As human beings, we have many shared experiences. Most of us, one way or another, get a haircut. And most of us appreciate the fleeting beauty of flowers.

You might think those two mundane observations are devoid of any kind of potential entrepreneurial re-invention. After all, whether your mom cuts your hair or you go to a salon, a haircut is, well, a haircut. Right? And whether you pick your own flowers or buy them from a florist, a week later they’re dead and you throw them out. Right?

Wrong on both of those.                                              

When you go to a hair stylist and you sit in the chair, most of your time is spent with the hair stylist snipping at your hair with scissors. Actually, hair stylists don’t use plain old scissors. They use specially designed and sharpened types of scissors, referred to as shears. To cut hair, the stylist moves the shears on all kinds of subtle angles. They continually adjust the angle by very fine, delicate, flexing movements of their hand, wrist, arm, elbow, and shoulder.

Everything flexes. Except the shears.

For 25 years a hair stylist in New Mexico, by the name of Bill Brenton, along with his buddy and partner, Murray Roth, a hair stylist in Madisonville, Louisiana, worked on designing shears that would flex. Bill died in 2008. But Murray kept the dream alive and today Murray Roth manufactures and sells Flex 360: ergonomic, patented shears used by hair stylists across the country and around the world.

The engineering trick to the flexing shears is - the loop you put your thumb through is on a swivel.

And so, to flowers. Sometimes you pick a few flowers or buy them from a florist or supermarket, to brighten up your living or work space. But other times, that bunch of flowers is more than just a dash of color on your coffee table. They might be the bunch of flowers you held at your wedding. Or flowers from the funeral of a loved one. Or flowers from any number of other occasions that mean something to you.

If you’ve ever wished you could keep those flowers forever, now you can.

Stephanie Tarrant is a florist and an artist. She combines her talents by taking flowers and preserving them. They look as real as the day they were picked, and they retain their same vibrant colors - forever.

Stephanie preserves whole bouquets in resin. She takes flowers and incorporates them into pieces of jewelry. And into dishes and trays.

Steph’s company is called, The Crypt Flowers. Its slogan is, “All flowers deserve forever.”

Innovation is often born out of frustration. Most of us, when we’re frustrated, complain about things being the way they are. Successful innovators, though, are people who don’t just complain, but decide to do something to change the status quo.

At either end of the spectrum - whether it’s something that grows continually, like hair, or something whose life is fleeting, like flowers, both Steph and Murray have been able to improve on what appears to most people to simply be the way of the world.

Out to Lunch was recorded live over lunch at Columns in Uptown New Orleans. You can find photos from this show by Jill Lafleur at itsneworleans.com.

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