Dear Dunkin: On donut holes and teaching through whimsy

Since 2021, our intrepid and steadfast cofounder Sam Holland has been on a journey powered by vision, determination, and a whole lotta donut holes — and it’s about time someone made a mini documentary about it. A product design engineer by trade, Sam’s formative years in Vermont were shaped by two constants: tinkering and Dunkin Donuts. So it was just a matter of time before the two eventually intersected.

What started as a “silly proof of concept” is now a handy belt-mounted donut hole holder, naturally named the Donut Hole-der. It’s basically the essential belt accessory you never knew you needed —until you see it, sleek, aerodynamic, at the ready, and chock full of carbs. Now all it’s missing is the attention of Dunkin Donuts.

As luck would have it, two talented Champlain College students, Katelyn Bohan and Eleanor Coonan, were inspired by Sam’s project and reached out to him to create a mini documentary about it as part of their capstone project. Their video description is great: “Crawl inside the mind of an independent engineer from Vermont who uses humor to educate young entrepreneurs about his process and how he moves an idea to an on-market product.”

About the project, Katelyn and Eleanor share, ““We started this project with the intention of doing a documentary strictly about the Donut Hole-der, but as we got to know Sam more, we wanted to shift our focus onto his commitment to educating up-and-coming engineers through humor. We were just two college students with an assignment from our professor — we never would’ve thought people would love this story as much as we do!”

Sam notes, “The Donut Hole-der started as a bit and has continued to evolve as a really fun way to show the work that happens behind the scenes to design, develop, and market hardware. When Katelyn and Eleanor reached out about creating a documentary chronicling this project, I couldn’t say no! They were amazing to work with and it was truly surreal to attend the viewing party. They’re new grads looking for work, so please hire them!”

Without further ado, we present you “Dear Dunkin”:

And ICYMI, not only has Sam’s Dear Dunkin project become a source of endless amusement (and donut holes), but he’s been using it to teach a variety of prototyping and development topics through whimsey:

• Anatomy of a Munchkin: Sneaky lessons in product design
• Why Onshape is my ride-or-die CAD tool
• How to choose the right prototyping method
• The art of a looks-like prototype

Dear Dunkin Donuts: Have we gotten your attention yet?

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