Sweet Inspiration
The creative mind whirls beyond boundaries of what is, seeking undefined regions where possibilities abound. From a world in darkness, visible only in flashes of lightning, new ideas emerge.
For the Klein family of Glendora, lightning usually strikes in the bathroom, which they refer to as the “think tank.”
One day about four years ago, Roxanne Klein was, well, just sitting there when lightning struck, and she saw it: edible sand art.
She was well-versed in what to do next. She rushed to the kitchen, tugging up her pants, and grabbed a paper plate.
One should never entrust a scrap of paper with a brilliant idea, says her father, David Klein, 50, inventor of Jelly Belly candies. Scraps are too easily lost or left in pockets, emerging from washing machines as faded wads.
Paper plates are harder to lose, harder to stuff in pockets. “Plus,” he notes, “you can fling ‘em.”
In her vision, Roxy, then a senior at Glendora High School, saw brightly colored candy in the form of sand, something artistic and tangy. Six months later, production began on Sandy Candy. The Kleins tested flavors with a panel of experts, neighborhood kids who frequent their manufacturing plant in West Covina.
“If they approved of a flavor, we went with it,” says Roxy’s mother, Rebecca Klein, 46. “If they said, ‘Puh-TOO-wee,’ we scrapped it.”
Sandy Candy was further tested at street fairs, and children seemed to love it.
The Kleins, under the name Can You Imagine That! Inc., have made Sandy Candy available on the Internet and through distributors. It is not sold at retail stores.
“We wanted to make it more of a specialty item and also something groups could use for fund-raising,” Roxy says.
The Kleins are constantly testing new products. Not all of them pan out. Still, says David, there is no such thing as a bad idea.
“A bad idea leads to a good idea,” he explains. “It stays in your mind for years and maybe you’ll use a part of that idea for some other idea.”
“Or maybe 1% of the idea,” says Roxy.
“Or maybe half a percent,” says David.
“Zero point five percent,” says Roxy.
“Or maybe the bad idea has a good name for another project.”
“Or a good color or a good flavor.”
“Something good comes out of everything.”
Klein family discussions are like a room filled with televisions all tuned to different channels. They tend to talk at the same time and, miraculously, not miss a word.
David and Roxy usually come up with the ideas. Sometimes they follow a scent of possibility so intently they lose their bearings. Rebecca’s role is to retrieve them.
“I keep them in balance,” she says. “I break down their ideas, consider the factors, then rebuild them in ways that work.”
This can drive Roxy nuts. She would rather push ideas further, not worrying about what is practical. She constantly tests her bounds.
A senior business major at the University of La Verne, she earned a real estate license and paralegal certificate while attending school and working in the family business.
From her parents, she has learned to seek happiness, which is why a couple weeks ago, she and her boyfriend drove to San Diego to a “foam club.”
“It’s where you dance in bubbles,” she says. “Foam comes down from the ceiling, and you dance in the bubbles, but we got all the way there, and they weren’t open.”
Reality sometimes bites.
Ask her dad. David discovered after graduating in 1971 from Southwestern Law School and passing his bar exams that the one thing in life he didn’t want to be was a lawyer.
He decided to sell nuts instead. He removed the back seat of Rebecca’s Oldsmobile and started selling walnuts to bakeries. He remembers the time, but not the year. It was about 8:30 p.m., sometime in the mid-1970s. He was watching “Happy Days” on television when the thought occurred to him: What if he opened a store that sold only jelly beans?
He contacted a manufacturer and said he wanted jelly beans in many flavors and colors, and that was the beginning of the Jelly Belly. He has since sold the trademark, but continues to receive royalties.
“What if . . .”
That’s how lots of sentences begin in the Klein household. David also likes to say, “You only have to be a genius for 15 seconds.” Roxy says it too. The time in between those brief periods are marked by wandering minds that conceive of blue ice cubes in duck-shaped molds--like the ones they have in the freezer.
They sort of crumble when removed from the mold. Drat. But the Kleins are not discouraged. Who knows what the next 15 seconds might bring?
Sandy Candy is available at https://www.amazon.com by clicking on the “Z Shop” tab and typing “sandy candy” into the search field.
