DFW Entrepreneurs Recount Their ‘Aha’ Moments

Whether attending a family gathering or standing in a receiving line, a great entrepreneurial idea can strike at any time.

For many entrepreneurs, there is an “aha” moment, that instant of insight or discovery about how to make their ideas a success.

aha moment

Suzy Batiz thought of Poo-Pourri at a family gathering.

Fast Company recently talked with two Dallas-area entrepreneurs about their “aha moments,” and how they used their intuition to make it in the business world.

Poo-Pourri founder Suzy Batiz related how her moment occurred at a family gathering when her brother-in-law asked out loud at the table if there was any way to trap the odor in a toilet. Batiz said she immediately thought of aromatherapy oils, which would create a barrier and could trap in the odor.

AN AHA MOMENT CAN LEAD TO SUCCESS

Batiz sprang into action following her entrepreneurial instincts.

By 2016, she sold 22 million bottles of her Poo-Pourri product.

Which Wich CEO Jeff Sinelli recalled his eye-opening moment that occurred at conference receiving line where he was going to meet Container Store co-founder and Chairman Kip Tindell.

Once his turn arrived, Sinelli placed his business card in Tindell’s hand and said, “Some people want to make superior sandwiches. Some people want to make the world a better place. We want to do both.”

Kip Tindell to
Jeff Sinelli:
“What are you doing to make the world better?”

Tindell asked him: “What are you doing to make the world better?”

Sinelli couldn’t reply, he said, because the statement was simply a tagline, Fast Company reported.

He called it a defining moment in his life.

“I said when I get back to Dallas, I’m going to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and give them out to the community.”

In 2017, the company will give away its 1 millionth free sandwich, Fast Company reported.

The Fast Company author, Jonah Sachs, said that in interviewing a hundred entrepreneurs, he’d found that the “aha moments,” were nearly universal in which a moment of inspiration brings innovation to marketplace.


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