Souvenirs Created With a Wave of the Wands : After working with Queen Mary, Fiber Touch International is negotiating with Walt Disney Co. to carry its reusable lighted gadgets.

As happens with most entrepreneurs, Dita Shemke and Andrew Ghandehari started with little more than a good idea--in their case, using high-tech fiber optics to create a new lighting source for fine furniture.

And, as is also the case with most entrepreneurs, Shemke and Ghandehari changed their business plan several times before uncovering what they believe to be the proper blend of technology and marketing needed to turn a profit.

Fiber Touch International Inc., their Huntington Beach-based start-up, has developed a lighting source that uses the physics of fiber optics to mimic neon lighting. Unlike traditional fiber optics, however, Fiber Touch’s patented Lumaline process uses clear acrylic tubing that’s both rugged and relatively inexpensive. And, unlike neon, their product uses less energy than neon and isn’t dependent upon toxic gases.

The result is a light source that’s rugged enough for use in children’s toys and safety lights and inexpensive enough for use in the colorful, mass-produced signs that countless companies--most notably breweries--use to advertise their products.

Shemke and Ghandehari, both 41, initially intended to incorporate the lighting source into fine furniture. They originally planned to replace intrusive light bulbs with fiber optics, both to illuminate interior spaces of cabinets and as a decorative element.

But they dropped that plan after learning that there were “quicker and easier ways to penetrate the (overall) market,” said Shemke, who handles marketing chores. “We learned that we can’t be in all places at all times, so we decided to establish a market presence to get some kind of history behind us.”

Ghandehari, Fiber Touch’s technology expert, initially envisioned high-tech fiber optical strands as the foundation for the company’s technology. He had studied the physics of fiber optics and envisioned putting the technology to work in his furniture manufacturing business. But he switched gears after realizing that acrylic tubing--when coated with a special light-reflecting material--was far less expensive.

So far, Fiber Touch’s biggest market foray has been a reusable light wand shaped like the Queen Mary’s fabled crown logo. Vendors sold the wands to party-goers during the venerable ocean liner’s annual New Year’s Eve celebration in Long Beach.

Wand sales “went pretty good,” said Chris Hartley, the Queen Mary’s merchandising manager. “They weren’t as good as we had hoped, however, but it’s tough right now to sell anything because of the bad economy.

“What (Fiber Touch) has is a unique souvenir,” Hartley said. “It’s something different, which is what I’m looking for. We’ll keep it on our shelves. . . . I think it will sell real well this summer during our Friday and Saturday night fireworks.”

Fiber Touch also is in discussions with the Walt Disney Co. about a hand-held wand shaped like cartoon character Mickey Mouse’s very familiar ears, Shemke said. However, while the company’s product evidently passed Disney’s tough safety standards, the park has not yet made any decision on whether to sell the wands, Shemke said.

Shemke and Ghandehari know that the road to success will be long: It took them six months of negotiations and product refinement to move the crown-shaped wands onto Queen Mary gift store shelves. And, the start-up company, incorporated in late 1990, has yet to sign a contract that will give it a presence in the sign industry.

But Shemke, who earned an MBA from Pepperdine University in 1988, said they’re not afraid to change course. “We’ve changed our business plan three times,” she said. “What we’re focusing on now is getting a (track record) that we can use to show other people what we can do.”

Fiber Touch is Shemke’s second start-up company. She helped to operate a small gourmet food company after a 15-year career working for several large corporations.

Ghandehari is a former military pilot who operated a furniture business in Missouri. The entrepreneurs have used an undisclosed amount of their savings to create their latest company and are looking for partners to help expand it.

Fiber Touch hopes to eventually do its own manufacturing--it currently subcontracts production to an unidentified company in Southern California--but it hopes to control costs by “finding strategic partners, other companies that are already in the markets we want to target,” Shemke said.

“We don’t want to entirely reinvent the wheel. We’d rather enhance existing products with our technology because bigger companies already have established marketing and distribution systems.”

The pair are hunkering down for a long haul. “It seems that every market these days is tough to break into,” Shemke said. “What I’m telling people is that in five or 10 years, we’d like to see our pictures on the cover of Inc. magazine.”