Meet Hawaii’s lovely Startup Princess, Sarah Burns who created Tag a Towel in order to differentiate and personalize towels. Her organization tool allows family members to hang towels and reuse them without grabbing someone else’s. Simply attach the tag towel magnetically to the edge of the towel and you’ve got a fashionable, functional way to claim your towel! No more mixing towels and possibly spreading germs.
It’s not enough to just have a cute product though. People these days are looking for functional design and if it can save you money, even better! With the Tag a Towel you can reuse towels, thus saving energy and money! It’s that easy to be ‘green’ and fashionable at the same time.
With a patent pending, Sarah is in the infancy startup phase looking to partner with companies to sell her product. She also blogs about her product and many products from other entrepreneurs. One look at her blog will give you an insight to her public relations background. She eventually wants to have her own firm representing other mom entrepreneurs. What a great start!
Enjoy Meeting Startup Princess Sarah Burns!
Name: Sarah Burns
Hometown: Dana Point, California
Current Residence: Lahaina, Hawaii
Education: BA in Communications, Minor in Art History from University of San Diego
Professional Background (brief, please): After college I went into Public Relations where I worked with high technology companies. I then moved into to sales and marketing. I am lucky that I have actually used my degree.
What you wanted to be when you grew up: An editor at a fashion magazine
What you are: A wife, mom, entrepreneur, blogger and I will always be a PR hound, I love PR and all that goes into it. One day I’d like to have my own firm and work with mom entrepreneurs as my clients.
Brief Summary of your Start Up: I am still in the infancy stage of my start-up. I created Tag A Towel, magnetic towel i.d. tags so you know whose towel is whose. They help people re-use their towels, thus cutting down on laundry, saving money, energy and reducing the risk of spreading germs from sharing a towel.
Company Website? www.tagatowel.com, I’ve also started a blog to showcase other mom entrepreneurs and their products or services, www.ohanamamablog.blogspot.com
What inspired you? My family, our growing laundry pile, and my frustration with my husband for always taking my towel!
How long have you been in business? It all started just under a year ago
How did you fund it? So far everything has been personally funded
Do you have a Fairy Godmother (or Mentor)? My biggest mentor and cheerleader is my husband. He has a great entrepreneurial spirit. He’s so driven and really pushes me. He’s also starting his own business and seeing him succeed and meet milestones, really pushes me. I would also like to find a Fairy Godmother to be my mentor, bounce ideas off of, vent frustrations, learn from.
Do you belong to any Business Organization or Networking Groups? I visit www.mompreneursonline.com daily. The women on this forum are inspirational, wonderful cheerleaders and full of great information. Their willingness to share and help is beyond anything I could imagine.
Current Business Challenge? Finding the right manufacturer that fits with what I am doing.
What are you doing about it? Through networking, I’ve found a sourcing agent and am hoping she will be my “answer” or at least she can help me get closer to overcoming this challenge.
Favorite motivational quote: Just do it. I find that when frozen by fear, the best answer is to take a deep breathe and “just do it.” I also love “Activity breeds activity.” When you put one thing into action, the domino effect is amazing.
Family? I have been married to my high school sweetheart for almost 6 years and together we have two wonderful children, our son who is 3.5 years old and our little princess, who is 11 months old. My family is my everything.
If so, how do you balance family and business? It’s tough. With both my husband and I starting our own businesses, we need to each trade off and help with the children. My husband has been a great help with this. He’s a superman.
Favorite book? The Alchemist and The Secret
What do you do to relax? I head to the beach with my family, sit on our deck watching the sunset with my husband or go for a walk.
What do you want to change most about your world? Right now, I want to make every bathroom organized with Tag a Towels
What are you most proud of? My marriage and my children. My son just started preschool and I just got a report from one of his teachers that he “is one of the most well mannered children” she’s met. I am very, very proud of him. I am also proud that I have made the jump of creating a product and being an entrepreneur.
What advice would you like to offer other Startup Princesses? Go for it. Even if you don’t know ALL of the steps right now, take it one step at a time and the others will follow.
Favorite Magic Wand (tool/resource)? The internet.
If you could design a tiara, what precious stones would you use? I’d make it full of amber – amber has healing properties and can help with headaches and aches and pains…after along day I’d put on my tiara, watch the sunset with my family and relax
Sarah, what a great idea! Good luck with your new business venture!
Sarah, this is a great product and you’ve made such great strides in getting this going. I know Tag A Towel is going to be huge!
I have a question. I currently own a gym and have problems with members stealing the towels and came acroos the towel tag. How exactly is this used, how do you go about ordering the product, can you buy the tag and towel already put together or do you your self put them together and what does the cost of the tag cost?
Kyle, feel free to email me at sarahb at tag a towel dot com (no spaces).
where can I purchase these?? Great idea!!