Innovative Solutions – Swimming to Cooler Wine

Was at a wine tasting at the Chicago Botanical Gardens today.  Between sampling the fermented grape and other delectable tidbits, I came across the booth for ChillinJoy.

Their story is great so I’m sharing it in full:

ChillinJoy™ is the brainchild of a husband and wife team from Chicago who spend their summers enjoying outdoor concerts, movies in city parks and at the beach. Year-round, they love the pursuit of the next hottest BYO restaurant. An air traffic controller (him) and a public relations specialist (her) by trade, the pair searched for a solution to the inconvenience required to enjoy a chilled bottle of wine outdoors. They were tired of lugging a cooler full of ice or leaving home with a bottle of wine in an a simple insulating sleeve only to discover it was no longer cold when they were ready to drink it. Finding no solution for sale, they experimented with their own ideas.

At the time, the pair was training for the Chicago Triathlon, spending many mornings swimming in chilly Lake Michigan. They considered the remarkable insulating abilities of their wet suits. But, they needed more than a product to keep wine cool. They needed something that would actually chill a warm bottle of wine. Something convenient to carry across town, whether on the train or on foot. Something that would keep a bottle of wine cold for hours.

One night, they took two ice packs (recently acquired after a (his) bike wreck) from the freezer and stuffed them inside a wet suit. Then, they inserted a room-temperature bottle of wine and secured it inside the wet suit with the ice packs over night. The next morning, the bottle of wine was still cold. And that was the birth of ChillinJoy™. Chill and enjoy!

This is a really great idea and a great example of how a creative solution to a problem can, and often does,  come from totally unrelated industries.

Some  lessons:

1. If a problem exists, you can provide a solution
2. No problem is insignificant if it bugs you.  If it bugs you it probably bugs others.
3. Pay attention to what you’re doing in life, don’t just cruise through life like a zombie. OBSERVE!
4. Have fun trying to solve problems!
5. Experiment!

Any other thoughts?