| Women Entrepreneurs - September 2008 |
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| Written by Administrator | |||
| Saturday, 06 September 2008 11:20 | |||
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Latico Leathers - Indulgence Cafe - Arch Brow Bar - Summit Youth Development “Where Art Meets Beauty” Melissa Clifton, owner of Arch Brow Bar has always had a passion for the beauty industry. While working as a make-up artist, she went on to receive her aestheticians’ license and started doing waxing, facials and body treatments to soon discover she had a unique talent for shaping her client’s eyebrows. She says, “Because of my background in art I always took extra care in shaping the eyebrows. I began to see the eyebrows as mini art projects.” Known around Monmouth County as “the eyebrow queen”, Melissa developed her own signature techniques and decided to focus solely on this area of the face. Although she had been doing eyebrows for 13 years, she has devoted the last 4 years to being an “eyebrow stylist”. She adds, “My clientele grew so extensively that everyday I had a waiting list a full page long. We received so many phone calls for me at the spa and there was so much time expended on my clients that we hired another receptionist to handle the extra work.” She decided it was time to train someone as her apprentice, and worked as a team with two stylists. Melissa takes an artistic approach to the way she styles eyebrows. She adds, “Eyebrows are the frame of the face. With the proper shape, the face looks balanced and beautiful.” This year she decided to branch out on her own and open her own business. In March, she opened Arch Brow Bar in Shrewsbury in the office of facial surgeon Dr. Manolakakis, offering extensive services for both men and women. Arch Brow Bar also carries a line of eyebrow products including pencils, powders, brushes, and brow tools. Her plans for the future include opening a store front where she can service her clientele, sell makeup and have Dr. Manolakakis do the injectables all under one roof. Although this budding entrepreneur has achieved many of her goals, her proudest accomplishment will always be her 10 year old son Alex. Arch Brow Bar 1131 Broad St. Suite 109 - Shrewsbury NJ 07702 732-542-7900 www.archbrowbar.com  “Fashion Necessities”Selling leather goods out of the trunk of his car on the streets of New York City was a modest beginning for Latico Leathers, but when Paul Schreiber met his “uptown girl”, his business and his life took off in a completely new direction. Lainie Schreiber, with her sales and fashion background and a keen eye for European trends, saw more than basic leather in Paul’s young company. She brought her fashion forward thinking to the table and the rest is history. After meeting at a trade show, Lainie and Paul married and joined forces to bring Latico Leathers to a new level. Lainie directed the women’s collection introducing bright colors, fine leathers, and fabrics for fun linings to create seasonal women’s fashion bags with unique, patented organizational features. “If you can’t find your stuff, the bag has no purpose,” says Lainie, explaining what she calls the wow factor, as women get excited about the pockets, zippers, and bright linings. Latico bags are field tested for functionality so every feature serves a purpose such as the light colors of the fabric linings that make searching for your items easier. Lainie’s passion for what she does comes through as she discussed the difference that something as simple as wearing a bright color can make to a woman. With corporate offices in New Jersey and a showroom in New York, Latico Leathers has collaborated with high profile international companies such as Frye and The Sharper Image, designing under their labels across the country and abroad. “We are approached by many potential partners. While it is very flattering and we continue to do private labels, designing and building our own brand is our priority.” Latico leathers markets to strong, high-end boutiques such as Eye Candy of Holmdel and Red Bank. Lainie knows that responding to loyal customers is essential and her customers are pleased that Latico bags have not saturated the department store racks. Married over 15 years, Laine and Paul’s 12-year-old twins have inherited their parents’ flair for design and business. Olivia designed a youthful bag for a private label catalog company while Ben works on company web design. Latico is exactly where they want it to be and will continue to design great collections with a woman’s point of view. Latico Leathers 1-800-969-8426 www.laticoleathers.com Reaching a Personal Summit: Maureen Tieri is a woman on a mission. Six years after the tragic death of her husband on 9/11, she decided to focus on something positive, not only for her own children but also for the children of the community. So she did the unexpected. She imagined a place where kids of all ages could come and play, like the good old days, in a safe, secure environment. This dream was realized in 2006 when Summit Youth Development opened. The facility located in Tinton Falls applies the unique revolutionary concept of balancing children’s needs by offering services in the areas of fitness, academics, and nutrition-- all in one facility. The name Summit comes from the fact that Maureen believes that every child can reach his or her own personal and unique summit. Interestingly enough, inspiration for the idea came from her two sons, ages 11 and 13. She adds, “My kids are very different from one another and have dissimilar abilities. One is very involved with sports and the other, the arts so I wanted to create a place where they could both thrive. I believe that every child has ability but our society often places a huge emphasis on sports.” Maureen thought there must be a way to get kids to move while having fun. She says, “Some children stay active through practices and games however, many children have other interests that may not necessarily involve as much physical activity”. By creating a place where kids can have fun “old school” fitness (think dodge ball and capture the flag), get homework done, socialize, and learn about nutrition, Maureen hopes Summit Youth Development will help create a happier and healthier future generation by instilling these important life skills at a young age. They are also developing a special needs program and held their first dance last month for these children with a DJ and dancing. Maureen adds, “We are about instilling important life skills in children at a young age and in turn making these skills lifelong habits”. Summit Youth Development 980 Shrewsbury Ave - Tinton Falls NJ 07724 732-440-4530 www.summityouth.org Sweet Indulgence They say when one door closes, another opens. After 16 years as a project manager for Verizon, Maria Peterson was forced out of the corporate world. Maria turned the adversity of a layoff into the dream of her lifetime. She was able to follow her passion for home cooking and opened Indulgence Café in Atlantic Highlands. Living in Middletown, she searched awhile for the right location and came across the building in this upscale historic village along the bay shore, where she began creating a menu with healthy, flavorful choices. The café offers breakfast and lunch, homemade desserts and cookies, catering, and gift baskets. The atmosphere is family friendly, warm, and inviting. “The biggest challenge,” says Maria “is that you have to always be there. You have to know how to balance your home life and work.” With an eight-year-old son, this is challenging but the hours help as the café closes at 3 pm Monday through Thursday. Although the shore location is busiest in the summer months, Maria has an established year round customer base. She works with local realtors catering open houses, private parties and serves the local community by providing platters for schools and nonprofit fundraisers such as Clean Ocean Action. Learning to bake at age 11 has paid off for Maria as she offers gourmet desserts and custom cakes for special occasions.  Despite the lengthy hours and hard work, Maria enjoys creating her own dishes and offering delicious meals and homemade soups. “The best part is when the customers tell you how good the food is,” admits Maria. Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner on the weekends, Maria takes pride in offering healthful choices without artificial ingredients or flavor enhancers, and wonderful specialty beverages like Cha Cha Chai tea or naturally caffeine-free infusions. A trip to the Indulgence Café is a well-deserved treat. Indulgence Cafe 25 First Ave - Atlantic Highlands NJ 07716 732-708-9500 www.indulgence-cafe.com | |||
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| Last Updated on Friday, 10 October 2008 14:30 |
