Start Up Princess Glass Slipper Award 2006

Our very first Start Up Princess Glass Slipper Award was given recently to two amazing women entrepreneurs, Marielen Christensen and her daughter, Liz Rosenbaum. Marielen Christensen was instrumental for creating the scrapbooking movement 25 years ago and Liz created one of their first idea books at just 16 years old. Now Liz and her husband, Matt run this family business, Keeping Memories Alive/www.scrapbooks.com

I got to know Liz this summer at our sons’ swim lessons. I musterd up the courage to introduce myself to Liz and ask her about how she’s managed to balance being a mom and a business owner of a very large and thriving business. We started chatting about everything–late night emailing, trading babysitting, being healthy (I introduced Liz to spinach smoothies), and we became fast friends. I enjoyed brainstorming with her about marketing and told her she needed to start a blog…and then ironically I took my own advice and started this site. Liz is one of the reasons Start Up Princess came to be, we both wanted to network with other mom/women entrepreneurs and the web seemed the ideal place to do it. I will never forget that Liz was so supportive of me and was the very first to ever comment!

Here Liz talks about Keeping Memories Alive’s 25th Anniverary:

“It is hard to believe that I was only 3 years old when my parents started this company 25 years ago. Keeping Memories Alive has been a blessing to the lives of those in my family, as well as many more lives throughout the world.

In our personal lives, KMA has taught us how to work hard, how to endure difficult situations, how to relate to people all over the world, and that although we are all different, we are very much the same. It has also taught us that there is more to life than money and careers…that our family comes first…because without our loved ones there would be no purpose in our business.

Over the past 25 years, we have received countless numbers of letters, phone calls, and emails thanking my sweet mother, Marielen Christensen for creating this concept — this therapeutic and creative outlet for preserving memories in a safe, beautiful and organized way.

In fact, just a few months ago, as we all gathered at my parents home for a delicious Sunday dinner, an unexpected knock came at the door. There on the doorsteps of my parents home, was a dedicated, loyal customer and “fan” of my mothers. She had come from clear across the United States and was visiting her daughter here in Utah. She had brought with her, an original copy of the book that my mom published clear back in 1980. This sweet lady explained to my mom how she has been devastated about losing six pages out of her “How To” book and since it is no longer published, she didn’t know where else to go, but to my parents home…hoping to obtain those lost pages. Luckily, my parents had some extra copies of the book and were able to replace the pages that this gracious lady was searching for(Yes, that little teeny girl at the bottom of the picture is me. Nice hair and outfits we all had back then huh? Let’s just all pray that it doesn’t come back in style. ha ha!)

This hobby…this lifestyle of scrapbooking touches so many lives. Not just the lives of those who scrapbook, but the lives of those who get to see, read and enjoy them. It truly brings us all closer together.

I am proud to be a part of this industry and especially this business. As a young girl, I never thought that I wanted to grow up and be a business owner…This all happened due to wonderful opportunities and situations which faced me just at the right times. Although I’ll be the first to admit that owning a business isn’t as glamorous and easy as many people may think, I wouldn’t trade my years at KMA for any other career. It has been such a blessing to my life and the life of my family in so many random ways.

So…here’s to my mother and to Keeping Memories Alive for 25 wonderful and successful years! It’s a huge honor to know that it all started right here in my own little family…by my unassuming mother who had no idea that her little idea would turn into such an astounding lifestyle for people all around the world.”

*It was a delight to meet Marielen at our networking tea party and hear her story of how it all started with just trying to preserve her family history for the next generation…eventually they taught others about their research and went to a trade show…now it’s a huge company! It was great to surprise both of them with a visit from Liz’s prince charming, Matt who brought them flowers and Liz is the lucky winner of her new “glass slippers”, she promised me that Marielen could borrow them sometimes…

Today’s Magic Wand: When we had our meeting, Marielen offered a “magic wand” to us all, she said that we should all just enjoy the early stages of where our businesses are at because in a lot of ways that was the best and her most favorite time.

Thank you to Liz and Marielen for their inspiration and for Keeping Memories Alive in the world!