Quite a niche: company sells frames for junior lifeguard certificates

When her grandson graduated from the Newport Beach Junior Lifeguard Program, Rosemary Eadie could not pass up the opportunity to commemorate the achievement.

So the Newport Beach resident had his certificate framed by local company Junior Guard Frames and surprised him with the gift.

“It really is beautiful,” Eadie said of the framing. “My grandson James is thrilled with it. He has it hanging up in his bedroom. He loved it, and he’s very proud of it.”

Fostering that pride was what motivated business partners Kip Kennedy, Tom Kent and Brian Lynch in November 2014 to create Junior Guard Frames, an Irvine business that specializes in the very niche market of framing junior lifeguard certificates.

“I always thought how great a program was for these kids because they learn so many things, like the building blocks of life of responsibility, teamwork, punctuality, confidence,” said Kennedy, an ocean lifeguard for 40 years for the Laguna Beach Marine Safety Department.

“One of the reasons why we did this was because at the end of it they work so hard to get their certificates. But where do they usually end up? In the drawer, on the side of the refrigerator with a magnet or, unfortunately, later in the trash can.”

So longtime friends Kennedy and Kent, both of whom had been involved with various junior guard programs, decided to pair that character-building experience with Kent’s know-how in manufacturing and selling diploma frames to colleges and universities and other organizations throughout the country.

They approached Lynch, who owns an accounting software business, about financing the development of the product line, which involved taking photos depicting the locations of 36 lifeguard agencies stretching from Ventura to Imperial Beach, developing sample frames and building the website, jrguardframes.com.

“I’ve known Kip for a long time and saw his passion for it, and it evolved into something we really wanted to share,” Lynch said. “We had to do a lot of work to get to where we are here. It was an interesting little exercise in starting a business. I started my business 30 years ago, so this was a new experience to go through it all over again.”

Frames start at $59 for single panel frames and go up to $179 for a three-panel frame that holds the certificate, a group photo and a photo of the lifeguard location.

“I think you can buy the frame for how much we’re selling it for,” Lynch said, adding that framing costs could go anywhere between $200 to $600 at competing businesses.

Kennedy credits Kent for his ability to source materials to keep costs down and pass that on to customers.

Feedback for the frames has been positive, Kennedy and Lynch said.

“We thought this is a great opportunity to save these [certificates], and when we started doing them we were amazed at the number of parents and grandparents who saved them,” Kennedy said. “Now they have something to put [the certificate] in and give it back to them.”

The company is still in the development stage, Kennedy said. While it had sales in 2015, the year was about building the business. This year, the company is talking to lifeguard programs about potential partnerships.

“Our approach was to build our market here in California first and then expand to other junior guard programs throughout the country,” he said, including the Gulf Coast and Eastern seaboard.

While they work to make the business profitable, profits weren’t the main reason why the partners started the business.

“The passion is knowing what these kids go through with these programs,” Lynch said. “There’s a sense of satisfaction there. It’s a win-win. They have a great way to showcase their achievement.”

Junior Guard Frames sales are online only. To contact the company, which is at 34 Executive Park in Irvine, call (714) 330-2469 or email kip@jrguardframes.com.