Julie Clark
Julie represents what all entrepreneurs strive to be: she built what she loved from the ground up and filled a void in the marketplace to answer a need that was her own. She cared about her product, and never forgot the importance of customer service. She made babies smile while generating over $25 million in sales – with only eight employees.
Julie Aigner-Clark founded the wildly successful The Baby Einstein Company in 1997. Her goal was to provide fun, interactive ways to expose her own babies to the arts and humanities, subjects that were important to her as a former English teacher. Julie's first two videos, Baby Einstein and Baby Mozart, were filmed in her basement using borrowed equipment and edited on a home computer.
Five years, ten videos and 30 children's books later, Julie sold Baby Einstein to The Walt Disney Company for an undisclosed sum. In 2001, the year of acquisition, the company's sales exceeded $20 million and Baby Einstein-branded products could be found at specialty and mass retailers nationwide.
Julie currently works with her husband and partner in a venture that combines their talent for creative with their desire to actively participate in charitable giving.
Topic Categories
- Motivation, Inspiration
- Women-specific
- Entrepreneurs, Networking
- Cancer Survivors
Accomplishments
- Baby Einstein videos received accolades for giving infants and toddlers a way to experience joy and laughter through classical music, poetry, nature and art. As reported in The New York Times on October 28, 2003, thirty-two percent of all new babies born in the United States own Baby Einstein videos.
- Prior to the sale to Disney, Julie and the story of Baby Einstein were covered extensively by the national media, including appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Entertainment Tonight, Live! With Regis and Kelly, The View and The John Walsh Show, and feature articles in USA Today, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Time Magazine, People Magazine, Redbook, Elle, Entrepreneur, Parenting Magazine, Child Magazine, Baby Talk and Working Mother.
- Julie also is the recipient of Ernst & Young's "Entrepreneur of the Year Award," as well as Working Mother's "Entrepreneur of the Year Award" in three categories — Most Philanthropic Company, Most Innovative Business and Best Small Company. In 2003 she received The Distinguished Alumni Award from The College of Arts and Letters of Michigan State University. In the citation, she was credited with starting a billion-dollar video industry centered on stimulating the minds of infants and toddlers.
- Julie's new venture is a return to familiar territory — creating and incubating new brands. Aigner Clark Creative combines her love of the creative process with her commitment to charitable-giving. The first brand developed by Aigner Clark Creative — The Safe Side — was launched in May 2005 and benefits The National Center For Missing & Exploited Children (www.missingkids.com). The Safe Side's first home video — Stranger Safety — was awarded three Emmys and named 2005 Video of the Year by Parenting Magazine.
- In 2004, at age 37, Julie received a new title: breast cancer survivor - twice. She is a proud supporter of The Pink Ribbon Foundation.
- Most recently, Julie was recognized at the 2007 State of the Union Address by President Bush.
In Her Words
"I am just so happy to be here. Every minute is a joy"
Key Notes
Fee Range: 10,000 to 15,000 USD Lives In: Denver, ColoradoVideos
Presentation Titles
- The Importance of Passion in Business — and Life --
How did Julie Aigner-Clark, a stay-at-home mom and former English teacher, become the country's most famous ‘mompreneur?' She followed her passions, dreamed big and listened to her intuition. In her presentation, Julie discusses how she relied on gut instincts and common sense to create products that were right for her own children, and in the process established what has become a billion-dollar industry. Her personal philosophy, ‘Every wall is a door,' allowed Julie to overcome the challenges brought on by inexperience, market competition and personal crisis, and to understand the value of both business and personal success