Featured Interview: Meet Jennic Law, Co-Founder KanagrooBoo
October 31, 2007
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We love it when women launch their new businesses and introduce themselves as a “Startup Princess”, requesting to be considered for a featured on our site and participate as a member of our “Kingdom.” We also love it when they introduce themselves and tell us they are planning a business too!!
Today we’re featuring Startup Princess Jennic Law and her newly launched toy shopping site, KangarooBoo. “Tiaras off” to Jennic and her talented husband, Justin who self-funded their 2 week-old company 100% and designed their creative store from scratch (used Ruby on Rails) just in time for the holiday season.
Amazing facts about Jennic: She came to America at age 12 and learned English, she’s a mother of two little ones, a Hodgkins cancer survivor (diagnosed at 24), former engineer turned internet business owner and now she’s also a philanthropist– giving a percent of ALL sales ALL the time to charities, including ones that help cancer patients.
Here’s some great things about her site, (1) very unique product offering, (there’s a lot of toy sites already to compete with on the web, but with a strong name and carefully selected high-quality brands and products-check out the wonderful mobiles! I’m convinced she’ll do fine if her SEO and internet marketing effort is aggressive) (2) clean design, easy navigation, fresh and appealing color palette (3) It’s a business that will involve her family…her husband is already committed and her kids, well–they’re likely loving the opportunities to be “testers”, I hope they can help her select the product offering as they get older (now they can point to the toys they like in catalogs, I’m sure!) and attend the NYC Toy Fair with her someday.
Quick Magic Wand Tips: I’d put a family photo on their About Us page. Moms like knowing they are buying from moms! You might even put one on your homepage? And here’s a million dollar new tagline, “From Our Pouch to Yours…” clever, huh? 
Also I suggest “we support the following charities” with their logos on the homepage somewhere, at the bottom? I’d also like to see a Kangaroo illustration…it’s such a cute name, ‘jump’ with it!
Enjoy meeting Startup Princess, Jennic Law!
Hometown: Davenport, Iowa
Current Residence (City, State): West Des Moines, Iowa
Education: Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering
Professional Background (brief, please): I worked as a Process Engineer in a semiconductor company immediately after college graduation. I was there for almost 5 years when a mass layoff occurred. I took the opportunity and stayed home with our then 1.5 years old son as I was a few months pregnant with our daughter already.
What you wanted to be when you grew up: I wanted to be a mom with a big family, just like my mother and my grandmother’s families. I aspired to be an architect professionally because I love beautiful and practical things.
What you are: A mom to two kids (and possibly more in the future!). An entrepreneur. A cancer survivor and advocate.
Brief Summary of your start up:
We are an online store that offers unique, quality wooden toys, handmade and handcrafted toys and smart children’s products. We enhance the shopping experience by giving the customers tools to connect and communicate with other parents. KangarooBoo also donates a percentage of all sales to children related charities (the customers make the final decision on which charity the money goes to, choosing from a pre-approved list). Read more
Guy Kawasaki Speaking in SLC November 1
October 30, 2007
If you’re in town, come join us to hear the entrepreneur legend, Guy Kawasaki, one of my all-time favorites in this industry. Only $10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here’s the details.
Halloween Success: Kate Maloney, CEO/Co-Founder of Costume Craze
October 30, 2007
There’s no one more appropriate to feature today at Startup Princess than Kate Maloney, CEO/Co-Founder of Costum
e Craze. Kate’s also a Fairy Godmother for us. Kate’s company is in full-force today, but tomorrow it’ll start to die down and staff will return to 15 instead of 130.This 26 yr old recently honored with one of the prestigious INC 500 awards for fastest companies in USA and was the youngest female CEO there. Here’s a presentation of Kate Maloney from September at BYU and a recent article featuring Costume Craze from the Deseret News, note that they are now building a 57,000 sq ft warehouse and just purchased 4 acres to expand their company. Sales will be $7M this year! Congrats!
Today’s Magic Wand: Dress up and go trick or treating (or at least be dressed up when the kids come to your door)! Have a great night! .
What Systems are Working Well for You?
October 29, 2007
Instead of getting depressed today about how far I have to go to get organized and establish much needed systems to run my life, family, and business better, I decided to look at what systems ARE working and then see how I can tweak them up for other areas.
Here’s one very simple system that my friends and I created this Fall for developing a neighborhood preschool program:
1. Invited 8 moms to participate, each mom took 1 month to “be in charge”
2. Held an informal meeting with moms to decide the curriculum what we were going to teach in our 1x a week class
3. Made a calendar and planned fieldtrips for the year
4. Created a rotating preschool box of materials and supplies
5. It cost $8 ($8 for preschool for the year?? Well, the supplies…fieldtrips will be more and if you want to do anything specific when it’s your turn, you pay for it.)
6. It took 2 hours to set it up, 1 hour for 1 Mom to shop for the supplies and about 30 min to make the calendar
So, what does preschool have to do with business? Everything. If I can figure out how to get a group of 8 moms to run a preschool to help and support each other in a very simple, fun, educational and low cost way, then I can figure out how to succeed in business. Realizing that this preschool “system” is working gives me confidence…
We’re still experimenting with systems here on the blog, but there’s going to be more consistency real soon…it’ll make it easier for us and also help our audience know what to expect. Fairy Godmother posts will be Wednesdays and Featured Interviews on Thursday and News of the Kingdom on Fridays…that’s where YOU get a chance to share your great news, a brag board…your time to tell us what’s great or what you need next to move things forward. Email us with your news for Friday’s post today. We’ll feature about 5 Startup Princesses’ news and more can openly comment. It’ll be a great way to keep in touch better in support and friendship.
Today’s Magic Wand: Analyze a system that is working with you, it doesn’t have to be anything complex, it can be “dinner is always at 6pm,” what makes it work to have dinner everyday at that time? that’s a start. Now, what can you do to create a system in your startup, just one that will make things more simple?
Please share what systems are working, maybe we can borrow one of your systems! 
Challenge: The 10 Hour Work Week
October 27, 2007
Last week was a difficult. There was no more ‘faking it’, I was dead-tired, the inevitable sickness hit, and complete burn-out. For months I had been preparing and strategizing to take Startup Princess to the next level and while trying to keep everything balanced, a few things suffered, primarily: sleep, well-prepared meals, exercise, and organization (it’s been clean thanks to a trade with a cleaning service, just not organized) there’s only so long you can go on little sleep before you need to take care of yourself! Time to take my own medicine…I preached the value of balance at our recent conference, it’s time to start re-applying it myself!!
I considered (1) How do I grow Startup Princess on a very part-time schedule/limited time commitment and (2) How do I keep my family and I happy and healthy while doing it? I’ve decided to modify Tim Ferriss’ 4 Hour Work Week and give myself 10 Hours a week to grow Startup Princess into a thriving, profitable company and make every moment I’m working on it valuable–resourceful, strategic, and smart! It might sound ridiculously short, but I’m absolutely convinced that with the systems in place and the team that we’re building here that it will be possible for me and others to build this company with not a lot of time. Yes, some weeks we’ll gladly put in more hours if the job requires it, but if we’re planning ahead and delegating right and finding ways to outsource and get help, I’m hopeful and believe it will be effective and run well and we’ll all be happier and healthier in the process.
Here’s a few things I have already done to save time:
- I gave my laptop to my husband and am now using a desktop because it will force me to work at my designated location in my office and not all over the house (I’ve actually watched my kids play in the bath while sitting on the toilet seat checking emails…you know that I was addicted!)
- I am writing down the tasks and how many minutes I’m working so I’m aware of my time and asking myself if the activity is valuable enough, will it lead to profitability??
- I’m going to force myself to only check emails once a day
- I’m going to work closely with the Startup Princess team to plan the next several months and create our business plan so we can break down our goals strategically
- I’m looking for more Fairy Godmothers/writers for our blog–interested??
- I’m considering starting podcasts more seriously because I can talk/interview faster than I can write and then send off to someone else to edit.
- I want to encourage more of our 1100 RSS subscribers to be involved and build more of a community…what do you want to do to contribute to Build the Kingdom of women entrepreneurs? Edit podcasts? Find new members? Help us expand to new markets? Email us!
- I took several naps, spent a lot of time with family, friends, cleaned my kitchen, playroom, did loads and loads of laundry, worked in my new yard, went on a girls’ retreat with Babies and Moms Radio, and drank lots of green smoothies…and didn’t check emails for 2 days, now I’m feeling MUCH better!
Today’s Magic Wand: I’m convinced that we DO create our lives exactly how we want them to be, if we believe that we must work long and hard to achieve results then that will be our reality, I’m not going to buy into that belief anymore…are you? Get great results and limit your efforts where possible!
WHAT IDEAS DO YOU HAVE on how to limit our time and continue to build Startup Princess?? What is important to YOU? Great content? Community? Events? Tell us so we can BEST use our time to serve YOU.
Featured Interview: Meet Startup Princess Shelly Kennedy of Drooz Studio
October 24, 2007
Ever since I began my entrepreneur journey I’ve wanted to meet Shelly Kennedy in person. I have admired her as both an artist and as a true entrepreneur for how she has grown her company with immense vision. She has taken her ideas and translated them into many types of products and now is having her work manufactured on many levels. Her work has been featured in every major media channel and celebrated many times over!
I’d love to be a butterfly on her studio wall (she’d never allow an average housefly) and just watch the process. Wouldn’t you?? When I was going to launch Princess Sweet (see the video pitch there if you’ve missed previous posts about it) she was at the top of my list for vendors. I wanted her designs to surround my stores as a statement of ‘the royalty within’ and fill the families who visited us with a sense of creativity and joy for her work. I’ve always thought that Shelly should have named her company “Drool” instead of “Drooz” because that is what I do every time I see her work!! How do people EVER choose which wallhanging to purchase? After narrowing down my wishlist, someday I’m going to order this one for my kitchen and this one for my playroom but I might change my mind tomorrow. Which one would you choose? Perhaps I should have half a dozen and just rotate them. But mostly I just really want one of these Tiny Tiaras for each one of you, Startup Princesses!
It is my absolute pleasure to welcome Shelly Kennedy as a Startup Princess.
I am thrilled and honored to know her and bring this interview to you. Her profile page will probably be read thousands of times, as I’m sure you all want to get into her brilliant head as well.Enjoy reading Shelly’s profile:
Hometown: Skaneateles, NY
Current Residence (City, State): I currently live in my hometown of Skaneateles NY, a small town at the end of Skaneateles Lake – one of CNY’s beautiful Finger Lakes. I am lucky to live near my parents – all of my family actually! After college I lived in Chicago for 10 years (my Husband’s hometown) – as the kids were reaching school age we thought it might be nice to live “the small town life.”
Education: I attended R.I.T in Rochester New York, (Rochester Institute of Technology) I began working on a Fine Arts degree in Illustration. I changed majors in my 2nd year to marketing – I guess realizing that I would someday want to have my own business. I graduated with a Bachelors degree in 1993. I think it was a good move – it is very important for creative people to have a good grasp of business as well.
Professional Background (brief, please): Oh… I’ve done lots of stuff!I have to say that I have been very lucky to always combine my love for art and business in each job that I’ve had. Right out of college I worked in Chicago at the Merchandise Mart for a few years as an independent sales rep. It was great experience – and I learned many things that have helped me be at the other end of the biz as a wholesaler today. I then worked as a Director of Merchandise for a small chain of gift stores in Chicago for a brief time. Then I went back to working sales at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago– this time working in the contract interior design section. I worked with fabric, furniture, wallpaper, and office planning – consulting with designers and architects that were planning new spaces. I left that job in 1998 – just before my daughter was born… drooz was started later that year.
What you wanted to be when you grew up: an artist!
What you are: an artist!
Brief Summary of your Startup: It was the answer to a decorating dilemma! The perfect alternative to a traditional wall mural. In 1998 when my husband and I were waiting the arrival or our first baby we were inspired to create a magical mural for the nursery. However, living in Chicago’s hip Wicker Park, we found ourselves unable to paint the nursery walls our rented flat. Instead, we chose a large canvas, painted a whimsical design and hung in our daughter’s room – this was the first of many inspired ideas!
Company Website? www.drooz.com & www.tinytiara.com
What inspired you? It sounds cliché – but I was filling a need. I thought “hummmm – I can’t be the only mom who might like this idea “… I looked and looked… but could find nothing like our large scale original art or “movable murals” for sale – the “internet boutique†was just about to happen – and there were maybe 4 or 5 online baby boutiques (ahh .. those were the days!) so I decided to start selling them locally in the city of Chicago at a wonderful baby store. I could not make then fast enough! The retailers loved the quality and the custom capabilities.
How long have you been in business? 10 years
How did you fund it? We made it happen with slow growth along with creative friends and family! Self-funded with baby steps.. The big expenses out of the gate were a website, photography, & sales materials.I am blessed with a “designer†husband. When we very first started my husband designed our website…he still today helps with the website, and does all the catalog and promo layouts.The first catalog we shot at our house in our kid’s room. We have a close friend that is a photographer, he came over after work– we put the kids to sleep – and then we moved them to the couch so we could “use†their rooms! – it took hours to prep, light, and “merchandise†the shots! But we did it!
Do you have a Fairy Godmother (or Mentor)? No..
Do you belong to any Business Organization or Networking Groups? No! I’d like to…but seems to be at the bottom of my “if I have extra time†list.
Current Business Challenge? Copyright Violations of our designs and products. Unfortunately, the more popular and successful we become…the harder it is to control this. The whole copyright violation thing is tricky (what percent is same?..what percent is different?…) but come ON! We all have eyes! It is just as easy as what is wrong verse right. It is a matter of trying to replicate the look, feel, and soul of a design. That is not done by accident or ignorance.
What are you doing about it? Trying to stay positive, creative and NOT take it personally (although I DO!) Continuing to work hard on new designs and try to stay ahead of the game… and “competitionâ€.Getting the word out… discussing with other artists.
Favorite motivational quote:“Fortune favors the braveâ€
Family? Yes, married with 2 elementary-aged children.
If so, how do you balance family and business?Still working on this one!I have great support from my mom and dad – they help with the kids a lot. My husband is very forgiving if there are no dinner plans, or clean socks. Really the kids are most important – and with this career I am able to have the flexibility to be there when they need me – school events, sick days, soccer practice, music lessons, doctor’s appointments etc… Sometimes it means that I work late from home answering emails that I didn’t get to all day – Sometimes it means going to work when the rest of the family is catching a movie – it is all a trade off.
Favorite book?whatever I’m reading at the moment… currently …“eat,pray,love†by Elizabeth Gilbert, And“the girl’s guide to being a boss (without being a bitch)†by Caitlin Friedman & Kimberly Yorio
What do you do to relax? Relax? What’s that? ☺Have a glass of wine and chat on the couch with my husband… once the kids are asleep, of course!
What do you want to change most about your world?MY world …. Or THE world!For my world…(as in the kids industry) I wish there was more honesty and camaraderie. Sometimes it seems so personally competitive and just down right sneaky! I’ve been burned a few times – so I guess I’m pretty sensitive to this subject! I do have a handful of “industry friends†that I know I can count on for advice, ideas, support, etc… that is nice!
What are you most proud of? My kids.. I know it is cliché – but it is so true!When ever someone tells me “you have really great kidsâ€â€¦It is like 100x better that any compliment I could receive about myself!
What advice would you like to offer other Startup Princesses? 2 things.1.Honesty is the best policy.2.Listen to your “gut’ feelings.Gut emotion is good… and usually where you’ll end back up even after much deliberation!
Favorite Magic Wand (tool/resource)?Email! Keeps me connected to family and friends and allows me to keep up with work communications with at any hour (usually ALL hours!)
If you could design a tiara, what precious stones would you use? Well… I’m lucky enough to say .. I HAVE designed a tiara! Mine is made of blown glass… but If I were to design one of precious stones.. I would like to see one completely embedded with all stones – just random… like it was dipped in glue and rolled around…diamonds to pond pebbles.
Famous Blogger Wendy Piersall Spotted Shopping at Lolabella’s in SLC
October 24, 2007
Utah paparazzi recently covered Lindsay Lohan shopping splurges (nice PR for Startup Princess Lori Harris’s Park City Mary Jane’s Shoes) but, NOW the attention is all about where Famous Blogger/Fairy Godmother Wendy Piersall shops whiles she’s in town as a keynote speaker for the Blogging 4 Business conf. Here she is purchasing a chic hot pink and orange Echo scarf at Lolabella’s, Gateway.
Hanging out with starlet Wendy and the lovely Liz after the conf was just exactly what I’ve been needing…FUN. We enjoyed a nice, dinner together at a scenic downtown restaurant and even tried fried pickles to be adventurous (YUM, seriously!), then went on a hunt to find some treasures for Wendy to take home to her kids…and of course be girly too. I think the shopping must be better in Chicago than SLC, so next time, I’ll meet them there!
As I’ve said before, one of the main purposes for going to conferences is to meet people and to expand your “Networking Kingdom” and this was certainly the case for the Blogging 4 Business conf. When I heard that Wendy, Liz, and Lindsey were going I couldn’t stay away…plus meeting all of the new and old friends there was great–Leslie, Jason, Matthew, Robert, Pat, Jordan, Rett, Jeremy, Hal, Tim, Shelly, Jana, Lee, Joseph and many more wonderful friends. Thanks to all for making it a wonderful, enriching day.
How to Sell Your Product in Target Stores
October 23, 2007
I love Target, don’t you? Wouldn’t it be amazing to sell to them? If you have the resources to produce 9,000+ units, then you should consider it! Fairy Godmother, Margie Zable Fisher of Zable Fisher PR writes the following article about how to get your foot in the door with Target. She writes:
Can I share a secret with you?
It’s not all that hard to get Target interested in selling your products. Why would you want to sell to Target? Well, each of 
the 1,500 Target stores usually orders at least a half dozen products from each vendor — that’s at least 9,000 sales right out of the gate! Sounds like a pretty good reason, right? Plus, Target is the place to sell any high design products “Tar-jay”, as it is sometimes called, has a certain cache.
So how can you get a Target buyer interested in your product? Here are some ways that a Target buyer I spoke with finds new products:
1. Attending trade shows. Do you skip exhibiting at trade shows because you think they’re a waste of time and money? Think again. Many Target buyers find new products at trade shows. It’s a great way for the buyers to see many products at one time.
2. Publicity. For product companies, publicity provides a double-win: not only do you attract consumers willing to buy your product, but you also attract the attention of retailers who might want to sell your product. My Target buyer source tells me that reading about a great new product in a magazine or newspaper, seeing it on a TV show, or reading a favorable review about a new product online is a great way to get her attention.
3. Sales Reps. Large retailers like Target often work with professional sales companies that show them products that would work for them. All these sales companies do is sell to large retailers, so they have access to many buyers.
But there’s a LOT more to it…
What criteria does Target look for in a product?
What financials do you need to know before approaching Target?
Will you manufacture or license your product?
When can you expect to be paid by Target?
How long is the process?
WHERE do you start?
To learn MY step-by-step formula for getting your products on the shelves of Target and skyrocketing your sales, see my Special Report, “How to Get Your Product on the Shelves at Target, available here: http://zfpr.com/target.htm.
Margie Zable Fisher is president of Zable Fisher Public Relations, the leader in small business public relations. She publishes the ˜PRactical P.R.’ weekly ezine with thousands of subscribers. If you’re ready to jump-start your business through low-cost and free public relations and publicity techniques, get your FREE tips now at http://www.zfpr.com.
Now it’s your turn: I want to know if any of you have already tried to get a product into Target, what was your experience?? How did you get your product noticed? What recommendations do YOU have for other Startup Princesses who want to sell to Target?
Podfitness CEO/Co-Founder Teri Sundh Joins Startup Princess as a Fairy Godmother
October 22, 2007
Last week I had the pleasure of meeting Teri Sundh, CEO/Co-Founder of Podfitness at the first Women Tech Council event in Sandy, Utah. (I highly recommend all Utah women in tech to join –membership is free until the end of the year). I really enjoyed the event’s panel which included Teri and Carol Fineagan the CIO of Energy Solutions.
During the panel, Teri introduced herself by saying, “I’ve taken companies public and I’ve also failed miserably.” She says that the failures add to your success and that often when she interviews new employees she asks them about their life challenges and how they recovered from them–she says that it tells you a lot about their character. When asked what made her so successful, she answered that it was her unique ability to execute. She always believed she could be an executive and planned for it since she was young. The key is “hard work, a lot of consistency of moving forward.” She also emphasized the value of following like-minded progressive companies and watch what they are doing so you can learn from them and see the direction of technology and innovation.
She shared a desire to ‘give back’ and voiced a concern that we need to be more informative about the available resources for women in business, build solid support systems for them (particularly in Utah), share more and help each other succeed. As she said these things, I knew she’d be a great Fairy Godmother and would be drawn to our objectives. She was delighted when I asked her and we’re thrilled to have her speak at an upcoming event and be involved. Teri’s raising a Startup Princess, her 15 year old daughter has already started an innovative product…wonderful!! Great job, Teri. Welcome to the Kingdom of Women Entrepreneurs!
Teri’s profile page coming soon!
Carol Fineagan was very inspiring as well…I loved her plea to “take personal responsibility in all you do” and take advantage of every opportunity to progress and grow your talents. She emphasized that we should all “get used to change” and said, “even if you’re just walking through the grocery store, go a different way than you usually do”, see things in a new way. She also encouraged us to go into the schools (even if it’s just our own child’s class) and teach children what is possible, what they can do, who they can become. Thank you Carol!
Startup Princess Katie Mattheson, Founder of Blush will be Featured on Good Things Utah Oct 22
October 20, 2007
I just got Katie’s happy email, she’s being featured with her new product, “Blush” your topless undershirt on Good Things Utah (our local equivalent to The View) Monday, October 22. It’s an innovative product, particularly for maternity wear. Check out her segment if you’re not at the blogging conference!
Have you or your product been featured on TV recently??? Tell us about it here. We want to celebrate your accomplishment.
