15 Gifted Women: Andrea Grossman
By Meredith Schwartz -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 11/9/2009
Andrea Grossman
Shonnie Bilin
Frances Gravely
Isdaor Frost
Jenny Hammons
Anne McGilvray
Maxine Burton
Susan Roghani
Joan Ulrich
Wendy Rosen
Anna Griffin
Barbara Baekgaard
Andrea Sadek
Ande Rooney
Marian Sullivan
Founder and CEO
Mrs. Grossman’s Paper Company
From age three, Andrea Grossman knew that she’d be an artist. After studying at the Art Center of Design in Pasadena, CA, she moved to San Francisco in the '60s to pursue graphic design and launched Mrs. Grossman's Paper Company from her home in 1975. In 1979, when a local store asked for heart stickers to decorate bags for Valentine's Day, Andrea cut a heart out of artist's paper and sent it to a label printer. When the finished stickers arrived, mistakenly printed on rolls instead of sheets, Andrea realized the potential. The idea for "Stickers by the Yard" was born. She introduced nine more designs at a tradeshow and was swamped with orders. Andrea was featured in People magazine as the woman who started "stickermania." Today, she runs Mrs. Grossman's out of an 110,000-sq.-ft. headquarters with 90 employees.
Gifts & Decorative Accessories: What have been your greatest successes?
Andrea Grossman: My biggest success was developing a product that was new and innovative, and at the same time wildly accepted. When we first developed the stickers in 1979, there was nothing like it on the market. My biggest challenge was managing growth: financial, inventory, hiring people. It was like a rocket ship taking off. Our first growth curve was when the kids collected them. Then they sort of turned away from them, and scrapbookers came up almost immediately after, so we had two nice long rides. I'm looking for a third tipping point.
G&DA: Do you think that as a woman you approached doing business differently?
AG: I think so. Being a woman makes a difference. Basically, I think women care about the family and the people around them, and from the very beginning the company was concentrating on the families that worked with us. We brought our children to work. We even brought our animals: people brought their dogs, we even had a warehouse rabbit. We even had one man who brought his hawk, but we had to send him home because he started looking for the kids’ lunches. I want everybody who touches these stickers who benefit from the process. I care about people more than things. That has definitely been a hallmark of the feminine side of the company. I am not saying that is exclusively feminine, but I think the family- oriented focus is particularly feminine.
G&DA: How has being an executive affected your personal life and relationships and how do you deal with it?
AG: Quite frankly it has been a strain on my family. When I started, I was geared very comfortably to being a small business. So when the business took off, it was like someone riding a bicycle her whole life suddenly driving a racecar. The ultimate strain on the family was that my husband left me. That was a heartbreak because I had started [the business] for the family. But the strain that caused my divorce has been beneficial to my son and myself. My son is the new president, and it has expanded his capability. Is there a strain for a mother and son? Yes, there is, it is hard. But it is also extremely rewarding,
G&DA: How and why did you get into business?
AG: When I had my son, I took a backseat and started working on raising him, but when he grew up enough to go to school I wanted to do something. I like to make things. I wanted to start a new business and I asked myself, why am I doing this? I answered myself: to help my family, to express my talent and to make something that would make people happy. I didn't start with stickers, I started with a line of notepapers and wrapping papers, and the stickers came about because a customer asked me where to get red heart stickers for Valentine's Day. It was never about making money. It was just about making something that made people happy. And boy, did it. If I was still making papers, you probably wouldn't be talking to me.
G&DA: What advice would you give to a woman starting out in the business?
AG: To remember that she's a woman. Being a woman is a wonderful privilege, and I think that most people respond well to women when they behave like a woman. People like our nurturing qualities. I always cringe when I see a woman trying to be too much like a man, too powerful or too important. Women can be wonderful, but they can also be abrasive.
G&DA: What is the best — or most memorable — gift you ever received?
AG: The greatest gift I have been given is the love and grace from my heavenly Father. I prayed about this company before I ever started it and dedicated it to the Lord, and he has delivered. Another great gift is my son.
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