the sheriff's arrest you.
So the lawyer at the time had never it's called
a certain kind of injunction. He had never seen it happen,
and he's never seen it happen after that, and he
wrote serious law briefs about this. It was the most
(16:27):
incredible thing. And so the next day there was a
truck there. The molds were on the truck. They were
headed back to New York. I flew back to New
York and had to create a fine molders to mold them,
create a business to make the mops. And then the
(16:48):
last day that the sixty thousand mops had to be
on their way to QBC, sixty thousand mops were on
their way to QBC.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
You were so young when you started. Do you remember
what was going through your when you not just walked
into QBC and said take my product, but then you
went back and said it has to be me.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
So at the time, as we know, you know, the
miracle mop was something that I did bring to fruition,
and I thought the perfect place for that because I
used to go to fairs and flea markets and demonstrate
it and people loved it. Everybody who watched the demonstration
would buy it, So for me going to QBC being
(17:29):
able to replicate that, but on TV, I said, this
has got to work. And of course at the time,
so it's interesting, you know, I was the only female
at a table with men. At the time, this was
an industry that loved celebrity, so there was you know,
I was like nobody again, you know, So they put
(17:52):
the miracle mop on the first time with one of
the hosts because they said, you know, you don't go
on TV. You know you're not who are you? And
it failed and I was I that was it. I
had everything to lose. So I said, you have to
put me on with that miracle mop and it will work.
So they did. You know, there was an executive there
(18:14):
who I could see. He saw the determination. He said, okay,
we're going to give her a shot. I'm forever grateful
for that. And it was unbelievably successful, so successful at
the time, it was probably out of all the thousands
and thousands of products they had. It became their single
biggest success. Not only did we sell twenty thirty forty
(18:36):
fifty sixty thousand in a day at a time they
created a commercial on TV and at the time if
you remember direct response, it was very interesting. It was
always a commercial with a male voice talking through the commercial. Always.
It was never any different. So this same executive, I
(18:59):
was like his thorn in his side. He said, we're
going to make it commercial. It's so successful. We're going
to make a short form commercial, two minute commercial with
the miracle mop and we're going to have a gentleman
talking over it. And I said, nope, it's going to fail.
I said, I want to do it this way with
me demonstrating it with another this other female host. And
he said, okay, well, we'll let you do that, but
(19:20):
we're only going to put a budget of very little
into it. But we're going to film it the other
way with a voiceover, and we're going to test both.
So they did, and the one with myself and Jane
demonstrating the mop, you know, naturally organically right, was like
through the roof compared to the other one, and it
(19:41):
became the number one direct response TV product in its
time at the time and first time ever it was
in the forum where you were watching two women talk
about a product. So it was pretty cool.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
Hi, I'm Joymangano, and I invented the miracle Mop. It's
the original cotton self ringing mop.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Therefore the most absorbent.
Speaker 5 (20:01):
It will clean that mess again and again and again.
That I'm Jane Erdulf Tracy host on QVC, where we
have sold over three hundred thousand moths to people all across.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
The country just like you.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
In fact, let's hear from some of them. I love
your mop. It's been a lifesaver, is wonderful.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
I would tell anybody to buy it.
Speaker 5 (20:18):
I I'm Joy Magano and I invented the Miracle Mop.
It's the original cotton self bringing mop. You've seen a
clean even the toughest mess again and again and again.
Hundreds of thousands that satisfied customers have ordered their Miracle
mop and love it. And now the Miracle Mop has
earned the Good Housekeeping seal.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
It's quite easy.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
I mean it really changed the industry, Like it changed
the way that we thought about women marketing, women being
the face of something but also giving value, like business
value to a product that really only in this case
it was women.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
They were doing the majority of the housework. Could understand
like considered a real serious business category. Did you have
those kinds of conversations at the network yes, very much so.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
So then at the time became this big awareness that
you know, the story telling, the authenticity behind a product
is more important than just somebody talking about it or
celebrity endorsing it. It's all about the authenticity. And it's
a funny thing that for now twenty five years, probably
(21:32):
I do. I've always done the most business out of
any I just it's something that I do, right. I
can't sing or dance, but this I do. And I've
been creating product, you know, and it's an interesting thing
because you know when you create something new. Example, for
the first time, I launched the first non stick ceramic
(21:52):
cookware in the world before anybody was to now the
whole industry is non stick ceramic cookwaar. But I was
like zest because I knew that the traditional nonstick was
not healthy when it got to high temperatures. And I
even with a chef. I got a chef because they
were like, you know, you know you have to cook
(22:14):
and everything. I'm like, fine, I'll get a chef, and
so we for two years, I fought the battle to
launch this product because it's a healthier alternative to the
traditional nonstick and I mean batteries of lawyers saying we're
going to get sued because there was only one major
company that made the nonstick in cookwar and you can't
(22:35):
say this and you can't say that. And they said
they're not going to understand it. The consumer isn't going
to care. And I said, oh no, they're really going
to care, because remember, you have to have a heart
for that consumer and know how smart they are. And
we launched it and the phones literally blew up. I
mean literally the whole system went down. People were so
(22:58):
excited about this and obvious we changed an industry, totally
changed in industry. So it was it's been an amazing path.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
So you've told the story of your life yourself in
your own book and then became a huge blockbuster movie,
Academy Award nominated, Golden Globe winning, and now a Broadway musical.
How involved were you with those retelling of your life
stories in different mediums?
Speaker 1 (23:26):
So the movie, you know, is interesting because I'll go
back to the story where Barry asked me to go
out to California and make this show with him. The
producer of that show a very amazing, brilliant man. At
the end of this series, he said, come on, let's
go out to dinner. Because I'm always working, right, No, no, no,
no no. Everybody used to go out to dinner and
I would go home to bed at the hotel. So
(23:47):
we went out to dinner and I don't know how
he got me talking about my life, my path. And
he got up from dinner and he said, one day,
I'm going to write a movie about your life. Years later,
I get a phone call from him. Joy's kenna, I'm
in here with a bunch of Hollywood producers. We're going
to write your movie. And they did. So, you know,
(24:08):
I feel blessed that David o'russell was the writer and
you know, director and producer and everything. And obviously it
goes without saying Jennifer Lawrence was amazing. She's just I
love her, love her, love her way beyond her years.
And everybody else involved, obviously, Robert Jennioro, Bradley Cooper. I mean,
(24:29):
he just couldn't pick a better family than me in Hollywood, right. So,
but David o'russell, he is like a saffon. He just
you know, he he would talk. He'd call me like
at dinner time and we'd still be talking at three am.
So he really wanted to, you know, to really understand
and go even deeper into things I had already therapy
(24:51):
in life. I mean, that was it.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
You know.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
It was really incredible. But you know, at a point,
you know, I you have to trust people, right I
trusted him and he's like, whatever he did, I had
to entrust in him at that point. So I really
at the end of the day, he was the creative
artist for the movie. But I will tell you the
(25:14):
story is true. I mean, there are little tiny aspects
of it. You know, like I had three children in life.
There were two in the movie. They thought Jennifer was
too young to have three children, so I'm like, wait
a minute, I was young. But it was very surreal.
They flew me to Hollywood. They put me in a
(25:35):
studio and actually I was with my son, and I
was like, they didn't think I really knew, but they
said there'll be people watching it. You know. For the
first time I was watching it, they were all the executives.
Everybody was like worried about my reaction, and I was
watching it and I was like, this is amazing. It
was so surreal, and to see like his interpretations of things,
(25:58):
and you know, obviously different people being me and my
father being you know, it was just you know, and
everybody was still alive, right, So it's a very touchy thing.
So oh my gosh. So I just to to this
day consider it to be an honor. I'm not like
the Hollywood type, you know. I'm like, you know, in
the sense of like I went to the Oscars and
(26:19):
I looked at my daughter after it were over, I said,
let's go back to the hotel and have cheeseburgers and
thick shakes, you know, so, you know, instead of all
the parties we were supposed to go to, but it
was I think people have told me that it's inspired them,
and to me, that's what matters. I you know, I
just recently, I hear it all the time. I watched
that movie every year, and it just inspires me to
(26:43):
keep doing what I'm doing. And if that's the result
of that movie, that's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
After the break, we dive into how Joy became a
leader both in her own company and to entrepreneurs around
the world, and she talks about her second pivot, selling
her company to HSN, the direct competitor to QBC.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
All that and more when we come back.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Something that I'm noticing as we're talking through you as
a manager and as a boss is that it seems like,
not only do you have a talent for inventing coming
up with the ideas, but you also have a talent
for putting people in.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
The right roles.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Has that been something that you've always had a natural
talent at doing or has evolved as a manager.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Yeah, well that's something I think that evolves because in
the beginning, you know, when I started this, it would
be like, Okay, Mo, my girlfriend Jan, she used to
be a graphic artist, so we need packaging. Jan, do
you want to work for me? And so over time,
you know that those are the resources I had at
(27:52):
the time, right, you know, and then over time as
the business grew, you know, and I mean I think
I'm now nearing you know, four billion dollars worth of
product in homes across America. It's important to get the
right people doing the right thing so that, you know,
so that you don't have to worry about it. But
(28:13):
I still am one of those people that still gets
involved in you know, I can't help myself sometimes because
I love it right, and I love you know, when
they're creating the label, or they're creating the texture on
something or picking out the colors. You know. I was
famous for walking into the room and say, okay, can
I be.
Speaker 3 (28:32):
Part of this.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
That's why I often say anybody that would ever listen,
you know, you don't have to build rocket ships. If
you have something that's going to benefit somebody's life and
change their life and it's a better way and it's
not out there, you will have success. You know, a
really big advocate. There are no experts. You know, don't
stop yourself if you feel like, well, I'm not an
(28:55):
exact expert in this, because if you have no matter
what it is, if it's a service, if it's a product,
you know, it doesn't matter what. If you really believe
in it and you have something to offer that's better
than what's out there, I say, go for it.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
A defining characteristic of Joy is her family. From the
time they were young kids running around the warehouse all
the way to now she has involved them. Her daughter
Christy was even at this interview. Her life and business
are all one and she's mastered that symbiosis better than
perhaps anyone I know.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
So I think we create a great atmosphere now as well.
It doesn't get better than when you're able to live
your passion and what you do and do it with
the people you love. So for twenty years, my oldest
daughter has created product with me. She I don't think
(29:53):
anybody can get a better price and a better quality
product than her, you know. And it's and my son
who went to Georgetown and then Columbia law school, went
to a really big law firm. Eventually I grabbed him
and we are in business. And my daughter, my youngest daughter,
was in Project Runway and you know, a fashion personality
(30:16):
and is on Amazon Live presently and doing other things
in fashion. But I came on TV with me and
did a lot of things with us on Live TV.
So you know, we're all you know, my son in
law was my producer for twenty years at HSN, So
you know, now we have our business clean boss, and
we're all working together. And the people there worked with
(30:40):
me in the past, so it's kind of it becomes family.
So when you I think, when you love what you
do and you have a beautiful business and environment and
care about the people that work with you, they stay there.
They don't go away. You know, it's a quality of life.
That's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Well, you were with QB's for so long but ended
up selling to HSN, the direct competitor.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
Can you give us a little backstory?
Speaker 1 (31:06):
Yeah, no, it sounds sinister, doesn't it. But it was
not at all. It was not at all. So when
I was at QBC at the time, Barry Diller was
the CEO, and he had asked me to go out
to after the success of Miracle Mop and other products,
Jewel kit, Rollicut, many things there, he had asked me
to go out and do a show in California for
(31:27):
him be a judge. And so I think Barry, I
think the world of Barry Diller is brilliant. And so
after a certain amount of time, so I did a
lot with him and for him. There he left, He
owned what expedia, dot com, Ticketmaster, He bought HSN iac
the company. He kept asking me to come to HSN.
(31:49):
And of course, you if you haven't figured out how
loyal I am in life, I'm like, no, I can't.
I can't. He goes, well, then I'm going to buy
your business. And when somebody says that, you have to
think twice about it. I didn't even think twice because
it was such an amazing offer. But the offer was amazing,
not you know, money's one thing, but he was giving
(32:10):
me the ability, you know, in our conversations to really
expand what I did, and really, you know, I became
an executive HSN. I ran their only sourcing division. We
sourced products. We actually created product for other brands. So
whether it was a chef, we sold more guitars than
(32:30):
Gibson and Fender. I was creating guitars for Keith Urban,
and with Keith Urban and Serena Williams and Emon, we
did all her fashion with her, So I expanded. I
was able to do so much more. So it was
it was a really good move. And it was nice
to get off the plane in sunny Tampa from New
(32:51):
York in January, I must admit that. So that was
the time that I was able to grow, oh so
much so, and I had the liberty to create something
like change the cookwear industry or you know, many other things.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
Do you consider that to be like a second big
pivot of your life?
Speaker 1 (33:14):
Yes, absolutely, absolutely, you know that really changed everything. And
then obviously my third big pivot was leaving there when QB.
Ironically enough, after QVC purchased HSN. Right, you go figure this, right,
it's like, you know, a family drama. But I knew
it was time, you know, because in that industry it's
(33:34):
very important that it's exclusive on TV, you know, and
they can't get it anywhere else. So for me, there
was a whole big vista out there in the retail
world direct to the consumer, and I really wanted to
focus in, as I said, on the whole health and
wellness aspect of creating great product. And so you know,
(33:56):
so now in lieu of everything, you know, my company
is Clean Boss, and I am very much focused on
the health and wellness aspects of everybody in life. And
I want that to be my legacy because we're creating
a safer choice in your home to clean with.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
If you're keeping up. Joy is on her third pivot.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
Inspired by her grandchildren, she wanted to make safer cleaning products,
and the opportunity to create Clean Boss came along when
she met none other than Pitbull.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
So together Armando, Christian Perez, Pitbull and I are going
to be the face of changing the way the world
cleans and its way beyond that, it's you know, laundry
detergents that are incredible in the You know, you really
don't know about the ingredients of things until you really
know about the ingredients of things, right, So that's what
I'm passionate about. We both want to leave that legacy
(34:55):
so that you don't have to worry. You know, my daughter,
I watch her spray the high for two little boys
with clean boss. And you know, when that my kids
were young, I was using something. I didn't have a choice.
I was using you know, whatever with ammonia in it
or whatever. And now, you know, I feel like this
is such a beautiful thing. And so that's what we're
(35:17):
focused on. What was something in your life? I know
there's been a lot, You've done a lot, but what
is something in your life that at the time you
thought was a negative but then now in retrospect, you
see it as having like.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
You couldn't have had this kind of success without it.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
So I guess so be pre QVC, right. My goal
I was demonstrating affairs and flea markets, and my goal
was to get in every kmart because I felt like
everybody went to kmart to buy a mom So my
goal was to get into retail across the country start
there and then get it everywhere. And I tried to
(35:56):
call I talk to a buyer, and nobody, you know, no, no, no,
you know, nobody talked to me. I sent letters at
the time, letters and finally I got through to a
VP there and I talked to him about the mop.
I said, let me just come out there and show
(36:17):
you this product. And again why he said, yes, I
don't know, but flew out there demonstrated the product. And
you know, there were major stick goood companies that you
know they made not only they made a whole display
of things for these stores. Right, I have one miracle
mop and a mophead. So I had my meeting with
him and he said, all right, He said, why don't
(36:39):
you let me see you demonstrate the mop in our
flagship store in a couple other places, and let's see
what happens. I guess he was being kind, I think,
you know. So we did. We went to the flagship
Kmart store and I literally was demonstrating and ringing that
mop up. My hands were raw. But everybody that's stood
(37:00):
around and watched it basically bought it. And I'll never forget.
He came and he was standing back and he was
watching this happen because he said, you know, we sell
five dollar mops, We're not going to sell a twenty
dollars mop. So after that I went to various other stores,
you know, to demonstrate, and he saw the sales. So
afterwards he said, Okay, this is what I'll do. I
(37:20):
will give you every kmart east of the Mississippi and
leave this major stickwood company with west of the Mississippi
in the country, and whoever brings in the best dollars wins.
And I was like, wow, I mean east of the Mississippi.
Speaker 3 (37:39):
I'm in every k marty that.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
It was like the biggest thing in my life. And
well we won. But then I went on QBC and
I couldn't even make enough, you know. It was just
like amazing. So and QBC investing in the commercial and
everything said you have to come out of retail, so
that my whole life then became electronic retailing at the time, right,
(38:01):
everything I did was for QBC, THN, HSN interesting, but
it was perfect because it was instead of standing in
front of people and having a group of people, I
had millions of people watching every creation that I made.
Speaker 2 (38:18):
Yeah, I have to ask the question again that I
asked you at the beginning. The premise of this show
is that we yet use personal factors in our decision
making when we make professional decisions. How do you think
you've done that?
Speaker 1 (38:30):
I think more than not. I think about because my
family works with me, right, and because I love my
family and the consumer, my personal decisions about how everything
I do is going to impact them guides what I
do in business. So that's really important to me. And
(38:53):
I feel like because I've been able to stand in
front of it's you know, America and and many other
places around the world, but you know, primarily here, you know,
I think, you know, people will come up to me
and when they look at the products, they see me, right,
because that you know I'm standing there, I'm talking to
(39:16):
them directly about that. So for me, everything I do,
I know that I'm not invisible. It reflects me to them,
and so everything is personal. It's everything I do is personal.
It's not a business. It's all kind of it just
(39:36):
all intertwined together.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
Thank you so much for coming on. It's been so
great having you. Oh yes, it's a great conversation.
Speaker 1 (39:45):
And I will say that, you know, she pivots is
a perfect, perfect name because I as a skier, I
always say you have to shift your skis right, so
you always have You can't feel like you're in a
path and it's unchangeable. It constantly changes, constantly and you
(40:06):
have to be open to that.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
Yeah, thank you so much, thank you.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
It's We're top we day. So that was great. That
was amazing.
Speaker 2 (40:24):
Joy still lives on Long Island with her kids and
grandkids right nearby, and in true Joy fashion, she is
still busy building clean boss and I hear she has
some exciting new announcements on the horizons. You can keep
up with Joy by following her on Instagram at Joy Mangano.
Thanks for listening to this episode of She Pivots. If
(40:47):
you made it this far, you're a true pivoter, so
thanks for being part of this community. I hope you
enjoyed this episode, and if you did leave us a rating,
please be nice.
Speaker 3 (40:56):
Tell your friends about us.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
To learn more about our guests, follow us on Instagram
at she Pivots the Podcast, or sign up for our
newsletter where you can get exclusive behind the scenes content,
or on our website, she Pivots the Podcast. Talk to
you next week. Special thanks to the she pivots team,
Executive producer Emily eda Velosik, Associate producer and social media
(41:20):
connoisseur Hannah Cousins, Research director Christine Dickinson, Events and Logistics
coordinator Madeline Snovak, and audio editor and mixer Nina pollock
I endorse she Pivots
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