BUSINESS PROFILE: Grammy business gives local designer exposure

When the 44th Annual Grammy Awards are broadcast Feb. 27, you can bet Shelly DeMotte will be tuned in. The Kansas City woman will be watching to see what the celebrity presenters and performers are wearing -- on their wrists.

DeMotte's company, Whirly Girls, has supplied about 200 handmade bracelets for the goody baskets each presenter and performer will receive for participating in the Grammy Awards show. The sterling silver bracelets feature Bali beads and other items, including the special Whirly Girls charm. The bracelets are one of about 60 items the celebrities will receive.

"It's exciting but it's scary, too," DeMotte said. "What it means for a tiny company like us is overnight success."

Not bad for an endeavor that started just 14 months ago with two best friends. DeMotte, who has her own marketing firm, started Whirly Girls with Susan Neuenschwander, who lives in Fargo, N.D. The women worked together in the 1990s at American Italian Pasta Co.

"We talked about writing a book together, and we just really hit it off," said Neuenschwander from her home in North Dakota. "We went two years without seeing each other but we kept in touch."

When DeMotte visited North Dakota, the two women went shopping for a gift for a mutual friend. They were looking for a piece of jewelry with a spiritual feel to it and came up dry. That's when DeMotte decided to create a bracelet. She always enjoyed working with her hands, but she had never tackled jewelry. Despite her lack of experience, DeMotte started designing and making bracelets at the dining room table of her Brookside home.

The women joined forces in the business: DeMotte created the bracelets and Neuenschwander handled much of the business and manufacturing duties.

"She dragged me kicking and screaming into the jewelry business, but after a few bracelets I saw this was something we should do," Neuenschwander said.

They named their new venture Whirly Girls "because Susan and I are both whirling dervishes when it comes to getting things done," DeMotte said.

DeMotte refers to Whirly Girls designs as cause-related jewelry because many of the items have been created in connection with a particular issue such as breast cancer or AIDS awareness. Whirly Girls bracelets range in price from $75 to $125. A portion of the sale of these specialty pieces is donated to groups dedicated to searching for a cure for an illness. It was through the sale of such a bracelet that the women connected with Distinctive Assets, the Hollywood, Calif., company preparing the Grammy gift baskets.

The mother of an officer of Distinctive Assets alerted her daughter to the bracelets. "My mother gave me Susan's phone number and we followed it up from there," the officer said. "We try to find products that have never been seen before, and we liked the fact that they give back to others."

Whirly Girls had to gear up fast to get 200 bracelets with six designs to Distinctive Assets. Normally, DeMotte makes most of the bracelets with the help of some other women, but the exposure of the Grammy baskets had the partners looking to expand. They are using some manufacturing facilities in Fargo staffed by people with disabilities.

"It gives them work and it's neat to be able to work with them," DeMotte said.

The two women have also pooled the talents of their college-age children to help them with Whirly Girls.

"Part of our motivation in building the business is to have something to pass on to them," DeMotte said.

Now Neuenschwander is trying to get Whirly Girls ready for a potential onslaught of business. They are in the process of patenting some of the Whirly Girls designs and getting their product trademarked.

"I'm trying to prepare for the potential of buying a million dollars worth of inventory," said Neuenschwander, who also works full time for another company. Up to now, the women have used their own finances to operate the business, but Neuenschwander is talking with lending institutions.

"I'm cautiously optimistic and I'm very excited because the potential of being in those baskets and our media exposure is wonderful," she said.

In the meantime, the two women have found a formula to run their budding jewelry business even though they live in two different cities.

"We're on the computer and phone, and we e-mail each other 50 times a day," Neuenschwander said. The women try to see each other once a month in Kansas City, Fargo or somewhere in between. DeMotte fits Whirly Girls in between clients' needs.

"Every day that goes by it becomes more full time," DeMotte said. "I'm working until 11 p.m. at night just filling orders."

DeMotte also is working on a line of bracelets for Alzheimer's awareness called "Forget Me Not" bracelets.

"I never thought I'd be in the jewelry-making business in a million years, (but) it is my therapy," DeMotte said.

And she'll be watching to see the results of her late-night "therapy" sessions on the Grammys.

"I'm going to watch and ask `Is that Britney (Spears) wearing my bracelet?' "

From the Kansas City Star reprinted with permission