Rebecca Finell graduated from ASU in May with a bachelor's degree in industrial design and has already invented a product that has leapt into the global limelight.
The product -- a frog-shaped bath caddy named Frog Pod that scoops bath toys and doubles as a storage unit -- has been picked up by Target and other large chains in countries around the world.
"Right now, we have orders all around the world that we are slowly tying to fill," Finell said.
Finell said the projected volumes for Frog Pods, which retail for $29.99, should be 60,000 per month by January.
Finell, 29, developed the Frog Pod concept for a class during her junior year.
Finell didn't begin her college career as a design major. When she started school in 1994, she tried art and pre-med before making the switch.
"When I first started the industrial design program, I thought I was going to design medical products because that was my background," Finell said.
But motherhood changed her focus.
"During that program, I had two children, and I realized all the needs that were there in the juvenile product industry," she said.
Finell said she came up with the idea after constantly cleaning her children's bath toys and figuring out ways to dry them.
Hours of brainstorming and more than 100 sketches later, Finell had developed a concept for the Frog Pod.
Finell said as part of the assignment they had to enter a design competition.
She chose the Juvenile Product Manufacturers Association Student Design Competition and won the grand prize.
"At that show, I had several offers for buyouts," Finell said. "I was going to go that route, but I just had too many other ideas. I thought 'why not just build my own brand?' "
The companies vying for her design wanted to make a lot of changes to it.
"As an artist, it is so hard to let somebody infringe on your design," Finell said. "I had faith that it could hold its own."
Finell met her business partner, Ryan Fernandez, at church. A week later, she proposed the idea of starting a design company.
Fernandez, who is a father of three, said he knew instantly the Frog Pod would succeed.
They started their company Boon Inc., last October.
From there Finell went to another trade show where a group of Target buyers told her the Frog Pod was the most popular product at the show.
"[The buyer] challenged me to come up with another product," Finell said. "So I said 'done.' And I went home and invented like crazy for two weeks."
Including the Frog Pod, Finell will have five products in Target next year, though she could not go into specifics.
The Frog Pod makes its nationwide debut Monday in Babies "R" Us, Toys "R" Us and more than 200 baby boutiques.
"I never imagined a plastic frog would make such a splash," Fernandez said.
Reach the reporter at beth.cochran@asu.edu.
