Scare Prompts Mom To Invent Bracelet
It took a personal scare five years ago to prompt Sarah Neal to start her new business.
The 42-year-old Nanaimo resident was visiting a busy Calgary shopping mall in 2003 when she looked around and couldn’t see her three-year-old son.
Although the boy had simply wandered off and was found a short time later, the incident made Neal realize the importance of children wearing identification bracelets to help them out in such an emergency.
So in July 2005 she started a home-based company with husband Gary Neal, selling colourful personal identification bracelets that kids don’t mind wearing.
Today, Vital ID - which saw sales revenues of $130,000 last year (up from $20,000 in 2006) - is selling the bracelets throughout the world.
And although it began as a niche market for children, Vital ID has grown to include medical and pet identification bracelets, with Sport ID options that strap onto running shoes and helmets.
Photo by Krista Charke.
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