Joy Mangano

Joy Mangano is an unseen hero in the shadow of her inventions that cover her struggles to get where she is today. Mangano was born in East Meadow, New York  in 1956.  From an early age, she had the inspiration to create things that could one day change the world. Mangano graduated high school with honors and then went to Pace University in New York. Pace was where she met her husband who she divorced shortly after their 3rd child(Calautti). "Mangano then struggled to pay the bills working as an airline-reservations manager and waitress while living with her kids in a two-bedroom ranch house in Smithtown, Long Island" (Calautti). Despite her attempts to balance everything, she continued with the gift of ideas constantly flowing in her head; ideas that she would not let go of. A hero like Mangano must possess self confidence towards what they believe in and proceed to speak their mind through adversity and doubt.  Joy follows this act by having assurance in her ideas (and herself) to do amazing things. Joy Mangano is an inspirational hero due to her self confidence, her commitment to her ideas and her successes in business.

Joy's self confidence must be carried out by faith in herself. From the very beginning, she knew she had a gift of creating and innovating objects in her own productive way, "For as long as I can remember, I've had ideas, dreams for new ways to design something better. More color, more style, more function. Because we waste too much time on unimportant things when we don't need to" (Mangano). Joys ideas came from simply learning to be be a mom when cooking and cleaning a house full of 3 children.  She would think of how the innovations of products could help others one day if she could produce a solid idea.  Joy wouldn't spend all her motivation on a product that she didn't believe had a meaningful purpose to make life easier for others.  Her heroic drive is knowing that she could make other families life easier through simple housing products.  Mangano's first big idea worth all the risks of producing was the miracle mop.  "She had come up with the idea while mopping her own floors at home, becoming frustrated that her usual mops wore out quickly, failed to fully absorb mess and that rinsing them took a lot of effort.  So she had one made out of a continuous loop of cotton with grapple handles that could be twisted to wring out the water effortlessly.  She knew how much of a difference it had made to her own life and wanted to show other ordinary mums that it could change theirs too. And so she did" (Delaney).  She pursued her idea of the miracle mop by acting quickly after realizing the drawbacks of a simple mop and created a plan to make this product one of America's greatest inventions.  All of this could not be done without the drive and belief in herself and the miracle mop.  At the time, she was the only one who could envision the benefits of the product, which is why "The Miracle Mop was the one that she refused to let go of.  'People thought I was crazy to try and mass market [the Miracle Mop]',she told the New York Times. 'They told me a mop, is a mop, is a mop'" (Delaney). She saw more than just a mop, she saw an opportunity to take control of her dream no matter how much in debt she could be while producing the molds and pieces of her product. She knew that if she truly put all of her life savings into a mop, it would change the idea of cleaning in every household nationwide.  This heroic trait demonstrates her commitment not only to the product, but towards her own certainty.  Joy's self confidence was the start to a legacy of inventions that would not have been fully pursued if she didn't have faith in herself and believing that she could do amazing things.

Joy Mangano inhabited a strong commitment to something as simple as a mop when going through the struggles of creating a product that she knows has meaning.  Joy's first infomercial about her miracle mop came after she convinced a company called "QVC" to present her product to America on evening TV. For the first infomercial on QVC, Mangano said that, "They were showing stills of the mop and they really didn't know the product...I was saying to myself 'I know they're wrong. This is a great product.' I knew it would sell if I demonstrated it." "So she made QVC a proposition: give her the opportunity to go on air and pitch her product direct to the channel's millions of viewers in her own words."(Delaney).  The QVC presenters clearly didn't know the product like she did!  After producing thousands of mops in preparation for this appearance, she already had a lot on the line though going into even more debt where she had almost filed for bankruptcy. She acted quickly, taking the situation in her own hands and demanded to present the product with its full potential herself.  This ambitious act proves just how much input and control she had on creating her own success.  Her hour long presentation itself had thousands of viewers calling in to purchase the miracle mop knowing that it was "the last mop they would ever have to buy"(Mangano).  One of the QVC employes explained how "The QVC phone lines went crazy with thousands and thousands of calls," she said. "People couldn't order the Miracle Mop fast enough. We sold 18,000 mops in 20 minutes. My company had to work 24 hours a day to keep up with demand"(Delaney).  She presented the miracle mop as if her life depended on it and knowing that this, it all came into play by just taking a risk and believing in herself and a mop. No one had seen benefits in a mop until she presented her idea that day with full potential.  She built the hero inside herself by convincing others that her products had value. From the beginning, Joy stayed committed to her product despite the hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt she was in.  She was willing to present the miracle mop herself with its full qualifications.

Joy expanded to her full potential and kept pushing by making intelligent business choices to carry on with her career of inventing. Joy raised up to the expectations she could accomplish by pursuing her dream to the fullest.  From her small beginning when  "...she raised the funds to develop her idea in 1990 and used a corner of her father's car workshop to set up her own office.  The first year saw them take just $10,000 in orders.  But after her breakthrough on QVC, she was quickly able to move the company into profit, pay off her debts and expand quickly"(Delaney ).  From the small beginnings working in her father's corner repair shop on new ideas, she became desirable and worked for more of what she was capable of.  Mangano didn't stop at the Miracle Mop, she continued on to many more products such as the "huggable hangers" and even took part in her own manufacturing company called "Ingenuous Designs" (Delaney). She pushed herself to the maximum potential she knew she could achieve by making intelligent, yet risky business choices.  Joy continued with her ambition: "As of today, she has more than 100 patents, including one for HSN's best-selling product of all time, Huggable Hangers.  Her net worth is reportedly in the vicinity of $50 million"(Berman 14).  Joy would not have accomplished this much today if she didn't take bold choices for a chance of success. Looking back, the outlook of Joy's achievement aren't as recognized as the climb and struggles she overcame to be where she desired to be when she first started inventing. Joy's self confidence lead to the full potential of her products which made her a smart and successful woman in business that many find inspiring.

Joy Mangano is an inspirational hero due to her self confidence, her commitment to her ideas, and her intelligence in business.  Joy has the heroic traits of believing in herself and all of the amazing things that she has the potential of through motivation and intelligence. The story of Joy Mangano is about a daring woman with many successes "But it is also a deeply human tale about a woman who battled through divorce, confronted family struggles and fought against those who didn't believe in her to become an American business icon"(Delaney).  She is a striking  inspiration to people like me who want to do something amazing with the world using the power of creating. I find her intriguing because of her start from small beginnings and growing into a successful well known businesswoman who I strive to be one day.  She motivates to use their hands and open minds no matter the risks of becoming something they're proud of.  Joy had the power to push through all predicaments.  She managed this power to continue with a dream that she would not disregard.  Joy admirably finds the joy in inventing and doing what she loves most by inspiring others to strive for happiness and to do what they love. Through all the successes, her heroic form lies on the inside and her progress of learning the true meaning of accomplishment.