Mom Turns Love of Fitness Into a Million Dollar Franchise
December 18, 2008 | 1 Comment
After her son was born, Lisa Druxman wanted to stay home with her kids, but she still needed a full time income.
One day while walking with her baby in his stroller, she had an “ah-ha!” moment when she realized she could start a business teaching classes that helped other moms get back into shape.
That day, in August 2001 she came up with the name of her company…Stroller Strides.
Lisa Druxman wasn’t aware that her business idea would fill a need across the country. Mothers who needed to get back into shape after having their babies were also looking for support from other mothers. Lisa’s classes would fulfill that need.
Lisa initially started offering classes to a few moms around her San Diego neighborhood. One day the local news called her because they needed someone for a new story the next morning. In the news interview she was able to pitch her small Stroller Strides business. Because she was just starting out, she had to put her personal email and phone number on the screen of the T.V. When she got home she had 75 emails.
She realized this was a great opportunity.
She started getting requests for classes all over San Diego, so she kept adding more. By the end of the first year, she had over 12 classes and 1000 moms participating in San Diego. Read more
Mom Makes Millions Creating Eco-friendly Diapers
December 1, 2008 | 1 Comment
Margarita McClure was a stay-at-home mom when she came up with the idea of making eco-friendly diapers.
She couldn’t stand the thought of generating all the diaper waste over her new son’s baby and toddler years, plus she knew that disposable diapers contain toxins like sodium polyacrylate (the same substance that was removed from tampons in 1985). She wanted a cleaner, safer option for her precious baby.
So, in 2005 she set to work creating organic, non-toxic diapers.
To start selling her diapers, she decided to put them on eBay. After she got her first orders, she realized this could have a business potential. So her next step was to create a website and find a fabric supplier, thus her Swaddlebees company was born.
Emerging as an earth friendly business at a time when “going green” was catching popularity, Margarita was able to build her Swaddlebees business aggressively. When she first started out she didn’t advertise, the customers just seemed to find her because they were on the lookout for the next new brand. Read more
