Kathryn's Story: Global Entertainment Services

I'm often asked what types of stories I'm interested in featuring on this blog. Many times, I have prompted inquirers to describe a unique client they've had, just as food for thought.

Well, here's a response I never thought I would come across; Kathryn Johnson has done business with one of the most unique and sought-after clients I could possibly imagine - the late, great, Michael Jackson. Small business owners and their clients are as diverse as they are talented!

"We own a small entertainment security protection company based in Southern California. It is an extremely niche market. Our company, Global Entertainment Services, handles tour and event security for various artists and bands. We've handled security since 1992, with New Kids on The Block as our first clients!

If you look at our website, you can see a list of our past and present clients. One of the most unique clients we've had in over twenty years in the entertainment security industry was Michael Jackson. Marcus Johnson, CEO, handled the personal security, tour security and home security for Michael. They became very close during the late 80's, and through the 90's. Marcus spent time with Michael and Lisa Marie traveling the world. The news of Michael's death last year was devastating to all of us, but Marcus had a chance to pay his respects at the family wake after the memorial ceremony at Staples."

To learn more about Global Entertainment Services, make sure to visit the website at www.globalentservices.com.

Health and happiness,
Abbey

Linda's Story: L'esperance Tile Works

Today's story recounts the emotional family roots of Linda Ellett's business, L'esperance Tile Works, in Rock City Falls, New York. Linda's grandmother inspired her to pursue her creative passions, and shortly after her passing, Linda started making beautiful work in the loving memory and namesake of her beloved grandmother. Thank you for sharing your story with us, Linda!

"My grandmother, Collopy, was always a great inspiration to me. In fact, she's the inspiration behind the name of my business, 'L'esperance'. Elizabeth Hope was born in the first year of the 20th century, on June 29, 1900. She met Harry Collopy in 1927, married him, had 2 sets of twins, and became a widow at age 33. That was in 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression. My grandmother looked adversity right in the eye and met it head on. She took in furrier work to support her family, and later opened her own dress shop - The Hope Shoppe - using her maiden name. She was always the life of the party, and her humor and kindness was endearing to everyone. She told us that we were the strength of the future, and helped us to believe in ourselves. My grandmother passed away in June of 1979, and I felt her spirit soaring above me for many days.

The week after she passed away, I left home for a summer apprenticeship at The Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, where I had my first tile making experience. After one day at the historic site, I was hooked, and decided that tile making would be my profession and obsession. Upon completion of the apprenticeship, I headed home and began searching for a studio. To say that my parents were enthusiastically supportive is an understatement. My dad, who owns his own real estate business, had a customer who was selling her house and pottery studio. The place was equipped with kilns, glazes, a wheel, and all the extras to start me off. Mom gave me her inheritance of $1000 from my Grandmother Collopy, and we decided that the tile works should be named in her honor. Since the Hope family had moved, generations back, down from Canada, where their name was 'L'esperance' (yes, that's the connection...'L'esperance' translates to 'Hope') it seemed to be a fitting name for my new tile adventure.

Thirty-one years ago in 1979, I paid tribute to my grandmother by naming my business L'esperance Tile Works. Sometimes it takes a whole village to be clever!"

Linda's handmade tiles can be viewed and purchased at the L'esperance Tile Etsy shop, and you can read her blog at linda-ellett.blogspot.com. If you're curious about what the tile-making process looks like, be sure to also check out this Flickr set, which features Linda creating a fossil-themed tile series.

Health and happiness,

Abbey

Lucille's Story: The Foxglove Foundation, Inc.

Today's story comes to us from Lucille Ferry in Jacksonville, Florida. She is CEO of The Foxglove Foundation, a non-profit that will construct transitional housing for displaced families in the US. Her passion for this project and personal interest in the issue of home displacement made me take a moment to appreciate not only what I have in life, but also the people who constantly strive to make things better for others. Thank you, Lucille!

"The Foxglove Foundation is a non-profit established to help displaced families. Each day in our area and across the country, more and more families become displaced. The reasons for displacement are as diverse as divorce, job loss, foreclosure, landlord fraud, mortgage fraud, code violations, long-term illness, death, fire, flood, and weather. Knowing what to do, where to go, and if your family qualifies for any existing programs is a challenge. With the transitional housing we are in the process of building, that won't be a problem. Foxglove will take in a family and assist them through that difficult process, then help to get their home repaired, rebuilt, or replaced.

The most inspiring experience I've had so far as CEO of The Foxglove Foundation was the very first time I had to give a speech about the company. I spoke to twelve well-respected men and women whom I wanted to become members of my Board of Directors. I was (and still am) looking for people who empathize and sympathize with a displaced family. They had lots of questions, and I had few answers at that time. They inspired me to work harder, look further, and seek out the help of professionals and networking groups that could help me to spread the word.

The most challenging thing about Foxglove is that there are people who try to steal ideas from me; they perceive me as vulnerable because I am disabled and not financially wealthy (yet). When people first meet me, they think that I couldn't possibly be the CEO of a foundation trying to put together a multi-million dollar complex of homes for displaced families.

On a more personal note, I am the daughter of a vet. I have lived in eight states and one foreign country. I went to seventeen different schools from first grade to graduation. I have experienced being displaced many times, and so has every member of my current board."

To learn more about The Foxglove Foundation, be sure to visit their website at foxglovefoundation.org.

Health and happiness,

Abbey

Diana and Julie's Story: Gemela Design (on the new and improved S.B.S!)

Ladies and gents, you may have noticed that Small Biz Stories has been a little quiet lately. That's because I've been in the midst of giving the blog a huge facelift! I hope you like the new and improved site. Today I will be working on a massive re-launch to get the word out about the new address. The Tumblr site will no longer be active, so please change your bookmarks to direct to www.smallbizstories.org so you don't miss a thing! You can easily subscribe via RSS using the link up top, and find Small Biz Stories on Facebook and Twitter using the links on the upper right. Also, each entry will now flaunt some nifty buttons at the bottom that allow you to effortlessly share to your heart's content. (I've officially entered the space age... I mean, 21st century!)

So, back to business. Small business, that is! I've got an incredible story to share with you today, from Diana at Gemela Design in Detroit, Michigan. She and her twin sister, Julie, have been through some tough times, but managed to bring beauty and inspiration to the world despite what most would see as a major obstacle. Thank you Diana, for contributing this moving, deeply personal about story with us:

"In December 2006, my twin sister Julie and I both graduated from the College of Engineering at University of Michican Ann Arbor with majors in Industrial and Operations Engineering, and minors in Spanish. We spent summers doing international engineering internships in Brazil, Turkey, Spain and Italy. Upon graduating, we were both hired to the International Leadership Development Program with the British engineering company GKN. While in the program, we each took three different six month projects in three different continents, working in three different languages. Julie was in California, Germany and Argentina, and I was in St. Louis, Germany, and Brazil. In February 2009, while both on assignment in South America, I was diagnosed with stage 3B Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, and we immediately dropped our Latin American lives as engineers, packed up our things and were back home with our family in Michigan within 24 hours of the diagnosis. Julie immediately ended her position, and I went on medical leave. The first three months, we lived at the hospital due to a multitude of complications from the cancer and aggressive chemotherapy. Due to a bone marrow transplant in August, we again found ourselves living in the hospital for a month. We realized that despite the fact that I was in a very weak physical state, Julie could invest her time into something that could generate profits to be donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). Thanks to our intense brainstorming sessions, creativity, technical business minds, worldly experiences and colorful cultural backgrounds (our mother is from Detroit and our father from Chile), Gemela Design was born. "Gemela" means "twin" in Spanish and Italian.

We've always been creative and artistic, and took this perceived drawback during trying circumstances as an opportunity to redirect our energies into something completely different from our past "left-brained experiences" in engineering, while also helping other cancer patients and tapping into a developing Detroit market. We have both always carried an entrepreneurial spirit that never previously had a chance to develop. Our design aesthetic is influenced by nostalgia for our international travels; we physically display reflections of our experiences overseas and the world's beauty, ironically meshed with our industrial and technical backgrounds. Each unique piece of jewelry is named after a different city in the world and is created with unconventional materials that bring an industrial edge to a normally delicate jewelry design industry. 95% of all Gemela materials are purchased outside of the United States, in order to physically bring a piece of global beauty (be it leather from Argentine, Lapiz stones from Chile, vintage pieces from Paris, pearls from China, etc) into the hands of each of our customers. From there, one thing has lead to another and Gemela Design has organically created a thriving accessory label and business since August 2009, producing increasing profits since its first month.

We design and hand make every piece in the collection, and are currently selling our Ready to Wear (30 unique designs with a price point of $40-$70) and Couture Collections (20 unique designs with a price point of $300-$1300). Gemela sells online at www.gemeladesign.com, and in ten Michigan boutiques. We have also expanded internationally into Greece and Argentina, and are expanding to other parts of the US. In January 2010, we hired an intern from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit to keep up with the growth. Through the internship, we can mentor other young design students in Detroit and help cultivate their skills in a city that is quickly filling with potential, but offers very few opportunities for local design and entrepreneurial experience. With each business opportunity, we aim to raise awareness about LLS by donating a portion of every purchase to the society. This risen awareness has lead to business partners doing the same and donating a portion of their profits for a given month to LLS as well. In January’s issue of Styleline Magazine, we were featured with Chi Chi & the Greek Boutique for our fashion and charity collaboration, where 20% of January sales will go to LLS (Styleline, January 2010 issue, page 31). We are also honored to be Styleline's Featured Designer of the Month in the February 2010 issue (p 29). Our jewelry has been featured in a shoot in Styleline’s March issue as well!

In the future, we are determined to continue cultivating, promoting, breaking barriers and inspiring young entrepreneurs in the merging of left and right brain skill-sets, especially in trying situations, by turning ''problems'' into opportunities. We also look to promote Detroit as a city above and beyond its industrial image and replace its persona with one of creativity, entrepreneurship and philanthropy. As I finish up with treatment, we are currently studying for the GMAT and plan on getting our MBA's to fully cultivate our business skills. With a strong technical business background, a passion for fashion and design, and a drive to spread LLS awareness, we see only the boundaries of Mother Earth as our limits!"

To learn more about Diana, Julie, and Gemela Design, be sure to visit their website at gemeladesign.com and check out their some of their designs for purchase on Etsy.

Health and happiness,

Abbey

Laney's Story: Blue Thunder Creative Group, Inc.

Hey everyone! Today I’m posting our first small business story. It’s from Laney at Blue Thunder Creative Group, Inc. in Plainview, New York. She has some advice for us about sticking to a plan and effective networking. Thanks for contributing, Laney!

“I started my business almost six years ago and just recently went through a re-branding exercise in order to offer expanded capabilities to my target audience. My advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is to have a plan and stay true to it. A plan will keep an entrepreneur grounded and allow them to measure their success and make adjustments when necessary. Another piece of advice for entrepreneurs is to really understand what networking is all about. It is NOT about exchanging business cards and expecting to get a new piece of business immediately.
Networking is about:

• building stronger relationships with like-minded individuals who you can trust and can eventually refer,
• growing a great network of resources that you can rely on when you need help with something, need a referral and/or need business advice,
• helping and thinking of others if you see a news article or learn something relevant about their industry that would be valuable to them,
• making introductions that you believe will help their business.”

To learn more about Blue Thunder Creative Group, be sure to visit the website at bluethundercreativegroup.com.

Health and happiness,

Abbey