Amy Hedrick: Redefining Business Activities with Eco-Friendly Smart Tech Hygiene Solutions

Cleanbox Technology Inc. is a premium, eco-friendly and smart tech hygiene company, specialising in UVC surface decontamination. Founded in 2018, Cleanbox's patented products use proprietary engineering of UVC light in an LED, providing safe and hospital-grade hygiene without the use of chemicals, heat, or liquids. The company's products are designed for frequently used or shared devices including head-mounted displays (HMDs), surgical and protective masks, eyewear, personal electronics and accessories, and other business and household items. Cleanbox's products have been independently lab validated to kill 99.999% viruses, bacteria and fungi in a minute.

A Thought Leader

Amy Hedrick is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Cleanbox Technology. Her strategy for building a thriving business by solving a real-world problem, and her vision of creating an impact brand reaching multiple industries, has grown the company from an idea to a multi-million dollar global business in just two years. Amy's execution of the company's vision has established Cleanbox as a brand trusted by many of its Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 clients.

Amy is a thought leader in applications of immersive technology as industry disruptors. In her role as CEO, she brings innovative ideas to Cleanbox's smart tech hygiene product lines, working with her team to keep the company ahead of the curve. Amy has led multiple teams from project inception and funding to planning and execution, proving herself an effective leader in multiple industries over the past decade.

Immediately before funding and incorporating Cleanbox in 2018, Amy served as the Manager of Content and Digital Media for the think tank division of Li and Fung, a leading global consumer goods sourcing and manufacturing company based in Hong Kong. Her expertise includes conducting bespoke research and C-level reports within technology, retail and cross-genre applications. Amy was one of the four writers for the Fung Business Intelligence Center (FBIC). It was this immersion that inspired the business idea of starting Cleanbox.

Amy spent her early career working with international aid organizations, managing multiple teams of 50-150 workers in healthcare, construction and emergency intervention professionals. She was also overseeing direct-aid projects in addition to fund-raising in both the profit and non-profit sectors. Amy also worked in the film industry raising funds and managing budgets for content creation and production.

Amy currently serves on various VRARA committees including Women's, Healthcare, Enterprise, and Safety & Security, and represents Cleanbox on the Advisory Board for the International Virtual Reality Healthcare Association. She recently contributed to the book 'Applied Virtual Reality in Healthcare,' a compilation of thought leaders in XR, published by Robert Fine.

As a woman in business, Amy had to learn to unabashedly showcase her capabilities and stand behind the insight that her experience provides. She is well aware that this is what makes her a good leader and an effective CEO. To grow the business, Amy often shares ideas that are seemingly outside the scope of her teams' known capabilities but are critically important to Cleanbox's future success. She practices the discipline of exploring every possible angle of a new idea before considering 'no' as a capable conclusion.

She sees every business challenge or rejection as an opportunity to hone her intuition and tenacity, helping her make smarter and more efficient decisions.

Shaping Start-up Oriented Traits by Self-Dependability

Amy opines that building a start-up is like a long trek up a steep mountain with unpredictable weather patterns and no camping gear. Leaders are completely dependent on their own ability to figure things out as they proceed, and make quick decisions that could determine their journey's success. At the same time, they are wholly reliant on the capabilities of the team they have built and this inter-relationship is what makes or breaks a budding company.

Amy mentions that the decision to take an idea, research market potential and develop a business strategy takes a lot of self-education, trial and error. Leaders must surround themselves with people who bring specific and complementary expertise while also understanding when to listen to their instinct. She highlights that finding this balance is critical.

Amy says that it is not easy to raise money for a product that is just an idea. But she would argue that it's an even harder challenge to sustain the energy required to keep a vision alive over time while leaders build a product, then a viable business and finally a functioning company. It's a gamble that requires leaders to remain sharp, flexible and constantly learn, and be willing to take big risks.

Understanding the Power of an Effective Leader

Amy points out that to be an effective leader one must quickly identify when they are wrong, and make immediate and effective pivots. Another equally important thing is to understand when they are right and staying firm on that. Leaders must also choose smart and adaptable people, who know how to work in a start-up environment as they build their team. Amy adds that leaders should also accept that people who are with them in the beginning are not necessarily the ones who will get them across the finish line.

Innovation Comes from Experience

For two years, Amy travelled around the world attending events, speaking on panels and keynotes, visiting small and large businesses, and testing ideas that she felt might be market disruptors. Amy thinks that this research phase was critical to her understanding of what the immediate opportunities were for her business while developing a strategy for product innovation, such as identifying functionality improvements that could open up new markets, and plan an achievable timeline, while also creating 'stretch' goals. From day one, Amy's goal for Cleanbox was to become the 'Kleenex' brand of smart tech hygiene—a brand name everyone knows and trusts. This would require quick market saturation, recognizable design and brand confidence. Starting with immersive tech and participating in almost every major associated event in the US and Europe helped Cleanbox accomplish the first step of being very well known in the XR space.

An Exemplary Perspective towards Disruptive Technologies

Amy believes that Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Internet of Things and immersive technologies including Virtual and Augmented Reality, have already revolutionized industries, and that in 10 years, no industry will exist without them.

Thriving and Winning through the Pandemic

Cleanbox existed before the global COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, the company was able to successfully expedite the growth of multiple product lines and drastically expand its market reach in a few months. Cleanbox's engineering had already been developed, lab validated and market-tested by the time the global interest highlighted the need to eliminate contagions. With the world being hyper-aware of the importance of hygiene, and businesses understanding the critical role of hygiene and safety protocol to play in the re-opening and bringing back customers, Cleanbox's products solve real-world problems.

Cleanbox got its start in the immersive technology space. Cleanbox was the first in that market to offer a unique and effective solution for HMD decontamination. The company started with one product that was durable, lightweight and easy to use.

In twelve months, the company grew from one product line with clients in ten countries to three product lines in over 36 countries, and 41 states in the US. Cleanbox's products not only provide 99.999% decontamination in a minute but also give businesses the ability to track the hygiene history of any object through RFID tagging. In 2021, the company will be introducing a home version of its OmniClean. Cleanbox will also expand its manufacturing and fulfilment centers, and continue to add products that address different market needs.

Multi-tasking and Prioritizing as a Precursor to Leadership Roles 

Amy believes that women are fantastic leaders because they are generally effective at multi-tasking, prioritizing and categorizing. Women can show empathy and objectivity in tandem. She adds that an empowered woman can bring greatness to the team around her. Amy advises emerging female leaders to embrace the fact that they are a woman, and then move past that and lean into the skills they have honed. She concludes saying that it will make them a good leader who can build a successful business.