Jamie Lentzer, Jamie’s Painting and Design
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Name: Jamie Risdon Lentzner
Hometown: San Mateo, CA
Current Residence (City, State): Foster City, CA
Education: BA in Computer Art
Professional Background (brief, please): I worked in the gaming industry and educational software. I designed games and did animation.
What you wanted to be when you grew up: Artist
What you are: Artist/Designer/Entrepreneur
Brief Summary of your Start Up: When my daughter was born I wanted to personalize her room with theme based letters, after finding none I decided to create my own. Our business has grown to include, plates, ornaments, name plaques and birth certificates. We create personalized ceramic children’s wall art. We are now sold all over the country via, websites, catalogs and physical stores.
Company Website? www.jamiespnd.com
What inspired you? To be in control of my own destiny, sounds hokey but it’s true – I love being able to what I love – creating artwork.
How long have you been in business? 4 ½ years
How did you fund it? We personally funded it ourselves with money from our equity line. Last year we started a line of pet products we took on a friend and family members to fund that small division
Do you have a Fairy Godmother (or Mentor)? I have a husband that supports me blindly and is my biggest cheer leader (he got the business degree)
Do you belong to any Business Organization or Networking Groups? No I do not
Current Business Challenge? What to do next, I have the business running itself and I need to figure out HOW to grow the business to the next level.
What are you doing about it? I am looking to license some of my designs and considering taking on a partner.
Favorite motivational quote: “Well behaved women rarely make history†Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Family? Husband Darin, Grant 7 and Abby 4 and Pixel our dog
If so, how do you balance family and business? Oh gosh that is the million dollar question! I am very organized and anal, and I have a lot of support. Baby sitter, gardener and cleaning lady and my parents help out. And I have learned to let little things go…sometimes. It is all about being very good at managing your time.
Favorite book? Dream Big, by Lisa Hammond (founder of Femail Creations)
What do you do to relax? Relax? What is that? No…I socialize with friends and family, sometimes I walk. I do love to garden.
What do you want to change most about your world? The way we are becoming a society of have’s and have not’s – the middle class is disappearing.
What are you most proud of? My charity – we donate plaques to all the children that enter the Oncology Dept at Lucille Packard, Stanford Children’s hospital
What advice would you like to offer other Start Up Princesses? Just do it! Attitude is ½ the battle, I never think I will fail. We as women are so inclined to say, “Ya, but†and “I will start my business as soon as….†Do not wait, do not make excuses, the time is now, your children and/or family will understand and love you that much more for doing what you love!
Favorite Magic Wand (tool/resource)? Go To My PC (www.gotomypc.com) – it lets us check our email and actually visit our desktop at work – so we can retrieve files from where ever we are.
If you could design a tiara, what precious stones would you use? Diamonds, I love diamonds!
Would you be interested in being a Fairy Godmother to another woman entrepreneur? (I am working on a secure system to do this, any ideas?) Absolutely, this is the very reason I started my blog, I always had people asking for help. I would LOVE to be a part of something that helped other women – when I started I got no help, and had to figure it out the hard way.
What business subjects would you feel comfortable mentoring in? Hmmm, tough one – we have an office coordinator, we do shipping, we manufacture, we design the products and we have sales reps. We sell to the retail industry. I am very organized and very good at processes and seeing the big picture – you can NOT do it all, and I find us as women try to.
Would you be interested in going to lunch with other women entrepreneurs for a “networking tea party� Yes
If you are out of Utah County, would you be willing to be a facilitator of such an event? Possibly, would depend on time of year.
