Orca Communications Client Spotlight: HandsOn
Welcome to the Orca Communications PR client spotlight. Each month our clients tell you in their own words why they do what they do and provide tips for other growing small brands and businesses.
Orca Communications has represented HandsOn to the press for the past six years. The brand’s innovative grooming gloves have been featured in everything from PEOPLE Magazine to Better Homes & Gardens. We spoke to founder, Jay Michaelson about what it takes to run a successful small business for this month’s client spotlight.
How did you come up with the concept for HandsOn?
As a kid growing up bathing and grooming horses and dogs, I always wondered why we kept buying these curry combs that are hard to hold onto and only marginally work on large flat areas of our animals, bathing mitts that fit no-one and never stayed on your hand especially when soapy and wet, and shedding blades that again only marginally work on large flat areas and literally rip hair out including the non-dead hair.
As an adult producing movies, TV commercials and documentaries I just wanted to get back to animals and animal people. So I set out to finally make these gloves and change the world… Four-and-a-half years later, I realized why these gloves had never been on the market, they were really hard to make right. But we did it and I can’t tell you how great it feels to hear people on a daily basis say “Why didn’t I think of that?”, “Where have these gloves been?”
We are changing the way you Bathe, Shed and Groom. Forever.
Your products and brand have evolved over time. What’s been your favorite part of the journey thus far?
Everything from the loving feedback we get in person at shows along with customers reaching out all over the world in giving us their great praise to shooting our commercials where I have groomed everything from camels, elephants to zebras. I just need an aardvark so I can finally say they work on every animal from A-Z.
What is your number one piece of advice for entrepreneurs launching a new product?
Buckle up buttercup, it’s a fun, hard ride! Mainly do it right from the start. Hire an attorney to set your business up, hire a patent attorney so you can protect yourself properly. If you have a good product you will get knocked off… stay true to your product/brand and beat them to market. Take them down when you can but don’t fret, you are in this for the long haul, they just want to make a quick buck with an inferior product before they move on to the next great idea.
What’s one thing you like about working with Orca Communications?
Are there any specific projects you’re working on right now that you’d like to share?
We have several new pet and equine products hitting the market and going into production along with a gardening line as we speak. For more information about HandsOn, visit https://handsongloves.com/.
“Building awareness over the years, HandsOn Gloves have appeared in Better Homes & Gardens, Forbes.com, PEOPLE Magazine, Buzzfeed, Rachael Ray Magazine online, various regional lifestyle TV features. In addition they’ve also been reviewed on The Hallmark Channel’s “Home & Family” show, Pet Age, Pet Lifestyles Magazine, and many more.
Jennifer LaVoie- Trimble, Publicist – Orca Communications