By Russie Coy Jones
The Idea for Rely-A-Light
The idea for Rely-A-Light began in 2009 during the worst ice storm that the south has seen in 25 years. My father who suffered from Alzheimer’s lived with my husband and me. He also had COPD, a chronic lung condition, and was on oxygen 24 hours a day. We all knew the ice storm was coming and the weather predictions were only a few hours off, instead of mid-afternoon, we were plunged into darkness on a cold February night around 9:30 pm. My father was already in bed but when his TV went off he got up to investigate, got tangled in his oxygen tubing and fell. Thankfully he was ok, but it put our thoughts in motion. How could we prevent this from happening again? What if he had been badly hurt and lived alone? How many people fumble around in the dark during a power outage? How many power outages do we have a year?
Necessity…
Benjamin Franklin once said, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” He was right. Rely-A-Light was born that week at the kitchen table during the daylight hours, as we were out of power for 6 days. My husband and business partner, his background in electrical contracting, came up with the electrical configuration and materials from stuff in our garage. My background is in Interior Design and together we designed our product, the perfect mix of form and function. We compare ourselves to the peanut butter cup, the exquisite blend of peanut butter and chocolate! We have four children, four grandchildren, a wonderful daughter-in-law and a very talented son-in-law, all very supportive.
Russie Coy Jones…Obstacles
The next 2 years were filled with obstacles that slowed us down in the development of our product. My father passed away, I was diagnosed with cancer and then 8 months later with Parkinson’s disease. But we didn’t stop, throughout this time we continued to improve our prototype and finally applied for our patents. In essence, with the onset of disease, I became my target demographic. So the obstacle became the path!
Opal Group, LLC
Opal Group, LLC was formed in 2012 and Rely-A-Light, a name thought up by my childhood friend, became a subsidiary of this company in early 2012. My mother-in-law came up with the slogan for our t-shirts, hats and business cards, “Blackouts turn me ON!” In late fall 2012 we ordered components and built the first 280 lamps in our garage with our family. Word of mouth spread quickly and we kept getting calls and emails from people that wanted a Rely-a-light. We opened our fulfillment center in the fall of 2013. We really started moving forward with more style additions in 2014 and the development of LampAngel, the newest addition to our Rely-A-Light family, in 2015.
Realizing our Vision
With the help of family, friends and co-workers, we are realizing our vision of making sure that lack of light during a power outage is no longer an impediment to all people, any age, any gender or in any location of America and available to everyone. A dream come true!
inPowered Lights
Our dream has become even more exciting with the formation of a new company, inPowered Lights, with Rely-A-Light technology we will continue to light up the world while helping other woman owned businesses achieve their dreams. Look for great changes in 2019 and please continue to believe in yourself because YOU are enough! Happy holidays from our Rely-A-Light family to yours!
The preceeding was shared with permission by By Russie Coy Jones
The One Pitch with Jared and Karina
I belong to the One Pitch with Jared and Karina Inventors Facebook Group. I always recommend to inventors and those interested in inventing to join. I believe it’s a great place to meet other inventors, ask questions, network, etc. We interviewed Jared and Karina on Episode 55 of the Invention Stories Podcast, and fellow members Steve Waddell on Episode 56, Babak Forutanpour on Episode 63, Francis Prado on Episode 64, Marj Weir on Episode 66, and Angie Myers on Episode 68.
So one day I am reading the members profiles, where are they from, who has invented etc. and I come across Lindsay Satmary’s profile. So I check out Paperclips and Pacis and quickly learn quickly she is a great writer who wrote a fantastic article on Russie Coy Jones back on May 31, 2017.
Lindsay Satmary Interviews Russie Coy Jones
Lindsay Satmary launched Paperclips and Pacic, (her blog) to share her passion for motherhood and entrepreneurship by connecting people like herself with brands and products she loves along with resources that have helped her as a mompreneur. Lindsay enjoys creating unique content and helping other entrepreneurs like Russie Coy Jones tell their stories in a way that really connects…and did she ever.
To read Meet Russie Jones, Inventor of Rely-a-Light please click here or lindsaysatmary.com/russie-jones-relyalight/
Additional Russie Coy Jones Interview Links
Who’s Fearless? Russie Coy Jones – sheBOOM
Richmond’s Russie Jones turns bright idea into lamps reliable during …
For more information please visit https://relyalight.com
