Author: The Hippo Press

Plymouth State grad and his big idea

Kyle Dimick is an entrepreneur and Inventor as well as the founder and CEO of New Hampshire-based company Life-Able. He graduated from Plymouth State University in 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management. Kyle discovered a gap in the market for adaptive nail care solutions following a ski injury which resulted in a traumatic brain injury requiring extensive physical therapy. The Trim-Able, which is Bluetooth-enabled, makes nail care more accessible for individuals with limited mobility. Interested investors can connect through his LinkedIn profile, where updates can be found as well.

Did you always want to be an inventor?

I’ve always been very interested in inventing…. Growing up I would always go up to my grandparents’ house up north, and my grandfather was a mechanic at the mills so he would teach me how to do wiring and how to mess around with mechanical stuff. I would go up there and help him with restoring cars and working on random projects, and that’s where I learned how to do a lot of this stuff. …When it came to actually seeing this as a viable career option, I didn’t really see that until the fingernail trimmer.

How did the Trim-Able come about?

This particular idea came from when I was ski jumping, I was on the high school ski jumping team, and the last day I was on it I went off and wrecked pretty good. That messed up my shoulder, a bunch of stuff in my arm, also got a good concussion and some other stuff out of it. Because of that I ended up going to physical therapy. While at physical therapy there were people coming in just to get their nails trimmed, and when I hurt my arm I was like, ‘OK, how would I cut my nails?’ So I just made this little thing for myself…. Then other people came in looking for help with their nails. so I just kept making more and handing them out.

How was the process of turning the Trim-Able into a product to sell?

It really stayed as the wooden version, up until I got to PSU in 2021. I was just walking around and I heard about the Makerspace … I got a hold of Bret Kulakovich, who was the director of the Makerspace…. He actually taught me how to use a lot of the machines and taught me a lot about fabrication. That’s where I got the electronic prototype from and then I entered that into Panther Pitch, which is a Shark Tank-style competition at PSU, and ended up getting first overall and a people’s choice award, which gave me a good amount of money, which I was able to put into the preliminary patent. I continued working with Bret with some of their equipment down there and building newer and newer models and then I submitted my newest model into the Paul J. Holloway Competition a couple months ago and ended up getting second overall. I was the only PSU student to ever enter the competition and was the only solo team in the top three so that gave me $10,000, which I used for a non-preliminary patent….

What are the next steps?

I have a preliminary patent or patent-pending status, I’m protected on that, but still need to wait for the paperwork to get processed for it to be official. I’ve been talking to a good amount of possible investors and I’ve been working on registering an LLC and getting trademark protections because I want to trademark the name and trademark the company name. … Then, a little further on, I’m trying to figure out manufacturing and scaling. I was able to work with a couple of people to figure out a marketing plan and some business strategies….

What’s the No. 1 thing that has surprised you about this journey?

The amount of support from the business community. So many people have reached out and offered advice without expecting anything in return. …. It’s really shown me how connected the whole business community around here is.

Are you still able to ski?

I’m fine. I ski a lot. … I still alpine ski and Nordic ski quite often…. I’ve been skiing since I was 4 so it’s just like second nature at this point.

Is there anything else you’d like to mention or say I haven’t asked you about?

If anyone is interested in the Makerspace at PSU, they have a ton of cool resources and I think it’s a great opportunity for people to be able to invent up here. …

—Zachary Lewis

Featured image: Kyle Dimick. Courtesy photo.

Owner of Granite State Stomp

Cathy Garland runs Granite State Stomp (granitestatestomp.com), where she teaches line dancing and works private events and corporate events, and even choreographs line dances for other instructors to use. One of her dances, titled Texas Hold Em’ EZ, has been nominated for the Best Beginner Dance of 2024 by the International Line Dance Association.

Explain your job and what it entails.

I teach line dancing for a living, full-time. I’m either teaching or entertaining at different clubs. I also have a lot of private events … and then I’m also doing tutorials and choreography online as well.

How long have you had this job?

Like most people because of Covid I completely pivoted from what I was doing for over 40 years. I’ve been in the fitness industry my whole life and was at the Bond Wellness Center in Peterborough and when that closed permanently I kind of looked at my husband and said, ‘I need to reinvent myself now.’ So I took a chance on this line dancing thing and went all out…. That happened in May of 2023 because the Center didn’t officially close until then.

What kind of education or training did you need?

For me, believe it or not, I went to college for computer science… When you’re in the fitness industry and you’re dealing with wellness coaching or personal training or especially when you’re dealing with a high-risk population, you really do have to have a ton of training, a ton of exercise science training and background and most of them [certifications] come through nationally recognized organizations. For line dancing … you don’t need to be certified in anything, which probably made it easier for me because I have that fitness background … I do have certifications and all that training.

What is your typical at-work uniform or attire?

My typical attire is country. I’m usually in boots. I’m usually in some kind of Western hat and I’d say most of the time like denim shorts and a T-shirt, tank top…. Always kind of making it fun for everybody.

What is the most challenging thing about your work, and how do you deal with it?

New to me is the world of social media. … if one of my videos gets outside of the group of line dancing, I think the most difficult thing is how negative people can be on social media.

What do you wish other people knew about your job?

I don’t think people realize what goes on behind the scenes and how much you really have to practice and work to be able to go out there and queue a group for two hours … I think people just think we can just show up and put the music on and go.

What was your first job?

I was a fitness instructor at a place called — I don’t even know if they called us fitness instructors back then — but it was called Gloria Stevens…. We’ve come a long way from that but I did enjoy working with those women ….

—Zachary Lewis

Five favorites
Favorite book: This is weird but my favorite book is The Long Walk by Stephen King.
Favorite movie: Dirty Dancing. I could watch it over and over again.
Favorite music: Country. I would say mostly modern country.
Favorite food: Pizza.
Favorite thing about NH: The peacefulness.

Featured photo: Cathy Garland. Courtesy photo.