Center's help was critical to new product's success

Shelby Mason didn’t set out to become an entrepreneur when she stepped through an airport security checkpoint and had to take off her boots. But revealing the white socks she was wearing over her tights got her thinking there must be a way around the embarrassment of it.

“Women sacrifice comfort for style a lot,” Mason, 40, said. “I thought, ‘this looks bad. Something has to be done.’”

During that flight, Mason thought of creating a sock that was also a stocking. However, she didn’t act on her idea. It sat in her mind for about a year, before Mason did something about it.

“The more I talked with my friends about it, the more I wanted to do it,” Mason said. “It’s not something that’s going to change the world, but if I came make something that will make it a little more comfortable and convenient, then I’m happy.”

She already knew the story of Sara Blakely, the creator and founder of Spanx shape wear.

“I was very familiar with how she got her start by contacting the mills herself. So I tried it,” Mason said. “But I didn’t want to give too much information, because I didn’t want someone to steal my idea, and I didn’t know the lingo.”

Mason googled hosiery terms so she would be better prepared to talk to the industry. A list came up with definitions she could easily understand. At the bottom of the page was a tag that said, “for more information, contact Dan St. Louis,” along with his phone number. Mason called.

St. Louis is the director of the Manufacturing Solutions Center in Hickory, which is affiliated with Catawba Valley Community College. The MSC helps develop new products, improve existing ones and conducts studies on products. It also helps develop prototypes for entrepreneurs.

“The problem Shelby had was that the sock industry and the hosiery industry don’t talk to each other,” St. Louis said. “We looked at how you knit it so the two would come together. I’ve never seen anything quite like this.”

He didn’t know when Mason contacted him that he would be helping with an idea that would go on to become one of Oprah’s “Top fashion finds for 2011.” St. Louis did know, though, that it had a chance at being a huge success.

Rodney Sigmon, who specializes in research and design and prototypes at the MSC, worked on Mason’s product, which was eventually called Bootights.

“We had to keep the top part of the sock open, like we do at the toes, so we could attach it to the tights,” he said.

St. Louis said Mason’s product was unique.

“I get the challenge all the time of new products,” he said. “We looked at it from the technological side: can we do it. Once we figured out it was possible, we have to match it up with the right people. If we can help with the technical end, so the manufacturer doesn’t have to, it makes it easier.”

St. Louis and Sigmon helped Mason select the sock material she used, a moisture wicking fabric, which attached to a stocking. After developing a prototype, St. Louis went to two North Carolina mills he thought would work well on the project. He had another employee at the MSC create the design for the packaging. MDI distributes the product.

Mason said St. Louis took her under his wing, and she’s grateful for the help she’s received.

“If not for (Dan) and his introduction, this probably wouldn’t have happened,” she said. “A lot of it is who you know. He introduced me to the mills. Everybody respects him. I could not have done it without him. I would have given up because I hit so many road blocks with the mills.”

St. Louis brushed off the compliment, saying the success cannot be attributed to one thing.

“If you don’t find the right marketing, manufacturing and packaging people, you’ll fail,” St. Louis said. “A lot of people think they’ll get on Oprah and be successful, but you have to have all the pieces together.”

Being on the “Oprah” show certainly helped business, though. Mason’s Bootights were featured on the Jan. 13 episode, in which Adam Glassman, creative director of O, The Oprah Magazine, featured the seven top fashion finds for 2011. The selection also included a down jacket, functional cold-weather boots, a basic white shirt, a classic purse, a scarf and “fake tank” to wear under low cut tops.

Bootights debuted in Dillard’s last season, and were added at QVC and a few other retailers this year. After they were featured on “Oprah,” other retailers jumped onboard, including Macy’s and Amazon, Mason said.

“All of a sudden, you’re buzzworthy,” she said. “The trick is to make sure we have enough inventory, have socks delivered on time and everything runs smoothly. If it’s a product that offers a solution, it’s a much easier product to sell.”

The MSC helps to pick out the ones that will be a success. It has about 150 or 200 people a year asking them for help creating a new product. St. Louis said a lot of them aren’t ready.

“We ask them if they have a prototype, do they have a plan, do people really need what they’re offering. You have to have an idea of who to sell it to and what’s the difference between your idea and others on the market,” St. Louis said.

He said entrepreneurs have to have some kind of game plan. While Mason didn’t have all the components he mentioned, she had a lot of them. As someone who was then the vice president of the western region of Disney, Mason also had a lot of marketing know-how and contacts, two things that also worked in her favor. And her idea was also one St. Louis knew would work.

So what does the MSC get out of this? It’s not money. Although the MSC does charge the person with the idea for some services, such as tests, the MSC does not make a profit. They also do not receive a portion of sales from the products they help develop.

“The name of the game for us is jobs,” St. Louis said. “We get them started, and we’ll get jobs here in North Carolina. If we don’t get it to the market, nothing happens.”

Mason said she’s not stopping with Bootights. She plans to come to Catawba County in March to take a Hoisery 101 class, and has other ideas for her Bootights line, which the MSC is helping with.