Lisa Ascolese, CEO and founder of Inventing A-to-Z, a product development company used to assist others who have the desire to create and develop their own product(s), is known throughout the industry as The Inventress. She strategically helps her clients from conception to execution. For more than 25 years, she has successfully invented, marketed and launched products on QVC, HSN and ShopNBC. Her high-profile client roster includes icons such as Dionne Warwick, Carla Hall and Tyrese Gibson.
“The Inventress came from inventing,” Ascolese explains. “The Inventress on a day-to-day basis is consulting with people explaining to them how to do things the right way in terms of inventing. I help to make sure they’re doing everything they want to do. My passion is seeing people succeed. I want people to understand what it takes to become successful in the world of inventing. I see them through the entire process. My whole purpose is to help people develop a product from concept to fruition. That means from just a napkin idea to prototyping, manufacturing, to selling it to the top shopping networks in the world, including Shark Tank.”
In addition to her consulting business, Ascolese operates and organizes the Association of Women Inventors & Entrepreneurs (aowie). Understanding the difficulties of inventing and entrepreneurship, Ascolese was inspired to organize a program that is designed to help women inventors and entrepreneurs reach their goals through mentorship and financial guidance. Her goal is to help build a brighter and stronger community of successful women. “We bring in amazing speakers who have a phenomenal history,” she smiles. “Some were just starting out and others who had giant backstories. People like Dionne Warwick and Gloria Gaynor. We bring people to tell their stories because their stories aren’t perfect…I tell my story about how it wasn’t easy for me. It still isn’t easy. It’s a climb, always a climb. The purpose of [the association] is to share the desires we have for entrepreneurship, to get closer to understanding what entrepreneurship is about, what family is about; it doesn’t have to be just about business.”
Initially, Ascolese went to school for computer science and then to be an ultrasound technician. Gradually she began to create items that she needed and saw that others needed as well. Her very first product was The Bosom Buddy nursing cape followed by the Bun-Tie hair accessory, which debuted on QVC television. She developed a solid formula and was able to rapidly launch new products that include the Wrap And Store Organizer and The Perfect Pockets Organizer, which generated $6,000 in less than six minutes on QVC. Today, her products vary from mother care nursing products to kitchen organizers to hair accessories.
Ascolese faced many challenges at the beginning of her career. “There are lots of costs,” she states. “Developing my first product was very costly. There were a lot of things I had to do. I kept thinking ‘how was I going to make this happen?’ I started by asking people for help…The first invention that didn’t work out the way I wanted it to was The Wrap And Store Organizer. When I thought it was perfect I pitched it to QVC. They didn’t think the product was going to go anywhere and told me ‘this was something that wasn’t going to work for us.’ I asked the buyer what I needed to do to make this work. ‘I know it’s a great product. What’s missing?’ The buyer told me if I considered making some modifications he would think about bringing it to the network. I redesigned it and brought it back.”
As Ascolese continues to create new products and assist in launching other’s ideas, she focuses on these essential steps to help make her transitions seamless:
- Make sure it’s something you really want to do. Create a pro and con list of the pivot you are thinking of making.
- Don’t listen to people who don’t know anything about what you are doing or what your business is like. People want to give you advice who know nothing about your space or what you are doing for a living. When you make changes make sure those changes are what you really want to do.
- Establish a strong team. Teamwork makes the dream work. When you have people who believe in the vision, you’ll go further than you have ever imagined.
“I want to believe I can be the role model that helps young women, all women, to believe that anything they can believe in, they can achieve,” Ascolese concludes. “The role model I aspire to be is the role model who helps women to understand that they can have anything they want regardless of their financial levels.”