Mother and daughter make it their business to help others

Last Updated on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 03:10 pm Written by Cindy Nevitt Saturday, June 16, 2012 01:00 am

Mother-and-daughter entrepreneurs Sherri Asea and Madison Taylor each started their own business about four years ago, both with the intention of helping others. Like many mothers and daughters, Sherri Asea and her daughter Madison Taylor share a lot in common. Sherri chauffeurs Madison to her softball games and her theater auditions, and the two are known to pal around at Positively 4th Street Café in Ocean City in their leisure time.

What makes this mother-daughter duo a bit different is that both started their own businesses about four years ago, and each one chose to do something that focused on others.

“My passion is to help people with their passion,” said Sherri, who operates Integrity Life Coaching, which she describes as counseling “people about their challenges and their future goals.”

“That’s why I’m so passionate with my daughter,” she said. “I know how powerful it is to do what you love.”

Madison, 11, created Clips-n-Sticks around the same time her mother gave up her talent and modeling agency in Margate to concentrate on teaching girls about inner beauty rather than outer beauty.

Clips-n-Sticks started as a crafts project at Sherri’s Ocean City home where, Sherri said, she is “all about programs” for keeping Madison and her friends interested and occupied. The idea for the “clips” came from a cancer benefit where Madison saw people pinning clothes pins on one another as a way of “passing the love.” She decided to do something similar.

“At first, I did it just for fun,” Madison said. “Then I decided I wanted to help people.”

After decorating her clothes pins, she started selling them and donating the money from sales to charities, among them the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. A fifth-grade classmate at Dawes Avenue School in Somers Point, who receives care at CHOP, inspired Madison to designate the hospital as a recipient of her donations, she said.

She also expanded upon the idea and added “sticks,” which are decorated tongue depressors that can be used as bookmarks. She charges $1 for a clip or a stick, and in four years, has donated hundreds of dollars to charity, taking no money for herself, including the cost of supplies.

That could be changing soon. Madison and her mother recently met with a bank and a small business advisor, and both told them the same thing: she needs to start taking a “salary” for herself and she needs to start making the business pay for itself.

“We’re getting to the point where we feel like, ‘Let’s get aggressive’ with this,” Sherri said.

The advisor with whom the mother and daughter spoke also suggested ideas for expanding the business. One idea that appeals to Madison is the party entertainment field, where she and her friends would dress in a certain theme and carry that theme out at the party. At the end, partygoers would make their own clips and sticks.

This year, for the third summer, Madison will set up her Clips-n-Sticks stand at Ocean City’s Farmer’s Market on Wednesdays at the Ocean City Tabernacle.

To learn more about Clips-n-Sticks, see www.clipsnsticks.com, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 432-4333. The clips in Clips-n-Sticks are clothes pins that can be used as chip clips, the sticks are decorated tongue depressors that can be used as bookmarks. Clips-n-Sticks sales benefit charities such as the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

The clips in Clips-n-Sticks are clothes pins that can be used as chip clips, the sticks are decorated tongue depressors that can be used as bookmarks. Clips-n-Sticks sales benefit charities such as the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.