Скачать или смотреть Utah Success Stories - Squatty Potty 2017 12 10

ST. GEORGE, Utah (News4Utah) - A local business is in the business of helping you do your business, and it is working.

Squatty Potty founders Judy and Bobby Edwards showed News 4 Utah around their headquarters in Southern Utah. In the process, they also shared the story behind their success.

It started when the mother/son pair built a wooden stool in a garage in St. George seven years ago.

Then, they came up with a slogan: 'Changing the way America poops one stool at a time.'

"As we wrote that down, laughed about it, I thought to myself, 'Yeah, that will never happen.' Who am I to change the way America poops?" Judy smiled.

But change they did -- their innovative product now known around the globe as the Squatty Potty.

"Squatting actually mechanically relaxes the muscle, opens the bowls, makes elimination easier," Bobby explained.

So, how did the team come up with this stool for better stools?

"They say 'necessity is the mother of all invention,' and my mother was constipated." Bobby said.

"The idea is to relax a muscle that is keeping your rectum kinked..." explained Dr. Roger Siddoway of Utah Gastroenterology. "There's no prescription I can write for people that costs less than trying a squatty potty," he said.

The simple solution to Judy's problem turned into a business plan that eventually landed the Edwards family on ABC's Shark Tank. As the show aired, they watched sales from their website skyrocket.

"That first night we had sold like $400,000 in Squatty Potties," Bobby said.

"Within 24 hours we hit $1 million," Judy added.

"It set the stage for us for national distribution -- Bed Bath & Beyond, and Target, and Costco, Home Depot," Boddy explained.

To keep sales growing, they knew they needed to get people talking about the uncomfortable subject.

"I mean, how else do you present poop without it being gross? So if it's ice cream, it's easier to talk about," Judy laughed.

By ice cream, they mean Dookie The Sherbert-pooping Unicorn, the company mascot that took them to the next level.

So, what is next for this home grown business with growing sales?

"Our product development list is pretty full," Bobby explained. "We've got bidets, we have air fresheners."

"[We have] this darling little poop emoji toilet plunger, and it works fantastic!" Judy laughed.

Regardless of their plans, one thing is certain -- no matter how this St. George based business grows, they plan to stay put.

"In Logan is where we make our stools. We distribute out of Salt Lake City. There is so much start-up and so much entrepreneurship in Utah that all the resources we need are here. So why take it someplace else?" Bobby asked.

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Doug Jessop is the project coordinator and filed producer of Utah Success Stories which airs Sunday's in the ABC4 Utah News @ 10 p.m.

Let me know if you have an idea for Utah Success Stories.