Teacher Turned Entrepreneur Steve Spangler Talks Viral Videos And Sick Science

Shep Hyken talks to Steve Spangler, a teacher-turned-entrepreneur, and YouTube viral video star, on this episode of Amazing Business Radio.

It's hard to believe now, but there was a point in time when Steve Spangler was just your average chemistry teacher. That all changed, however, the moment he dropped a Mentos into a bottle of Diet Coke on national TV.

Now he's an Emmy award-winning, toy designing, entrepreneur and Hall of Fame speaker, who also happens to be responsible for countless Diet Coke stains on ceilings around the world.

Spangler has always had an entrepreneurial spirit, one he inherited from his parents. And his time in the classroom helped foster many of his ideas and concepts.

"My entrepreneurial spirit happened all day long because I got to think of things that kids would interact with," Spangler said. "I was in front of my customers for 6-8 hours a day. I got to see what they like, what they don't like, what they connected with, and most importantly, did they learn something from this?"

Spangler's first foray into the toy industry was his Cartesian Diver, a bottle filled with water that contains a submerged object. Squeeze the bottle and the object sinks; release the bottle and the object floats back up. It took him just six months to sell through 80,000 units.

He has since expanded his products to include a variety of toys and experiments that are in stores such as Walmart and Target, as well as his own website, SteveSpanglerScience.com.

"I know what it felt like to walk into school and have kids say 'Mr. Spangler's here!'" Spangler said. "And I thought, what if I gave that power to a parent so the kid looks at them and says, 'Dad, let's make a smoke ring launcher in the garage today.' What parent doesn't want to be a rock star?"

In addition to the toy industry, Spangler has extended his influence onto YouTube. He hosts a show called Sick Science! where he conducts a variety of experiments that kids and parents can do at home. And yes, one of the experiments is his go-to test of what happens when you mix Mentos and Diet Coke.

Through his success as an entrepreneur, both on YouTube and in the retail industry, there's been one lesson from his principal that Spangler has kept in mind – "If it gets to the dinner table, you win."

"If what you have as a company is so exciting that the customer wants to share it with somebody else, you fulfill that quality of 'if it gets to the dinner table, you win,'" Spangler said.

Listen in to Steve Spangler's full interview with Shep Hyken to see what other lessons have translated from the classroom to the boardroom:

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, keynote speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information, contact (314) 692-2200 or www.hyken.com. For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs, go to www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken