Good Neighbor Podcast Estero
Bringing Together Local Businesses and Neighbors of SWFL
Good Neighbor Podcast Estero
EP# 184 -Jodie Friedman’s Glove Revolution: Innovation and Integrity
What drives someone to leave a secure 25-year career in medical sales to start a disposable gloves company in the midst of a global pandemic? Join us as we explore the incredible journey of Jodie Friedman, the owner of Just Gloves. From navigating financial ruin to identifying a critical market need, Jodie shares the challenges and triumphs of launching and growing a business dedicated to high-quality PPE. Discover how Just Gloves is making a difference with their commitment to American-made products and their innovative partnership with an anti-counterfeit and GPS tracking company to ensure product authenticity and secure deliveries.
In this episode, Jodie and her partner reveal the highs and lows of their transition from the volatile brokering world to establishing a thriving glove manufacturing business in Florida. We highlight the diverse range of gloves offered by Just Gloves, including nitrile, vinyl, and latex, and their focus on educating customers about the intricacies of the glove industry. The conversation also gives a glimpse into their personal lives, their recent move to Naples, and how they balance their passion for the beach, dining, and time with their dogs while managing their growing enterprise. Gain valuable insights into a misunderstood industry and the resilience required to succeed against all odds.
Just Glovz
Jodie Friedman
Naples, FL
(516) 265-2546
Jodie@justglovz.com
WEBSITE
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Cabo Jim.
Speaker 2:Schaller. Welcome Good Neighbors to episode number 184 of the Good Neighbor Podcast Estero. Today we have Good Neighbor Jodie Friedman, the owner of Just Glovz. Welcome, jodie.
Speaker 3:Hi Jim, how are you doing?
Speaker 2:I am doing awesome, yes, pleasure to get to know you and Just Glovz a little bit. So why don't we just jump right in and why don't you share a little bit about what you do?
Speaker 3:Okay, well, just Glovz is a disposable glove company. We have been taking care of Southwest Florida for the past year and a half, have been taking care of Southwest Florida for the past year and a half and we, um, we sell to restaurants and we sell to tattoo artists, uh, as well as, uh, beauty, sublime places, auto mechanics, um, barber shops, basically any industry that uses gloves. Um, also, you know many spas gloves Also. You know many spas medical, dental, veterinarian, you name it. We were able to sell all different types of gloves, from nitrile gloves to vinyl gloves, to you know, latex gloves, lunch lady gloves, which you know are the ones that the lunch ladies use, and you know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2:Yes, all kinds of gloves, all kinds of gloves in industries.
Speaker 3:What's interesting about us is that we literally started with selling two individual boxes and now we're actually buying containers for customers, because they that we know about the industry. So we're not just selling gloves, we're also educating on gloves. We're also educating on, you know, on what is going on in the industry, because a lot of people are unaware of what is going on with product in the United States. So that's a nice thing that we're able to do is actually explain what's going on with product in the United States. So that's a nice thing that we're able to do is actually explain what's going on with the imports and the exports and the shipping and the quality of the merchandise.
Speaker 3:That being said, we actually have our own brand of American made gloves and they are either black or blue nitrile American made gloves. They are a couple of different types of thicknesses we have a four mil and a six mil If anybody uses gloves they'll understand the difference and medical as well as industrial. They are fentanyl resistant Sorry, yes, fentanyl resistant and chemo rated. Again, whoever is using gloves they'll be like oh okay, great, fentanyl resistant is super important to have because of what is going on with the epidemic, with the fentanyl epidemic, and so many first responders are exposed to fentanyl on a daily basis, so it's super important to have that testing for the gloves.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, so we also. So we have our American made gloves and people are like, why American made? Well, the big thing is that we're keeping the money here in America and we're not sending that money to, you know, to China or or, or to Malaysia or to Thailand or anywhere. So it increases our GDP, it doesn't increase theirs. So that's what we need.
Speaker 3:A lot of people are like well, what I'm buying from an American company, isn't that the same? No, it is not the same. You actually have to buy American product, but you also have to make sure it's American, and there are a lot of counterfeit American products. That being said, we also recently partnered up with a 42 year old anti-counterfeit and GPS tracking company so that the brand, the American brand, is protected. So this may sound really sophisticated for everyone, but the thing is that it's a super simple brand label that that's going on products, and this can be for anyone's product. Anyone has american-made products can can utilize this technology. So it's a brand protective thing as well as it protects. Um, it's a gps tracker. So how many times do we hear that, uh, things fall off the truck, you know, or we're missing, we're missing shipments? Well, this actually will eliminate that because it does have the GPS tracking technology. So instead of tracking something by a truck, you're actually able to track it by the package itself.
Speaker 2:It's not tracking a container, it's tracking an actual item. Yeah, it's not tracking a container, it's tracking an actual item.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it's not tracking the truck from the container, because a lot of times that's when it gets lost. It goes from one truck and then that truck is being tracked and then they're like, wait a second, that truck is gone. What happened to that truck? And they're like, well, we know where the truck is. We found the truck, but then the truck is empty and it's like, oh, my goodness, now what do you do? Right, what? You do is you track it? You track it? Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:So let me ask you this how did you get involved in this industry?
Speaker 3:Oh, my goodness, it's a very interesting story so I won't make it too long, but I have about 25 years in medical sales experience. I moved from New York almost, yeah, it's actually five years ago, you know from New York to Cape Coral and you know, I had a great job but wasn't paying enough to pay the bills, so I left that job, went to another job and get laid off in like a couple of weeks, and I was like, what am I going to do? And then COVID hit and I was like, okay, I don't know what I'm going to do. And then I just started brokering and it was. It was a mess. The brokering was a mess. I thought it was actually going to be pretty easy, but it wasn't.
Speaker 3:I was working with with scam artists and since it was completely unregulated, you had all the drugs of society actually brokering things and we lost. We lost all the money that we came in with and luckily, um, you know, um, we were able to keep a roof over our head and actually keep you know, keep cars to drive. We then fast forward to January of 2023 and we were completely broke, completely, and I was like what are we going to do? Completely? And I was like what are we going to do? And neither one of us were able to get jobs that were going to pay enough money to pay our bills, so we were on our way to being in a lot of trouble and we know what we're going to do, so, anyway.
Speaker 3:So I remembered that I purchased some you know some gloves from somebody and I went out there and I sold, and you know I didn't make a lot of money the first day, but I realized that there was still a significant need for PPE, especially for disposable gloves, and so that is what we started doing, and that's how Just Gloves was born, is, you know, just literally two individual boxes. Well, fast forward a year later and you know, we were able to actually purchase our first container for one of our customers, and we're super excited about that. And now we're, you know, we're making our own American made gloves. So we have it's literally just me and my husband and we need reps and we and we pay well, so, um, we just can't find anybody to to help us out.
Speaker 2:Nobody wants to work anymore nowadays, right right I talk. I talk about challenges, but you, you've been through quite a bit and you're, you're you're pushing through.
Speaker 3:Yeah, there's a lot of challenges that we've actually have, um, you know, have gone through and and persevered and and come out on the other side. And that's great yeah, thank you.
Speaker 2:So let me ask you this Are there any maybe myths or maybe misconceptions surrounding what you do or the glove industry that maybe we could clear up for our listeners?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So the thing is that a lot of people during COVID there was a lot of like scrupulous things going on, especially around gloves. People would send money to different companies and they wouldn't get the product because they were, you know, getting scammed. That's that's one thing. We're local, so you definitely want to work with a local company. We do a lot of, you know, literally hand delivering. Either me or my husband will be delivering the product, depending on, like, how large it is, but we're always there. You know you're going to be meeting. You know you're going to be meeting the owners of the product and, as opposed to just like you know, going on Amazon and buying something on Amazon and praying that it gets, gets to you or you know, or the product is a good product here you actually can test it.
Speaker 3:So another misconception is that you know people think, oh, gloves are gloves. Well, no, not necessarily, because there's industries that you have to have special gloves. You know, in the medical industry they there are things that they have to be medical and they have to be FDA approved and then they also cannot be expired. There's a lot of expired stuff that's out there right now and people don't realize it's expired and that's a liability issue right there. You know, if something happens with the medical industry or anyone who is using gloves in a medical capacity dental, veterinarian, even the tattoo industry if there's something that happens and they find out that those gloves are expired they are, they are up there they're liable for, and that's that's not good.
Speaker 3:We actually are experts in the, the glove industry, the disposable glove industry, because we know what's going on overseas, we know what's going on with different countries and, uh, a lot of changes are happening. Prices, unfortunately, are going way up again because the uh, the uh, covid everyone thought they were going to be making a billion dollars. So people actually got together and they brought in a bunch of gloves and basically a bunch of ppe and a lot of it's been destroyed, unfortunately. A lot of it's been destroyed.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so so outside, I mean, you mentioned you're not from here originally, you're from new york, right? Yes and then you came down to southwest florida because we all love it down here. We love the weather and everything yes only the business can be very demanding. What do you enjoy doing when you get a minute of free time?
Speaker 3:oh my goodness, what do I enjoy doing when you get?
Speaker 2:a minute of free time.
Speaker 3:Oh, my goodness, what do I enjoy doing? Well, you know we like going to the beach. We do like to go out to eat. We haven't really been able to do much of either because we've just been so inundated with the business. But if we got people to chip in and out, then we would be able to do a lot more and be able to get out there and socialize and meet people. We just moved to Naples a couple of months ago. We're actually in Orange Blossom Grove, orange Blossom Ranch. Sorry about that.
Speaker 3:It just sounds like it works like Orange Blossom Grove.
Speaker 2:Anyway, yeah, so sorry for the people like orange blossom.
Speaker 3:Right, anyway, yeah, so sorry for the people that OBR know where we live. So, yeah, so we just we just moved here and we really enjoy it, and so we have three dogs. So you know, we're always very active with our, with our dogs, you know, going places, going to the dog park, going to the dog beach in bonita. So there's a lot of things, you know, that I like to do and my husband likes to. He's got a motorcycle so he loves taking his harley out. Anybody wants to ride with him? Let you know, let me know, and he's always looking for riders.
Speaker 2:so then, absolutely, that is awesome. That's why we live down here to be outside and enjoy the weather. Enjoy oh yeah, yeah, definitely, without a doubt, so is there one thing you wish our listeners knew about just gloves that maybe they wouldn't be familiar with.
Speaker 3:Well, the thing is that you know the American made is super important. I don't know if I mentioned this about the quality of the product. When you make American-made gloves here, there's a lot of water that actually has to be used in making nitrile gloves, and the water quality is significantly better here than in the other countries. Another thing is that the FDA, you know restrictions are much more stringent here as opposed to again, you know China, malaysia, thailand, vietnam all because they're not there. So, but here they're very, very strict here.
Speaker 3:And another thing is that the product is freshly made and so within two weeks somebody can have them on their hands right after production, whereas you know you import them, you don't know how long they've been in the container, you don't know how long they've been in a warehouse before it's actually gone on somebody's hands. It takes months, months and months, and so the integrity of the product is not as good as American-made product. So we can bring you samples so you could test it out. The prices are excellent. You're going to see that. You know we're either. We're comparable. We're very, very comparable to what you're currently paying.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I love it. So how would our listeners go about contacting you if they were interested in getting some gloves or know somebody that needs?
Speaker 3:some, yeah. So there's a couple of ways they can get in touch with me. I'm on Instagram. It's at just J U S T gloves G L O V, as in Victor's Z as in zebra. So we have that. And then also, you know, you can email me at that address. It's info. I N F O, at J-U-S-T-G-L-O-V-Z. com, or they can just call me at 516-265-2546.
Speaker 2:Perfect, perfect. Jodi, it's been a pleasure getting to know you, thank you for being such a good neighbor and I hope to see out in the community soon.
Speaker 3:Great. Thank you so much, jim, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Estero. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpestero. com. That's gnpestero. com, or call 239-296-2621.