 By Shannon Marshburn and Melissa Egts "Without a customer, you don't have a company," Melissa told us in an interview about her journey with, O2 FRESH™. The O2 FRESH™ is a nasal cannula cover that is a simple way to keep nasal cannula prongs clean and prevent oxygen tubing from falling on the floor. We talked with Melissa about her journey through our I-Corps program and reflected back to look at how things have pivoted. You can learn more about the product on their website, https://www.hartfielmedical.com/ How did the idea for your product/service come about? I use home oxygen and the oxygen tubing is a pain in the neck. Literally! Like many people prescribed oxygen therapy, I take my nasal cannula off several times a day (a nasal cannula is the tubing you see on patient's faces that delivers oxygen into the nose via a prong in each nostril). The nasal cannula prongs were often hung over door knobs that other people had touched or the backs of chairs. And they often fell to the floor. Can you imagine having to put something back in your nose that fell on the floor? That's like putting a finger in your nose your dog has licked. YUCK. Do you know, there isn't a safe place for the 1.5 million people who use oxygen at home to put a nasal cannula when you take it off? Asthma inhalers have a cover. Toothbrushes, too, for the same reason - hygiene!  The nose is a direct route of infection into the body! It really worried me because I'm prone to respiratory infections so I set out to create a solution - the O2 FRESH nasal cannula cover. There are three important things about my O2 FRESH nasal cannula cover. One, it has an opening with a patented latch that gently compresses the tubing and holds it securely so the user can just insert it and go. No hinge, lid or moving part to fumble with. Two, it has a universally attachable handle so it's always nearby the user. It attaches in seconds to nasal cannulas, wheelchairs, oxygen tanks, and portable oxygen concentrators like Inogen. And three, it is inexpensive to purchase and clean, sanitize, and reuse. Just toss it in the dishwasher to clean or use one of four other methods to sanitize. How does your business look different now than when you first started? Originally I thought I would sell to oxygen supply companies. It turns out, my best customer is the person who uses oxygen at home or the person who administers it at work. For the home oxygen customer, it's their new favorite gadget that promotes hygiene and comfort and convenience. For medical professionals it's a risk mitigation tool for long term oxygen users in hospitals and nursing homes who are prone to respiratory infections and trips and falls over oxygen tubing. Our website is at https://www.hartfielmedical.com/ What are you most proud of relating to your business? Getting to market! Only about half the people who apply to I-Corp are accepted. Of that I heard about 80% complete the program, still fewer complete the post-program homework and even fewer launch. I am glad I persevered! There was one day I came home from I-Corp almost in tears! And I am not a crier! You see, for over 20 years I was a stay at home Mom. But about three weeks into I-Corp and I never felt so stupid in my life. Everyone in I-Corp is a Ph.D., doctor, engineer, or serial entrepreneur. I didn't know anything about manufacturing, marketing, selling, or the business of healthcare. Plus, I'm over 50 years old. I felt overwhelmed. I told my husband that I felt so outclassed. You know what he said to me? He said, "You're the Ph.D. in using oxygen. None of these people know what that is like as much as you do." And he was right. His words steadied me and I rallied big time. There was no way I was going to fail this man or, more importantly, my idea! You know how you love your child so much they seem to have a glow around them? That's the way I feel about my invention. In my hand, it feels just right. It glows. Just looking at it gives me a shot of confidence. I love it and I know it is needed.  Fast forward to today, I've done everything in my business myself from patent to packaging and successfully writing a $50,000 Department of Defense grant. My hands wrote, designed, and programmed the website. That's my hands in the picture on the packaging. I've learned so much and I refuse to quit because I know just how much the O2 FRESH nasal cannula cover is needed. In fact, there's 54 million reasons the nasal cannula cover is needed. The US uses 54 million nasal cannulas in a year. Now many are for infants or used temporarily in an ambulance or emergency room. But that leaves millions used not just in the home but in nursing homes and in long-term care situations in hospitals that could really use the reusable O2 FRESH nasal cannula cover to mitigate the risks of respiratory infections and trip and falls over oxygen tubing to their most medically fragile patients.  How has UARF helped you on your entrepreneurial journey?
"Without a customer, you don't have a company," is one of the first things we were told. And that is so true! Without UARF I never would have done - and continue to do - so many value proposition interviews. The value proposition interviews help you find out who is going to pay money for what you've got and who wouldn't and why. I'll be forever grateful to the program for giving me the words to convert people's words uncovered in the value proposition interviews into sales. Not because I'm money-hungry, but because the O2 FRESH makes using oxygen easier and safer and is really, really needed. I really believe that the O2 FRESH nasal cannula cover is a new standard in patient care and a sigh of relief for every oxygen user.
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