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History
It all started on the basketball court! Janet Rickstrew, a former high school basketball coach and handy do-it-yourselfer and tradeswoman at heart, met Sue Wilson, businesswoman, and Mary Tatum, computer programmer, at a local recreation center playing basketball. The three were all homeowners and became very good friends.
In the beginning, they all were working on various home improvement projects and got together to pass along tips and techniques, as well as lament the fact that retail hand tools and those warehouse classes didn't work for them. The simple fact is that most hardware companies are antiquated in their approach to women. Most figure that in order to appeal to women, you just take a tool made for a man and make it pink…Hello! They needed real tools that would get their projects done.
After attending a party for Pampered Chef®, the premier direct seller of essential kitchen tools, Janet, Sue and Mary had the idea of teaching and educating women on how to do basic home improvement and maintenance projects, with quality tools that were more ergonomically designed and made for smaller hands, all in the comfort of their home.
The three founders were all working full time at other companies and in their “off hours” began working with various friends on a business plan, Web site layout, design and content, brochures and sales materials. During this time, they would also host tool parties for friends and family members using existing tools already on the market. They would teach their friends and families the proper use of tools and specific tips and techniques on basic tiling, plumbing and drywall repair.
Sue has more than 20 years experience in general management and business ownership. She brought to the team her experience in international and domestic purchasing, product line development, sales management, customer service management, accounting functions, and personnel management and benefits coordination and is Co-founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Tomboy Tools.
Janet is the main DIY’er of the team. Her experience helped launched the idea of developing demonstrations that would better teach women how to do basic home repairs and maintenance. Janet has done extensive remodeling including kitchen and bath, tear outs, framing, drywalling, tiling, painting, finish work, plumbing, woodwork, and electrical. Her main focus is product-line development and manufacturer relations, as well as overseeing warehouse and daily operations. She is Co-founder and Chief Operations Officer of Tomboy Tools.
Mary brought to the team her excellent programming and application experience. She primarily focuses on the development, deployment, and maintenance of the Tomboy Tools main Web site, Consultant back-end Web site, and custom developed application systems for business functions. She launched www.tomboytools.co.uk in 2001 and today is Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Tomboy Tools.
The three founders first attended The National Hardware Show in Chicago in 2000, looking for manufacturers who would partner with them and listen to their ideas about tools that were more ergonomically designed and of quality grade to fit smaller hands. They were laughed at! The do-it-yourself market had a very different look. The idea of tools and home improvement techniques for women was met with surprise and skepticism. Tool parties for women?! Preposterous, cute, a fad. Today, that landscape has changed dramatically.
In 2002, just two years after attending their first hardware show and a year after launching their Web site, the three partners were profiled by Home Channel News, the leading B2B trade publication for the hardware industry, The profile was featured in the August 5 issue, which, ironically, was distributed at the 2002 National Hardware Show. Needless to say, this particular year at the Hardware Show, these women were treated much differently and with much more admiration and interest.
Since then, Tomboy Tools’ founders have hired on a team of women and avid DIY’ers to fulfill their management team and have successfully built a network of Independent Tomboy Tools Home Consultants across the U.S. and Canada. They continue to work with various manufacturers, building strategic partnerships in tool design and concepts.
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