Terry Houck, a single mother raising two daughters, came home from work one day to discover her disposal wasn't working. One of her daughters had unknowingly dropped a small glass dish down the disposal. When the water started to back up, her daughter turned on the disposal, only to grind the dish into hundreds of small pieces, causing the disposal to shut down. She knew a professional repair would prove to be costly.

Frustrated, Terry looked everywhere for a product to prevent this problem from occurring again. She found nothing on the market and soon embarked on her very own creation, now known as the Disposal Genie™.

After designing a rough sketch of the product she envisioned, Terry hired an engineer to design a final product she could patent. Once the prototype was finalized and the patent was secured, she began the process of marketing her masterpiece on the home and garden show circuit with the help of her two daughters. Although sales were going well, it wasn't until Labor Day weekend 2008, that Terry got her big break. Featured on QVC, the product sold out in two minutes for a total sale of 1600 units. Soon after, Danco contacted Terry after being introduced to her product at the National Hardware Show the year prior. Danco is now the proud licensor of the Disposal Genie™. And the rest, is Disposal Genie™ history!

Think you might have a great idea or invention? We’d love to hear about it! If you’re an inventor looking to take your product to the next level, contact Michael Miller, Danco Director of Product Partnerships, at michael.miller@nch.com, about becoming part of the Danco Inventor Network.