THE STORY OF TIGER TAIL

Spring Faussett Inventor of Tiger Tail

One young inventor. One old story. One growing success.

As a young inventor I thought if the "pet rock guy" could do it, so could I. I just needed to figure out what my pet rock was going to be. Long story, but sadly and depressing to me, my first invention wasn't it. Stuck in the mud and not sure where to go, I processed my long list of potential inventions and starting thinking of ones I could do with very little start up money. In a moment of desperation (I really didn't want to go back to the corporate grind of working 9-5), I started ordering parts online and putting them together. What came to be was this strange new "human rolling pin" that I called Tiger Tail.

The name.

Everyone asks why the name Tiger Tail. They always wonder if I named it after a school I went to or something like that. Well, it's actually not that complicated. I had a choice of stock colors for the grips I needed: blue, red, black, yellow and orange. Since the center piece of my product was black, I needed something that worked with that. Red and black was boring. Blue and black reminded me of insurance or a bank. Yellow and black reminded me of a yellow jacket. Ouch! That name was out. Black on black reminded me of a panther. When I came to orange, I thought about a tiger. Then I thought a tiger's tail was straight and powerful, so I said Tiger Tail. I liked it – so that's why I named it Tiger Tail.

The inspiration.

Everyone asks, why did I create Tiger Tail. They always ask if I'm a physical therapist, or a massage therapist. The fact is I'm neither. I'm an athlete who had a whole lot of pain from all the sports I chose to play. I've played soccer for more than 30 years, including Division 1 varsity at Washington State University. I've always had a need for Tiger Tail, I just didn't know it. One year, I tore my ACL and opted to harvest my own hamstring to do the repair. Wow, little did I know the piercing pain that would come along with that decision. My therapists recommended a foam roller or a rolling pin to help reduce the pain and heal the scar tissue. Neither worked for me. Then one day, I wondered what would happen if I crossed a rolling pin together with a foam roller. So I did.

The blood, sweat and (sometimes) tears.

The story of Tiger Tail started in my garage. I created the very first one in that garage using materials I had found online and at Home Depot. My gut told me I had an interesting product, but based on my first product launch experience, I was seriously doubting how successful something so simple could be "the one". But – I went with my gut – and as an inventor with experience, I kept my new "baby" under wraps. I decided to make 125 of them, built a sales sheet and I took them to the International Seattle Bike Show. When I sold out of them, I thought I might be on to something, but I wasn't completely convinced. So, I built another 150 and took them to another show. Sold those and did the same. Build. Sell. Repeat. Build enough to sell. Pay for inventory as I went along. Talk about "Just In Time". I continued to do this until I could no longer keep up, ultimately making the first 15,000 in my own garage – one by one. Now, my manufacturing partner keeps up with the demand my customers have helped create (Thank you!). To this day, Tiger Tail is still Made in USA and each Tiger Tail goes through my original production process to ensure quality.