Trust Your Feelings - Lillian Vernon

Lillian Vernon
Company: Lillian Vernon Corp.
Net Worth: Unknown

Lillian Vernon became a household name at a time when women were not even supposed to work outside the home. From the humble beginnings of an immigrant family, Vernon started a business in the kitchen of her small home and grew it to be one of the most well-known multi-million dollar companies in the U.S as well as the first female-owned company to be listed on the American Stock Exchange. Today, the Lillian Vernon Corporation earns almost $300 million in revenues, has over 4,500 employees and continues to be one of the country’s leading catalog retailers.

From her kitchen table in the 1950s, Lillian Vernon was able to build a hugely successful direct mail catalog business that continues to thrive more than fifty years later. Her family had lost everything during WWII and was forced to rebuild as immigrants in the U.S. What were the factors that allowed Vernon to become the successful model of entrepreneurship that she is today?

Advice For Entrepreneurs:

“I first got started in business because I needed to supplement the family income. This was a good way to do it because I was going to have a child. Frankly, I was 20-odd years old and didn’t know anything. It was a risk. I had a husband and I was pregnant with my oldest son. But I don’t look at risk the way other people do. When you’re an entrepreneur, you have to go in feeling like you’re going to be successful.”