Proface

A Scottish woman, residing in Spain, has saved the family home from foreclosure by her bank by selling her personally-designed jewelry 'gifts for Mom' online in the United States.

Fiona McLeod, originally from Edinburgh, Scotland, has lived on Majorca, a small, Mediterranean island off the Spanish coast, for 25 years. Her husband runs a Real Estate agency based there. "The downturn in the property market hit here very hard and Norm closed our offices to concentrate on working from home. But even that has become difficult and we were struggling to pay the mortgage."

Gift for a New Mom

In 2012, an American friend living on the same island had her first baby. Fiona wanted to buy her a gift to celebrate. "I intended to buy her a silver heart-shaped pendant," she says, "but locally, they say 'Mama' rather than the American version, 'Mom'. So I went online, and really, they all looked a bit similar. So I designed my own and had it made in a little, local jeweler's workshop." She was not ready for the reaction to her design.

"My girlfriend joined a local 'new moms' group meeting. There were four other American girls there. They all needed to know where she had bought the pendant." Recognizing the potential, Fiona ordered ten more pendants and chains. "It was amazing-- many of the girls bought two, and one bought three to send to her family in the States."

No Help from The Bank

Fiona's husband, Norm, encouraged her to take the step into selling the now-trademarked design in America. "Because our Property business was so bad, the bank would not even consider helping me to get started. All they wanted was cash in the account, not to lend even a cent. So I decided to risk nearly $1,000 of our personal savings. That didn't get a great deal of stock, but it was just enough to allow me open my little Amazon store in America. It's in Chantanooga," she jokes, "where the choo-choos come from!"

After 3 months on the Internet, the Mom-a-Mia sterling silver pendant and necklace is selling regularly on Amazon. "It's not making a huge amount, but the income is helping pay off our mortgage payments. It's been a huge relief," admits the work-at-home entrepreneur. Her husband, Norm, comments, "I'm not only proud of Fiona, but after 35 years of marriage, she could soon be making more money than me. How cool is that?"

Interest From the Big Stores?

The 'Mom-a-Mia' necklace has now drawn attention from two large, American national chains with branches in most US cities. "It's early days, but I really feel that I can turn this into a full-time business," admits Fiona, "and hopefully a little enterprise that I can hand down to our kids, Katie and Jamie, sometime in the future."

Fiona's 'Mom-a-Mia' pendant is imported into the USA from Spain. "$39.95 doesn't appear like a lot of money, but when you add a few sales together, it accumulates and keeps the bank manager off our backs," says Fiona. "I'm delighted we took the risk. I even offer a full year's money-back guarantee, but the comments from our American customers have been really positive."

Despite the recession, this woman's enterprise and endeavor shows that even in these cash-strapped times, a relatively small investment, an Internet connection and a simple 'gift for Mom' can save the family home from the clutches of a greedy bank manager-- even when the 'store' is located 3,500 miles away from the bank.