A PRODUCT WITH A STORY TO TELL…

Genesis – It all began in a beautifully landscaped Northern California backyard that has a swimming pool & large covered patio in the summer of 2005, with a bright idea of how to stay MUCH, MUCH Cooler, when outside on a HOT day. 

My parent’s backyard was the perfect setting for outdoor entertainment, whether with few or many family and friends. It already had an outdoor ceiling fan for airflow and one day my Step Dad Javier decided to add a low pressure misting system along the outside perimeter of the patio cover. Although it dripped some and got the surrounding area pretty wet, it did manage to cool things off around 5-10 degrees.

When I saw the ceiling fan spinning in the middle of the patio with the misters going on the perimeter, I thought: “What if you combined the misters with the circulating air from the ceiling fan, would that accelerate the evaporation process and improve the cooling experience?”

Well, it turns out that it does! But getting to the finished product would take a lot more than I ever thought it would…

Journey – From a vision in a backyard, to laying under our living room ceiling fan with my incredible wife & business partner Trish envisioning how the waterline might get down the fan to the misters, each little experience along the way created a piece of the story that is still unfolding today… To the garage we go. Taking a concept from the minds eye to a working prototype is a challenging adventure full of wins & losses, including the loss of my patience at times 😉 

However, perseverance paid off as I had my biggest win developing the breakthrough Cool Curve fan blade design that aerodynamically creates an outward breeze to spread the mist further than a standard fan blade ever could, which ultimately led to one of the main reasons the Ceiling Fan Mister was awarded a Patent as a novel idea!

The other major breakthrough in the successful development and launch of this new invention, was when I discovered, “High Pressure” Misting Technology. Instead of running a low pressure misting system on standard household pressure of 40-80psi, we would begin running high pressure pumps for our Misting Fans with a pressure of 1,000psi, that makes the water come out more like fog. When the pressurized water molecules atomize so finely, they flash evaporate on a hot day so quickly that it creates a rapid drop in temperature of up to 25 degrees for the surrounding area while also staying dry, it’s like Outdoor Air Conditioning!

Belief, Funding & Faith – I shared the idea with a few trusted family & friends who believed in it & me, which strengthened my resolve to press ahead. During the conceptual phase I presented it to several potential wealthy investors and a couple were interested in backing me when the product was ready. So after proving the concept with a working prototype in the Fall of 2006 and needing to have manufacturing started originally overseas by winter in order to have product ready to retail in spring/summer of 2007, I had to have investment money to pay for our first run of a couple hundred units right away. I then went to not only the two main investors that were originally interested but everyone else I could possibly think of and not one was able to commit for many different reasons and all of my momentum came to an immediate halt. I was completely stalled out having put all my eggs in one basket with the only large manufacturer I could secure at the time and they had a minimum of 200 units equating to a six figure type required investment that I didn’t have. I also should have had the fans already ordered in Oct/Nov, yet after another couple months I still had no funding leaving me feeling completely stuck.

Now January 2007, almost past my cut off manufacturing date, enter Faith. With no more than my only prototype white ceiling fan mister, not knowing if or when I would even be able to deliver a unit, I decided to still present this product to the world by displaying it at a local Home & Garden Show in Sacramento, CA. (Showing a summer product indoors in the middle of winter, as if the odds weren’t already stacked against me enough.)

Enter Trina & Mike, the very nice couple who approached our booth at the home show expressing interest in the Backyard Breeze and after understanding a little more about how it worked said they had a great spot over their outdoor kitchen that would be perfect for it! After also stating that the Ceiling Fan Mister was a great idea, Trina asked a question that blew my mind: “Do you need any investors?” I almost didn’t even know how to respond because it was so direct & I always thought this was something I had to go make happen, while here it was being offered to me without any effort other than just showing up on my part, but thankfully I responded with “Yes, as a matter of fact we are in need of investors.” Only a few days later after Trish & I were invited over for a nice dinner at Trina & Mike’s home to talk about our vision for Backyard Breeze & getting to know each other, we had all the funding we needed to get started just in time to have product by summer!!! 

It was only when I had come to the end of myself that God provide exactly what I needed, at exactly the right time, thank you Lord! Trina also shared with us later that when she woke up that day, she felt led to go to the home show but didn’t really know why, until we met, it was a divine appointment indeed. We are truly blessed to have them & several other incredible partners on our team!

Pleasure & Pain – We then proceeded to have an incredible season bringing this product to market for so many, including homeowners with patio covers, restaurants, golf courses, large events like the California State Fair providing cooling at the outdoor Wine Garden, Professional Tennis Tournaments & much more. We even had international interest & we were about to start installing our Ceiling Fan Misters as patio upgrades for new home builders. Just as we began to fly, the crash of 2008/09 took the wind out from under our wings. A difficult season of depression & anxiety as a struggling entrepreneur followed, essentially paralyzing me for some time, but that’s another story for another time.  

New Beginning – The good news is that the story is not over yet. Actually, now 16 years later, I feel like it’s just getting started! In a way it is, now partnered with a new manufacturer & having produced a much higher quality product mostly Made in America this time around, we are building this thing to last!

If you’re still reading at this point, then I invite you to finish the story with me… 

There is a parallel storyline to the physical manifestation of “How” this product came to be. 

It is also the story of “Why” it came to be…

Genesis –  1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  Then God said “Let us make mankind in our image” Genesis 1:26

We have been created in God’s image as creators our very selves for God’s glory! 

My name may be on the patent, but ultimately God gave me the mind to conceive the idea in the first place, He owns it ALL! Including the last breath that you and I just took. 

One of the reasons I believe that this creative idea & product was born, was to act as a reminder for us, that we are made in God’s image as creators ourselves, but ultimately He is & always will be the most creative One of All! 

Thank you for taking the time to read the story of Backyard Breeze & Thank You for your interest! 

Inventor/Founder

Bryan DeVorss

P.S.

What’s Your Story?  

Do you happen to have any creative ideas that may be novel enough to receive a patent & could use some resources? 

Maybe you are interested in learning more about faith or about the creative image that you bear as a child of God… 

Or maybe, you just have an outdoor location that could use a cooling breeze…

Whatever it is, feel free to contact me directly, bryan@originalbackyardbreeze.com , it would be an honor to share anything I can that might help you along on your journey, learn from yours & to be of service in any way!