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Tenacity & Paying It Forward 1)  Tenaciousness is a competency.  What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course?  I think I have put in more effort than required for most of the assignments and blog posts and really started looking forward to reading feedback and seeing the blog develop. After the course I will probably try and make a personal blog to make a habit of explaining my ideas and interests. *Cough* 2)  Tenaciousness is also about attitude.  Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this? I had several moments before some of the interviews where I was unsure of how to start or what to do. The speaking to people was less of a problem than figuring out who to try and approach. I didn't want to bother any...

13A – Reading Reflection No. 1 I read The Wright Brothers by David McCullough. I love reading Biographies, and had a lot of fun with this one. It was a great story and as someone who has loved airplanes since I was a kid it was just very cool to get more context on the first flyer and everything it took to get there. 1) What surprised you the most? I had no idea that it took years after they first flew for it to be commonly accepted or that there was ever any doubt in their invention after the first success at Kitty Hawk. I had seen all the pictures they took of their tests and of the first flight so I would not have expected that they would be not trusted with so much evidence, but their reasons for keeping everything secret were valid.  What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? I was most impressed by the moment after their fist tests at Kitty Hawk when they realized that the total knowledge on aerodynamics made in history so far could only take th...

12A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1 In previous posts I've been focusing on the group of people with size constraints for Zip Strip, and in those interviews I came across the idea of Zip Strip as an accessory to customize clothes for anyone. To explore this possibility I interviewed three people why customize their clothes and like adding smaller accessories and see if the Zip Strip would interest them. Interview #1: Zahriah, Student She liked to customize clothes, both for style and fitting. She especially liked personalization options that let her put her initials or name. Most of her customizing is done without a particular outfit in mind, but more to (literally) put her name on clothes and make them unique. She liked the idea of bright colorful Zip Strips to add to normal jackets. Thought that people would ask about it if they saw. Buys most of her clothes on line and liked that I planned to sell on a website.  She thought that the different options woul...

11A – Idea Napkin No. 1 1) Who I am: My name is Paul Radomski. I am a transfer sociology student at UF in the Innovation Academy program. This is my first semester and I am enjoying all of the experience so far. I am a transfer because I took two years off to volunteer after getting my AA degree in high school. In those two years I worked for AmeriCorps in the Grasses in Classes program. We taught thousands of kids each month a custom natural science curriculum to encourage future scientists and plant a local salt mash grass, additionally my AC program worked to restore dozens of acres of national parks and the coastline with the removal of invasive plants and the building of oyster reefs. After volunteering, I was hired by the Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance, the nonprofit that partnered with the Grasses in Classes program as their Education Technician to edit and create the GIC curriculum as well as train and manage the next group of AmeriCorps members. Additionally I have bee...

Introducing the Zip Strip! *Only one jacket was harmed in the making of this video* 10A – Elevator Pitch No. 1 I only counted 11 "uh"s in this, which seems to be my filler word. Please give me feedback on any other improvements I could make or comments on the product.

9A – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2 After finding that there was an opportunity for better fitting people into jackets, I went out to find who exactly this would help and who would need another fix.  Interview #1: Jessica, Student Had trouble with correct sizes, but more for pants She said that she most likely wouldn't need this because she likes the look of jackets that are a little too big for her, and would just go up a size She liked the idea of using it as an accessory for an already functional jacket Interview #2: Bailey, Student Had sizing problems, but mainly for the shoulders and sleeves in shirts and jackets Saw value, but not needed for her shape Liked the idea of a thin triangular version for the backs of dresses that zip up (thanks, Chris Barfield) Brought up the need for influencers or a promotional plan to make people aware of the product Interview #3: Nathan, Student  Had experienced sizing issues for pants, and we had a goo...

8A – Solving The Problem As I explained in my last post, I noticed that a friend of mine had trouble zipping up his jacket because he is shorter and heavier than most so most clothes are not made for his proportions. To solve this problem I created the idea for an extension people could add to their jackets to better fit larger profiles. The design is a strip of elastic fabric 2 inches wide between zippers on either side. The zippers would let you attach this as a extra section in between the two sides on a jacket. You could still put on or take off the jacket easily by undoing one of the zippers, but having this extra material would allow people who have trouble fitting into the standard jacket sizes to adjust the width of the torso without changing the length of the arms or torso like you would if you went up a size. It is important that the material be stretchy so that it will fit and help more people.  I think the main advantages of this product are that it would be ch...

7A – Testing the Hypothesis This is an idea I had last year while working in AmeiCorps when one of my co-workers couldn't close his jacket. The zipper didn't quite reach because he was heavier with a shorter frame. If he had gone up a size the sleeves and torso would be too long, but with the current size he would have to hold his breath to use the zipper. To solve this I came up with the idea of a special strip of jacket with zippers on both sides that you could use to extend the waist by zipping it into the jacket on either side. Adding what is basically a extension to the torso width of the jacket this way would be cheaper and easier than getting a custom fitted jacket. If that was hard to visualize, below is the poor drawing I did during one of my interviews to explain it visually.   Some larger people have trouble finding jackets that fit their waistline without being too large for their proportions. The who: Heavier people The what: Have trouble find...