The Biz

Abraham Maslow, well known for the creation of his hierarchy of needs chart, managed to delineate in five steps all the needs of humanity. He starts with the most basic, physical needs including food, water and clothing and then progresses up through safety, love and esteem to what he calls self actualization. In the marketplace there are products to address and capitalize on these needs. Those products meeting the needs of the categories higher up on the chart can command a greater price because theoretically, they are harder to achieve. Knowing where your product is on the physical to emotional spectrum helps to direct how you communicate your product to the marketplace.

Founded in 2007 and based in Los Angeles, Mixed Up Clothing is a multiethnic children’s clothing line inspired by the textiles, cultures and people of the world, to develop friendships through fabrics. Sonia Kang, founder and creative executive, infuses ethnically diverse styles with cultural twists, blending materials and designs from all corners of the world. The collection of peasant tops, capris, jumpsuits, rompers, sundresses, tank tops, flouncy skirts, shorts, camp shirts and more for infants to size 7 have an appeal that blends cultures and showcases diversity.

Andrea Sherr finds being a mother of three kids under age 10 means she’s outsmarted on a daily basis — a relatable feeling for any parent left speechless at what comes out of the mouths of babes. Last year, Sherr began compiling “kiddisms” from her own children and others on her website www.heardontheplayground.com. At first, it was simply a labor of love, with Sherr working late into the night reading and laughing. Other than selling some T-shirts with the quotes, she didn’t have a long-term revenue strategy. Then she decided to turn it into a book called Heard on the Playground – Funny Things Kids Say.

While many manufacturers generate waste, here is one that heads in the opposite direction, keeping zillions of pieces of paper out of our landfills. Notebagz transforms this detritus into edgy handbags, cosmetic cases and other accessories. The style alone is enough to recommend Notebagz, even if they didn’t make right-on-the-money bags of all kinds made entirely out of recycled publications, magazines and posters. American-made Notebagz lean on nostalgic icons and vintage books as well as images from television, movie and music artists. All bags feature snappy designs whether shoppers’ tastes run to music, magazine covers, peace signs, travel posters or other icons of times gone by.