Thursday, August 20, 2009

Big News


I love this kind of day….the tenacious kind where nobody’s gonna slow me down (oh no, I’ve got to keep on moving…). The kind where you wake up early – only pressing the snooze button once - and share some quality time and a great workout with Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas. Get home and down a protein shake, get your beautiful children and husband fed and dressed, compose a press release, send it out to as many publications as possible, change 2 poopy diapers, find a new showroom, and accomplish two long conference calls without any interruption. All of this done by 2:00 p.m.

I also love the kind of days where you have great news to share with the world (hence the press release). What’s the big news you may ask? Well, today we officially announced our exclusive distribution and supply agreement with BMB Distribution Limited in Canada. Not only is it a big day for the Prego Planner, but it’s a big day for me as a mompreneur. I’m thrilled about entering the Canadian market with BMB Distribution and I see their focus on the maternity and baby market being a great strategic fit for the Prego Planner. Canada, here we come!


Thursday, August 6, 2009

You have to think anyway, so why not think big?


Big things are happening in this GlaMOMorous World! And I do mean BIG things people! (Don’t even go there…I’m not prego!) Well, I’m not prego, but my company is!! By the end of 2009, we’re expecting a company name change, new collateral, new marketing plan, and the big news, a new product. Yay!!

Bringing a new product into this world is like pregnancy without the swollen ankles. Your brain becomes mush. You’re overwhelmed, concerned about finances, and you fret about how your “baby” will make it in this world (especially in this economy) as well as the perfect name. You can’t sleep at night, but your spouse can. You find yourself eating chocolate chip Teddy Grahams at midnight while you’re planning for the big arrival and you have a “to-do” list a mile long.

A top priority on my current “to-do” list is “find a custom design studio for new collateral.” As I have been interviewing companies, I have found that they each ask me to complete a basic “who, what and why” questionnaire. And that is what I am doing today. I’m answering in-depth questions that require a lot of thought…which requires silence…which requires everyone in bed…which means once nap time is over, it will be nighty night time before I can work again.

So the question I just finished was, “What are five key goals over the next year/five years?” Hrmmm…Think. Think. Think. And as I was thinking, I recalled words I once heard from Donald Trump, “You have to think anyway, so why not think big?” And boy did I find myself thinking big…a mommy chic pink jet, a beautiful yacht named “Mommy’s Time Out” and me sipping champagne with a sun-kissed body like Heidi Klum’s on the back, an incredible penthouse office on the San Diego Bay….and just as I was getting to the fabulous handbag, the buzzer went off on the dryer.

Okay, so back to Reality…and Reality said, “Hey Prego Planner Mompreneur! Your key goal is to pay your bills and send your children to college!” Which is right, but I have to separate my “MOMpreneur goals” from my “Company goals”. So, since I have to think, I’m going to think big. In one to five years, my Company will (in no particular order):

1. Be an established brand
2. Have a fashionably extensive line of maternity products (not telling – still a secret)
3. Be the “go-to” for maternity needs
4. Be available in major department stores
5. Have worldwide distribution channels
6. Fill an empty niche in the maternity industry
7. Set new maternity trends

Did you see that?! They asked for five and I gave them seven. Yes, I’m an over-achiever today! Now it’s time to print these babies out and hang them above my computer. Better yet, tattoo them on my forehead backwards so each time I look in the mirror, I am reminded to get my tail in gear.

“You better work (cover girl), work it girl (give a twirl), do your thing….sashay shante”