As CEO of BrandJuice, I’ve worked with many large organizations. But, I learned some big lessons from a small company with a unique innovation model that allowed them to compete with, and beat, some of the most iconic brands in the world.
My teachers were the husband and wife team of Max and Elaine Appel, the founders of Orange Glo International. The Appel’s founded Orange Glo in their fifties. Max had been a business development consultant but was also a closet chemist and technology tinkerer. Elaine was the glue, she did accounting and ran operations
Max and Elaine established Orange Glow behind their first product, Orange Glo Wood Polish and Conditioner, and steadily grew to a few million dollars in sales.
Upon meeting them, I recognized that I was in the presence of greatness. If there were a Richer Scale to measure innovation prowess, Max would have tipped it. He was driven by a sense of vision, possibility and purpose.
The Appel’s...
