Joy Mangano was born in 1956, in East Meadow, New York, to Italian-American parents. Mangano began inventing at an early age when, as a teenager working at an animal hospital in Huntington, New York, on Long Island, she dreamed up a fluorescent flea collar to keep pets safe. A product with a similar design was released the next year by Hartz Mountain. After graduating from Pace University with a degree in business administration in 1978, she held a variety of jobs, including waitress and airline reservations manager while raising her three children as a divorced mother.
In 1990 after growing frustrated with ordinary mops, Mangano developed her first invention, the Miracle Mop, a self-wringing plastic mop with a head made from a continuous loop of 300 feet of cotton that can be easily wrung out without getting the user’s hands wet. With her own savings and investments from family and friends, she made a prototype and manufactured 1000 units.
After selling the mop at trade shows and in local stores on Long Island, she sold 1,000 units on consignment to QVC. It sold modestly at first, but once QVC allowed Mangano to go on-air to sell it herself, she sold 18,000 mops in less than a half hour. Mangano incorporated her business as Arma Products, later renaming it Ingenious Designs. She sold Ingenious Designs to USA Networks, the parent company of the Home Shopping Network, in 1999. By the year 2000, the company was selling $10 million worth of Miracle Mops per year.
Mangano is a named inventor of 71 patent families and 126 distinct patent publications for her inventions. Some of her other inventions include Huggable Hangers, Forever Fragrant, Shades Readers, Clothes It All Luggage System, and many more.
Soon after she began appearing on QVC in 1992, Mangano began spending 120 hours a year on air. She appeared regularly on HSN and is considered the network’s most successful purveyor, with annual sales of more than $150 million. Her hourly sales regularly top $1 million. Mangano has also appeared in shorter commercials and infomercials for her company’s products. In 2005, Mangano was a judge on the cable reality show Made in the USA.
Mangano released her autobiography, Inventing Joy, in 2017. The 2015 film Joy was loosely based on her life. Jennifer Lawrence was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Mangano.
Source: Wiki