San Antonio Momtrepreneur and Former Military Strategist Is Inspiring Female Inventors and Entrepreneurs

SAN ANTONIO, July 12, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO,) "In the last decade, all-female invented patents constituted only about 4% of issued patents." Over the same time, the number of female entrepreneurs has grown 58% but still lags behind their male counterparts. Neither statistic satisfies San Antonio veteran, inventor, and momtrepreneur Amy Wees. She is a one-woman army with a passion to teach people how to invent, source, and sell new products. After 18 years with the government and the military as a strategist and planner, Wees leveraged her skills to become a full-time entrepreneur. She is the CEO of Amazing at Home, The CEO of The Canton Fair Experience, a consultant, the inventor of Sift-Ease® and a podcast host. One by one, Wees is teaching, coaching, and guiding men and women equally, into becoming inventors and entrepreneurs. "There is no gender barrier to hard work, creativity, and success," Wees points out. And although her clients and students include both men and women, her impact on female entrepreneurs and inventors, in particular, has been unmistakable.

Wees leads by example. She saw a problem and invented a solution. She loves her cats, but the odor from their litter box triggered migraines. She sketched out product designs while traveling for the military, and soon developed the revolutionary SiftEase® – a device that lets you dump the cat box and sift out clean litter, without touching or scooping any dirty mess. SiftEase® is now for sale on Amazon and will soon be on retail shelves.

As the mother of two daughters, Wees is especially thrilled to inspire the younger generation to follow their dreams. She recently spoke at her daughter's 3rd grade career day. "My goal was to get the kids all excited about thinking outside of the box and create new solutions to everyday problems." She talked about ideas and introduced them to business concepts, including business math. "I held up one of my own products and had them run the numbers on it," she says. She had the kids calculate the monthly COGS, revenues, and profits. Girls and boys both had their eyes light up when they saw the potential of bringing their own ideas to life, and that they could actually make real money doing it! They suddenly started telling her about their inventions and showing the drawings they made. At the end of the career day, Wees asked: "Who wants to be an entrepreneur when they grow up?" Even the teacher raised her hand.

Wees believes we are becoming more of a creative and entrepreneurial society. She uses Uber® as an example of the new mindset, "I already own a car, so I can drive people around and get paid for it." As of March 2018, Uber's workforce was 38% female. Wees explains that the entrepreneurial world is larger than Uber. Selling on Amazon® is gender neutral. Wees wants these new entrepreneurs, particularly women, to know they can also become inventors and launch unique products. By doing so, they take control of their own business, their own income, and their own life.

Wees teaches that inventing, and product development, are great opportunities for female entrepreneurs. There is no glass ceiling and no wage gap. Success comes from developing the right product, hard work, and business savvy. She has personally helped hundreds of entrepreneurs from across the globe as an Amazon selling coach and has guided many sellers, both men, and women, to great success. She has also seen a gap in knowledge about building a business and selling on non-Amazon retail platforms. So, in typical Amy-style, she sought out experts and stepped up.

Last year she started offering The Canton Fair Experience -- a two-month class-and-trip program teaching entrepreneurs how to create unique products and inventions, produce them in China, and sell them on Amazon and to retail stores. The course culminates in a trip to China to the famed Canton Fair; the largest exposition of manufacturers in the world.

Classes start on August 1, 2019, for the 126th Canton Fair in October. Sign-up is now open at https://thecantonfairexperience.com. for the October Canton Fair in China.

The program with 40 hours of training which covers all the questions entrepreneurs have: How do you come up with an innovative idea? How do you prototype? How do you validate customer demand? How do you get it created at a factory? How do you negotiate a reasonable price? How do you get it back to America? How do you get it into multiple retail channels? How do you ensure it's profitable?

Then, in China, everyone attends the Canton Fair, also known as The China Import and Export Fair. The exposition is huge. It is the size of three airports and covers more than 217 football fields. If you are looking to source unique products there is no better place in the world. You walk from supplier to supplier and compare products, quality, and prices. As an inventor, you can discuss your ideas with multiple factories, and also arrange visits to see their facilities. Wees knows that this is a business, so she also makes sure that the participants are properly trained about Chinese and US intellectual property protection and, of course, patents.

Knowledge is power. Especially business knowledge. In April the program had 47% female entrepreneurs. The upcoming October program already has 54% female participants. This trend pleases Wees, who is thrilled every time a woman becomes empowered with knowledge and successfully launches her own business.

The USPTO is still trying to figure out how to increase the number of female inventors. Entrepreneurship is still unbalanced. However, change is happening. One woman by one woman. Inspired by people like Amy Wees. Just ask the third-graders who want to become inventors. Ask the female entrepreneurs from The Canton Fair Experience, building their own businesses with unique products. And watch with awe, as two young girls in San Antonio Texas, grow up to be inventors and entrepreneurs. Knowing that anything is possible. Just like their very inspiring mom.

SOURCE The Canton Fair Experience