Maddy Scavone \u00b7 Maddy Scavone <\/p>\n
As a kid Maddy Scavone assumed it was normal not be able to see people\u2019s faces from a certain distance. Instead she learnt to recognise family and friends by how they walked.<\/p>\n
Then, at age eight, she was diagnosed as being shortsighted and given her first pair of glasses.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the first time in my life people\u2019s faces weren\u2019t blurry. It was a memorable moment. It made me fascinated by eyes,\u201d she told Yahoo Finance.<\/p>\n
After that Scavone, 33, from the Gold Coast studied to become a paediatric orthoptist but in her years working with kids there was one simple product she wished someone would update.<\/p>\n
The humble eye patch was needed by hundreds of her patients for a common childhood problem called called amblyopia, or lazy eye.<\/p>\n
Suffered by over one in 50 Aussie kids, it can cause vision loss in the weak eye if not treated with a patch which covers the child\u2019s stronger eye.<\/p>\n
This forces the brain to use the weaker one, eventually regulating both to a similar level.<\/p>\n
But, while it\u2019s an easy fix, Scavone found getting children to wear the clinical, brown patches which look like bandaids, a struggle.<\/p>\n
\u201cParents would come back in and say the kids would scream wearing the patch,\u201d Scavone said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt delayed their vision progress by another few months.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maddy Scavone has been stocking her patches in Chemist Warehouse since 2023. \u00b7 Maddy Scavone <\/p>\n
Eventually Scavone decided to take matters into her own hands.<\/p>\n
She started with some basic colourful designs for her patches \u2014 unicorns, pirates and cactuses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe challenge is to make them want to wear one…I included a reward chart to track progress and a zip lock pouch so they could be taken anywhere,\u201d Scavone said.<\/p>\n
Her trial, selling the patches on Amazon US was a huge success and in 2020 she brought them to Australia via her website Speckles<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t spend any money on marketing. I approached eye clinics and pharmacies,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n RELATED <\/p>\n Kerry White started stocking the patches and then, in November 2023, Chemist Warehouse took a gamble on them across 500 of its stores.<\/p>\n \u201cThe initial nine-month retail forecast sold out in just three months, leading to rapid expansion into Chemist Warehouse New Zealand nationwide within six months,\u201d Scavone said.<\/p>\n With all her success she decided to take a punt on the final dream on her vision board \u2014 working with Disney.<\/p>\n As luck would have it the new Disney movie, Elio, featured a character with an eye patch and using that as her jump off point, Scavone pitched her product.<\/p>\n \u201cThe head of licensing had an experience of a child wearing a patch and he wanted a meeting,\u201d Scavone said.<\/p>\n With that second piece of Disney magic, her dream was realised.<\/p>\n By June 2024 Speckles held licences to create Disney Princess and Marvel eye patches as well as Elio ones to launch with the movie in June 2025.<\/p>\n The business, which has expanded to stock kids sunglasses, has now seen average year-over-year growth of over 40 per cent across five years and revenue growth is over $1 million in sales through the website alone (excluding Amazon US and Chemist Warehouse sales).<\/p>\n Sales in the US have grown 75 per cent but Scavone said her most important figure is the number of kids she has helped: over 20,000 children.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m helping so many more kids now than I could in clinic,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Get the latest Yahoo Finance news – follow us on Facebook<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n Maddy Scavone secured a deal with Disney, linked to the movie Elio. \u00b7 Maddy Scavone <\/p>\n