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Anita is a tender hearted, as well as, a tender headed person, and one day while in Texas a friend was adding hair extensions
to her natural hair, but halfway through the job Anita had to make her stop because the crochet hook which was being used
to add the extensions was constantly pulling her natural hair and giving her a headache. Wanting badly to have her hair finished
Anita went home and begin breaking and bending all sorts of things to come up with a way to finish adding the braid extensions.
At one point she even took a tiny pair of scissors and pulled them apart trying to use the handle portion, but she added the
braid extension as well as the scissors (now that was not a neat look). Realizing she needed a way to add the hair
and remove the tool she continued trying other things. Then finally after an hour of going through the catch all drawer
in her bathroom the only thing left in the drawer was lots of rubberbands and bobby pins.......ahhhhh....bobby pins, a little
light went on in her head as she picked up the bobby pin slid it under the natural braid and then inserted the braid extension...
and the rest is Herstory.
After showing her friend the new way to add the extensions, the friend suggested she patent it. She said to her friend
"like I got money for that, I can't even afford a computer right now." A few days later Anita gets a phone message at her
office that her friend has made an appointment with an invention company, and she should meet her in Austin after work. It
didn't take long for Anita to figure out months later that it was an invention company scam. Having faith in God and her product,
Anita continued to spend countless hours at her local library searching the web for a company that may want to buy her product.
Many times at the library it would knock Anita out of the system, because it would read her website as a censored site. (it
was reading it as some type of kit) She originally named it www.ezhookit.com, but later changed the name to www.aNEATLook.com Anita says she didn't know there were so many companies out their making fake hair. Using the web,
Anita was trying to get the attention of manufactures and marketers. She even had an appointment in Dallas, Texas with a company
that has launched several hair products, they were interested in her product but at the time it was a conflict of interest
for they had another product they were marketing that would do "one" of the features that the "aneatta /ezhookit"
could also do.
After rejections and no return phone calls, Anita kept her faith, and kept searching for a buyer. Anita lost her mother
and nine months later she lost her son, it took such a devastating toll on her mind, body and soul that she took a mini break
from her invention to renew both her strength and faith. After just a few months, with the help of God, she sat down and begin
to re-tackle the task she knew could be done...and she did it.
Anita Smith-Etheridge, born in Williamsport, PA, is a Tucson, Arizona based inventor, who has licensed her unique
patent-pending hair tool (aneatta / ezHook it ) to Helen of Troy, El Paso, Texas. The product is currently
licensed under Vidal Sassoon and is called The EZ Wrap It tm. The product
has just recently hit the market and is now sold in Claire’s and Icing stores around the country.
Though she is a successful inventor, Anita plans to continue working as the Executive Assistant to Deputy
City Manager, Mike Letcher. She has written, produced, directed and starred in a
gospel medley skit "Why I Sing". She is currently working on a book, and putting the final touches on a family game she has
created. Anita has two children Jonathan Brown (April 24, 1975 - July 23, 2000) and Tinika Marie, who is currently going to
school to become a doctor. Anita is the third of twelve sisters and brothers and she says she gets her creative mind from
her father and her tender heart from her mother. She loves spending time with her grandchildren, Breanna, Imani,
Lil J and Rae Marie. Anita has learned to enjoy the simple things in life such as long Sunday rides and picnics in the park
(of course it's a challenge finding a shady park in Tucson Arizona, but she has found a favorite.)
One of Anita's favorite quotes is "People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care".
At aNEATLook, Anita cares how YOU look. You may visit her website at www.a NEAT Look.com
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