Born to Sell (page 2 of 2)

Kmart Comes Calling

Eventually, a member of her team provided a personal loan of $50,000. The experience taught Ireland a valuable lesson: "I'm always encouraging women, 'Build your relationship with bankers.'"

With the seed money, Ireland found a manufacturing partner, conducted family-based focus groups and researched and personally tested the product with her friends and family. Her husband, an emergency room physician, wore the socks to see how well they would stand up during his long hours on duty. He and Ireland donned them during backpacking trips to evaluate the products' blister propensity. The verdict: "These are great socks."

Ireland loaded up her bag with samples and hit the road. To save money, she booked red-eye flights and slept on planes and in airports. "I banged on a lot of doors and had a lot of doors slammed in my face," says Ireland. "In a sense, modeling was a really good education for a business career because in the world of modeling, you are constantly facing rejection, and that continues in business."

The first year, the company made $80,000 in retail sales, primarily to sporting goods stores. "We were ecstatic," Ireland says, "but we were still in the red. It's expensive to start your own business, and you never have overnight success. It builds and it grows."

The big growth spurt started when Kmart came calling. After seeing the socks practically walk out of the store, Kmart offered Ireland her own clothing line. The brand soon expanded from apparel to accessories, then to home furnishings. It now also includes kitchen and garden products, lamps and lighting extras -- and jewelry, in partnership with Elizabeth Taylor's House of Taylor Jewelry.

Today, Kathy Ireland products are sold in 19 countries and the company numbers 37 employees, many of them from the same dedicated team that Ireland started with in her modeling days. "I never had a family business, but today we have a business family."

Ireland is no figurehead, though; not only is she the chief executive but, as chief designer, she also ensures that every product and every piece of advice offered on the firm's website exemplifies the company's mission of "finding solutions for families, especially busy moms."

But the desire to start her own company, coupled with the kind of loyalty she had in her longstanding team members, wasn't enough to jump-start the business. "The aha moment, the moment when I knew we had something, was when our mission statement crystallized," says Ireland. She had just become a mom, and once she saw her little guy, Eric, face to face, it all started to gel. Things she had taken for granted -- taking a shower, going to a store -- no longer fit so easily into her day. The vision of finding solutions for busy moms really hit home.

From then on, the business took flight. Says Ireland, "I always knew I wanted to be a mom. Being able to be a mom of service to other moms -- that's my passion."

And FYI...

• Make Money, Not Excuses is Jean Chatsky's sassy guide to boosting your bank account.
  
  
• Finding the Deep River Within: A Woman's Guide to Recovering Balance and Meaning in Everyday Life by Abby Seixas. A spiritual self-help guide to a joyful life.
  
  
• What Color Is Your Parachute? 2007: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers. The classic by Richard Nelson Bolles.

  From Reader's Digest - November 2006

   

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• The Importance of Ethics
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• Nantucket Nectar's Success Story
• One thing led to another. Soon he was in uncharted waters, having fun and making juice.
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• The Brain Behind Baby Einstein
• Hers was a simple idea. Babies loved it. Adults weren't so sure.
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• The Road to Universal Studios
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