When the corona came to Norway
When the Korona came to the country, I was practically banned from working because I travel a lot out of the country, and after scouring the store shelf for toilet rolls and joika cakes and flour, I thought that now I have to invent something, pursue a thought I have had for a while .
I wanted to make something in Norway, something practical, something nice, something solid, something smart simply.
I want to make something as weird as a shoe support, or footstool? Hmmm, there was no word for that. I decided that ShoeStep works internationally, and that is probably the only thing Norwegian about this product. Another criterion I set was that I wanted to use a combination of classic Norwegian craftsmanship and modern technology as much as possible.
I have often read about networking, so I used my own network for the first time I think. I had previously founded a couple of film companies, but this was something completely different. Here we are talking classic industrial production with the entire value chain, from tank to product in store.
Inspired by a friend named Andreas who pushed me forward after we had a beer at a PUB in London, and a book that has haunted me all my adult life called ZEN and the art of maintaining a motorcycle *. I decided to explore the possibilities.
* The philosopher Robert M. Pirsig wrote this in 1971, and it is a lot about how we modern people relate to the things around us, how we make things that do not last or can be repaired, and how afraid we are to fix things soul.
Where do you start?
I contacted an acquaintance who knew a lot about industrial production. (I knew nothing).
I got help to draw a product and was told how this could be made. Lillian, Henriette and the haloqgen people in general have been very nice to help me with development and applications etc.