No Guts, No Glory

Hers was a simple idea. Babies loved it. Adults weren't so sure.

Tenacity, Toys and a Talent for Teaching

How did a high school English and art teacher, with no business experience, create a multimillion-dollar company? There was never a master plan, insists Julie Aigner-Clark, 39, whose phenomenally popular Baby Einstein line of videos and books for infants and toddlers is known to millions of parents around the world. She credits her success to common sense -- and tenacity.

When her daughter Aspen was born in 1994, Clark says she knew she wanted to stay home with her. "She became my world. I wanted to play with her and read to her and do the things I knew intuitively were good for my child. At the same time, I realized I missed what I had focused on so much -- literature and art -- and I thought, It would be so great if my child loved this as much as I do."

But Clark found educational products geared only for older children. Aspen loved looking at things, and Clark loved classical music. Common sense connected the dots.

Friends didn't have high expectations for her idea. Retailers thought it would be a passing fad. But it made sense to Clark. "I knew that if my baby liked this, other babies would as well."

She launched The Baby Einstein Company in 1997, and shot the first video in the basement of her Atlanta home, using Aspen's most prized stuffed animals and toys as props. Manning the borrowed camera was Clark's husband, Bill.

The Clarks financed the project with $15,000 from their savings. "It may not sound like a lot of money, but I wasn't working. I remember my parents shaking their heads and saying, 'Oh, my God, Julie, what are you doing? This is so expensive.'" Part of Clark's drive to succeed came from her determination not to lose the family's savings. The personal gamble was also huge. "I was a teacher, not an entrepreneur."

Realizing she needed a distributor, Clark set her sights on The Right Start, a company that sold slightly upscale products for babies. It had about 40 stores nationwide, a huge mail-order business and customers like herself -- educated moms who wanted to invest in their children's future.

Clark hopped on a plane, headed to the Toy Fair, an annual trade show in New York City. She couldn't afford a display booth and The Right Start hadn't rented one, so she started scanning the crowd of some 20,000 attendees. The next day, Clark saw a group with The Right Start name tags. "I was so excited that I charged up to these women and said, 'Please, you have to have this product in your store.' I probably terrified them, but I got a woman named Wendy to take my video."

"This Is More Than a Business"

After weeks without a response, Clark called The Right Start's headquarters. "I was trying to sound like a big executive," says Clark, "even though I was on the floor changing a diaper." The receptionist dropped a bomb: Wendy had left the company.

Undeterred, Clark asked to speak to Wendy's replacement. She got voice mail, but kept spinning her story. "I said, 'Wendy loved the Baby Einstein video. I wondered if you had a chance to see it yet.'" Then she hung up and hoped for the best.

A few days later, Clark's phone rang. It was The Right Start calling to order 100 copies of the video to test in their stores. Three days later, they called again. The initial order had sold out. They wanted more.

"I took some risks," Clark admits, "and, yes, I told a little white lie. But that was how I got my 'in.' From that point on, it was word of mouth -- moms telling moms telling moms."

That tenacity, and being passionate about her product, launched the company and Clark's new career. But even Clark was surprised that she "got addicted to the creativity." The Baby Einstein video was followed by Baby Mozart, Baby Shakespeare, Baby Van Gogh, and more. The company grossed $100,000 in sales its first year, then skyrocketed to $1 million the second, $5 million the third and over $20 million its fifth year. Clark was the CEO; her husband, the chief financial officer. "It was more money than we ever thought we'd make in our lives," says Clark. "We were thrilled."

But also overwhelmed. "Baby Einstein started out as a fun way to have a professional life outside of my mommy life," explains Clark, who by then had a second child. "Bill and I looked at each other and said, 'The people who were supposed to benefit the most -- our children -- are benefiting the least.'"

The Clarks sold Baby Einstein to Disney in 2001. It was a choice that was initially wrenching, says Clark, but in the end "was totally worth it." They are able to spend more time with their kids, taking trips to the Galápagos Islands, to the Sea of Cortez, to Africa.

In addition, Clark has the money to finance a new venture: The Safe Side, a collaboration with John Walsh, host of America's Most Wanted, that presents safety information for parents and children.

"I wanted to make sure my children understood the right choices to make if confronted with situations that could be dangerous," says Clark. "But there was nothing on the market that would teach them how to stay safe."

The Safe Side line of products includes DVDs, safety packs and an ear-piercing whistle. Clark contributes ten percent of proceeds to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. "Keeping kids safe -- this is more than a business," she says. "This has become a cause."

That's the secret she shared during a speech at the Harvard Business School. "I was surrounded by these people who wanted to start businesses and make jillions of dollars. But I didn't start my company for that reason. I started it because I believed in what I was doing and believed I could make a difference. Sometimes when you start a company for the right reasons, it comes to fruition even more so than if you just wanted to make a million dollars. And that's a great place to be."

And FYI...

• Author Judith Wright says in The One Decision: Make a single choice -- and discover the life you were meant to have.



• In need of your own personal life coach? Read Cynthia Kersey's Unstoppable Women: Achieve Any Breakthrough Goal in 30 Days.



• Do you have what it takes to start your own business? Check out the Small Business Startup Guide at sba.gov. A wealth of free info, including financing and managing.