FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                            CONTACT   Eric Moffitt, 50 Eggs Films:   719-250-2725

                                                                                                                                                        Mary Mazzio, 50 Eggs Films: 781-237-3329

                                                                                                                                                      Michael Chmura, Babson:     781-239-4549

 

NATION’S LEADING ENTREPRENEURS PAY TRIBUTE

TO THEIR MOTHERS IN NEW FILM, Lemonade Stories

 

Wellesley, MA (April 23, 2004) – More than 11.3 percent of adults in the United States were engaged in entrepreneurial activity last year.  Celebrating this entrepreneurial spirit is Lemonade Stories, a new film by award-winning film maker Mary Mazzio, which profiles great entrepreneurs including Richard Branson (Virgin), Arthur Blank (Home Depot and the Atlanta Falcons), and Russell Simmons (Def Jam).

 

These entrepreneurs share the secrets of their success and talk about the person who ignited their entrepreneurial spirit – their moms.  Richard Branson’s sense of risk-taking, for example, emerged from the life and example of his mother, Eve, a pilot and WWII Veteran.  Billy Starr, founder of the Pan-Mass Challenge, is motivated by his mother’s death from cancer to raise more than $100 million for cancer research.  Arthur Blank’s vision of Home Depot was inspired by the example of his mother, a widow with no business experience who took over and ran a family business with enormous success.

 

 “What is fascinating is that many of the mothers featured in the film were raised at a time when women were not expected to work.  Yet all of these women were risk-takers and encouraged their children to take risks to achieve their dreams,” Mazzio said. “These moms also stood by their children later in life, in moments of failure and times of crisis. Richard Branson and Russell Simmons both claim they would have gone out of business, but for last minute loans from their mothers, who stepped up when no one else did.”

 

Lemonade Stories will debut at Babson College (ranked No. 1 by U.S. News & World Report as the best college for entrepreneurship) on April 23, 2004 during its 25th annual Founder’s Day celebration of entrepreneurial spirit, where the mothers featured in the film will be honored by Babson for their contributions to business.  Babson will host a screening open to the public on Sunday, April 25th at 4PM at Babson’s Sorenson Center for the Arts.  ($10 adults, free for students).  The film will also air nationwide on Friday, May 7, 2004 at 9PM EST on CNNfn with segments on CNN the week prior.

 

“Babson College is a firm believer that the entrepreneurial spirit dwells within everyone,” says Babson College President Brian M. Barefoot.  “Lemonade Stories wonderfully depicts how that spirit can be nurtured and developed within the family.  Just as we are honored to assist our students in shaping their entrepreneurial abilities, so too are we honored to be a part of Lemonade Stories.”

 

For more information on the film and its entrepreneurs, please log on to www.lemonadestories.com.

 

Mary Mazzio, herself an entrepreneur, former law firm partner, and Olympian (1992 Olympic Games - Rowing), wrote, produced, and directed the award-winning film A Hero for Daisy (hailed by The New York Times as “a landmark film” and Sports Illustrated as “fantastic”) and Apple Pie (“warm and illuminating…told with deftness and emotion…priceless”-The New York Times; “fantastic”- National Public Radio; “excellent” – CNN).  Both films aired prime-time, nationwide on ESPN (among other outlets in the US and Canada) and are in thousands of classrooms across the country.  For more information about these films, please log on to www.50eggs.com.  Mazzio, President and CEO of 50 Eggs, Inc., is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and Georgetown Law School, and serves on several non-profit boards.

 

Babson College, located in Wellesley, Massachusetts, is recognized internationally for its entrepreneurial leadership in a changing global environment. Babson grants BS degrees through its innovative undergraduate school. It grants MBA and custom MS and MBA degrees through the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College. Additionally, Babson offers executive education programs.  For more information, please log on to www.babson.edu.

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