Marketing Hugs

Wouldn’t it be nice to start each workday with a big bear hug from a cuddly friend? Well, that’s just what Elizabeth Porter ’85 does. The former apparel executive, insurance executive, and stockbroker quit that high-powered work life two years ago to start her own business—selling stuffed animals.

It all started with Bula Bear, and now Bula has friends: Sable the Horse, Prudence the Pig, Legs the Frog, and Rufus the Dog. What’s so special about these animals? They hug you back. They have long arms that wrap around your neck and Velcro paws that keep them snug against you. Their heads are turned 45 degrees so they can rest on your shoulder as you hug them—much like a human friend or a real animal might do.

Porter first had the idea for the huggable friends as a child, when her parents gave her a stuffed panther. "I wished he could hug me back," she says. "I never forgot that idea." Years later she finally designed Bula Bear and found a manufacturer. Then she made a major move—ditching her comfortable Boston job as a stockbroker and starting the business out of her large home in Marblehead, Massachusetts. She doesn’t miss commuting, either. (She had spent 10 years working in the retail fashion industry in New York before switching to brokering and then worked in the stock market in Boston for three years).

Two years after she began it, Bula Bear and Friends is doing a brisk business, with overtures from large, established companies that want to license the cuddly creatures. "The time was right," says Porter. "I’ve been lucky."

Her knowledge of the markets helps in many ways. She’s been supporting herself with her investments while getting the business up and running. "I have an insurance background, too," she says, "which helps now that I’m running a business. My experience in the apparel business gave me a good grasp of wholesale manufacturing. And as a stockbroker I gained understanding of what makes a business successful. In 1990 to 1991 I was also involved in an entrepreneurial business as operations and sales manager, and that was tough. But what a learning experience—to have gone through that during the rough times of the early ’90s and learned how to set up a business." She learned, too, to prepare for the worst and to give herself and her business "safety nets."

What about her preparation beforehand, when she was a student at Ithaca College? "Would you believe I was a history major?" Porter laughs. "Well, actually I started as a business major, but I did terribly my first year. Then I switched to history and made dean’s list almost every semester.

"I honestly give all the credit to my history professors," she says, "Joe Tempesta—I’ll never forget him; he was incredible—and Paul McBride, and my wonderful adviser, John Pavia. These men taught me how to think, to research, to read, to look at things in different ways. They taught me to challenge myself and have confidence in myself. I never would have gotten through college—literally—if it hadn’t been for that department and those teachers. And I sure wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing now."

Porter began shipping her huggable animals last spring. Now they’re sold at some 300 independent retail stores from the United States to Bermuda to the Philippines. Stores in other countries—Australia, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Sweden—are interested, too.

Porter devotes all her work time to the business. She has her hands full marketing, handling administrative work, and even hand-packing the smaller orders. A contract warehouse handles inventory and shipping, a contract production company oversees production of the animals in China, and independent sales representatives keep the product moving. Internet orders account for a hefty percentage of sales. First Omni, a Massachusetts company, created the Bula Bear Web site, and it has been very successful. Says Porter, "Tony Robbins, a motivational coach, taught me, ‘Find the people who are the best at what they do, and let them do it.’ Well, it has worked out well for me."

Bula Bear books are on the way, too. "We’re writing books about each animal to develop their personalities," says Porter. The first book has been written about Bula Bear and is now being illustrated. Rufus will be the next literary development. "But the most important theme in each book," says Porter, "is hugs—and how good they make you feel."

Photo by Jonathon Whitmore — courtesy Salem Evening News