Interview With Amy Weintraub, Producer of Baby Songs
I have the pleasure of working with Amy Weintraub on her website and with some online marketing. I recently interviewed her to share her story. (~Wendy - Dreamish.com)
[Wendy at Dreamish.com] Tell a little about yourself (i.e., mom, married, kids, personal likes, place you live, etc. anything you like) (added 2003)
[Amy Weintraub] I am 45 years old. I live in LA but I was raised in White Plains NY a suburb of NYC. I have a BA in Education from George Washington University, an MA in Education from American University (both in Wash. DC) and I have a MFA in Film Production from The American Film Institute in LA, CA.
I am married and have 2 kids, Annie 18 (a freshman at college) and Todd 16 a Junior in HS. I have two step sons one is 30 and married with a baby and another step son who is a musician in LA and is 27. We have a cat (Josie) and a dog (collie/golden mix) Harrison that are big parts of our family.
Hobbies: knitting, skiing, antique hunting, I do a lot of walking/hiking with girlfriends for exercise. I belong to a once a month "moms" book club ( I like to read non fictions best - favorite books, The Color of Water, Into Thin Air. I love to travel and hope to do more of it when our youngest son goes off to college.
[Wendy at Dreamish.com] How did BabySongs get started?
[Amy Weintraub] Brooks McEwen and I met in 1983 in a prenatal class when we were pregnant with our first children. Both Brooks and I had been involved in television production but had quit our jobs in the hope of staying home with our babies. Tired of singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "The Wheels on the Bus", we discovered the wonderful original children’s music by Hap Palmer. Fans of MTV, we decided to contact Hap to create music videos for toddlers based on his original and entertaining songs.
We formed Backyard Productions in 1985 in my backyard garage - and BABY SONGS was born! The idea of BABY SONGS was to create videos that would keep young children entertained. We instinctively knew that young children love to watch other young children. Using that premise, Brooks and I decided to take children watching the videos to familiar places - playgrounds, kitchens, grocery stores, homes, and show young children just like the viewer in the videos. Each video contains over 100 children in over 20 locations. BABY SONGS reflects the child’s world and portrays issues that young children are concerned about like separation anxiety, sharing toys, getting dressed, tasting new foods, and more.
Backyard moved out of my backyard and into offices - close to home a few years later.
The success of BABY SONGS has spread mostly by word of mouth. Parents recommended it to other parents who recommended it to their friends. Testimonials came in from day care centers, pediatricians, media reviewers, educators and celebrities like Jane Pauley, John Lithgow, and Sting! Baby Songs video tapes, audio cassettes, and CDs are now available nationwide in video/music stores, mass merchants, children’s toy stores, and on the internet. I now run the business. In 16 years over 3 million units have been sold without ever advertising on television. Baby Songs just released a new video called Baby Songs Silly Songs.
[Wendy at Dreamish.com] Was BabySongs your first entrepreneurial business? If not, what came before BabySongs?
[Amy Weintraub] NO, before moving to LA I was a free lance film/stock footage researcher in Washington DC. I worked for film and TV companies researching and obtaining historical films footage and still pictures for documentaries and all sorts of productions. It was really interesting, I loved it and am still interested in film history and research.
[Wendy at Dreamish.com] How long have you been on the internet? How long has BabySongs been on the internet?
[Amy Weintraub] Baby songs has had a web site since 1997. We set up the shopping cart in 1998- but things really started to happen when I hired an affiliated manager and set up an affiliated program and planned marketing programs.
[Wendy at Dreamish.com] Did you create the website yourself? Do you have any other websites?
[Amy Weintraub]
No- I hired a web master and used the images/graphics from the graphic designer who designed our video sleeves and sell sheets.
[Wendy at Dreamish.com] What tools are used to make and manage your website?
[Amy Weintraub] The web designer uses Dreamweaver and FTP.
[Wendy at Dreamish.com] Is BabySongs your only business?
[Amy Weintraub] Yes.
[Wendy at Dreamish.com] Do you also work outside the home?
[Amy Weintraub] I now have an office (outside of the home) in an "executive Suite" building where I share Xeroxing, conference rooms, etc. with other offices. It is very helpful because when I am in video production I can take over more office space for a short period of time for the production staff- then I can get rid of the office space after the video is finished- these really saves in overhead/moving costs. Also, there are many independent small productions comp[companies and post productions companies and even casting offices in my building- if is fun to be with there companies like yourself- we share a lot of info and ideas- contacts.
I started out with my office in the backyard garage of our home. This was fine when my children were infants- but as soon as they could walk/talk they found me in the garage! It was hard to ignore them - so I took an office only a few blocks from my home. This turned out to be a really good idea. I worked much more efficiently and was able to keep papers out on my desk without the fear of them getting lost. By the time the kids were in school it was easy for me to drop them off at school (I made sure their nursery school was near my home and office) and pick them up. When I put them to bed it was easy for me to go back to my office and do more work (since my work day was short).
[Wendy at Dreamish.com] How do you balance your family with business. Do you ever hire outside help?
[Amy Weintraub]
Outside help has been essential in my life. Since my husband and I do not have family in LA. We realized that it was important for me to create and find a solid network for freinds, babysitters, a flexible pre-school program.
When our children were infants (only a year apart) we were willing to give up privacy to have a live-in babysitter/housekeeper to help us with the kids. It was well worth it money wise and sanity wise.
Balance means choices- sometimes hard choices. I had a lot of education and production experience when I started having kids. I was on the track to take a corporate glamorous job at a movie/TV studio. But I realized that if I did that I would have to be at the office 10 hours a day and report to a boss and have little time for my family. It was a hard decision- because this was something that I had been working towards for a long time. However- I am not a "type A" personality- I do not need to be stressful to accomplish things and be a "master of the universe". I was lucky that I had a great idea (produce music videos for babies and sell them in stores). I like to say that children bring you luck and certainly my children were my inspiration. However I did have the production expertise and the contacts to make my product happen.
Anyway I am happy with the choices I made- but always keep in mind that it involves trade offs.
You cannot have it all- all at the same time.
[Wendy at Dreamish.com] What advice do you have for all moms and dads who would be interested in making their own sites or who wish to make a business at home?
[Amy Weintraub] Do not try to do everything yourself. If you are setting up your own biz get people involved in it who can bring something to you and your business that you cannot do- for example a lawyer, accountant, graphic designer or web site master/designer.
Do not work with relatives or friend unless they have an expertise you do not have (like the jobs I mentioned).
Be the creator of your own business/idea and seek out the best people to help you with tasks you cannot do.
Set small realistic goals at first - accomplish those goals and then move on.
If things do not work out- move on- don't keep doing the same thing over and over if it is not working.
Be flexible, open to change!
Ask for help advice from people who know better.
Try not to use your own money for your business- find someone who believes in you and ask them to invest and then work with them- two head are better than one.
Work is work- love your family- say something nice to your spouse everyday!
Thanks Amy for sharing your story and ideas. It has been wonderful getting to know more about who is behind BABY SONGS
!
Amy Weintraub is fulfilling her dreams through Baby Songs.
» More videos, dvds, and audios can be found by going to the website - Click Here
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