|
 |
|
I started working
for Princess Cruises back in 1985 as a Production Manager. My job
entailed handling all of the technical aspects of our entertainment
department on-board, plus running the disco at night. One of the female
guest entertainers on board had brought her sister, Alison, on for a
holiday in January of '86. She introduced the two of us, and we hit it
off right away. When I found out she was a singer as well, I suggested
she audition for the line, and, together, we could sail the seven seas
on the "Love Boat". Well, she did audition and they hired her as a guest
entertainer to front all our big production shows. That happened in
January of '87, and for the next 12 years we have led a wonderfully
charmed life seeing the world together, and entertaining thousands of
people.
During that time, a number of our magicians, jugglers, and other
specialty acts would come on with their show music on MiniDisc. As you
can imagine, I went crazy for the format. If the Cruise Director needed
the performer to add or subtract some time from their shows, all they
had to do was use the editing feature to rearrange the order of their
music, and they were good to go. I've been a fan ever since!!
As with probably any job, though, even one as great as ours, there comes
a time when it just doesn't satisfy like it used to. In late '98, we
decided the time was right to take a leave of absence from Princess and
give land a try. Since we really didn't know what we were going to do,
it was a little scary. With all the hype surrounding the internet, we
felt a home-based web business was the direction we should go.
We bought our first ever computer for Christmas '98 and spent the next
year studying, exploring the web, and evaluating every business
opportunity we could find.
In spite of a lot of research, we were really stumped as to what to sell
on the net. Then, one day my mother-in-law said, "If you love MiniDisc
so much, and there are almost no places to buy MD products, why don't
you create a website specializing in MiniDisc accessories." Duh!! It was
staring at us all along!
So, began a quest: finding suppliers from all around the world, making
some products ourselves, getting creative with accessories designed for
other purposes, learning about websites, URLs, ISPs, FTPs, etc. etc,
etc..... What a journey!
Now, we have a website with over 300 different products with more on the
way. It continues to be a lot of hard work, but after hearing from so
many appreciative MD owners, we both agree we're on the right track.
Alison occasionally goes back to sea from time to time just to keep up
her chops, when she's not in a show here on land. Life is good.
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
Hi! I'm the Alison
that Phil keeps referring to above. Yep, he's got the chronology just
about right, and I am now assisting him as his Office Manager,
Bill-Payer, and all-round answerer of those ubiquitous, Hey-hun-what-do-you-think-about-this-idea-for-the-business
questions.
Phil and I have been married since 1990. Whereas most couples would
endure the snakes and rats of Fear Factor rather than spend up to 20
hours a day with their better halfs, Phil and I found that we worked
harmoniously together on the ship-a very small and potentially
claustrophobic place. We decided we might work equally as well at home
with our own business; so far, so good.
I still do occasional 4-6 month contracts aboard Princess Cruises, and I
also perform in musicals in the San Francisco Bay Area.
As for kids - 217 teddy bears, for now. Working at sea restricted us to
the No Pets, No Plants, No Kids precept. When we finally establish
ourselves as a permanent land-based couple, we'll consider a kitty, a
fern and a family.
We hope that you LOVE our company's products, and that you become part
of our MDA family of satisfied minidisc fans! |
|
