In 1999 Marcy Cohen started making hair clips for her daughter for fun. Today, Cohen and her sister Lori Rockoff are partners in Pea Soup, a line of children’s clothing and accessories. Read on to see how they turned their hobby into a half-million dollar a year business.
Who: Marcy Cohen and Lori Rockoff
What: Pea Soup Accessories for Kids; a manufacturer of handcrafted children’s hair clips, bows and more. You might have seen their designs on the offspring such celebs as Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Garner.
When and Where: Ten years ago in Chicago, IL
How: In 1999 Marcy Cohen was working as a teacher. Her sister, Lori Rockoff was doing social work. For fun Marcy started making hair clips for her daughter and from there, Pea Soup was born. “I found myself going in my restaurants and people would stop me and say where did you get this bow…we didn’t start with a plan. We were buying materials, going to craft stores. Our first customer was a children’s hair cutting salon. We brought our items in and they placed an order.” That first order may have only $150 but the satisfaction they got from this taste of success was enough to spur them on. “We were so excited. It’s still exciting,” said Cohen.
From there, the orders only got larger. “When we first started we were the ones making the clips. We were in LA a year and a half into it when we got our first big order. It was about $1,200.” After a weekend spent on the floor of Lori’s apartment assembling the clips, More…
I have a 17-year-old daughter that will be 18 in January 2010. What type of credit card should I get her to start building credit for her?
-Christine, New York
When teens and credit cards mix, the outcome can sometimes be disastrous. But, if handled correctly, credit cards can be a great tool for teaching your college-age kid the basics of financial management.
After your daughter turns 18 in January, she may want to hussle to get that first card. Otherwise, she will need a cosigner. When another piece of the new credit card legislation takes effect on February 22nd, any person under the age of 21 will be required to have a parent to co-sign on their credit card. “Mom needs to be sure she is comfortable with co-signing, which could affect her credit score if her daughter misses a payment,” says Karen Blumenthal, author of “The Wall Street Journal Guide to Starting Your Financial Life.” If your daughter can prove that she’s making enough money to handle having her own credit card, she may be able to side-step the need for a cosigner.
When you start shopping around for a credit card, let your daughter do the work. “It’s good practice for the student to research the options–the interest rate on charges, the interest rate on any cash advances, and the fees you’ll pay if you pay late or go over your credit limit. That way, the card holder knows exactly what the terms will be,” says Blumenthal.
As you probably know, the options for credit cards can be overwhelming. To make it easy on your daughter keep things simple. “I recommend a young person apply for a plain More…
Photo by Gil Vaknin
If you lost a job, how long would your nest egg hold out? For six in 10 Americans, the frightening answer is less than 90 days. For four in 10 it’s an even more frightening less than 30 days.
And how would your family fare in the process? That’s the question posed by a prime-time special from the folks at Sesame Workshop in collaboration with David Letterman’s company Worldwide Pants and Lookalike Productions. Families Stand Together, hosted by the husband and wife team of Al Roker and Deborah Roberts – in which I was fortunate to play a role — airs Wednesday at 8 p.m. on PBS stations across the country and will be available at SesameWorkshop.org thereafter. It takes a look at the experiences of five families who have experienced job loss or other economic setbacks. More…
Elmo and I joined Bob Shieffer on Washington’s Unplugged a few days ago to talk about our PBS special, Families Stand Together: Feeling Secure in Tough Times. You can catch it on Wednesday, September 9th at 8pm EST. In meantime, check out our chat with Bob:
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A confession: I am one of those parents guilty of not always giving my kids their allowances. I know the disturbing lesson this teaches them — that when they grow up and eventually have bills and debts of their own they really don’t have to pay them on time. They can slide. Little will happen. Of course, when the mortgage or utility company and not your teens are the creditor, that’s absolutely not the case.
For the past two years, I have “promised” that this year will be different. It hasn’t been. Instead, there will come a week when one of my kids (or both) will say, Mom, you owe me 4 (or 5 or 7) weeks allowance. And not knowing if they are right or — perhaps — giving themselves the benefit of the doubt (that’s parental guilt working in their favor) — I pay up. More…
