Michigan mom finds fix for cold, wet winters
KALAMAZOO, Mich.—After years of dealing with her children's soggy mittens and stinky winter boots, Western Michigan University alumna Karen Smoots longed for a sustainable, quick and energy-efficient drying solution for her family's winter gear.
Finding that a traditional dryer wasted energy and laying winter gear on the vents took too long, Smoots set out to find something better. And when her search led her right back to the same old slow or wasteful options, she decided to engineer a solution herself.
Smoots set to work designing a simple device that utilizes the heat from air vents to dry wet gear from the inside out. It provides a quick dry without using any excess energy. Once the idea came to her, it took just eight short hours to get from conception to prototype. Thus her company, KMS Designs Inc., and its first product, The Green Glove Dryer, were born.
KMS continues to innovate, developing other easy and eco-friendly products to meet everyday home, school and traveling needs. This fall, her company will launch two new products that were developed in collaboration with WMU students as part of the Senior Engineering and Design program.
In addition to being the founder and owner of KMS Designs, Smoots is part of the less than 7 percent of women who are sole patent holders in the United States, and she recently was named one of the top 10 influential women in business by the National Association of Women Business Owners.
Although she now finds herself in the midst of a successful career, Smoots admits that her entrepreneurial journey hasn't always led her down the easy road.
"Entrepreneurship is not for the weak," she says. "It's a mindset. A way of life. A new way of approaching each and every day."
Smoots says her time at WMU helped prepare her for this adventure by instilling in her self-discipline, independent thinking and the drive to succeed.
"The two main components I see in every successful entrepreneur are grit and hustle," she says. "Nothing in life comes easy. Opportunities will not come knocking on your door. You have to go find them."