Julie Aigner Clark
Inspired by her own children, a passion for the arts, and a liberal arts education, Julie embarked on an entrepreneurial journey that began with founding Baby Einstein, an edutainment company for infants that became an international phenomenon and was acquired by Disney for $25 million before it was five years old. More than 20 million Baby Einstein books written by Julie have been sold worldwide, making her a New York Times bestselling children’s book author. Baby Einstein music also was awarded four Gold Albums by RIAA, and her treatment for a children’s television show was used by The Disney Channel to develop its highly popular and award-winning show, Little Einsteins.
Following Disney’s acquisition of Baby Einstein, Julie founded The Safe Side Company and created Emmy Award-winning child safety videos. After a bout with cancer, she applied her own experience as a survivor and published a picture book emphasizing the importance of love for cancer-coping families.
Her interest in creating tools to support good parenting next led her to co-founding WeeSchool and the development of app-based resources that tracked developmental milestones and provided parents with activities that contributed to the preschool readiness of their children. WeeSchool was acquired by Teaching Strategies, LLC. in 2019, and later by KKR.
In 2007, Julie’s work was recognized by President George W. Bush during his State of the Union Address. She is a recipient of the Michigan State University Distinguished Alumni Award and Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award, among other awards. Julie has been a keynote at University of Denver’s Voices of Experience, the Harvard Business School, the Banff World Media Festival and other events. She has been featured on national television and in publications including People Magazine, Oprah, Kiplingers, USA Today, The Today Show, The View and CNBC.
Creativity. Collaboration. Leadership.
Will Clark
Will loves to make stuff and solve the puzzle of finding markets for interesting publishing ideas.
He had a paper route as a boy and saw a UFO while delivering the San Diego Union, started an 24/7 answering service in La Jolla, CA, while in high school, and migrated to New York City after a half-assed effort to earn a journalism degree at San Diego State.
In New York, he worked for a corporate communications and industrial design firm whose clients included The White House, NASA, Mead, Fairchild and Rockwell.
After returning to college to study physics at Drew University, he stumbled across laser videodisc technology in a magazine article. He and two friends, Betty Paxton and Ralph Heigl, founded Optical Data Corporation to pioneer the use of videodisc as a teaching resource and archival medium, including publication of Windows on Science, the first technology-based curriculum program adopted as a textbook. Will was named an “Educator of the Decade” by Electronic Learning and an “Entrepreneur of the Year” by Ernst & Young for his work at Optical Data.
Will later helped his wife, Julie, launch and grow Baby Einstein, a highly profitable, world-class franchise that was acquired by Disney in 2001.
Will has been blessed with two daughters, both video game designers, a passion for travel and the good fortune to pursue that passion, and the opportunity to work with exceptional people throughout his career.
The Optical Data Team
It’s impossible to adequately describe the collective creativity, work ethic, commitment to excellence, and sense of history-making that was the Optical Data workforce from 1981 to 1996, when the company was acquired by McGraw-Hill. Development team members explored emerging technologies, like computer-assisted instruction, graphics-based browsing, digital music and DVD, and published the company’s award-winning educational and consumer products in Warren, NJ. The company’s educational programs were distributed to school districts nationwide by a field sales force and supported by a teacher-training corps. With its surprise success in the 1993 Texas Elementary Science Adoption, Optical Data permanently disrupted the traditional textbook market leading to industry consolidation and fundamental changes in textbook product models.
The Baby Einstein Team
Sometimes big things start small and stay small. Julie and Will started Baby Einstein in a spare room in their Atlanta home in 1996. Five years later, prior to being acquired by Disney, Baby Einstein’s team consisted of Julie and Will, Mark Burr, videographer and editor, Will Weisbach, music director and sound designer, Nadeem Zaidi, graphic designer, Jeff Mettais, business development, Grace Yeager, customer support director, and five part-time moms who answered incoming telephone calls. This small team created a new publishing genre— developmental media — produced 11 videos, 6 albums and 10 books, created a unique visual style, pioneered online sales channels, and grew sales from $100,000 in 1997 to $22 million in 2001.
Notices
The Sate Side, Happy Appy, Cancer Assassin, You Are The Best Medicine, and The Perfect Drive are trademarks of Aigner Clark LLC.
Baby Einstein is a registered trademark of Baby Einstein, LLC.
Calm is a registered trademark of Calm.com, Inc.