Amy Maurer Creel, Smart Mom, LLC

In the fall of 2004, my older daughter was in preschool and I had a little one at home. I had been working as a freelance media planner and buyer for 4 years, having quit my full time job as a salesperson with Clear Channel Communications after my first child was born. I enjoyed freelance work, especially being based out of my home office, but missed certain aspects of my sales career; dealing with people directly (media buyers tend to be behind the scenes), creating and developing new business relationships, and being compensated, in all respects, based on the amount of time and energy I expended in the job. I didn't want to return to a full-time, in-office job but started to entertain the idea of launching my own company.

About this same time, I was having lunch with my good friend – and fellow preschool Mom – Kendra LaDuca. Kendra had been telling me that her baby was constantly grabbing her necklace, her watchband, her sunglasses. I then told her about my own baby breaking an heirloom pearl necklace in church, sending pearls bouncing none-too-quietly under the pews. As we talked further, we realized that most of our new Mom friends weren't wearing jewelry at all because of their curious, teething babies and that's when the idea for Teething Bling began to take form. We wondered if we could create pretty and practical jewelry, pieces that Moms would want to wear, that served the dual-purpose of being safe and fun for babies.

I had a marketing background – and Kendra had worked as an event planner- so neither of us had any idea how to get this off the ground.  It was a steep learning curve that continues to this day!

It took about 18 months to get the product consumer-ready. Because this was a completely new idea, we had to start from scratch. We did some basic drawings, researched possible materials, found a factory contact in Brooklyn and began what would be a very long journey. Our early prototypes definitely needed work! They were too hard or soft, too large or small. It took many attempts to get them 'just right.'

We also had to address any safety concerns.  With all of the press about phthalates, BPAs, PVCs, lead, etc – we had to make sure our products were completely safe before introducing them to the public.  This meant extensive independent laboratory testing to meet both US standards and quality for CE marking, the European safety standard.   Once we were satisfied with the safety of Teething Bling, we launched our website – www.smartmomjewelry.com - in October 2006 and started selling online.

Early sales were slow, as we had no real marketing budget. All of our investment dollars went into product development and testing – an expensive process, we soon discovered! There was little left for advertising. We decided to promote our products mainly through blogs and online giveaways. We knew how powerful word-of-mouth 'advertising' could be among Moms so we hoped the ingenuity of Teething Bling would help it catch fire of its own accord. We also participated in several celebrity events as a way to increase our public profile and hopefully, generate more sales down the road.

One year after launching our site, we had over 100 retailers in the US and abroad – including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the UK, Finland, Sweden and the Middle East.

As the company grew, we started to see more interest from the press.  This March, we were invited on CNBC's The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch. We also appeared on the editor's page of Pregnancy Magazine as well as in Baby Couture and Pregnancy and Newborn.

Our two main goals are to give back to the community. (A portion of our proceeds goes to Dress for Success - in honor of my sister-in-law, Maria Jankowski Maurer, who died after her first child was born - and CureSearch.org) and help other Moms find meaningful work opportunities without having to leave their children. We currently employ several women on a part-time/freelance basis and hope to expand that number significantly in the years ahead.

What makes us unique is our commitment to family. Almost everything we do involves our children. They were our early Teething Bling "testers", they come to many of our events and we solicit their input when working on new designs or marketing efforts. Our offices include a large space specifically designed for kids to play while adults meet nearby.

This is a case where kids are not only seen - but encouraged to be heard!

We also have a very casual approach to business – meetings are often conducted in parks or on walks. We don't require any formal attire.  Children are always welcome to join us. If someone cannot make a meeting in person (because of a napping or sick child), they simply join us by phone. We truly believe in putting family first and because we've created a balanced atmosphere where work and family co-exist peacefully, we're happier and ultimately more productive.

I wish I could offer some new angle on what makes a successful company but in fact, our principles are pretty old-fashioned. We work really hard every day and try to provide outstanding customer service at every opportunity.

Thank you!