Somewhere Shawna Pierson’s mother must be smiling, most likely laughing if she follows the day-to-day shenanigans of her daughter and her friend Chris Kodama. The duo feed off each other, cracking up, sometimes, in hysterical laughter and waving a hand off at any critics.

The two are inseparable on “iTySE” days. Those are the days the two women — both from Fruitland, Idaho — set aside their “day” jobs to further their efforts in a business whose acronymic title stands for I Told You So Enterprises - iTySE.

iTySE (it-see)Shopping Bags

Pierson and Kodama manufacture reusable, mesh and rip-stop shopping bags made of durable and washable fabrics.. They are the stylish alternative to the plastic, boorish, self-promoting grocery bags that are mostly used once and thrown away, only to end up in a landfill. iTySE bags are different, innovative and a lot more fun. iTySE holders come in three different sizes and five classy colors. The mesh and rip-stop bags stow easily inside the iTySE holders.

Currently, the company offers the iTySE handbag, the BiTySE and the iTySE Solo Bag. The iTySE bag combines utility with practicality and has inside pockets to stuff the mesh and rip-stop shopping bags. The iTySEs are well-designed bags that are large enough to carry your most important “purse” items and stow them away in the inside pockets. All stowed items are secured with a magnetic closure.

The BiTySE is smaller, but very versatile and packable, and can be attached to a handbag. It also has a handy seven-inch nylon handle to carry it along.

Smaller yet is the new iTySE SOLO. It is the original mesh bag that stows away in a self attached palm-sized pouch and can be stored in a purse, in a coat pocket or in the cup holder in the car. These convenient bags can sport the name of your business or organization and are great as Christmas stocking stuffers.

iTySE pricing ranges from about $5.95 to $64, plus shipping, although Pierson and Kodama say they will refund any shipping if they can arrange for a personal drop-off in the Treasure Valley area.

Gift giving is a large part of iTySE sales. "We are gearing up for another successful Holiday Season. The eco-friendly product is something that is unique. After our customers use it, they come back for more! Our best customers are our repeat customers, purchasing iTySE products for friends and family members.", quoted Kodama.

The bags are also great as fundraising tools

“The fundraising group offers special iTySE coupons, which have a code number on it,” Pierson explained. “The customer can shop at www.ityse.com and enter the code. That automatically designates the percentage of the sale to go to the organization doing the fund raising , your Boy Scout Troop, for example. Fund raisers don’t have to handle any product, any money or inventory and at end of month, we cut the organization a check with a full accounting of who supported their cause. "

Perhaps the most compelling fact about iTySE is the partners’ refusal to manufacture their product overseas. Instead, they have partnered with OCE (Oregon Corrections Enterprises) Garment Manufacturing Division. The pair must have been quite a sight as they walked through the all-male Eastern Oregon Correctional Institute in Pendleton, Oregon, a couple of years ago. Looking for a facility to manufacture their new product, iTySE shopping bags. Pierson and Kodama were led through a maze of fences, gates, steal doors and the main yard, where they could feel the stare of inmates as they peered through their cell windows. The meeting with the OCE representatives and the tour through the facility gave Shawna and Chris a new appreciation for this industry and its' contribution to society. The program provides opportunities for inmates to learn social employment skills while earning Oregon minimum wage. The majority of their wage is allocated for victim's restitution, court costs, room and board and paying their child support while incarcerated. It is very important that iTySE products be "Proudly Made in the USA".

I Told You So

The idea for the company began about two and a half years ago as Pierson and Kodama’s families were traveling together on a weekend trip to Anderson Ranch, northeast of Boise. The night before, Pierson was thinking of San Francisco’s ban on plastic shopping bags and how the replacement canvas shopping bags are ugly and become worn rather quickly. An answer came to Pierson, one that could result in a business.

“We were driving in the truck with our husbands,” Pierson explained. “We were in the back and I just said, ‘Oh, we have a new business.’ After I explained, Chris agreed that this was a good opportunity. Our husbands looked at each other and speculated that this might be one of those, ‘I told you so,’ things.”

iTySE is going strong and both Shawna and Chris said they are grateful for the steadfast support their husbands have given them since then.

Pierson and Kodama’s relationship actually originated almost 20 years ago, when Kodama moved to Fruitland, Idaho to work at the School District. It began as a simple letter to the editor in the local newspaper, Kodama praising the local community for their support for the Lloyd / Pierson family and the Fruitland give-back-what-you-can philosophy. Kodama wrote the letter as Pierson’s mother was dying of Lou Gehrig’s disease. After Shawna read the letter she immediately called her Mother and asked, "Who in the world is Chris Kodama?"

With Piersons mother's passing, seeds of a new relationship were planted that would eventually blossom into something much more than just a business partnership.

“We are both very much alike and have a lot of things in common,” Pierson said. “We have the same life philosophies and we energize each other. It’s been work (the business) but it hasn’t been hard. We are blessed. We do our day jobs because we have to, but our iTySE days just fly by.”

For more information on iTySE, please log on to www.ityse.com or call Shawna at (208) 740-0352, or Chris at (541) 212-6006.