Hillary Mendelsohn

Frustrated by the seemingly random results generated by most
Internet search engines, Hillary Mendelsohn decided to
create a comprehensive resource to help online shoppers like
herself, drawing on experience as a busy professional and
equally busy wife and parent.

With an education in literature and the law, Mendelsohn
began her career in the entertainment industry, co-founding
a management and production company before helping to spin
off toys, apparel and other products from entertainment
properties such as Terminator 2, Mortal Combat and Baywatch
at The Licensing Group in Los Angeles. A year later she
launched her own consulting firm, Poetic Licensing, which
has since brought its marketing expertise to such clients as
Warner Bros., Franchise Pictures, Sega, Imax, and the Vatican.

Several years ago, Mendelsohn’s first, late-night attempt at
online shopping led her to a revelation – and a new venture.
Having typed a “very specific” query into a search engine
and received no less than 367 matches, she found that only
seven had any relevance. With no available resource guide on
the market, she began to create online shopping lists for
herself. They proved popular among her friends. So popular,
in fact, that Mendelsohn spent three years compiling the
ultimate resource, thepurplebook.

Mendelsohn is actively involved with several organizations
including C.O.A.C.H. for kids, providing mobile medical
treatment for low-income children through Cedars Sinai
Hospital in Los Angeles; and is the executive director of
FLASH, a safety and preparedness program newly launched in
all of California’s 8,000 public schools.