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JULIE AIGNER-CLARK | Creative Officer Julie in the news 2007 State of the Union Address (video)
Biography Julie Aigner-Clark founded The Baby Einstein Company in 1997. Her goal was to provide fun, interactive ways to expose her own babies to the arts and humanities, subjects that were important to her as a former English teacher. Julie’s first two videos, Baby Einstein and Baby Mozart, were filmed in her basement using borrowed equipment and edited on a home computer. Five years, ten videos and 30 children’s books later, Julie sold Baby Einstein to The Walt Disney Company for an undisclosed sum. In 2001, the year of acquisition, the company’s sales exceeded $20 million and Baby Einstein-branded products could be found at specialty and mass retailers nationwide. Baby Einstein videos received accolades for giving infants and toddlers a way to experience joy and laughter through classical music, poetry, nature and art. As reported in The New York Times on October 28, 2003, thirty-two percent of all new babies born in the United States own Baby Einstein videos. Prior to the sale to Disney, Julie and the story of Baby Einstein were covered extensively by the national media, including appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Entertainment Tonight, Live! With Regis and Kelly, The View and The John Walsh Show, and feature articles in USA Today, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Time Magazine, People Magazine, Redbook, Elle, Entrepreneur, Parenting Magazine, Child Magazine, Baby Talk and Working Mother. Julie also is the recipient of Ernst & Young’s “Entrepreneur of the Year Award,” as well as Working Mother’s “Entrepreneur of the Year Award” in three categories — Most Philanthropic Company, Most Innovative Business and Best Small Company. In 2003 she received The Distinguished Alumni Award from The College of Arts and Letters of Michigan State University. In the citation, she was credited with starting a billion-dollar video industry centered on stimulating the minds of infants and toddlers. Julie’s new venture is a return to familiar territory — creating and incubating new brands. Aigner Clark Creative combines her love of the creative process with her commitment to charitable-giving. The first brand developed by Aigner Clark Creative — The Safe Side — was launched in May 2005 and benefits The National Center For Missing & Exploited Children (www.missingkids.com). The Safe Side’s first home video — Stranger Safety — was awarded three Emmys and named 2005 Video of the Year by Parenting Magazine. In 2004, at age 37, Julie received a new title: breast cancer survivor. As a breast cancer survivor, she is a proud supporter of the Pink Ribbon Foundation (www.thepinkribbon.org), an all-volunteer, non- profit organization that provide funds to cancer patients. Julie currently lives in Colorado with her husband and two daughters. Along with her business interests, she continues to teach literature and poetry to middle school students.
BILL CLARK | Development Officer Biography Bill Clark’s career has combined his love for entrepreneurship, innovation and graphic design. He worked with several alumni of Lippincott & Margulies and Raymond Lowey at a design firm in New York that specialized in corporate identity and brand management. Bill founded The Center for Aerospace Education on the campus of Drew University to pioneer the use of laser videodisc as a publishing medium. He later founded Optical Data Corporation to commercialize the Center’s work. Optical Data published numerous interactive video products, including Windows on Science, the first videodisc-based textbook. The company also developed early versions of graphics-based computer browsers and navigators. In 1991, Bill was named an “Educator of the Decade” by Electronic Learning and an “Entrepreneur of the Year” by Ernst & Young. While serving as executive director of the Entrepreneurial Education Foundation, Bill and his wife, Julie Clark, launched The Baby Einstein Company. In 1998 he joined the company full-time as COO and CFO. Together the Clarks created the developmental media market, established Baby Einstein as a world-class brand, and grew the little-company-that-could into a highly profitable enterprise. Bill and Julie sold Baby Einstein to the Walt Disney Company in November 2001. Bill presently is the Managing Director of The Safe Side and oversees development for Aigner Clark.
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