Nitin Bajaj

Welcome to the industry show. I’m your host, Nitin Bajaj. And joining me today is a very special guest, Bruna Jones. Bruna, welcome on the show.

Bruna Jones

Thank you very much.

Nitin Bajaj

Bruna, you’re officially the youngest person we brought on the show. I’m super excited.

Bruna Jones

I’m sure of that.

Nitin Bajaj

I really want to hear, who is Bruna?

Bruna Jones

Alright. Well, to begin, I’m 91 years old, and I’ve had many great experiences. I’m a first generation American, my parents were from Italy. And then I learned to embroider when I was 8 or 9 years old, and I’ve always been involved with embroidery and cross stitching. And I was artistic, I studied art in high school and in college. And then after graduation, I worked for several years in an advertising agency. Then my colleague sweetheart had to go to the army, so I waited for him to get out and then we married and over the years we had 4 children. I stayed home to care for the children and often did freelance work. Now my first venture, you know the story, necessity is the mother of invention.

Nitin Bajaj

Yes.

Bruna Jones

My daughter had a hole in her brand new pair of jeans. So I went to the stores to look for applique patches to cover that hole, but I didn’t find any. So I decided to create applique designs. Nautica was popular at the time, so I designed a booklet of nautical designs for people to copy. That was my first venture. And I can talk more about that later. But another venture I had was a result of teaching my daughter’s campfire girls group how to embroidery. Every week, the girls would come to our house, they’d sit around our round oak table, and they would learn different embroidery stitches. The goal was for them to create their own design and then stitch it. So in order to be creative, they needed a blank canvas to work on. So I had a friend make wooden, frames. I stretched the fabric onto each frame and pulled it tight, stapled it to the back of the frame. So this was a lot of work. So afterwards I thought, why doesn’t someone invent a square embroidery hoop? And that’s how the idea started. And this time I did a lot of research. I joined Inventors Workshop, I talked with engineers, I had a prototype made that worked, and it was composed of 2 parts, an inner piece that fit into an outer piece. So I decided to have the outer piece look like a frame. And when the square hoops were produced, we called them hoop frames. Then I went to trade shows and found acceptance for them, and then as sales increased, we produced more hoop frames in different sizes. That was one idea. Then I had another idea while I have this company. Then I had another idea for, for a product when I saw a cross stitch Christmas ornament framed with a small round frame that was shaped like a donut. On one side was the cross stitch and on the back was a piece of felt to hide the back of the stitching. I thought that a double sided frame would be much better. So, I I designed something. I thought there’s the ornament should have 3 parts, a front and a back, and a solid center for both of the frames to fit on. And by now having made the hook frames, I was a bit familiar with injection molding, so I had a mold made to produce these double sided frames and four shapes: hearts, ovals, circles, and bells. And, I went to the trade shows. We did very, very well for a number of years. And then, my husband was a history teacher, and when he turned 60, he retired. And so at that point, I decided to sell my business so that we could have time to travel and do other things. So I was lucky. I sold my company to a large global network company. So then not having to deal with the obligations of running a company, then I decided what else to do and I got a really good job. And that was teaching crafts on Holland America’s around the world cruises. And my husband was my assistant. So we taught crafts for 5 years on the cruise ships, and we taught for 3 months during each of those 5 years. Alright. That was great. But then that large company that had taken over my company decided to close down their subsidiary. So I took my company back. We had the hoop frames. We had the double sided frames. And from then on, we produced more products. We, we produced cross stitch kits. We printed booklets with the cross stitch designs for our, all of our frames, for our hoop frames and for our ornament frames. And so, then I started going to trade shows again and contacting the large companies and sold to the mom and pop stores. So we we did very well with with with the company. And then the last few years, I’ve had to put it on hold because my there was an illness in the family, and my husband was very ill. So now he passed away, some while ago, and I’m really trying to start it up again.

Nitin Bajaj

And, again, sorry to hear about, your husband. And on the flip side, you I love the energy. I love how you’ve been a perennial entrepreneur and innovator. You brought so many innovations to life, and your spirit, your energy is infectious. So

Bruna Jones

Yeah. Well, I do have a lot of energy. Work hard. I’m all I’ve always worked hard. Yeah. Yeah.

Nitin Bajaj

And, you know, having gone through so many ups and downs, I am curious to know what is one big challenge you’re facing right now?

Bruna Jones

Well, just my because of my age.

Nitin Bajaj

Mhmm.

Bruna Jones

I’d love to continue if I have more ideas, but because of my age, I need to try to sell my business.

Nitin Bajaj

Yes. Makes sense. On the flip side of challenges come opportunities, what’s the most exciting opportunity that you see ahead of you?

Bruna Jones

Oh, time? Time to do whatever I want, because because I I, you know, I’ve been looking to do business. Yes. And, well, and then just continue getting ideas.

Nitin Bajaj

I would love for you to in the experiences you’ve had and, you know, the different things you have done, whether it’s business, it’s teaching, being on cruises, working with folks. What’s one moment in time that or one experience that blew your own expectations and became a success beyond your imagination. And then another one that did not work out as you had expected and either became a failure or a lesson.

Bruna Jones

Okay. Well, I’ll start with the last one. Sure. That that was the booklet that I produced. Mhmm. I had a great idea, but I didn’t know anything about marketing. Nothing about marketing. And so I had all of thousands of these books printed, and then what do you do with them? So I had to think creatively, and, there was a a bank that had that had what’s the word I want to use, that had offices all around California. So I went to the headquarters and I talked with the managers there and I said, you give away the Sunset Magazine, so why don’t you give away my books and I’ll do a program for you. They thought that was a good idea. So they started me at one of their branches and that was very successful. Jones woman there deposited $10,000 and they, so from then on, they sent me to all their branches all over California. And so I I made it successful by doing that. Yeah.

Nitin Bajaj

I love that, and I’m not surprised at all. And as you said, at the beginning, necessity is the mother of invention. So

Bruna Jones

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Now the, successes

Nitin Bajaj

Mhmm.

Bruna Jones

I like to think that the hoop frames are a success. So when I got into that, I called the top needlework people, and I says, what do you think of the idea of a square embroidery hoop? Oh, they love the idea. And then I looked into it, you know, I checked all around, I as I said, I joined inventor’s workshop, I talked to engineers, and I did I really did my homework to make sure that that wouldn’t be a failure. And I I consider it a success.

Nitin Bajaj

And you’re right to do so. Bruna, I would love thanks for sharing those experiences. I’d love for you to share what I call Jones line life lessons, and, this is my favorite part of the show. Would love to hear a few of your Jones line life lessons.

Bruna Jones

Okay. Jones was like the necessity. Sometimes ideas occur because of a necessity. You know, that everybody knows that, but that’s what happened with me. You know, I had necessity. And then another thing is to think beyond the idea that you have. Think all around it, and how it can be improved, and so. And another one is to do your research, which I hadn’t done the first time. Do research a new idea very thoroughly. And another, don’t be afraid to experiment with new ideas, be persistent. You know, I’m just, I’m very persistent. I keep trying and trying. And now the last one is a nice little ditty that I teach my kids. It’s good, better, best. Never let it rest till your good is better and your better is best. And that’s it.

Nitin Bajaj

I love that, especially the last one. Bruna, thank you so much for making the time to share your journey, your experiences, and successes, and, of course, your life lessons. We really appreciate it. And, well, first off, congratulations and kudos for everything you’ve accomplished and the energy you bring and all that you do for your friends, your family, and the community, and then wish you continued success as you look forward to innovate more. Thanks a lot.

Bruna Jones

Thank you very, very much, Nitin. It’s been a pleasure.