Small Business Saturday Mom Kara
Meet our latest mom, Kara Schwartz of Westchester. She is behind Flop Girl and mom to two boys. Kara is locating in Mount Kisco/Yorktown NY with her business.
When did you start your business? I started designing and molding the Patent Pending Heels about 2 ½ years ago on my kitchen counter. My kids fondly referred to as “The Lab”
How did the idea come about? Commuting to NYC via Metro North and then walking 20 minutes to get to the office. I wore comfy commuting shoes (never sneakers), had about 12 pair under my desk and schlepped evening shoes back and forth as needed. Why couldn’t somebody design a shoe that could take you from morning to night!?!?!
What is special about your business? Flop Girl by Kara Mac features the World’s First Interchangeable Heel Clip. It just has never been done before. The idea of owning one pair of classic, comfortable shoes and the ability to transform the style to match your outfit every day of the week is so practical. Think about women business travelers. Wear one and pack none. You could carry a half dozen pairs of shoes in your purse.
How do you manage having your own business and motherhood? It’s actually easier to manage motherhood with my own business then it was working full time and commuting to the city every day. I get and extra 4-5 hours of work done, per day, in the same time it used to take me to commute. When my kids need me, I am local. I can plan business meetings around my family activities. It used to be the other way around.
Walk us through a typical day: Kids get on the school bus pretty early and I’m at my desk by 6:45. The shoes and accessories are manufactured in Brazil and they are 1 to 3 hours ahead of us, depending on the calendar. We Skype throughout the day and with all the tools available on my computer, designs are emailed to my Agents and transferred to the factories. In turn, they scan and photograph leathers, beads, rhinestones and various trims to me to choose for the designs. Each day also includes reaching out to and following up with customers, packing orders, shipping, invoicing, working with web-developer, posting on social media, tuning into webinars, conversations with mentors and paying bills. Boys start homework at 3:30 and dinner is prepared. There is always driving them around for activities, various school and Dr appointments and charity events to attend. They chill out and I continue working until I go to bed. I don’t watch television, except for Shark Tank of Friday nights.
If you had to give one piece of advice to a mom wanting to start her own business, what would it be? There is so much free help out there, especially for women! Between SCORE, the SBA, the SBDC and many other resources, you don’t have to go into this alone. Take advantage of it.
Share info about your business: Flop Girl by Kara Mac is an interchangeable ladies shoe line that allows women to design their own shoe style. The patent pending system offers the worlds first shoe line with heel to toe customization. The system features mix & match heel covers and toe embellishments that give multiple looks to one pair of shoes. Wearers can instantly change colors, patterns and even decorate their shoes with jeweled elements – a great solution for travel and day to evening transitions. Flop Girl shoes and accessories are sold through an interactive online boutique (www.FlopGirl.com) where viewers can try out hundreds of different design combinations. The boutique currently offers three different high quality, Brazilian made, leather shoe models, 20 heel covers -called Sole Sisters -and 40 toe embellishment – called Clipsters. The boutique will continually add new options reflecting current fashion trends, holiday celebrations and limited edition cause related designs such as a breast cancer awareness month pink. The company is expanding it’s distribution channel to include direct sales to empower other women to start their own small business. New shoe models including a sandal and a high heel pump are in work for Spring.
Check Kara’s Flop Girl here:
Web-Boutique- www.FlopGirl.com
Facebook- www.facebook.com/flopgirlshoes
Twitter- @FlopGirl
Instagram- FlopGirl
YouTube- Kara Mac
