| An ingeniously simple device (most clever inventions are fairly simple), it looks like an ordinary, rectangular mirror, folded like an unfinished accordion. But it worked. Looking into it at the correct angle, you can see your face, the tops of your eyelids, and your chin – all at the same time. Simple? Yes. Ingenious? Definitely.
And she sold thousands and thousands of them. Then she sold the rights to cosmetics giant Revlon and sold, well, many, many more of them. And for every single mirror it sold, Chips Klein collected a fee. Flamenco dancer, business mentor, cosmetics executive, university lecturer, newspaper columnist, inventor. Whenever Chips Klein digs in her heels and goes to work, success goes along for the ride. In the mid-1990s, husband Paul left his job and joined forces with his wife to form Chipco Canada Inc. Both of them have had several jobs that gave them experience in sourcing products all over the world for other companies and now they buy and sell steel from the smartly decorated basement offices of their Thornhill home. Yes, steel. Drill steel, tool steels, steel rods. They started the business by buying and selling railway axles through contacts they had made in previous jobs. Now they successfully buy and sell all kinds of semi-finished steel products to clients world wide. Why stay in Thornhill? Paul Klein explains with a grin: “It has great roads!” “Seriously, when we drive from Toronto back into Thornhill, we can actually see the difference in the roads. The roads in Thornhill are well maintained. Such a simple thing says a lot about how important the municipality considers the well-being of its residents.” Chips Klein adds, “There’s also a huge South African community established in Thornhill. We have so many friends here.” Chips ends our conversation with some finality, “By most standards, we are two successful people. If we wanted to, we could probably live anywhere in the world. But Thornhill gives us a sense of home, a feeling of integration into the community, of involvement, that is stronger than we have experienced anywhere else. There is an understanding here of the differences in people and how those differences are expressed for the benefit of the entire community. Thornhill is home and this is where we are staying.” Once a flamenco dancer digs in her heels, it’s almost impossible to move her. |
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