Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
FOJ Friday: Lori Karmel

Please let me introduce FOJ(Friend of Jewel) Lori Karmel, owner of Fort Lauderdale's We Take the Cake. Lori was among the first people that I met when I moved to Fort Lauderdale, and I like to say that I met her BO (Before Oprah). You see, We Take the Cake's Key Lime bundt cake was featured as one of Oprah's favorite things in 2004. The endorsement revitalized her business and she's still riding the wave. Let me introduce you to the woman behind it all.

Lori's family moved to South Florida from Toronto in 2000. Her son was a toddler and she was a full time mother. She found We Take the Cake while searching through the yellow pages for a birthday cake for him. She was intrigued by their chocolate cream cheese frosting. Once her son started school, she started looking for a business to get into, found that We Take the Cake was up for sale, bought it, and the rest is history.

Her biggest challenge day to day is balancing staffing with production, since it's all custom. Her goal is to produce a premium, quality product, in and out, and that can be hard to do consistently. But Lori seems to be getting it right!

Her family and friends are her biggest supporters, her husband even came aboard to take care of the operations aspect, allowing Lori to concentrate on what she does best--sales and marketing. She absolutely loves getting notes and letters back from satisfied clients. She thinks that it's the most rewarding part of her business.

But it wasn't always easy. She was motivated by a book written by Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks. It described his extraordinary journey that took the company from his initial vision to the overwhelming success that it is today. She advises anyone looking to start up a new business that the most important part is marketing--


"Don't sit around waiting for business to come to you. Think outside the box to bring new business in. Forget about traditional advertising."

She's working on some new things for We Take the Cake. She's always looking to create new products. Client suggestions help drive new designs, flavors, and product offerings. In fact, she now has brownies on the menu, after landing a deal with the new W Hotel in Fort Lauderdale. She promises that the new Red Wine Reduction brownies will be a rich and fudgy hit! I can't wait to try them! You can contact Lori via email at sales@wetakethecake.com or by phone at 888-901-2253.

Your comments--priceless!!

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FOJ Friday: Kathy McEvoy

Please meet FOJ Kathy McEvoy, the owner of Celebrate in Pink, the first collection of distinctive "pink ribbon" themed paper tableware. I met her a few months back, and we became fast friends.

She's originally from Easton, Pennsylvania, but after college in New York, she went to DC and has been in the DC area ever since. She's married with 2 adult sons and a dog. She's done everything from corporate VP to home staging, but in 2005, she had a life changing experience. She was diagnosed with breast cancer.

In 2007, she participated in her first major walk for breast cancer. While planning the victory celebration, she discovered that while she could find many pink ribbon products, no one sold plates and napkins. An idea was born...

It hasn't been easy for her. She's had many roadblocks and wanted to give up. But then she would think of the brave women that would benefit from her struggle--she gives 5 percent of her net proft to help women with breast cancer. Her spiritual journey is one of fulfillment. She lives each day to the fullest, taking nothing or nobody for granted, and celebrates gratitude moments everyday. She calls her diagnosis, a "wake up call."

You can help her by spreading the word about her products. She also wants to hear from anyone wanting to share stories about starting and growing a business. She has a lot to share, but also a lot to learn. She can be reached via email-- kathy@celebrateinpink.com or by phone at 888-314-7465.

Her products can be viewed on my other blog, Things in Pink where they are the feature of the day.
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The Benefits of the Internet

Here's the question--How has your life most benefitted from the internet? This is an easy one for me. By far, the hugest benefit for me has been the amazing friendships that I've developed. I've met the most amazing folks on the web. I'm not sure if I could have met them any other way.

And I'm able to do research from home. As I child, I did some research for school at my neighborhood library. But for in-depth research, I had to go to the Main Library, in downtown DC. That involved money, buses, and walking. My children have much more available to them instantly, without even leaving the house. The amount of information available on the net still amazes me. I won't even mention shopping from home.

I've even astounding business contacts. It's helped me tremendously in nearly every position that I've held. I'm not sure what my life would be like if there was no internet. I doubt that it would have been the same.

What about you? What area of your life has the internet impacted most? Tell me about it...

Your comments--priceless!!

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Sometimes Free Is Just NOT Worth It!

One day a year, the good folks at Ben & Jerry's give away a free cone to anyone that comes in to one of their stores. It's part of showing gratitude to their customer base. I'm sure they hope to win new customers and it's good PR. Yesterday was that day. My husband and son went in to collect theirs and encountered a really rude employee. I'm sure she was inundated by the crowds, but at the same time, she should be glad to have a job in this economy. Right?

Let's move on to America Online. Several years back, executives at AOL decided that they would make their services free to anyone who already had internet access. Millions of subscribers quickly changed over. Here's the catch--if you are not a paying member, they don't provide any technical support. So, if their service happens to hit a kink, which it frequently does, they won't talk to you.

Finally, I've been hearing a lot lately about Acai berry scams. The Acai berry was touted to be the best thing since the birth control pill. It was supposed to be high in antioxidants and very good for your health--so good that they would give you a supply for free. The catch was--when you signed up for your free batch, you had to give your credit card number to continue to receive it after your free batch ran out. Unfortunately, most folks started getting charged long before they even received the free supply. Many had to actually cancel the credit card in order to stop the charges.

The moral of the story is--Sometimes it's better to pay for services and have recourse, than to be at the mercy of a freebie. What do you think? Any more examples?

Your comments--priceless!!

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Course Handicap


Here in South Florida, a lot of business is conducted during rounds of golf. The Good Ole Boy Network is alive and well. As a professional woman that doesn't golf, it's sometimes hard to compete with those relationships cemented on the greens.

A lot times, price and service doesn't even factor in. It's more like, "well, my wife's brother sells that, so I have to buy from him" or "my boss has part ownership of XYZ company, so we buy from them." Those kinds of parameters are hard to get around. In fact, it's best to walk away from them and move on to someone else.

Recently, I've been thinking of taking up golf, though walking/riding over a course of 18 holes in order to hit the little ball into the little hole holds absolutely no interest for me. But with the economy taking a dive and sales getting harder to come by, I may need to become the Ole Girl in the Ole Boys Network.

Your comments--priceless!

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