Have you gotten your most recent Talbot’s catalog? Neiman Marcus? Doesn’t just looking through the slick pages of professional photography, glamorous models and stylish clothes and accessories conjure up images of sophisticated designers working in their New York City lofts?... Well, think again. How about a cotton field in Hollandale, Mississippi?

Lea Margaret and Company, a children’s accessory manufacturing company got its start in 1993 in an abandoned gas company building in the middle of a cotton field in Hollandale. The result of much hard work, a natural creative flare, and a lifelong desire of owner Lea Margaret McLaurin, the company has become a successful business with sales of $300,000 last year, ten employees and sales representatives in Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta and Boston. McLaurin’s products have been featured in several national catalogs and are shipped all over the United States as well as overseas.

It all began when McLaurin was in school at Mississippi State University, where she earned a degree in apparel, textiles and merchandising. "I should have been working on my grades," she laughs, "but instead I had what you would call a ‘dorm-based business’." She was making wedding accessories that her mother, Margaret McLaurin, could use in her business as a wedding consultant. There was a need for high quality, heirloom accessories that could be passed down to future generations. Lea Margaret used the skills nurtured by her mother and grandmother as a child, such as embroidery, hand sewing and beading to create a line of products for which there was eventually a sales representative in New York. When one of her creations was featured in a bridal fashion show in New York City, she knew she was on to something, and with her entrepreneurial plans firmly in place, Lea Margaret and Company was born.

Upon graduation in 1990, McLaurin moved to Jackson and was working for The Ashford Collection, a children’s clothing line, and was enjoying "city life." The wedding accessories line was doing well as a side business, and in 1992 she and her mother developed a line of mascot or theme jewelry. This idea blossomed after her mother attended the Mississippi State Liberty Bowl game that year wearing a rhinestone "Bulldog" pin. "She could have sold that pin a thousand times that day," says McLaurin, "People were asking where she got it and would have paid any price for it. So that got us thinking we should design a few things." They found a company who could produce their designs and ordered 25 sterling silver bulldog pins created by Lea Margaret. They were snapped up immediately, and the line has grown tremendously since then with the addition of a new mascot or theme about every six months.

Unexpectedly, a job with the Northwest Mississippi Girl Scouts Council became available, which McLaurin accepted. It is based in Greenwood, but has an office in Greenville, only a few miles from Hollandale. "I had to wonder why in the world I was moving back to Hollandale, when I had such a fun life in Jackson. My friends thought I was nuts!" said McLaurin. "But it has been the best decision I ever made because I had been doing the wedding accessories the whole time I was in Jackson and by the time I’d been with the Girl Scouts about a year and a half, the jewelry was going ‘gang-busters’ and we could barely keep up with the orders. The businesses were getting too big to continue working out of our home. Then, through a friend, my mother and I heard about a children’s accessories manufacturing company called Small Statements for sale in Dallas. It seemed perfect for us and the timing was right so, we knew we had some big decisions to made."

Lea Margaret and Company bought out Small Statements in 1993. McLaurin and her mother moved to Dallas to learn the "ins and outs" of the business and came home three months later with an 18-wheeler full of children’s accessories. They had located the empty gas company building, rented it and moved in. "We were literally in the middle of a cotton field taking orders. I remember talking to an associate from Dun and Bradstreet on the phone one day and he was asking if we were in an industrial setting or commercial, and I told him ‘Listen, we’re in located in the middle of a cotton field in the Mississippi Delta!’ He nearly dropped the phone he was laughing so hard," remembers McLaurin.

Since Small Statements had sold to Neiman Marcus, Talbot’s and Nordstrom’s, they had an immediate in-road to the national market and after the transition, McLaurin began to research avenues for marketing, importing and exporting. Via the Internet she found that the hardware she needed for her products could be obtained much less expensively overseas, so she began importing goods from Taiwan. Due to the success of her lines over the next three years at market, Lea Margaret and Company’s products are now selling in seven different countries.

In 1996, McLaurin’s mother unexpectedly died, causing Lea Margaret to do some deep soul searching about the business, and whether or not she wanted to continue running it alone. "At the time business was strong. We were selling to Talbot’s, Neiman’s, Jacobson’s, Chocolate Soup and lots of small shops. But it was a hard decision to continue, because we had taken every step in this business together. I seriously considered closing it down. But at the same time I felt that I should go on with it because mother worked so hard with me and she knew it had been my lifelong dream," said McLaurin. Also during this time, many friends were trying to talk her into opening a florist’s shop, something Hollandale had been without for five years. McLaurin had some experience in floral design and had done freelance work for friends for many years. "It was something I enjoyed doing, and I thought it might be good to focus on something new at the time, but I hated giving up the business Mother and I had built together."

So, taking another giant leap of faith, McLaurin decided to do both. "I really talked to a lot of other business owners in town and they agreed that Hollandale could support a flower shop with its population of 3,500 as well as everyone who works here," said McLaurin. Of course, at this point, a new physical location that could house the two businesses, which both fall under the name Lea Margaret and Company, was necessary. McLaurin decided to build a new building in town. "I am committed to Hollandale. I could have made a big move after Mama died, but my roots are here and I decided that this is where I need to be. I like the Delta, I love it, and anything I have needed for my businesses has either been readily available or is easily found with the advanced technology we have today."

According to McLaurin the floral business has gone extremely well partly, she says, because "People in these small Delta towns really support your efforts and appreciate the convenience of not always having to travel to the larger towns for everything they need. I would really encourage anyone with a business idea to give it a try, and stick it out with those of us who have chosen to remain in the Delta. Modern technology makes almost anything possible, no matter the location, if there is a market for it." Her efforts have been recognized by others as well. In 1995, McLaurin was recognized by the Mississippi State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences for outstanding contribution to business, and in 1997 the Alumni Association bestowed her with the Prestigious Young Alumnus Award.

The demands of running such diverse businesses under one roof are great but sometimes comical says McLaurin. "Some of our big accounts are Neiman Marcus, Talbot’s, Jacobson’s, Chocolate Soup and Raschel’s out of Massachusetts. They might order 3,000 hair bows or head bands at a time. On typical day with these businesses I may be shipping samples of my new fall line to national companies like Stride Rite or Neiman’s, while also providing flowers for a funeral or a wedding, or both! The other day I sent some of my jewelry to Greece. It’s a lot sometimes, but I love it." DBJ

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