business
Pacifier/stuffed toy becomes the perfect fit for Atlanta doctor
■ When the radiologist and mother combined the two items, a success story was born.
By Victoria Stagg Elliott — Posted April 4, 2011
Making sidelines pay
Doctors who branched out beyond running their practice tell why they did it, how they did it, and what you should know before you do it.
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Name: Monica Williams, MD
Specialty: Radiology
Location: Atlanta
Company: Pacimals sells a pacifier and stuffed toy combination invented by Dr. Williams (link).
Annual revenue: Dr. Williams will not release the figures.
Why she started the business: Dr. Williams sewed her daughter's pacifier to a stuffed toy to make it easier for the child to hold. Many people, including her daughter's pediatrician, told her what a good idea that was.
"She loved her pacifier, but it would come out of her mouth. It would drive me crazy," she said. "I sewed pacifiers to different toys, and I solved my problem. I wasn't trying to start a business, but everywhere we went people would ask about it."
About four years ago, Dr. Williams started her company.
She found a computer-aided designer and an engineer to make models of the pacifier and the piece that attaches it to a toy.
She took these, along with stuffed animals for demonstrations, to a trade show to determine commercial interest. She took in $80,000 in orders, and her business took off from there.
Time magazine's online edition named the Pacimal -- the huggable pacifier -- one of the 50 best inventions in 2009. "That helped provide some credibility to the product," Dr. Williams said.
The Pacimal is sold in 1,000 children's boutiques and hospital gift shops and is also available on the Pacimals website.
Why she no longer practices: "It wasn't a fit for me. I'm probably not as much of a people person as I needed to be."
Words of wisdom: "The trick is just doing it. I come across a lot of physicians who have really good ideas. The secret to that million-mile march is that first step."
