Everyone has a moment in life when they realize that they are tired of something. They want more, they can do better, and there has to be a better way. It’s the story of Joy Mangano’s life – literally. She was just hanging out as a teenager living her life and dreaming up ideas and inventions she could create that would make life easier, better, and safer for everyone involved. To date, she’s the woman behind more than 71 patents (of the family variety) and 126 patent publications. She’s an inventor, and she’s the brain behind so many things that people use every single day of their lives. So, who is she? She’s bright, and she has ideas.
1. She is in Her 60s
Joy Mangano was born on February 1, 1956. She will celebrate her 66th birthday at the beginning of 2022, though she’s taken excellent care of herself over the years. She certainly does not look like a woman closer to 70 than she is to 60.
2. She’s a New Yorker
She was born in a little community called Brooklyn, perhaps you’ve heard of it? She wasn’t raised there, though. Her family resided in Huntington, New York. She grew up there, and she’s been a New Yorker since the day she was born.
3. She is an Author
It was 2017 when she decided she’d tell her own story. It isn’t a precise story, but it is loosely based on her own life. The book she authored is called, “Inventing Joy,” and it did very well. She saw it sell quickly because people are curious about the woman behind, well, almost everything – or so it seems.
4. Jennifer Lawrence Portrayed Her
When her own book was turned into a movie, the young Jennifer Lawrence is the actress who played her. She did such a magnificent job in her role as Mangano that she won a Golden Globe for Best Actress. While she did not win, she was also nominated for an Academy Award for her role.
5. She Attended College
Pace University is the place where she graduated with her degree. She was studying business administration, and that degree has helped her tremendously in her business life. Learning the ins and outs of business and how things are done in college has helped Mangano navigate much of what she’s done in her own life since she graduated.
6. She is Divorced
When she graduated college in 1978, she decided to continue having a big year. It’s the same year she got married. She wed her husband, Anthony Miranne, that year, but their marriage did not last. While they did have three kids together, they were only married until 1989. Things did not work out, and she found herself living as a young single mother of three kids.
7. She Worked Odd Jobs
Divorced, living on her own, and raising three kids is a difficult situation in which to find yourself when you’re in your early 30s, yet there she was. Mangano had to do something to make ends meet, so she went to work. She was a reservations manager at an airline. She was a waitress. She took any odd job she could get so she could make sure her kids were cared for.
8. She Made Her First Invention in 1990
A year after her divorce was finalized and she was working odd jobs to care for her kids, she came up with a great idea. It was called the Miracle Mop. She had friends and family help her invest in the mop, she used her own savings, and she produced 1,000 mops in her father’s body shop. She took the mop to trade shows, and she finally landed a deal to work with QVC to sell her mops on television. She hit it big with that one, and the inventor was born.
9. She Has a Thought
It’s a simple one, but it’s an effective one. She believes she knows exactly why her inventions do so well, and she holds on to that formula. She knows that they sell well because she knows that they have a use. She’s a mom and a woman with a job and a woman with a home that isn’t cleaning itself, and she knows that the things she’s coming up with are all useful to people just like her – which is basically everyone.
10. QVC Was Shocked
When she began selling her mops on the television show, she did okay. She wasn’t a star by any means, but QVC finally gave her a chance to get on television herself to sell her own product rather than allowing someone else to sell for her. When she got on the air, she was able to sell a staggering 18,000 mops in 30 minutes. That is when the network knew they’d keep her on the air.an inventor
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