Jeff Bollengier's rise from cash-strapped construction worker to sought-after inventor started with a spill.
The lifelong surfer was sitting on a beach in Mexico dipping tortilla chips in a tub of salsa when first a dollop and then another fell onto the sand. A tinkerer by nature, he dreamed up a bowl with a wavelike shape whose curved lip would prevent spills.
Bollengier, 39, said he carried the idea for the "CaliBowl" with him through stints in pro baseball and modeling and into his adult life as a contractor and father of four.
But when housing development slowed to a trickle in 2007, he decided to see how far his vision could take him. He never imagined that he would be fielding calls from major manufacturers and distributors in the housewares industry in just a few years.
To read the full, original article click on this link: East Bay entrepreneur reinvents the bowl - San Jose Mercury News
Author: Hannah Dreier
