New Job, New You by Alexandra Levit

Author:Alexandra Levit [Levit, Alexandra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-345-51974-0
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2009-06-06T16:00:00+00:00

Valerie

From Stockbroker to Pajama Manufacturer

As a child, Valerie was a female version of Family Ties’ Alex P. Keaton. At thirteen, she started investing in the stock market, entranced with how one could turn a dollar into two simply by choosing the right investments. While attending California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo on scholarship, Valerie interned at a local Dean Witter office and began planning a career as a stockbroker. The market crash that followed in 1987 might have discouraged some young professionals, but not Valerie. “I thought it was an opportune time to break into the business,” she says. “And so, much to my family’s dismay, I quit school and moved to Los Angeles.”

At her first firm, Valerie found herself in a bit over her head. “I was a nineteen-year-old girl in a male-dominated business, and I was told I’d landed the job because of my looks,” Valerie says. “Back then, sexual harassment lawsuits were virtually nonexistent, and I was working in the boys’ club.” Valerie used sex to her advantage in building a clientele. She owned several racehorses in partnership with her parents, and she met many of her male clients at the racetrack. “Many of the rich owners threw me a few dollars to trade stocks for them. Had I been male, this probably wouldn’t have happened.” It was an uphill battle getting people to take her seriously, and she spent countless hours prospecting by phone, but Valerie’s natural investment savvy and hard work helped her hold on to clients for the long term. Gradually, she worked her way up in the financial services industry, spending several years as a broker and trader and several more at an investor relations firm.

Despite her seniority, though, Valerie saw her income potential wane. In late 2004, she was paid a below-industry salary and a semiannual bonus based on profitability. That year, her company enjoyed its most lucrative period in its thirty-year history, and Valerie expected a substantial bonus. “A few days before Christmas, we were informed that they were going to use the money to invest in plush Beverly Hills and New York City offices and that there would be no bonus for the employees,” she said. Naturally, Valerie felt cheated, and decided she had to figure out a way to bring home the paycheck she deserved. She began looking into independent business opportunities. “I wanted a pair of those kids’ pajamas with the feet built in, but no one made them for adults,” she said. “After doing my own focus group with friends and family, I concluded that the idea would be a viable venture.”

In becoming a pajama manufacturer, Valerie’s challenges were twofold. First, she had to master the mechanics of producing clothing from the ground up. “I had to do extensive research into the textile industry, as I had no experience there. I basically just committed myself 110 percent to learning everything about textile manufacturing and marketing,” she says. “In doing this, I found the Internet to be the most amazing tool imaginable.

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