Mother Julie Dix noticed her infant was very interested in the satin tags on her favorite blanket and other toys. Julie decided to sew more tags on her baby’s blanket and her baby loved it. She realized she had a business idea when other mothers in her child’s playgroup wanted blankets with tags and one mother, Danielle Ayotte, asked to partner with her in a business venture.

They created the blankets with tags, took them to a local flea market, and sold out in two hours! They knew then that they had a fabulous business idea. They decided to call their business Taggies, Inc. Working out of their garages and basements, they started to distribute their blankets to boutiques and eventually got into mass production.

Now, 11 years later from their start in 1999, they run a multimillion dollar business that offers blankets as well as toys and clothes. They sell their products online, and in upscale catalogs like RedEnvelope and at children’s stores across the US and in other countries.

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Karate Hobby Makes Mom a Millionaire

July 17, 2009 | Comments Off

Dawn Barnes of Karate Kids

Dawn Barnes, a former ballerina and stunt women, never knew she would find a passion which would fuel her creation of a multi-million dollar company when she took her kids to a karate class one day in 1984. Intrigued by the physical and spiritual aspects of martial arts, she ended up signing up for classes and in four years received her first-degree black belt. She decided to become an instructor which provided her the skills and experience to open her own karate studio.

In 1995 she opened her first Dawn Barnes Karate Kids studio in Santa Monica, CA. Her Karate Kids mission was “To inspire self esteem in every child!” What made her Karate school different was a “love-based” approach to teaching rather that a “fear-based” approach. The decor of her studio was also unique. She decorated it in soft earth-tone colors and leather furniture. Most karate studios were outfitted with fluorescent lighting and folding chairs.

From the time she opened her doors, it only took her 6 months to turn a profit and she was able to hire an additional instructor and a desk attendant to help her with the business. In order to open a second location Dawn found a partner (her future husband) who was good with numbers so she could focus on the creative aspects of the business. Today they have 7 locations open in southern California and they also choose to license their company.

In 2006, their revenue reached $3 million and business is still growing.

Dawn has also ventured out from teaching karate to writing a series of childrens books called “Black Belt Club” which she published in 2005 and has since sold over 200,000 copies. Dawn has also written instructors manuals and produced DVDs for karate teachers.

One day in 1999, Brenda Dronkers walked into a church function that was being held in a huge warehouse in her hometown in northern California. As she walked in she noticed two huge inflatable bounce houses. Her 4 year old was so excited about them that he immediately ran to get in line. Because there were so many kids waiting to get on, she and her son ended up standing in line for an hour.

During that time, she looked around and realized what a great business idea it would be to have inflatables in a big warehouse where parents could bring their kids, for birthday parties or just to play.

As her idea developed, she realized this would be a place that kids of all ages could enjoy at the same time.  There was nothing that her 4 year old and 11 year old would ever agree on, but both of them loved the inflatables business idea! Having the inflatables inside a warehouse also solved the weather and safety issues that come up when parents rent inflatables for their backyard birthday parties. Read more

Kim Lavine’s story is a testament to the fact that you can turn the simplest idea into a million dollars.

Kim had her first million dollar idea on a snowy day in 2000 when she was at home with her husband watching him feed the deer in their backyard.  She looked at a big bag of corn and at that moment an idea popped into her head.  She had heard of rice in socks as a soothing heat bag to relieve aches and pains and de-stress tight muscles and her thought was that corn would be much better because it could hold more heat.

She immediately went to work creating a prototype, she sewed up a bag full of corn and popped it in the microwave.  Amazed at the soothing penetrating heat she felt, she knew she had a great idea.  Kim started by giving these bags as gifts to her children’s teachers.  As word spread, more and more people asked her for her corn bags, which she named Wuvits.  It seemed everyone in town wanted a Wuvit.  Kim had to keep her car stocked with them, because people in the bank or at school events would ask for them.  Eventually she realized she had to expand her little business. Read more

Exclusive interview with Lisa Druxman, owner of Stroller Strides.

1. What is your business? I am the founder and CEO of Stroller Strides, the country’s largest fitness program for moms. We offer both pre and postnatal fitness classes.

2. When did you start your business? Aug 2001

3. How much money did you invest initially into your business? Probably no more than a few thousand dollars at first. Since then, hundreds of thousands. Read more

Lisa DruxmanAfter 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

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

It took Lisa Lloyd only 13 months to get a licensing deal for her new invention idea.

Lisa, a 23 year old single mom, was making only $13,000 a year selling ad space when she had a great idea.  She always had to keep her hair looking nice because of her high profile job and other women would compliment her on her up-do’s.

She decided to act on her idea for the hair-styling tool “The French Twister” which helps women wear their hair up in the french twist hair style.

She began with absolutely no money.  She started by using things she found around her house and ended up making a prototype out of a wire clothes hanger.  From there she started calling manufacturers to get a plastic prototype made.  It was not an easy job and it took a lot of testing to get her product just right.  She found a local plastics molding shop by going to her library.

When it came time to manufacture her product she sold her used car for $500 and she used the money from her tax return to pay for it.  With 500 units made, she went out on foot to salons to introduce her new invention idea.  Clients loved them! Read more

Liz Lange, mother of two and internationally recognized maternity clothes designer had her “aha” moment while she was working for fashion designer Stephen DiGeronimo watching her pregnant friends try to squeeze into designer non-maternity clothes.

She saw a void in the marketplace for chic looking maternity clothes and thought she could design better fashions than the styles currently on the market.

In 1997, Liz Lange started her company Liz Lange Maternity by borrowing $50,000 from her family and friends.  She began designing her clothing line in a rented office in New York first offering custom designed clothing that retailed at around $150 - $400 for each piece.

The word about her fabulous maternity line spread and soon she had orders coming in from other countries. She opened high end boutiques on Madison Avenue, in Beverly Hills and on Long Island. Celebrities also started to take notice and Liz Lange Maternity became the pregnant mother’s must-have clothing line. Read more

Anita Roddick, a woman passionate about ethical and environmental causes, started The Body Shop in 1976 to make a living for herself and her daughters while her husband was traveling.  Her inspiration for her skin care line came from her many travels…”My early travels had given me a wealth of experience. I had spent time in farming and fishing communities with pre-industrial peoples, and been exposed to body rituals of women from all over the world.” she wrote.

Her business philosphy was all about protecting the environment and fighting for ethical causes….”why throw away a container when you can refill it?” Read more

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