Joy Mangano is an inventor and industrial designer. She most famously invented the Miracle Mop. Her life story is the basis for the David O. Russell movie, Joy, where she is played by actress Jennifer Lawrence.
Buy Joy: The Unofficial Biography of Miracle Mop Inventor, Joy Mangano
She has an estimated net worth of at least $50 million.
Mangano was born on February 15, 1956 and lives in a mansion in St. James, NY. Her company’s name is Ingenious Designs, LLC.
When she was a teen working at an animal hospital in Huntington, New York, on Long island, she came up with a fluorescent flea collar that could be used to keep pets safe. She never actually built the invention and she later saw it come to market from Hartz Mountain. She decided then that if she ever came up with an idea, she would create it herself and not miss out on success.
She invented the Miracle Mop, a self-wringing mop she came up with while trying to clean the house as a divorced mother. When Mangano offered the mop for sale on QVC in 1992, she set a record by selling 18,000 mops in 20 minutes.
Mangano estimates that she has invented over 100 products.
She attended Pace University, and got a business administration degree in 1978.
After she was divorced she invested $100,000 in the Miracle Mop, selling it to local businesses before she got to sell it on TV, first on QVC then at HSN (Home Shopping Network) where she became president.
Mangano invented My Little Steamer, the Beauty Roll-Up Travel Organizer, the Clothes It All luggage system, the Super Chic vacuum, the Piatto Bakery Box and the Huggable Hanger, which was endorsed by Oprah Winfrey.
Her daughter, Jacqueline Miranne, is a model who has appeared on Project Runway.
She owns the restaurant Porto Vivo in Huntington, New York.
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