In May 2008, Lauren Bergmann was a stay-at-home mother preparing for her daughter's 6th birthday party. She wanted Madison to wear a tutu and began searching online.

 

Leopard-print outfit from Lauren Bergmann's Cotton Candy Shop, which is based in McKinney. The shop makes a colorful array of girls and boys clothing.

An idea was planted. The seed for Cotton Candy Shop, an online boutique owned and operated by Bergmann, of McKinney, was about to sprout.

She was unable to find something she liked online and realized there might be a market for her idea. She started out with a Myspace page for her business and quickly began getting orders. Soon she decided to set up her own Web site.

"There may have been a teensy bit of motivation also to be able to have the extra money to buy the things that most moms do not buy themselves," Bergmann says. "I had no idea what to expect."

One month later, Bergmann's husband lost his job, and Cotton Candy Shop's revenue supported the family for a while.

"I surely wasn't prepared for my hobby to become how we paid the mortgage," Bergmann says. "To be honest, this turmoil helped, because it changed my mind-set and I was forced to find ways to expand."

The shop's success allowed Bergman's husband to start his own business. She describes it as one of her proudest moments. "We never thought that both of us would end up owning our own businesses."

 

On left: Barbie-themed outfit from the Cotton Candy Shop

Her husband now owns an insurance agency. He also helps with Cotton Candy Shop.

Bergmann makes no apologies for her choices.

"I feel like stay-at-home moms always have to defend themselves, to account for their time in the day or to feel guilt when there should be no guilt," she says.

"If you are a stay-at-home mom, you have the perfect opportunity to find and nurture your passion. Who knows? Your passion may someday allow your husband the opportunity to follow his passion."

Aside from all that, she says there is no better feeling than when Madison gets home from school and both parents are there and able to ask about her day.

Bergmann's shop has continued to grow. "Our store is doing amazingly well in the economy today," she says.

The shop offers a variety of clothing with a focus on holiday costumes, birthday outfits, tutus, customized apparel, portrait clothes and everyday wear with classical and modern styles.

Bergmann designs all the tutus and clothes. She employs one seamstress and one backup to help with production. Her customers have become the models for her Web site.

Her goal for 2009 is to bring in $100,000. She says she may even exceed this amount because Halloween and Christmas are the busiest times of the year.

Maternity clothing is expected to launch in 2010, and a pajama line is launching this summer. Bergmann describes the upcoming adult line as traditional with a twist.

 

Bergmann, 29, launched the boutique after searching online for a tutu for her daughter, Madison, now 7.

Bergmann's love of fashion and clothes began when she was a little girl.

"My mom would always dress me in stuff that no one else had. Looking back, when I had a daughter, I wanted to do that, too."

Soon after she opened for business, customers began sending her pictures of their daughters in her tutus.

"To this day," Bergmann wrote in her blog, "receiving those pictures is still the best part about this business."

Rori Harrington is a Dallas freelance writer.