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Entrepreneur of the Year: What Alison Schuback Wants

Rooting around in a desk drawer, Donna produces Alison's to-do list from that period. Some tasks are mundane: Develop a website; register with PayPal; identify relevant books to offer through Amazon. Others are ambitious. Had the Invisibib taken off, Alison had hoped to exploit its success with her own e-book, seminars, possibly a line of shoes and clothing. Donna reminds Alison of her plan to resell used medical equipment such as scooters and wheelchairs. "So many ideas," says Alison nostalgically.

As Alison and her mother reminisce about the business, Michael looks dejected. "This was something I should have paid attention to," he says, almost to himself. "I thought the product had way too limited a line. Before making the investment, they should have done more research into market identification. But I had to disassociate myself, because I was trying to make some money."

Alison glances fondly at her father. "It just wasn't meant to be that time," she says. "But now it is meant to be. Now everything is falling into place."

Everyday Edisons is a quirky entrepreneurial success story in its own right. The program demystifies product development by tracking inventors as their brainchildren mature to adulthood. It was conceived in 2005 by Louis Foreman, founder of a large product-development firm, and Michael Cable, a former Fox News journalist. "Our idea was to show that ordinary people do have extraordinary ideas," says Cable. "They just don't know what to do with them. They don't want to assume the risk for the ultimate reward."

Edisons, in other words, helps inventors enjoy some benefits of entrepreneurship without becoming entrepreneurs. Participants sign over their intellectual property to the show's producers, who lead them through ideation, sourcing, and manufacturing. If the final product makes it to market -- a culmination devoutly to be wished -- the inventor gets annual payments based on sales.

As many as 3,000 hopefuls turn up at a single Edisons casting call, clutching diagrams scrawled on cocktail napkins or prototypes cobbled together from duct tape and tongue depressors. On that April day, Alison and Michael shuffled from line to line in the Dallas Convention Center for more than 12 hours, waiting for their moment. "It was 11 p.m., and everyone was exhausted," recalls Cable. "Alison was fresh. Her makeup was done. Her hair looked good. She gave her presentation. And there wasn't a dry eye in the house."

Edisons staff members weren't the only ones moved. In the audience that evening was Bari Fagin, director of public relations at Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY). Bed Bath had sold two Edisons products from previous seasons, and Fagin was scouting promising ideas for the company. She was intrigued by the Invisibib and thought she knew someone else who would be as well.

Len Feinstein, the co-chairman and co-founder of Bed Bath, is also one of the founders of the Head Injury Association, a not-for-profit with facilities in Commack, New York, on Long Island. About 300 survivors live at the HIA or attend its day programs, among them Feinstein's son, Barry, who was injured in a car crash more than 20 years ago. The organization is an alternative for families that don't want to park loved ones -- many in their teens and 20s -- in nursing homes or Alzheimer's units.

Fagin brought Schuback's story back to Bed Bath headquarters, and by late spring, she and Feinstein were meeting with Liz Giordano, the HIA's CEO. An audacious scheme took shape. Giordano would oversee creation of a for-profit company to produce and sell the Invisibib, with proceeds going to the HIA. Bed Bath would offer the product in its stores. The new business, as yet unnamed, would be staffed almost entirely by traumatic brain injury survivors. Schuback would be mentored by members of Bed Bath's executive team and would ultimately be involved in all aspects, including marketing decisions, workflow modification, and new-product generation. "It will be great for her and great for everybody else to see she can do this," says Feinstein.

Foreman and Cable donated to the HIA the rights to the Invisibib and offered to handle industrial design and manufacturing, as they do for all Edisons products. They will sell the bibs to the new venture at cost, which includes Schuback's payments. "Alison is gutsy. She did her homework, she networked, she spent her own money," says Cable. "We were just thrilled we were able to connect the dots."