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Isle inventor takes tool kit to TV

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Hawaii’s Daynin Dashefsky lands a spot in a national informercial for her Inventor’s Starter Tool Kit, which will be featured in a seminar Saturday at the Hawai‘i Convention Center.
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COURTESY CHARLIE DAYMENT
Daynin Dashefsky appears with co-host John Cremeans in an infomercial for her Inventor’s Starter Tool Kit. The infomercial, taped at the NBC studios in Tampa, Fla., is set to air on cable television in late March.

Having succeeded as an inventor, businesswoman and mentor for scores of other entrepreneurs, Daynin Dashefsky is ready to take her game to the next level: a nationally televised infomercial.

The Nanakuli native has hooked up with infomercial king Kevin Harrington, who is producing a 30-minute spot featuring Dashefsky and her Inventor’s Starter Tool Kit. The show is in the final stages of production and will begin airing by the end of March.

Inventor’s Tool Kit Seminar

» When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow
» Where: Hawai’i Convention Center, Room 314
» Admission: Free
» Information: 737-5551

Dashefsky said the Tool Kit’s DVD set synthesizes her 12 years of experience in taking a product idea from concept to consumer. It was a natural offshoot of seminars on inventing and marketing that she launched in 2005.

"I learned the hard way, wasting a lot of money and making a lot of mistakes," said Dashefsky, whose inventions range from a device that keeps flies off of food at a barbecue to a line of "Care’rousel" products to help young girls organize their nail polish, hair accessories and jewelry.

"People were always asking me how I did this or that, and I realized I could help a lot of people by shifting my focus to education."

Dashefsky is holding one of her seminars tomorrow at the Hawai’i Convention Center, where a film crew will shoot footage for her infomercial. Admission to the seminars is normally about $300, but tomorrow’s event will be free because of the filming. The Tool Kit is available for an additional $495.

Of the scores of successful entrepreneurs to benefit from Dashefsky’s seminar, perhaps the most notable is Mai Lieu, a former hairstylist from Honolulu who invented the CreaClip home haircutting tool that was a sellout in its debut on home-shopping channel QVC.

Lieu introduced Dashefsky to Harrington, who is credited with creating the infomercial concept in the mid-1980s. Harrington also appears on the reality show "Shark Tank" as one of a panel of venture capitalists who listen to investment proposals from entrepreneurs and consider whether to invest in the businesses.

Dashefsky said Harrington, based in Florida, was impressed by her Tool Kit and offered her the chance to make an infomercial.

"They don’t take any product that they don’t think will make $10 million or more," she said. "They liked the Tool Kit because it has appeal in the down economy when people are looking at alternative ways to make money."

Dashefsky described Harrington as a "very honorable, good guy who loves what he does. He’s always looking for who’s coming out with the next big thing."

Dashefsky said the infomercial, like her seminars, is directed toward inventors and aspiring inventors.

Guest speakers at tomorrow’s event will include Mark Reyland, director of the United Inventors Association; Mike Drummond, publisher of Inventors Digest Magazine; and Brian Kunzler, patent attorney.

The seminar will cover creating prototypes and securing funding for inventors who want to take their products to market. Attendees also will learn about patents, copyrighting, licensing and how to avoid scams aimed at inventors.

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