El Cajon, California: Sissy Harrington-McGill is an unmitigated lover of animals, especially Great Danes. And like so many small business owners, Sissy turned a first love into a full-time profession and even a cause. But there are very few of us who create a new industry, fight off the FDA, then dominate the market.

This is a story about how one little lady has virtually become the leading nutritionist for animals, especially dogs and cats, in Japan although she is based in California. It is a story about not buckling under the weight of the FDA* and then being recognized as a superstar by the SBA. (*The FDA did get her to add a line -- "Our products are not designed to diagnose, cure or prevent any disease" -- on her packaging and advertising, but they could not shut her down.)

Sissy Harrington McGill is a fighter. She walks her talk. She is a Columbia University-trained nutritionist who turned her basic knowledge about health food and directed it to the animals she loved. Zsa Zsa Gabor couldn't be happier (she is a loyal customer and fan). Then there are people like our friends whose home is a magnet for every stray animal within 100 miles (and even a friendly turtle), would not feed their entourage anything else!

You will often see food labels with "no sugar, no salt, no fat, no preservatives." Sissy Harrington-McGill is one of the nutritionists who has worked for thirty years to educate her customers about the fact: you are what you eat.

Today, Solid Gold Health Products for Pets primarily manufactures a line of healthy dog food. With over $7.5 million in sales, the Japanese buy nearly one-third of her production!

She teaches us how to take a product from our imagination to the market.

KEY POINTS (including the Lightbulb). As we examine these key points in depth, we invite your ideas. What did you get out of this story? To contribute to our Case Study Guide, please send us your comments!

• First Principles: Being a pioneer is not easy.
• "I'd rather be a pirate than join the Navy."
• You can sell a product by going straight to the consumer.
• Let your customers design the product.
• Advertising that teaches differentiates.

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• EXPLORE THE CASE STUDY. Though this study guide is prepared for the special broadcast by PBS into the schools and universities throughout the USA, there is much to think about if you are a business owner. Elements of these case studies and their corresponding video also appear in the chapter endings of many of Thomson Learning South-Western Publishing's best-sellling business textbooks.

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• NATIONAL TRADE ASSOCIATIONS TO LOCAL CHAMBER PUBLICATIONS. Please note that their national trade associations for every business type and our small business owners are usually active members. To find your local chamber, click here. Sissy is a member of the many national associations about nutrition where the people believe that you become what you eat:
  • Organic Trade Association
  • National Nutritional Foods Association
  • Life Extension Association
• Other related associations and publications include:
  • American Botanical Council
  • American Herbal Products Association
  • American Society for Nutritional Sciences
  • American Nutraceutical Association
  • Institute of Food Technologists
  • International Federation for Animal Health
  • Publications: Journal of Nutraceuticals (Nutraceutical Alliance), Functional and Medical Foods; Journal of the American Nutraceutical Association; Journal of Medicinal Food, Journal of Food Science; and Health Ingredients & Nutrition

• CONTACT:
  Solid Gold Health Products for Pets, Inc.
  1483 North Cuyamaca
  EL Cajon, CA 92020 USA
  Tel: 800-364-4863 619-258-1914
  E-mail: Click here.
  URL: http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/

• We invite your comments and questions. Was the episode of the show inpsirational and/or educational? We hope it was both!