Lori Greiner is an American

television personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

and

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

. She is an investor on the reality

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

TV series ''

Shark Tank ''Shark Tank'' is an American business reality television series that premiered on August 9, 2009, on ABC.Hibberd, James (May 10, 201'Dancing,' 'Bachelor,' and a bigger 'Shark Tank' returning to ABCInsider TV. Retrieved June 24, 2012 The show i ...

''. Greiner has hundreds of inventions and holds 120

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

s. She became known as the "Queen of

QVC QVC (short for "Quality Value Convenience") is an American free-to-air television network, and flagship shopping channel specializing in televised home shopping, owned by Qurate Retail Group. Founded in 1986 by Joseph Segel in West Chester, Pen ...

" as a result of her show, ''Clever & Unique Creations'', that premiered on the network in 2000. Greiner is the president and founder of For Your Ease Only, Inc.

Life

Greiner grew up in the

Near North Side, Chicago The Near North Side is the eighth of Chicago's 77 community areas. It is the northernmost of the three areas that constitute central Chicago, the others being the Loop and the Near South Side. The community area is located north and east of the ...

. She majored in communications at

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Cathol ...

and worked for ''

The Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' while in college. She was an aspiring

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and sold jewelry on the side. She is married to Dan Greiner.

Career

Greiner is the president and founder of For Your Ease Only, which launched in 1996. The same year, she created and patented a plastic earring organizer; J.C. Penney picked up the product before the holiday season, allowing her to pay off her $300,000 loan in 18 months. In addition to jewelry storage, she has patented consumer products in categories such as cosmetic organization, travel, electronics, and household items. Greiner has invented hundreds of products and holds 120 patents. After her success with J.C. Penney, Greiner expanded her company, with her products appearing on

Home Shopping Network HSN, an initialism of its former name Home Shopping Network, is an American free-to-air television network owned by the Qurate Retail Group, which also owns catalog company Cornerstone Brands. Based in the Gateway area of St. Petersburg, Flor ...

and in the retail store

Bed, Bath and Beyond Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. is an American chain of domestic merchandise retail stores. The chain operates many stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Bed Bath & Beyond was founded in 1971. It is counted among the Fortune ...

. In 2000, she began hosting a show on QVC, "Clever & Unique Creations by Lori Greiner". Her many appearances on the network led to her nickname, "The Queen of QVC". In 2012, Greiner joined the U.S. TV series ''Shark Tank''. In 2014, her investment in

Scrub Daddy Scrub Daddy is a cleaning product company best known for an eponymous sponge it manufactures in the shape of a smiley face. The product is made of a polymer which changes texturefirm in cold water and soft in warm water. As of 2019, Scrub Daddy h ...

, a company that produces a texture-changing household sponge, was regarded as one of the biggest successes in ''

'' history. Greiner's other early ''Shark Tank'' investments include Bantam Bagels (which was fully acquired by T. Marzetti Company in 2018), Squatty Potty, ReadeRest, Paint Brush Cover, Hold Your Haunches,

Drop Stop Drop Stop is a patented device designed to prevent items from falling between a car's front seats and center console. It was invented by Marc Newburger and Jeffrey Simon of Los Angeles. Drop Stop is constructed out of black Neoprene filled with ...

, FiberFix, Simply Fit Board, Sleep Styler, and Screenmend. Greiner's book, ''Invent it, Sell it, Bank it! – Make Your Million Dollar Idea into a Reality'', was published in March 2014.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Greiner, Lori Living people American television personalities American women television personalities American women chief executives Businesspeople from Chicago Chicago Tribune people Women inventors Loyola University Chicago alumni QVC people 20th-century American inventors 21st-century American inventors 21st-century American women Year of birth missing (living people)