They Say Necessity is the Mother of Invention

“The true creator is necessity, who is the mother of our invention.”
Jowett’s loose translation, 1894

“I love knives and almost always carry one with me,” he says. He has spent countless hours sharpening his knives but could never achieve the “perfect” edge or replicate the factory edge. But necessity is the mother of invention, they say. “I came up with the idea of The Sharpener’s Edge when one day a picture popped into my head and I drew it on a piece of paper. Then I fabricated it out of metal in my garage. It worked and it was so simple to use!” It has taken years, but Jim and Colleen have received both utility and design patents for The Sharpener’s Edge, and the first one was manufactured, in the United States, in 2018.

The magic of this sharpener is that it holds just about any sharpening rod or stone at just the right angle for each blade, and it takes just minutes to get a razor sharp edge. The Sharpener’s Edge works on all straight-blade knives, scissors (including surgical scissors), PVC pipe cutters, goat hoof trimmers (useful for the afore-mentioned goats), some hand pruners, and wire cutters. If you are able to cut a tomato or slice a cucumber, you can sharpen a knife with this tool.

Jim and Colleen are a loving team. Colleen is obviously proud of Jim’s invention and convinced it is the answer to keeping Jim from having to commute to Savannah. Jim credits his Colleen with giving him the motivation to keep going through years of obstacles.

Now Colleen and Jim, and the children when Jim is not available, faithfully attend hunting and fishing shows to demonstrate and sell the sharpener; they offer to sharpen visitor’s knives while they wait. There is always a crowd, but a sceptical one, because we all have sharpeners that don’t work. Between shows, the family offers sharpening services. And gradually, from groomers to chefs, hunters to goat breeders, surgeons to cooks, pipe fitters to hair dressers and barbers, the product is catching on.

To learn more about The Sharpener’s Edge, and see how and why it works, visit ProductsByJCS.com.

Honesty + Leadership

Leadership is influence, and we each influence those around us. What type of influence would you like to create? Having a vision or purpose for life empowers actions to be executed with intent and a desired result. Leadership in action is the best way to create influence. There are two ways to influence — by reason or by force. Living with reason is fundamental to safety, education, and progress; actions without reason, morality, or understanding are dangerous. One of the most unique characteristics we have as human beings is the ability to choose. Who is in control of your choices? Who is responsible for your emotions, intentions, and reactions? Do

Being Human

If there is one nugget of advice that we should take away from 2020, it is to be human. It sounds like such a simple request, but is often lacking in a business setting. We celebrate love (among other things) in the month of February. Love is a strong word, but loving one another is the basis of our humanity, so how can we love one another in the workplace? Angela Ahrendts, Senior VP at Apple, said, “Everyone talks about building a relationship with your customer. I think you build one with your employees first.” Whether or not you want to be, you are in relationship with the people you

What’s Next?

The new year has arrived, and the expectations are for things to be better than in 2020. That is exactly the forecast from most investment firms. Billions of dollars will be pumped into the economy this year, and that will generate additional spending. More spending means more goods sold, and when more goods are sold, more profits are made. When more profits are made, the stocks of those companies are in more demand, and that results in higher stock prices. It really is not that complicated. You just need to figure out which of those companies will produce the goods that people want to buy, and then how long people

In Transit…

I placed the order on December 10, in plenty of time for delivery by Christmas. It shipped, by First Class Mail for $4.75, on December 11. When it had not arrived a week later, I asked for the tracking number, and then I checked the tracking history each day (see below). For several days the tracking history showed a mysterious message that later disappeared: Your package will arrive later than expected, but is still on its way. It is currently in transit to the next facility. My package sat in Florida for 4 days, and then took 10 days to make it to North Atlanta (by mule perhaps?). Once in