GARY KELLMAN STILL DELTA PHI’S “MAD SCIENTIST”  

What does it take to become an inventor?  According to inventor Gary Kellmann, there are three characteristics one must possess: determination, discipline and dedication.  Kellmann, who lives in St. Charles, Missouri, should know, as he has spent well over the last ten years drawing on these characteristics to become a successful inventor and businessman. 

Growing up on a farm in the rural community of Owensville, MO, Kellman says that his creativity just came naturally. As a young child, he was always tinkering with something. Instead of watching TV like most kids, he was busy rewiring his electric cars to make them faster, and building forts out of tree branches. Working for his father, a local landscaper, from a young age taught him that hard work is important in life. But he never thought his hard work would be focused on inventing. By the time he was a senior in high school, Kellmann had his future all mapped out – as a baseball player. He was all set to go to college on a baseball scholarship when a freak accident changed his path in life. While cutting down a tree one day on his parent's farm, his chainsaw fell on his knee. On crutches and with his dreams of being a professional athlete behind him, Kellmann entered his freshman year at Southeast Missouri State University. 

But Kellmann still didn't make the leap into inventing just yet. He chose a major in electronics, thinking back to his interest in rewiring things and what makes them work. This interest led him into one of his first inventions, a remote control alarm clock. Most inventions come from the need to solve a problem, Kellmann says, and this one was no different. After several months of sleeping on the top bunk in the dorm, he realized how inconvenient it was to crawl all the way down to shut off the alarm. He thought his idea was ingenious, and began to look for someone to market it. Unfortunately, Kellmann didn't know much about getting a product on the market, and got scammed. The company that was supposed to market his brilliant idea just took his money and ran. That's when he knew he had a lot to learn. He needed some guidance, so he contacted the small business development center at school, who in turn got him in contact with the Inventors' Association in St. Louis.

 He began volunteering with the Inventor's Association and United Inventors' Association, making the two-hour drive back and forth from Cape Girardeau to St. Louis once a week. He was also volunteering several hours a week with the small business development center at school, anything to get his foot in the door and learn the ropes. In the meantime, Kellmann had started his own small business on campus. He started off selling keychains with a unique twist; they could be used to scratch off lotto tickets. Next came T-shirts to commemorate the earthquake of 1991, followed by novelty shirts and other school spirit-related items.  

After graduating from college in 1991, Kellmann continued his work for the Small Business Development Center, this time earning a paycheck. He eventually went to work for the Inventors Association and moved to St. Louis. There he would work for the association six hours a day, then return to his home, a remodeled barn, and begin his other job of building waterfalls and working on landscape designs. Somehow he still found time to do his inventing late at night. He came up with a new concept that he was sure would be a success, the Soapasaurus. Unfortunately, he ran into every problem imaginable, and it never got off the ground. He tried to focus his ideas on toys, but that didn't work because, he says, "I just didn't understand the industry." Then one day he finally hit on his first successful idea, the Hair Holder Holder.

 He got his inspiration from a girlfriend who needed a way to keep her hair accessories organized. It wasn't an overnight success, though. At first he marketed it towards teens, and sent it to boutiques where they would shop. But it didn't sell. That's when he realized that the product should be aimed at mothers of teens. What mother wouldn't want to buy a product to help her teenage daughter organize her hair holders? So the product was moved to Wal Mart stores and the idea took off. Other successful products soon followed. He created a line of stickers, called Hair Stick M’s, which have a special adhesive that sticks to the hair. That was followed by Sweet Sticks, which are hair sticks that look like lollipops. The next product was Bellybuttons, jewelry worn in the bellybutton, which has an adhesive backing and can easily be removed, and is an alternative to navel piercing. In addition to these products, which are still on the market, there are also 4 inventions licensed for the year 2000.

 Currently, Kellmann spends his time in the barn, where his lab is located, working on new ideas and concepts. His company, Beyond Mars, develops and attempts to license at least two inventions a month. In addition to inventing, he is Co-President of the St. Louis chapter of the Licensing Executives Society, as well as a public speaker on invention and creativity (speaking to students at all levels of education), an elementary school mentor and an active member of the Inventors' Association of St. Louis. Wherever he goes, he is constantly thinking up new inventions, asking people what problems need to be solved, and jotting ideas on his trusty legal pad that accompanies him everywhere. You never know when inspiration will hit.

 For more information, please contact Gary Kellmann at (636) 949-9049.
E-mail: garyedison@primary.net