There was a keynote presentation by Julie Clark, founder of The Baby Einstein Company, at Affiliate Summit West 2013, which took place January 13-15, 2013 at Caesars Palace Las Vegas.
Her goal was to provide fun, interactive ways to expose babies and moms to the arts and humanities. Julie’s first two videos — Baby Einstein and Baby Mozart — were filmed in her basement using borrowed equipment, and edited on a home computer.
Five years, 10 videos and 30 children’s books later, Julie sold Baby Einstein to The Walt Disney Company for an undisclosed sum. In 2001, the year of acquisition, the company’s sales exceeded $20 million, and Baby Einstein-branded products could be found at retailers worldwide.
Prior to the Disney sale, Julie and the story of Baby Einstein were covered extensively by the national media, including appearances on Oprah, Entertainment Tonight, Live! with Regis and Kelly, and The View. She has been featured in USA Today, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, People Magazine, Entrepreneur, and Working Mother. In 2008, Julie was honored by President Bush at his State of the Union Address.
Julie’s new venture is a return to familiar territory — creating and incubating new brands. Aigner Clark Creative combines her love of the creative process with her commitment to charitable-giving. The first brand developed by Aigner Clark Creative — The Safe Side — was launched in May 2005 and benefits The National Center For Missing & Exploited Children (www.missingkids.com). The Safe Side’s first home video — Stranger Safety — was awarded three Emmys and named Video of the Year by Parenting Magazine. To date, The Safe Side has donated over $250,000 to NCMEC.
Julie is a two-time breast cancer survivor, and recently authored a children’s book called Your Love is the Best Medicine, which helps parents explain cancer treatment to their children. The book, published by Harper Collins in September of 2010, provides support for breast cancer research at The Jonsson Comprehensive Canter Center at UCLA.
Julie is the recipient of Ernst & Young’s “Entrepreneur of the Year Award,” as well as Working Mother’s “Entrepreneur of the Year Award” in three categories — Most Philanthropic Company, Most Innovative Business and Best Small Company. Julie received The Distinguished Alumni Award from The College of Arts and Letters at Michigan State University.
Julie presently lives in Colorado with her husband, two daughters, and a menagerie of rescued animals.
Video: Julie Clark Keynote at Affiliate Summit West 2013
More details on Affiliate Summit at AffiliateSummit.com.
