Eileen Kisailus
Founder and Owner , Lunar Radiance
I’d like to introduce you to Eileen Kisailus, special education teacher by day and by night, the inspirational 50+Fabulous founder of Lunar Radiance, her on-line company that features “wicking” pajamas, which save us from those sleep disturbing “night sweats” many of us have come to know and NOT love.
In her late forties, she and her husband walked into a shop in New Hope, Pennsylvania that had a pair of pajamas specifically for women who suffer from night sweats. And, even though they were $80.00, she couldn’t buy them fast enough (with the cheering of her husband echoing in the background!)
Well…Eileen LOVED them. They wicked the moisture away from her skin (much the same as some of the fabrics used in athlete’s clothing.) She did not plan on starting a new business, but that one pair of pajamas got her to thinking about how so many women would sleep more peacefully if these PJs were available to all.
With no entrepreneurial experience, but with what she describes as the “tenaciousness of a puppy with a slipper,” she dove right in to do the research necessary to determine if this could be a viable business. She first studied the internet and at that time, could not find these PJs anywhere. She started to look for companies who manufactured them and contacted them. She bought some of the products to find out how they were packaged and determine the quality.
She didn’t know to be afraid and had no clue what was going to be involved in starting her business. She found websites she liked and contacted the designers. She read every book available on how to set up a website, about marketing to women and design in general. She learned that women and men approach shopping very differently.
She converted her sitting room into a home office. She was quickly learning that as a new entrepreneur, much of what had to be accomplished to get her business up and running, would need to be done solely by her! …as in writing all the copy for her new on-line store. Everyone said that her website would need to be “optimized” for the search engines so she talked to some professionals who specialized in it, but the price tag was far too dear. Typical of Eileen, she dug in and learned how to do it herself…and did!
Using the proceeds of a home sale, she set her start-up budget, did all the work herself, figured out even the basic things…like how to create a link, took advantage of free resources and learned everything she could from them. And, Eileen continues to be amazed at what she can learn with hard work and tapping the wisdom and experience of her many friends. Marketing has been the biggest challenge as it is for so many in the on-line space.
This New Jersey entrepreneur, although married for the last 4, was a single Mom for many years. With two children in college, even though Eileen was scared, she forged ahead with her passion about the new business she had envisioned, and Lunar Radiance was launched in 2006. She devotes about 36-40 hours a week to her work with special education and another 20-30 to her web business. In her spare time, she LOVES to ballroom dance.
Her advice to other would-be entrepreneurs is to research, research, research! Determine if there is a market for your product, what the demographics are for your potential customers, study, read and learn. Be as educated as you can or you’ll be taken advantage of. You will make mistakes. Make sure you learn from them and try not to repeat them. Always keep an eye out for the next opportunity. Know that things will progress more slowly that you would like. When working at home, set boundaries, take time for yourself and turn off that computer And, remember, no one is going to watch your “baby” like you!
Visit Eileen at http://www.LunarRadiance.com and prepare to sleep well!
You can also get Eileen’s fun and insightful perspectives on mid-life at both
http://www.hotflashingthoughts.blogspot.com/ and also at http://notfittopick.wordpress.com/
