Who are we? Big Picture. We are a group of highly motivated Mompreneurs working together to get Buzzy and the vision of personal pain control out there to the masses.

Are we excited? You bet. We are thrilled to work on an initiative that makes the world an easier place to live by reducing pain. And, we get to help build a company from grass roots and work with other women who want to change the world.

So who are we exactly? From left to right:
Brittany Wiggins – Summer intern 2011 and master of all things adobe illustrator.  Thanks for all the late night package edits and crafting, you do Savannah College of Art and Design proud!

Val Staffey RN, MBA – Director of Manufacturing.  Val and Dr. Amy worked together at Children's Healthcare, sedating kids and dreaming of ways to improve pain management.  Fun story about how Dr. Amy was almost ready to hire a PI to find Val again after she had her MBA, but suffice it to say that nobody juggles two baby girls and striking a hard bargain at the negotiating table like this redhead. 

Dr Amy Baxter MD– CEO, inventor, founder, visionary, dynamo – there are not enough words to describe this amazingly talented and inspiring leader. She keeps the Buzzy Team moving at an incredible pace while juggling a research career, pediatric emergency practice, husband and three kids under the age of 15! Loves sci-fi, ska, and drinks more coffee than anyone else in the planet.

Ashli Romeyn – Ashli is indispensible as office manager, fulfillment director, customer service maven and master of detail. She manages a thousand loose ends to perfection, and is the bedrock of Buzzy. Her outstanding outfit at DragonCon left Dr. Amy's in the dust, and her gothchick outlook on life is appreciated by all of us on the Buzzy Team.  First of the Babes to have a son in college (Hi, Sage!), with a gifted artistic middle school daughter.  Also has the best taste in t-shirt humor.

Jennifer Tipping JD – Brilliant Jenn of all trades, this attorney supports distribution, contracting, managing conferences and pricing, and writes the best emails of anyone on the team. Jennifer does all this while contributing enormously to the school her three girls attend.  Special shout out to husband Barry who brilliantly photographs Buzzy needs on ludicrously short notice.

Jin Zhao PhD– Our second 2011 intern has graciously agreed to keep working her newsletter magic while doing a prestigious internship with the Nation in Manhattan.  Jin gets social media and web design like she has a separate brain devoted to it, and speaks more languages than the rest of the team put together. Her dissertation on China and the US use of social network websites informs her lifework of documenting stories of Chinese immigrants.  Visit her blog, http://thingsyoudontknowaboutchina.wordpress.com

Taking it back a year....

Laura Hansen – Based out of Dallas, this Buzzy Babe orchestrated solutions for our first mail order managmenet system and tackled any job set in front of her.  Currently, she's most active with her sports minded teen.

Ronda Grimsley – Jumping into the deep end weekly to help steer the many, many paths of a start up is exciting and challenging.  Ronda is UberEverything, a fantastic mom to two great boys, and project manager extraordinare.  Despite last minute dedication that kept her out of the 2011 photo op, Ronda is very involved as CFO, grant manager, compliance manager, and the only person that can channel Dr. Amy's enthusiasm when the latter has had too many lattes.

Dr. Amy- same

Kristen Howard – Can you say Sales? Marketing? PR? Kristen supports conferences and sales with no inhibitions. Her enthusiasm shows daily; currently, she's most active with her family (which includes husband , a young boy and toddler girl) and successful hardwood flooring business, but still pitches in when Buzzy goes on the road.

Ashli –still has arguably the best shoes in the picture.  You'd have to see them in person.

Back row L to R:  Amanda O'Rourke – Buzzy's first intern and engineer, Amanda is a Georgia Tech grad working now in aerospace.  Fond memories of sitting with Amanda soldering wires and trhing not to crack the fragile prototypes.  Ah, good times!

Kelly Mann – one of the original Buzzy Babes, Kelly was the mastermind behind site engine optimization, color palette choices, and the phrase "oomphiness" describing Buzzy's motor.  Mom of middle school young gentlemen and creative force behind many entrepreneurial endeavors.

Wendy Leonard – Without Wendy, we would never have found Formation Design, or had such a fun road trip to visit Continuum in Boston.  This financial and tax genius gave long days and evenings of working on our grant budget, and even convinced her mother-in-law to be a model for us!  Mom of two boys, and thrower of the best theme parties ever... still waiting for steampunk!!

There's  so much more to tell ...  thanks also to Kathy Ferguson, we miss you and your little Ewok in South Carolina,  also to our Buzzy emergency nurse Sarah and all the friends and family.  Stay tuned!

Left: Ronda working in the Hive back when we weren't back ordered on Buzzy-to-Go totes; Right, Amy, Kelly and Wendy with glue guns working on first incarnations of Buzzy prototypes. 

Bio baxer pdf

Dr. Amy - I invented Buzzy® (a vibrating plastic bee that takes the sting out of shots) after experiencing first-hand the indifference of the healthcare system to the pain and suffering of children. As a pediatric emergency physician and pain researcher, I have learned that pain relief is not just a luxury; it actually improves the outcomes of procedures.

Buzzy is a hand-held device, about the size of a computer mouse, which, through a combination of vibration and ice, minimizes pain from shots and other needle sticks like IV starts, blood draws and finger pricks. Buzzy works instantly, is reusable (eco-friendly, minimizes medical waste), FDA-compliant, and really affordable (available online at www.buzzy4shots.com for $34.95).

Buzzy came to life through trial and error at home with help from my husband and three children. While Buzzy headquarters is located in basement of our home and is very much a family business, we are an international company that has created jobs in the U.S. and abroad.

Our pain management research continues. We recently received a grant from the National Institutes of Health, which funds our ongoing research of needle pain relief in children. We are constantly working to improve Buzzy and the world of pain management.

Bloggin' from Baxter -

Still reading?  OK, here are where Dr. Amy's intermittent updates go when they are retired from the Pain Management Community page.

10-01-2011

Wow, October descended briskly.  There is an energy at the Buzzy team "hive" that can only mean one thing: we're not backordred any more, and we are getting ready for the American Academy of Pediatrics national conference!   Dr. Amy will be speaking at the AAP on Monday about Office Based Procedural Sedation.   The rest of the weekend, you can meet 2/3 of the inspirations for the MMJ Labs company name as they work the booth.  New at this year's show, we'll have Distraction Action Packs including Buzzy, two sets of Bee-Stractor cards, Buzzy Badges, and more.  As always, show specials and free annoying kazoos to fill the hall with joyous music.  (By the way: pediatricians can feel free to blame my son Miles in person at the show: giving away a kazoo was his idea.)  If you intend to buy more than a few Buzzies, please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it so we don't run out.

Testimonial of the week:  "I want to give you some feedback on your wonderful product.  Our daughter has lived through about 6 shots per day for the past 5 years.  That's over 10,000 shots!!!  Welcome Buzzy!  Last night was the first time we tried it for Lantus and she kissed Buzzy after her shot and said "God bless you.""

For hospitals wanting to support their patients, we recommend the Poke Plan put together by Sandy Merkel and her team at U Michigan hospitals.  The team is pictured here at our Buzzy booth at Child Life.  Go, Sandy!  Change the world!