Mothers and Daughters
in E-Commerce
Today, the Internet offers more opportunities for mothers and daughters
to work together—even those who don't live in the same city.
"When I had to move to Philly with my husband, it didn't affect
our business," explains Stephanie Heller Ostrow, 33, who owns
Artistic Judaic Promotions (www.ajp.com) with her mother Terry Heller,
in Englewood, Colorado. "I could log into my mom's computer
and it was just like being with her." Heller adds, "Our
business relationship keeps us close because even though Stephie
is living out of state, we talk on the phone all the time and it's
not just me bugging her with, 'What are you doing? What did you
have for dinner?' We've got plenty of real things to talk about."
Heller started the on-line business, which
sells Judaic art and ritual objects created by over 80 North American
and Israeli artists, in 1995. Her daughter originally joined Artistic
Judaic Promotions because she needed to do an internship while getting
her masters degree in business.
Stephanie Heller Ostrow and Terry Heller
"Stephanie had so many great ideas and competence in database
and other Internet skills that I lacked; it was a fabulous partnership,"
explains Heller. "I would have hired her full-time even if
she weren't my daughter."
Ostrow says that she found it a pleasure to
work with her mother from the start. "Mom and I are both very
driven and fast thinking," she says. "It's nice to have
a business partner who just happens to be my mother, who knows what
I'm going to say even before I say it." Now, when they talk
on the phone, both women admit that the biggest challenge is separating
pleasure from business. "When mom calls and says, 'This is
a mommy call,' I know it's time to stop working," says Ostrow.
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