How business, doctors and journalists prey on your food anxieties I

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James Weber, president of 0'Brien Interna6anal
Keeping Ronald Perelman's companies from going under .
Sink or swim
Jamss W=_aeR spent three
cears at Pillsbur~before
joining S7o0 million
sales i Coleman Co . . a
camping equipment outfit
controlled bv Mae-
Andrew's & Forbes,in
1989 .After a vear
dicestin^ unrelated <strong>business</strong>es,
he tackled the mone~losing
hot-tub unit .
"The% thought thev'd
shrink the balance sheet
<strong>and</strong> close it," says W'eber,
35 . "[nstcad, I created a
real <strong>business</strong> ."
He upgraded products,
started a ne«ad canr
paign <strong>and</strong> cut invcnton•
bv $2 million . Result : S 1
million profit in 1992 on
S15 million in re%enue,
That vear NSacAndresvs
o«ner Ronald Pereiman
mored him to Redmond,
Wash .-based O'Brien International,
a water-ski
equipment maker that
had lost 57 million in
three vears .
It had dated graphics,
lousv dealer senice, <strong>and</strong>
equipment }'ou had to be
an expert to use . Weber redesigned
the products,
closed a factory <strong>and</strong> a distribution
center <strong>and</strong> spent
`5500,000 on a ne%r computer
system .
Last year, on 523 million
in sales, O'Brien made
a S1 million profit, its first
in five years .
Dress for success
CYNrxI.1 ROWLEY st<strong>and</strong>s
out in a crowd, donning
high heels to ride her Suzuki
DR125 motorcvcle to
work each day in Manhattan
. And in the cynical
world of Seventh Aeenue,
the designer's funky, updated
retro fashions are
turning heads .
Her dresses, sportswear,
shoes <strong>and</strong> accessories
racked up S 12 million
wholesale last fiscal year, to
places like Saks Fifrh A~enue,
Neiman Marcus <strong>and</strong>
Bloomingdale's . That's
up 30% from 1993 .
Now, with fin<strong>and</strong>ng
from cash flow, Rowley,
37, is going retail-in the
last ten months opening
stores in New York <strong>and</strong>
Chicago ; Tokyo, Maniia
<strong>and</strong> Los Angeles open by
year-end .
Rowley, who attended
the Art Institute of Chicago,
produced her first
collection in 1981 .
Next : knitwear, jeans
<strong>and</strong> fragrances . "Ijust can't
say no," she says of new
lines . "Because I
can't believe I have the
opportunity ."
Hard-core girl
"I SHOWED an interest in
numbers earlv on," says
Nanc}Hawthorne, 44,
chief financial officer of
Continental Cablaision
since 1992 .
The Han°ard-trained
M .B .A . started out doing
commercial lending at
Citibank's broadcast <strong>and</strong>
cable group, where Continental
~ras a client . She
mo 'ed brietly to Bankers
_ 'I-antineitai
- Cabievisloc's
Nancy
Havdhorne
Despite
Dad's dictum,
she's
A a financial
success .
i
f
Designer
Cy^tnia Rwley
"1 just can't
say no ."
"But m~~ father said
such hard-core things
weren'c appropriate for
girls ."
; Luckily , she didn't listen
ten to Dad . Since joining
~ the companv in 1982, she
has helped increase cash
tlo«° elevenfold, to an estimated
$580 million this
vear . Among her accomplishments
: in 1992, a
$600 million pricare equin
placement, a high figure
in the cable indusm .
Trust . Then Continental
offered her the treasurer's
job in 1982 .
Up next ; Ha~cthorne
will help take Continental
public by year-end . Atid
rumors are t1ving that she is
engineering an impending
investment in the firm
bv U 5 West or arRT,
Hawthorne confirms
there have been talks
but no deal-vet . "You
need major hmding for
telephoni
I
166
2046073422
Forbee a August 14 . 1995
http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/agf97d00/pdf