{"id":244,"date":"2024-01-11T14:22:08","date_gmt":"2024-01-11T14:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/magazine\/?page_id=244"},"modified":"2024-01-11T14:22:08","modified_gmt":"2024-01-11T14:22:08","slug":"the-inventor-tog-samphel-22","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/magazine\/winter-2024\/the-inventor-tog-samphel-22\/","title":{"rendered":"The Inventor: Tog Samphel ’22"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\nOn his first path to graduation, Tog Samphel \u201922 was lured away by exciting job opportunities.\n

While still a student, he worked part time at The Wiz, the one time electronics chain, and held an internship with MTV. Then, he was offered a full-time position with AOL, an opportunity too good to pass up.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, I tried to do it all, working long days at AOL in New York City while attending night classes at Montclair,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was just too much. I left school with the goal to finish my degree someday soon, but my career kept growing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Samphel\u2019s successful career in digital product design and user experience landed him in his current role as a product designer at Walmart Global Tech. But it was his creative response to an everyday need that led to his entrepreneurial path as an inventor \u2013 and to a deal on ABC\u2019s Shark Tank for his kitchen gadget, Anytongs, that turns regular eating utensils into versatile tongs.
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\"Tog<\/figure>\n<\/div><\/p><\/div>
\nThanks to that, he is working with the show\u2019s Daymond John on product strategy along with potential licensing and retail store deals. \u201cI quickly realized that inventing a product is only about 20% of what it takes to succeed. There is a massive process to get manufacturing right, even for a relatively simple product.\u201d<\/p>\n

The success of Anytongs is exciting but also bittersweet, as his mom \u2013 the inspiration for the product that is changing his life \u2013 has passed on. \u201cShe was a huge Shark Tank fan,\u201d he says. \u201cIn some ways I feel like I am honoring her by doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also honored his pledge to himself by completing his bachelor\u2019s degree in Visual Arts, 17 years after he left Montclair to work at AOL.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinishing my degree was something I really wanted to do for a long time, and I feel really good that I did it \u2013 and that Montclair let me back in and found my records in the \u2018archives\u2019 and helped me figure out what I needed to finish,\u201d he says. \u201cI have two little kids, and we always say \u2018Get the job done.\u2019 I always try to set a good example for them so I wanted to finish what I started.\u201d<\/p>\n

Samphel is eager to share what he has learned with the next generation of entrepreneurs. \u201cEven after college, even after discovering your passion, it is important to get as many experiences as possible,\u201d he advises. \u201cPutting yourself out there helps opportunities come your way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013Michele Hickey and Laura Iandiorio<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thanks to that, he is working with the show\u2019s Daymond John on product strategy along with potential licensing and retail store deals. \u201cI quickly realized that inventing a product is only about 20% of what it takes to succeed. There is a massive process to get manufacturing right, even for a relatively simple product.\u201d The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":273,"featured_media":0,"parent":65,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-244","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/273"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":477,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/244\/revisions\/477"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/65"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}