Before her son was born, Billie had a successful career as an engineer. She was an analyst at International Paper Company's world headquarters and spent 6 years on Wall Street at The Chase Manhattan Bank, initially in the Operations Department, and later as a Second V.P. in the Controller's Department.

In 1983 she started her own company, importing costume jewelry from Paris and Milan, which she visited twice yearly for the trade shows. That business abruptly stopped when her baby was born. It became untenable for her to bring her baby with her on sales calls.

The gift basket of Discovery Toys that her newborn baby received caused her to notice that he was more fascinated with these toys than his other toys! He found the bright colors and fun sounds engaging. It was apparent that these award-winning toys were designed with great care to stimulate brain development. Mommies in her new moms group wanted to know where they could buy them. She joined the company and has been there ever since.

Billie's love of travel (she's visited 31 countries on 5 continents) has been fed by the company's annual incentive trips, most recently to Rio de Janeiro. She continues to pursue the wide variety of things that interest her from Art Deco, to the stock market, genealogy, old movies, and opera, all while raising her child and working at a home-based business she thoroughly enjoys. She holds a BS from Columbia and an MS from Stanford.