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Fertile marketing mind propels Hyrum mom to the top By
Karen Funk Jenny Bywater was never really sure of what she wanted to be when she grew up. But she did know one thing. She didn't want to leave her kids. After a variety of jobs and a lot of hard, sometimes frustrating, work, she finally made her dream come true. Bywater was the third born of five children. She was raised in Inglewood, Calif., where her parents owned a restaurant. Her life was what any second grader would have dreamed of. But when she was eight years old, her parents got divorced and her life took a drastic turn. Her mother was married and divorced five times, and each time Jenny was transferred to a different school. She attended 14 schools between kindergarten and her senior year of high school. She was shy from all the moving around, but soon decided that was not how she wanted to be. "I've never been content to just sit back and let the world happen around me," Bywater said. Instead of getting discouraged by all that life was handing her, she made the best of it. Bywater graduated from Dixie High School in St. George, Utah and then came to Utah State University (USU) for one quarter. There she met her husband, Deverl. She was married at age 18, and five weeks later her husband left to the military for four months. Soon after he arrived back home, they bought a home in Hyrum, which they still live in, and got pregnant with their first child. "Bam Bam Bam ‹It all happened so fast," Bywater said. Up until that point, the only job Bywater had held was at the Salt Lake Lynn Wilson factory while her husband was away in the military. After they had their first baby, she needed a way to earn money, but didn't want to leave her daughter with a babysitter. At that time, macramé became popular. Bywater learned how to do it at a homemaking meeting for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and began making more intricate designs. She sold them to several Sears stores throughout the western United States as well as about 30 other local stores. After a year and a half of macramé, Bywater began selling and designing kitchens at a friend's cabinet shop. At the same time, silk flowers became popular. So she started making and selling those on the side. One year, around Mothers Day, she got a business license and parked a van full of silk flowers on a corner in Logan. She made $2000 in one day. That night she went home so happy that she started throwing money everywhere. Her husband thought she had lost her mind. Bywater worked a variety of jobs like this for five years. In 1981, she started her own business called Miscellaneous Etc. She and her partner, Laura Savage, rented a booth at the Tupperware Jubilee convention at USU and sold some items such as silk flowers and a small matching game. It was at that convention that Bywater made herself known. "I've never been the type to just sit at a table and let people walk by," she said. As she was talking to people, a Tupperware saleslady suggested that they make a game that she could play at her Tupperware parties. She and Laura quickly came up with a Tupperware Bingo game and made 100 copies to sell for $1 each. The next day they displayed them at their booth. Within ten minutes, all but one had been sold. They kept the last on as a sample and started taking orders for more. Within three days, they sold 3,400 games. She and Laura came up with six new games and began to market them to around 300 Tupperware distributors. However, the same week they got their first order, they also got a "cease and desist" letter from the Tupperware corporation telling them they were unauthorized to use the Tupperware name on their games because it is a registered trademark. This slowed them down for a while, but not for good. The next year, 1982, they again rented a booth at the jubilee, where they were allowed to sell the rest of their games. This year they also added magnetic notepads and car window signs to their product line. People crowded around their booth so tightly that some were falling down stairs and getting trampled. "We made $12,000 within nine days," Bywater said. "We couldn't keep up with it so we had to start taking orders." She and Laura were so excited that they began singing "Zippidee-doo-da." In 1983, Bywater changed the name of the business to "The Booster." They sell products such as stationary, buttons, stickers and car signs aimed at helping people in the party plan business increase their sales. Party plan industries include Pampered Chef, Tupperware, Stampin' Up, Mary Kay Cosmetics and many more. Laura sold her portion of the business to Jenny in 1985. Bywater ran the business out of her kitchen until 1994, when she converted her garage into an office. In 1996, Bywater printed her first full color catalog and in 1998, started a website. In 1999, the website was updated with visual pictures of the products and a shopping cart. This increased their online sales by 800 percent. Since then, they've maintained a steady 20 percent increase per year. "We are constantly coming up with new products and new ways to help people in the party plan business become more successful," Bywater said. Her slogan is, "I succeed by helping others succeed." The Booster has allowed Bywater to stay home with her four children, who are now all grown and out of the house. "The number one thing in my life is being a mom, a wife and a grandma," Bywater said. But this business has not only benefited her. "This whole business is not just for me," Bywater said. "I employ 10 other people who are also moms." Ninety-five percent of her employees have been her children and neighbors. Several of them are able to work from home, while others just bring their babies to work. "Working at home helps you to be closer to your kids," said Bridget Udy, Bywater's third child as well as employee. "You get to experience them growing up. You don't just have to hear about it from a babysitter." Udy is not only grateful that her mom was able to be home while she was growing up, but she is also able to take her own daughter to work with her. Now she works part of her hours out of her own home. "I was also taught the responsibility of earning my own money," Udy said. She was never given an allowance, but she did have the opportunity to work for money since she was 10. Her first jobs were packaging stickers and copying orders. "I thought it was really fun at the time," she said. Udy said that for running a business from her home, her mother was away a lot at sales conventions around the country. "But she didn't leave us at home," Udy said. "We just got to go on a lot of family vacations." She's been to California and Florida several times, as well as Nauvoo, Ill. Now she even gets to take her own family along on those trips. Bywater says her husband has also been a huge support to her in making the business a success. "He allows me to grow and expand my mind," she said. "It is so important for women who want to go out and be involved in business or whatever it is they're doing, that they don't throw away their relationship. It's possible to do both."
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