In The Bag

As a single parent with two daughters in competitive soccer programs, Diane Blake kept running into the same problem while traveling to games and tournaments. “We were always forgetting something—like shampoo or sunscreen—and we would have to run to Target and get more,” says the Walnut Creek resident. “We ended up with $100 of extra travel products, and I just knew there had to be a better way.”

Blake decided to put together a backpack that included all the items her girls would need in one ready-to-go “survival kit.” After creating the kits, she realized that plenty of other soccer moms face the same problem, so Blake launched Chic’z on the Go—a line of gift bags customized for 10 different girls’ sports and activities.

The bags have garnered some big buzz—Blake recently appeared on CNBC’s the Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, in which the advertising whiz/host discusses new companies’ names and logos. “I love Chic’z on the Go,” said Deutsch. “It’s a million-dollar idea.”

Deutsch’s plug made sales skyrocket. Blake says her business has increased tenfold since the television appearance, and she now has distributors across the country.

Chic’z on the Go bags are available at Soccer Post in Alameda and Lafayette, Evolution Soccer and Sport in Walnut Creek, and at www.chiczonthego.net.