Southwest Airlines - SPIRIT Magazine - May 2010 Issue

The Visionary
Personal tragedy could have forced Laura J. Wellington to give up. Instead, she turned an old idea into a TV show that saved her family.

Age: 43

Location: Ridgewood, New Jersey

Occupations: CEO/co-founder of the Giddy Gander Company, co-founder/president of Wellington Consulting Company and Wellington Financial Systems

Mantra: “Failure is a good thing. It’s part of the process.

When her husband Dean died of cancer in August 2002, Laura J. Wellington thought she had lost everything. She was faced with running two companies—Wellington Consulting Company and Wellington Financial Systems—while also caring for her children.

She recovered slowly. “First I became well versed in our industries,” she says. “And then I kept building.” Spending time with the kids reminded her of an idea—something she thought of as a teenager. It involved funny-looking characters with big noses that hatched from watermelons.

Following her gut, she formed the Giddy Gander Company and made connections in television. She got investors onboard, too. Soon, she’d produced a segment, then a few episodes. Not two years after she’d sketched her first business plan, the show took off.

The 26-episode run of The Wumblers now airs regularly on several major cable stations, imparting values like acceptance and tolerance to millions of kids. It also proved instrumental in helping Wellington’s children cope with the loss of their father.

“It was a saving grace,” Wellington says. “It pulled my family back together.”

Wellington did it the hard way, seeking investors and working the phones. With the means of production becoming more democratized, however, people will increasingly find ways to make money from their pet passions and big ideas. Anyone with a small amount to invest can already self-publish a book, record a podcast, or even hire an animator to create a one-episode cartoon.

“Don’t let fear stop you,” Wellington says. “Fear is your greatest friend.”