Posts Tagged "business owner"

Tots to Teens, believes in the entrepreneurial spirit, and when we share our Business of the Month we always hope the stories you read will inspire.  We are thrilled to share this month’s Business of the Month because this month’s entrepreneur will be entering High School! {Our first teen business owner }We hope you will share this interview with your children.  Madison Robinson has created the brand FishFlops®, FishFlops are adorable flip-flops, which exemplify Madison’s love of aquatic animals and the beach—perfect for the summer!  We are excited that we can share this remarkable vision turned reality…. Meet Madison Robinson the visionary behind FishFlops®

 T2T: What was that light bulb moment for you?

Madison: The light bulb moment for me happened after a day at the beach.  I was born on Galveston Island and went to the beach all the time.  I loved to draw, color, fish, and play on the beach as a kid.  When I was 8 years old I was drawing and coloring and looked over at my many pair of flip-flops in my room.  I thought I would draw some of my favorite ocean creatures on an outline of a flip-flop.  I decided to call them FishFlops® and I showed my dad.  He was so excited.

T2T: What pushed you to follow through?

Madison: I think the fact that my family and friends thought the FishFlops® were really neat and they said they would buy them.  My family and friends encouraged me to keep on creating.

T2T: How did you come up with the name FishFlops®?

Madison: After I drew some fish on the outline of a flip-flop and I wrote the word, FishFlops.  I thought the name was catchy.  I showed my dad and said, “Look Dad, I made FishFlops®!”  He said that was the perfect name.

T2T: FishFlops® now offers shirts and hats to coordinate with FishFlops®; do you see yourself designing more clothing in the future?

Madison: Yes.  I love to go shopping and see all of the latest styles.  One day I want to see my clothing in the malls.  I want to create a life style brand.

T2T: You have written Swimming with Spinner and Living Together at Sea by Orkicky what inspired you to write these stories for children?

Madison: After drawing my characters, I gave them names.  It’s always good to have someone encourage you when you are afraid of doing something.  So, I thought these characters could tell a story but also be a friend to a child who needs encouragement.  

T2T: Can you tell us more about the FishFlops® virtual world, when can we expect an arrival? 

Madison: Right now we are focused on the footwear aspect of FishFlops®.  The virtual world will require a lot of time but we are in talks with a few companies that can help make this happen.

T2T: What has been the most exciting thing to happen to you since becoming a business owner?

Madison: The most exciting thing that has happened to me since starting this journey is getting my shoes into Nordstrom.  Walking into Nordstrom and seeing my product on the wall was a moment I will never forget.  Everybody at Nordstrom has treated me like family. 

T2T: How do you manage it all FishFlops®, school, social activities, and teenage life?

Madison: I’ll be starting my first year of high school soon and so most of my time will be on schoolwork.  Hanging out with my friends is something I really enjoy.  As for FishFlops®, I still have a lot to learn about the business side and that’s where my dad helps out. 

T2T: When do you get time to concentrate on your designs? 

Madison: Even though it is summer and I am spending time with my friends and doing things with my family, I understand that in this business there are deadlines that have to be met for next year’s designs.  I make time to concentrate on my new designs.

T2T: It is summertime and everybody wears flip-flops but who would you love to see wear FishFlops®?

Madison: I’d love to see kids across the country and my friends wear them.  We are making adult sizes next year so there will be something for everyone.  We recently donated FishFlops® to Shoes for Orphan’s Souls®, which provides new shoes and socks to orphans and vulnerable children in the United States and throughout the world.  I would love to see these children in my FishFlops®.

T2T: If you had advice for kids who have a passion and want to create their own product what would you tell them? 

Madison: I would tell them to write down their idea, share their idea with family and friends and get their opinions.  Be open to suggestions.  Be patient because it can be a long process but eventually things do start happening.  Never give up.

T2T: What do you plan to do in the future?

Madison: I’d like to see FishFlops® become a lifestyle brand.  I can see it as a way of informing kids about the ocean and the life in it, and things we can do to protect it.  Giving back is important.

     I cannot tell you how impressed and inspired we here at Tots to Teens are with Madison’s story.  She also has a giving heart, this past December Madison donated FishFlops to the children at Texas Children’s Hospital and the Snowball Express Military Charity.  Madison also shared her story with the children, “I enjoyed talking with the kids and sharing my FishFlops journey.  It made me feel good to share my FishFlops® and my story.” We are delighted that Madison has taken time to give back… we cannot be more impressed with her business ethic and her kind heart.

To purchase your own FishFlops® we suggest the “lighted FishFlops®” Madison created for Nordstrom.  Please go support Madison and share her story and big Thank you again to Madison for sharing her!

Maddie is such a sharing person she is giving away one pair of FishFlops to one lucky winner, plenty of chances to win! Ready… set… go! 

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The Family ROI Experience takes basic business principals and applies them to every day family living…who would have thought?  Barbara Fagan-Smith and Lesli Gee came up with this amazing step-by-step guide to realizing your best family!  I am a business owner, a multiple business owner as well as a mom and wife.  I could relate to a lot of the book and I thought to myself, now why didn’t I think of this?  Here I am running business after business and I have always struggled to find a balance between work and family.  In every business, you start out with an idea, then a goal, then a plan to reach your goal, and so on.  The same applies to family situations.  You are faced with one situation, then you need to figure out what the family goal is…then, work on a plan to achieve that goal.

With The Family ROI Experience, it gives you a four week plan and a way to strategically come together as a family unit and increase your ROI.  For those that don’t know, ROI stands for Return On Investment.  In business, it is very helpful to know what your ROI is so you know what is working and what isn’t.  Same for your family.  You need to know what is working and what isn’t, right?

The four week plan comes in the form of a “journey map” taking each member on a journey to find strength, love, acceptance, and family commitment.   This “journey map” has four stops it focuses on and is color coded for ease.  Those stops consist of Communication, Culture, Mission, and Practices.

• Communication will allow families to make requests instead of demands (something children can often do when they want something…and parents can do when they want something done), making sure the communication process inspires compassion, connection and something that is often lacking, mutual respect between family members.  It also allows your family to agree upon communication tools that are beneficial to all family members.
• Culture is who we are.  We will define shared values as a family, allow for creating family traditions and enhancing existing ones as well as  come together to create a symbol to represent the uniqueness of the family unit.
• Mission allows us to define our purpose, what we want to get out of our family experience and helps to create an action plan on achieving our family vision.
• Practices is how we plan to live our day to day experiences with one another and how we can appreciate each other.

The Family ROI Experience is a step-by-step guide, but it is also a workbook which makes each chapter or week easier to understand.  Your family is given exercises that can be used on a daily basis that will help guide each person to receiving the results they need, to answer their questions, or help solve their current situation. Communication in our family circle is often the one thing that is confused.  With mom and dad, teen-aged daughter, tween son and little girl who knows it all…you can imagine all the different languages that are spoken in our household.  With week one, you are given four steps that once completed, the entire family will be speaking the same language.  Week one was my favorite week…though I did enjoy the entire process and the kids enjoyed the exercises, especially the vision board (as described in week 3).

Overall, I do believe that this book as created a great experience for all of us.  It has shown us things in each other than we didn’t “see” before.  We have a greater understanding for one another and can appreciate each others feelings more consistently.  When in doubt, we pull out The Family ROI Experience book and touch up on areas that need touching up.  It’s a great book to getting your family back on track.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Barbara Fagan-Smith and Lesli Gee both hold executive positions at ROI Communication, a management consulting firm in San Francisco that challenges business leaders to better articulate their vision, improve corporate communication, and shape lasting company culture. In 2011, ROI Communication was named one of the “Top Businesses in America” by DiversityBusiness.com and has been recognized as one of the top 25 women-owned businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past five years. Working Mother named it one of the country’s “Best Small Companies” in 2007.

Fagan-Smith is the CEO of ROI Communication and on the executive board of the International Association of Business Communicators. The San Jose/Silicon Valley Business Journal named her one of Silicon Valley’s 100 Most Influential Women in 2011. In 2008, Fagan-Smith was selected as a winner of the Enterprising Women of the Year Awards, an annual tribute to North America’s top women entrepreneurs. She’s married with two children.

Gee is a senior vice president at ROI Communication, where she has designed and facilitated change and communication strategies for managers and employees around the world. She is married with three children.

The Family ROI Experience is available at www.amazon.com. For more information, visit www.familyroi.org.