But making money and meeting celebrities weren't the impetus behind Warren's successful line of children's nutrition videos. "I did this because I want my child and other children to have the basic acceptance of fruits and vegetables," Warren says.

Warren is one of a growing number of mothers who have left the professional world for motherhood-only to return to business by inventing practical parenting products of their own. Julie Aigner-Clark, a retired teacher, is probably the most notable of such mothers. Her Baby Einstein video series netted nearly $165 million in sales last year.

The Times found a number of up and coming mom-preneurs who make their home in the Valley and may be well on their way to Baby Einstein-like success.

Like Clark's videos, most motherly inventions spring from necessity. "I thought for sure there must be a product like that," says Denise Marshall, a Chandler mother who invented the Mac & Cool, an affordable bowl that quickly cools hot food to eating temperature. "I kept looking for the product and finally realized it wasn't out there."

Marshall didn't quit her successful mechanical engineering career at Clorox to become an inventor; she quit it to become a mom. But now she owns a patented product and a business of her own. "I literally pack up my van and fill Web orders while waiting for my youngest to get out of school," Marshall says. Her two-car garage has been converted into a shipping and storage facility for her growing company.

Mac & Cool has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, on CNN and Inside Edition, just to name a few. Mac & Cool's first year sales topped 20,000 units, and Marshall expects to double that in 2005.

Juggling

Katheryn Warren, a Mesa resident, has won 37 awards for her children's nutrition video series, including Video of the Year from Parenting magazine.

Warren also went searching for a product she was sure must exist. "I was stunned that there was nothing visual to motivate a child to eat fruits and vegetables," she says. So like Marshall, Warren created the product herself.

In 2004 Warren and her husband Robert sold more than 100,000 children's nutritional videos produced in their YumYum Studios. "Celine Dion first called because they had left her son's videos at one of their other homes," Warren says. "They decided they needed copies of the videos for each of their homes."

"Both my husband and I juggle," Warren says of their home studio, which she describes as a "mini NBC." "I might get up at four or five. My husband will work very late. But one of us is always available to our child."

Partners in Time

Fellow inventors Warren and Marshall are two of a small group of mom entrepreneurs who meet monthly to share marketing ideas, product suggestions and even tote one another's products to trade shows. Better yet, they trade products - from workout and nutritional videos to cart covers, stroller accessories and a myriad of other items.

"Denise's Mac & Cool is great," Carrie Thompson says between sips of a café mocha. "I've burned my kids' mouths because of rushing to get them hot food."

Thompson is one of three mothers gathered at a Valley Starbucks for a monthly morale meeting. Soon these entrepreneurs will be heading off to pick children up from school, count inventory, research advertisers and ship products.

Their time here is an escape from the dual responsibilities of parenting and owning a small business. They laugh and trade high-fives for ideas, marketing connections and, perhaps most importantly, sincere friendship.

"It's amazing the details that go into something like this," Marshall says of Mac & Cool. "Yes, that is my hand holding the bowl," she admits, referring to the picture on the front of her product's package. "I'm a very cheap model."

"You have great nails," offers another mother, examining the photo. Without the support of one another, these moms say they couldn't do what they do. As a result, they don't view other mother inventors as competition, but as comrades.

"There's plenty of kids being born," Carrie Thompson says of the more than $6 billion baby product industry. Thompson's Cart Cover, a spill-proof, drawstringed shopping cart cover, is one of six similar products on the market. "You could get discouraged about the number of products, but when you think of all the different moms and kids out there, there's plenty of product to go around."

Thompson, who worked in Pepsi's marketing department before retiring to motherhood, says choosing a baby product can be like choosing a soda to drink.

"In the past year-and-a-half this has become my livelihood," Thompson says of her business, formerly a hobby. "My sales quadrupled because I started paying attention to it. It's not just a hobby anymore." And Thompson says she doesn't work anywhere close to the 60-hour weeks she once put in.

"I get to spend half my day as a business woman and half as a mom. It's the most rewarding thing."

Motivated Moms

Perhaps the biggest obstacle for these moms is scheduling. "I'm used to being a stay at home mom now, so it's tough to design the job to not interfere," Thompson says.

If it came down to it, most of them they would drop their inventions for their families. But thanks to technology and the moral support of friends, they don't expect to face that dilemma.

"It does worry me that it would become a full-time job," Marshall says, adding that she would hire staff to help with the workload before hiring a nanny.

Tamara Weber agrees. Her video production company, Bee Home Video, is the fruit of a similar desire-a maternal yearning to be with her children. Webber gladly gave up her sales career to stay home with Travis, her first child. "My heart pulled me back into the house, but I had a lot of frustration about not being able to exercise," she says.

Webber had heard of stroller fitness classes but was disappointed to find no such opportunities near her home. That's when she birthed the concept of Strollertime, a workout program designed to help new moms get back in shape with baby in tow. Since its delivery to the market only seven months ago, Strollertime has already sold 10,000 units.

Incentives

While mom inventions generally spring from necessity, starting and maintaining a company is typically rooted in a completely different motivation. "I think there is a level of frustration that comes with having had a career and then staying at home with your kids," says Denise Marshall.

"Your whole world revolves around your children. But as your kids gain their independence, you realize, I have nothing to talk about. You start to feel like an uninteresting person."

Creating a product, Marshall says, is one way for mothers to regain a sense of individual purpose. "I think a lot of women get to where they want to be doing a little bit of something. This provided that for me."

Also rewarding, says Julie Kentera, inventor of Dream Pearls, is finding one's innate passion. "It's my opportunity to be creative," she says of the fairytale-like stories she writes. "From the time I was a little kid I wanted to be an illustrator for Disney, but I never thought I had the talent."

Webber agrees that owning a product line is rewarding. "It is worth it, if it's what you want. It's not always easy, but it's definitely worth it."

Katheryn Warren says she and her husband have stumbled into something he's incredibly talented at. "He's got a gift," she says of her husbands' creative mind. "It's amazing when you find what your true calling is."

SIDEBAR

The entrepreneurial Mothers Association can be reached at 480-892-0722.

Contacts for Mother Inventors
www.azinventors.org

www.score.org

www.MomInventors.com