7. Held Hostage for a Ransom!

During this debacle I have been researching and networking to find a manufacturer who can product the quality of our prototypes. I found a potential company, Jay Mao, a facility employing a woman as a liaison who lives in Taiwan and travels back and forth to their Hong Kong plant. This company produced doll face samples for us exceeding my expectations in quality and beauty, with beautiful eyes and glued-on eyelashes. As luck would have it, they are only 40 miles from First Union.

I approached my contact at First Union to obtain an agreement to cease their effort and return my assets to my custody. This permission was granted and written down in an email.

However, when the senior partner, Mr. Kam Huang of First Union, decided to get involved, the ancient issue of the Chinese “losing face” surfaced, which was magnified because he had lost face to a woman. He nullified the agreement to release our property, cancelled the commitments and refused to release our assets without excessive fees, knowing full well that his employees did not have the skills needed to produce the SophiaDolls™. These demands totaled far in excess of the original, agreed-upon negotiated manufacturing cost of the entire SophiaDolls™ order!

At this time, I receive no response to my calls and emails to Mr. Huang of First Union. He has, however, responded to my husband’s emails with ridiculous one-sided offers.

We are currently working to find a solution to this unbelievable dilemma. We have contacted several people and are asking the media to bring exposure to how unfairly businesswomen and men are treated in China. We have heard several stories that verify that similar experiences continually occur. Few are talking about this major issue. Well we are! Small companies and start-ups cannot afford the massive legal fees and negotiations required to solve these sorts of difficulties.

7. Now the Work Begins

While First Union was creating the doll molds, I spent the next six weeks working with their staff in finding suitable fabric and colors for the costumes and the completion of acceptable costumes. The first batch of costumes was horrible – too big and poorly sewn. They were sewn for the mass market instead for a high quality collectible doll. I refused this clothing and worked with the First Union supervisor for months, teaching what was needed for the clothing line.

The doll wigs became an issue, because they were poorly made and, though brand new, actually fell apart! Correct sizing of wigs was also a problem, most being either too large or too small for the dolls’ heads.

Custom-made doll eyes had been negotiated and promised by First Union. The doll faces and heads samples were produced with eyes having the appearance of being “possessed.” They looked like Halloween figure rather than goddesses. After much frustration and failure to achieve the desired look, First Union gave me permission to outsource the eyes and wigs, as they could not meet our quality standards.

The doll faces were poorly painted. The samples received were distorted, again, to the point of being scary in appearance. Our prototypes had eyelashes glued on the dolls’ eyelids. First Union insisted it was impossible to glue on eyelashes and assured me that they could paint lashes with an acceptable effect. To my dismay, the painted eyelashes appeared to be tiny spiders crawling on eyelids.

As if I could stand another surprise, First Union manufactured all of the doll fabric into outfits or costumes. This first order was to have been only for the test market in case changes needed to be made for mass production. Instead, all the fabric was sewn into costumes. First Union admitted to making this mistake, yet insists that we purchase all the costumes. We have not seen, and therefore cannot know, the quality of this unauthorized work.

In the middle of August 2006, I gave up being able to offer dolls for the Christmas season, yet still continued to seek a better source of workmanship. Missing the Christmas season created great financial loss for SophiaDolls™, and has negated the opportunity to test the dolls in the market at a premium time.

7. Manufacturing a Doll

Up until this stage, I had prided myself in the amount of knowledge I had gained over the years in getting these prototypes completed. And while I thought there was nothing that could be as complex as producing the prototype doll, nothing could have prepared me for the next step I was faced with – manufacturing the dolls.

My original wish was to have the dolls made in the United States. I was told point blank that it would be too cost prohibitive to do so here, but I wanted to give the business to one of the few struggling doll manufacturing houses left here in hopes that a successful product might breathe new life into a dying industry. I contacted Middleton Dolls and worked with them for over a year, only to have my project rejected because of so many layoffs. My attempts with other small dollhouses were also unsuccessful and I was forced to seek manufacturing options in China.

My long-time friend, Tony Gianadi, referred me to an agent in Massachusetts who had been working with a Hong Kong manufacturing client for over 20 years. This manufacturer produced dolls for several high profile doll companies. My husband and I decided to move forward to work with this man and the company, First Union Industrial. I sent off my precious prototypes, now seeming like children to me, as well as the original master molds. I was assured by our contact here, as well as First Union that they could duplicate the quality and appearance of our prototypes.

In February 2006, we signed a contract with First Union Industrial and wired them money to complete the molds for Athena and Demeter. They committed to a product delivery date of mid-September.

Funding a Test Market

There is much more to the funding story. When you are launching a business, funding often comes in stages. This was the case for me. I had received enough seed money to create the prototypes. Now I needed another round of money to manufacture a quantity of dolls and launch a test market to prove the concept before mass production. Or at least produce a quantity of dolls that I could market to noteworthy high profile people or celebrities. This phase of my project lasted eight years. Yes, you read it right, for the last eight I have worked on and off with potential investors to fund a test market for the concept of the SophiaDolls™. A year might go by with no activity, then someone or some group would show up and renewed effort would go into providing updated business plan, financials, marketing, sales and distribution strategies. I continued to funnel modest amounts of my own money to keep the other doll prototypes in development. Chris Love, the doll artist, has worked with me all of these years. She is another person that I owe so much to – for her belief in our project and for her hanging in when the money was slim, and there didn’t appear to be a shred of hope to finish the dolls.

I spent two years contacting doll manufacturers, network marketing companies, and toy agents in hopes that one of them would embrace the project and take on the manufacturing and test-marketing end and to no avail.

Then one day last year, my husband George, and my own Greek god, offered to step up and become the angel for the test market for the SophiaDolls™. He has lived and breathed this project for the six years we have been together. Smart investments and good market timing enabled him to allocate some funding for the test market. I am back on my way to realizing the dream that was ignited so many years ago!

Financing the Vision

I had a BIG vision and I was going to need BIG money to get it off the ground. Fortunately life brought me Donn Chappellet of Chappellet wines out of northern California. Donn and his wife Molly just so happened to have three daughters, larger girls that didn’t model after Barbie. He believed in my concept and me and wanted to help pave the way for his daughters – so he gave me my first seed money. I will always owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Chappellet. If it were not for Donn, I may have never been able to go beyond an idea.

This first round of seed money, plus my own investment financed the development of the first two prototypes, Athena and Demeter.

Athena is tall and stately, with piercing gray eyes and a knowing look. If she were an actual woman, she would be 5’9”, and would wear size 8. She has a little belly, a signature design of all SophiaDolls™. Athena has broad shoulders and long, graceful arms. Her hips and thighs are full, providing a powerful foundation and solid connection to the earth. Her hands are nimble and skilled.

Demeter’s body illustrates her abundance and generosity. She is fleshy, with wide hips and a full bosom. She has a little belly, the signature design of all SophiaDolls™. If Demeter were an actual woman, she would be 5’5” tall, and would wear size 14. Her hazel green eyes reflect the colors of the earth. Her robust and Rubinesque physique celebrates the beauty of the feminine body.

Dressing and Accessorizing the Dolls

Taking a sketch and then turning the drawing into tangible clothing and accessories isn’t as easy as it appears. I spent hours and hours going through fabric samples to get the right color, size and texture of the fabric for the prototype costumes. I went through several doll costume makers in search of the one with the right “feel” for the outfits. I finally found the perfect woman, Donna, who lived in N.Y. and who had designed and sewn several fashion doll costumes. Unfortunately, she died unexpectedly and my search continued. I have had similar experiences with wig manufacturers. My original contact and source of supply, Diana, also unexpectedly passed away, leaving me to start over. But in each case I persevered. One person leads to another, to another, who leads you to someone else. Many times I felt like giving up, but my heart would not let me. This is my life work – my life passion! I have spent months upon months working out the costumes, wigs, realistic eyes and accessories for each doll. Symbols, such as a shield and armor for Athena and a sheaf of wheat for Demeter complete the ensemble. I laugh as I reflect on the detail I have gone through, from determining a skin tone color to completing the make up coloring for each doll. Each doll has a different hair color, eye color, and facial and body shape. Each doll is a museum quality piece of art.

Creating a Doll

I had no idea what I was getting into when I decided to create an exquisite, high quality doll; one with realistic and unique facial features and body type, no less. My goal was to create a doll to recognize and honor the different human sizes/shapes and reinforce the distinct personality or archetypal qualities found in all women. Fortunately I met some wonderful and talented people along the way who cared enough to spend time educating me.

The first was Tony Genadio. His company produced the high-end doll molds for the top doll manufacturers, including the first Barbie mold. Here is what has to happen to create a doll prototype:

a. Sketch or drawling of each doll.
b. Artist sculpts the doll in clay.
c. A wax mold is made from the clay.
d. A master mold is made from the clay mold.
e. Production molds are made from the master mold.
f. Plastisol is poured into each mold, baked and then carefully pulled out from the mold.
g. Eyes are placed into the head, doll parts are put together, wigs glued or sewn on heads, faces are painted, eye lashes attached and dolls are dressed and packaged for market.

I decided to have the dolls made using rotational molds so there wouldn’t be any seams on the arms and legs. Tony had to develop special molds because my dolls had “real woman” hips and a little belly, as well as different breast sizes.

Bringing a Vision of Market

I was so inspired that I could see the entire vision of the dolls. Images of women having dolls sitting at their offices or bedrooms -- I could see mothers and daughters playing with realistic, teaching dolls.

I immediately contacted an attorney friend, Trudy Reeves, who had attended one of my self-esteem meetings for completion of a business plan. (She did a business plan for a famous basketball player). I found a doll lady to make the original dolls. My daughter sketched the first dolls, along with each body type. This was a personal journey for her and one that came from her heart and her triumph through the pain she had suffered so many years ago.

The first doll designer couldn’t meet my daughter and my standards. Beth searched for another artist. She learned of Chris Love in Carmel Valley. Chris was a sculptress who was familiar with mythology. She and her partner worked for Steven Spielberg and were experienced in developing exquisite designs and molds.

At first we were going to call them Creator Dolls, then the Original Goddess Dolls, Born on Mount Olympus. Finally I was inspired to call them SophiaDolls™. The name Sophia comes from the Greek word for wisdom. This name shall always represent the knowing of true inner wisdom for all girls and women.

So I was ready to go. The wisdom dolls were based on a unique concept that met a profound market need in both women and young girls. I had developed a detailed business plan, created sketches of the dolls, and found an artist to bring the goddesses to life. Now all I had to do was learn the doll making business and find financial funding to get us off the ground. It couldn’t be that difficult!

The Formation of a Vision

I uncover some shocking information! In July 1998, ABC and PBS presented documentaries on the influence of the Barbie doll on society. During the PBS Point of View documentary, Barbie Nation, girls under 10-years-old were shown playing with Barbies. These girls believed that if they “were not at least a little bit pretty (like Barbie), people wouldn’t like them and they wouldn’t have any friends.” In this same program, an art student related her story of bulimia. She wanted her thighs to appear like Barbie’s. She felt that her body became her enemy as she tried to become “perfect.” However, if Barbie were a real woman, she would probably have to walk on all fours based on her proportions.

I had been talking to women about their unique shapes and how they don’t honor their bodies. I thought to myself, why doesn’t someone come up with a doll that has more of a woman’s shape? Why not have seven dolls represented by the Greek goddesses, each dressed in unique costumes, with distinct personality qualities and body shapes to be used as teaching tools and role models for young girls?

I presented my idea to my retreat group and received a resounding, “Yes”! They would love to have a doll to represent personality archetypes and their different body shapes and would love their little girls to play with them. Something within me told me that I MUST do it!

The Birth of an Idea

Gone were the days of the corporate super-woman. Helping my daughter solidified my passion to help others re-evaluate and correct self-image. I stepped out to life renewed with hope and commitment and launched a company that formulated workshops and retreats for women. I focused on helping women to create a new definition of beauty by embracing their bodies and finding their authentic selves, for a healthier and fulfilling life experience. When we scrutinize the specifics of our mass illusion, what has been designated as physical beauty is only a minor portion of the real woman. That physical part fades with time, yet there are other attributes that last forever.

During my metamorphosis years I studied the work of psychiatrist, Dr. Jean Shinoda Bolen. In her book, Goddesses in Every Woman, she defines a new psychology of women that describes unconscious powerful forces operating within women in the guise of Greek goddesses. She believes that these powerful inner attributes, or archetypes, are responsible for major differences among women. For example, some women need monogamy, marriage or children to feel fulfilled. Others value independence and focus on achieving goals that are important to them. Still others seek emotional intensity and new experiences consequently moving from one relationship or one creative endeavor to the next. Yet another type of woman seeks solitude and finds spirituality means most to her. What is fulfilling to one type of woman may be meaningless to another, depending on which goddess/attribute is active.

I began using Dr. Bolin’s concepts in my seminars on self-esteem. Along with the help of Dr. Don Parker, we created a quiz to help women determine which goddess archetype or archetypes influenced them in their daily lives. During one retreat a “goddess” said that she felt that the Barbie doll had a lot to do with how women felt about their bodies. Since girls played with these dolls as they grew up, they may unconsciously relate to Barbie’s body features as the ideal. I hadn’t heard this before so I began extensive research into the idea.

Now I’m Living It

I started out selling cosmetics and modeling for the same company, and my daughter wanted to follow in my footsteps. She was told that in order to succeed she would have to lose weight. So she became a size 4, and that still wasn’t thin enough. She was in and out of therapy for years over self-image issues. At night I was afraid to go to sleep for fear that she might not be there the next morning. The same feelings of being unattractive and unwanted were picked up and felt by my daughter. She experienced pain to such a degree that she was considering ending her life! Here is a gifted woman who is today is an incredible teacher -- very bright and intelligent yet at one time harmfully distraught in trying to live up to someone else’s illusion of beauty. It is staggering to realize the need to conform can be so fatal to self-esteem – and maybe one’s life!

The Beauty Trap

We are taught by the media and fashion industry from a very early age that we are not physically and financially adequate. Then we live our lives trying to live up to culturally defined illusions of beauty and success.

Research suggests that virtually all women have a degree of shame concerning their bodies. Self-disgust plagues women and girls. As soon as some disappointment occurs, such as losing a boyfriend/husband, loss of a job or failed interview, we often blame ourselves because we have internalized the commercial world’s definition of beauty and compare ourselves to an unrealistic standard. I adore Anita Roddick’s, founder of The Body Shop comment; “There are three billion women who don’t look like supermodels and only eight who do.” Sadly, this does not stop the fashion industry, the diet industry, and the cosmetic industry from promoting products to miraculously transform us into Hollywood and Madison Avenue’s definition of beauty.

Noteworthy findings cite girls as young as seven years old worry over the size and shape of their bodies. Oprah Winfry’s television program has often addressed this issue. Oprah once featured taped interviews of young boys who were asked, “What makes a girl pretty?” Approximately 99% of the boys said, “Thin.” My own daughter fell victim to this mindset!

How it Began

Left a single mom (with two children) at twenty-three without income, child support or a formal education, I discovered selling cosmetics as my means of survival and a personal means of seeking beauty. I began teaching other women to do likewise. Twenty-three years later I stared in the mirror and saw a tired, aging woman who was collapsing under the pressure of attempting to be beautiful every day, in every phase of my life. That day I resigned my position as an Executive V. P. of the cosmetic company, realizing I did not know my purpose for existence, my identity, or a clue of my self-image. Right then, I began my life’s passion of helping myself and other women break free of the cultural and familial traps which imprison us.

Bringing a Vision to Market

My journey to develop a doll that would be used as an empowerment tool for women and girls has been an interesting one. I thought you would like to share in my experiences and perhaps learn something for yourself along the way. Over the next several weeks I will be detailing the steps I have taken and continue to take to bring the SophiaDolls™ to market. Stay tuned.....