Jumping into business when the economy is shaky looks a lot like jumping into a shark tank. Although, it probably looks that way because that is what one mompreneur has done.
According to Chicago Parent, Kim Pries is due to appear on Shark Tank today to try and find some funding for her maternity clothing business. However, she has already reached many milestones on her own.
Pries founded Samson Martin maternity wear back in 2003 after being laid off from her job in magazine ad sales. Though she wasn’t yet pregnant – her boys are now 5 and 18 months – she says the inspiration came from the question her pregnant friends said they kept hearing.
“Everyone always asks, ‘When are you due?'” she says.
Her tees and tanks answer that question with sass and style, sporting slogans like “Coming this fall” and “Now showing.” Since their launch, Pries’ clothes have been featured in People, US Weekly, Life & Style and Fit Pregnancy, and were named one of E! News’ “Top Ten Must Haves” for celebrity moms-to-to be.
But the recession has hit high-end maternity and baby boutiques especially hard, Pries says. After a few boom years, during which her clothes were picked up nationally and internationally, the market soured. So she decided last summer to take her brand to the masses, and set her sights on chain stores like Target, JC Penneys and Kohls.
Photo from Samson Martin