Eric Rhicard and Elissa Fazio started "Pogonip", the company, as "E Squared Enterprises" back in 1992. Eric, contemplating his checkbook balance (which was lower than his age,) was strolling through their neighborhood and noticed a decorated mailbox with a metal "cactus" for a flag. The flag stuck out in Eric's mind so he brought Elissa to see it. She thought it was cute so they asked the people what they had paid for their decorated mailbox. The couple had purchased it from an art gallery for $120.00!

Eric set out to make a flag prototype, believing people would be more apt to buy a less expensive flag to spruce up their mailbox, rather than a whole new box. With tin snips, he fashioned a crude "roadrunner," designing the tail to fit in the bracket the mailbox manufacturer had provided. He soon realized he needed to design a universal mounting bracket when attempts to attach the "roadrunner" to their neighbors' mailboxes failed. Eventually, he found a company to cut out four designs and make the brackets. He then primed and painted the backgrounds and Elissa painted designs on them.

Too late to get a booth at the local winter street fair, they set up a table next to a friend's restaurant. Being off the main street a bit, Eric sold only nineteen at $15.00 each, the first day. The second day, Elissa and a friend, Sue, manned the table while Eric, with mailbox and flag held over his head, barked to passing fairgoers, "Get your mailbox flag! Smile every time you mail a letter!" That got people's attention; Elissa and Sue began collecting the money. That day they sold 97 flags and the final day they sold around 150. This confirmed Eric and Elissa's belief that there really was a market for their product and that selling these whimsical items might actually pay some bills.

Eventually, when mass production became a necessity, they took on some partners -- Herb & Eve Laeger. When incorporating, they needed to come up with a unique company name. They tried mixing their first, last, cats', and mothers' initials. They tried making up words, none of which were inspiring. Then Herb grabbed a dictionary and it opened to the page with "pogonip" on it. Laughter ensued. The last time they had seen that word was during a game called "Fictionary." The game is played by one person picking a word out of the dictionary that no one knows. The person picking the word writes down the real definition while the others make up definitions. The person who picked the word reads all of the definitions aloud including the real one. Then everyone tries to pick the correct definition. Players get a point for each person fooled into picking their definition and one point if they pick the correct definition. Everyone assumed that either Herb or Eve had made up the above-mentioned definition because they live in the Sierra Nevada. The fact that it is the real definition and such a funny sounding word, made it stand out in our memory. Randomly opening the dictionary to the page with that word, five years later, must be kismet we presumed and so the company was named Pogonip Inc.

Eric and Elissa now run Pogonip Inc. from their home office and shipping center in Tucson, Arizona sending "Pogonips" to almost six hundred stores throughout the U.S.