As interest rates on credit cards continue to rise, homes values sink and the unemployment rate increases, aren't you ready to take a break from all the negativity that surrounds us and hear something positive? I thought so.

I had the opportunity to speak with Julie Clark, founder of Baby Einstein (educational videos for babies), and I wanted to share her amazing story. It's a story of a little startup that made it big. Her story motivates me, and I hope it will motivate you as well.

Clark was a former grade-school teacher and stay-at-home mom who had a simple idea. She wanted to share her love of the arts with her baby daughter.

But Clark didn't give up. She knew that her DVDs had been a hit with her daughter and her neighbors' children, and she believed in her product.

When she was pregnant with her second child, Clark went to a children's products trade show in New York in search of a buyer for her DVD. On her second day at the show, she found a buyer from Right Start Inc., a children's retail chain, and gave that buyer her DVD. Weeks went by, and she didn't hear anything.

Clark picked up the phone, called Right Start and told the receptionist she was returning a call from the buyer. When she finally got through, Clark persuaded the buyer to watch the video over the weekend. The buyer didn't think the video was anything special--but because of Clark's persistence, she ordered 100 DVDs to market at a few stores.

"I was through the roof." Clark says. "We were so excited about selling 100 DVDs." The DVDs flew off the shelves.Clark's husband had to jump on board to fill orders and, with a lot of hard work, Baby Einstein made $100,000 the first year.That was five times Clark's salary as a teacher. The following year, sales continued to soar.

One afternoon, when Clark and her husband were in New York on business, she received a call from Harpo Studios. Clark was invited to be on Oprah, and Oprah said her DVDs were the best gift for children.

After a few years, Clark decided to work on different projects and sold her company to Disney. "There is something in entrepreneurs that makes us take the risk. If you believe in your idea, you have to keep at it!" Clark says.

"Everything happened so fast," Clark says. "Looking back it seems like a blur. It was a dream come true."

Clark is teaching again and also working on a children's book about how to deal with breast cancer. She has also developed another video series for children, The Safe Side, about stranger safety.