TUALATIN – With more than 2,000 12-step self-help groups in the United States, thinking positive should come easy to most people.
But two local couples believe they have found an untapped marketing niche in the world of self-help when it comes to positive reinforcement.
Two years ago, Conde Bartlett, who is known locally for her service on the Tigard-Tualatin School Board, began leaving herself little messages.
She put sticky notes on surfaces that she encountered every day –the bathroom mirror, the front door and even the keypad for the house alarm. Each note carried the same message, “Remember God.”
Conde admits she’s not overly religious, but she wanted some form of comfort in her otherwise hectic days. Every time she saw the message, she’d repeat it out loud. Two months later she felt a difference. She described it as a “huge shift” in thinking.
Shortly after her realization, Conde, her husband Ed, and Nena and Mike Thomas of Wilsonville created Clear Thought Systems. In March, the company launched its first product, Thought Shifters.
The company and product concepts are simple.
“You are what you think,” Ed said.
The mission of Clear Thought Systems is to create products that inspire people to improve their lives and the world around them one thought at a time.
Thought Shifters is a packaged set of positive affirmations, like “Progress not Perfection” and “Help comes when I ask for it,” printed on removable, reusable cling material that adheres to almost any surface from car dash boards to shower tiles.
The product’s unique material helps to set it apart from other products like stickers that can’t be removed easily and reused and is more reliable than static-cling materials because the product can adhere to more surfaces.
Thought Shifters is the first product to be released by the company and is available at New Renaissance Bookshop, The Crystal Cavern, Providence Medical Center gift shop and online at www.clearthoughtsystems.com and costs $5.50.
And without a full-out marketing campaign, the product has been selling well based on word-of-mouth, Conde said.
With the growing market for 12-step programs, Conde and her business partners believe their product has a chance of flourishing if it can partner with the right groups and authors.
“It’s not just about the (self-help) books anymore,” Nena said. “It’s all the add-ons that help immerse people into the change they want in their lives.”
The group would like to see their product picked up by a major book store like Barnes and Noble or Powell’s or maybe even available on QVC or featured on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”
Still, the biggest selling point for the couples has been the idea that their products may actually help other people.
Instead of a plain sticky note attached to her car’s dashboard, Conde uses a Thought Shifter with the phrase, “Obstacle or Opportunity.” The words calm her as she sits in traffic and get her mind moving to think about things she can accomplish even when she’s stuck.
[Photo by Jennifer Clampet]
