When Susanna Stroud Maples ’91 became a mom in 2002, she sought the perfect baby book – a unique, high-quality book to tell the story of her and her husband’s adopted baby boy.

Instead she found uninspiring books with immunization charts, dental records and other pages so detailed she knew she would never fill them out. A little research told her she wasn’t alone, and the market was ripe for a new brand of baby book. So she began creating her own, with plans of marketing to masses of busy mommies online.

“I included things that I wanted to read in my baby book, but I scaled down and shortened them,” she said. “They’re so general and open-ended that parents can go back and fill them out when their child is 3 or 5.”

With 15 years of sales and management experience – including working with two venture capital startups during the dot-com boom – Maples knew what it took to launch a business, and she had lots of family and friends cheering her on. In July, she left an executive position to focus on her baby books.

With beautiful illustrations, easy-to-answer questions and plenty of room for photos, The Baby Book Boutique (www.thebabybookboutique.com) offers books specifically for pregnancy, domestic adoptions, international adoptions, Gladney Center adoptions, twins and triplets.

Maples has been spotlighted by several prominent publications. She won a DICE (Distinction, Innovation, Creative, Excellence) award and sold out in Texas to targeted, high-end retail distributors at the Dallas International Gift and Home Accessories Market. Bloomingdale’s spotted her at a New York show and cut a deal to stock her books by Christmas. Mexico retailers are talking about Spanish translations, and Focus on the Family is interested in the books for its ministry in Europe, she said. Yet Maples hasn’t even begun promoting Internet sales – her initial distribution channel.

“It’s grown so fast and it’s been so well received that I’m going to have to add a full staff,” Maples said, noting that TCU MBA students who used her business for a supply chain class project are interested in coming on board.

And baby books are just the beginning. Plans are already in the works for similar books for debutantes, summer camp and sororities, among others.