About Us

The first Blankie Keeper was developed out of desperate necessity! My daughter was nowhere near ready to let go or get rid of her blanket when it literally began to shred in the wash. I stitched it several times but for every seam I made, a new rip materialized. I finally convinced her to put it in a little pillowcase and leave it alone. Four years later it is still her number one cuddly bedmate. Dolls and stuffed animals have come and gone, but her blankie is still by her side inside the first ever Blankie Keeper.

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Developer, Leslie A.M. Smith, has a background in public relations specializing in community relations. After working in association management, she began her own public relations consulting business in 1994. Since embarking on parenthood in 1999, her number one community is her family of four and her faithful dog. The business works around her priorities beautifully and there is never a dull moment in the Smith household.

Working from home and volunteering alongside many other maternal types in Junior League and the PTA, she finds inspiration from the needs and wants they have in common. It is one of those great women she was having lunch with, discussing their children’s disintegrating security blankets, who encouraged her to develop and market the Blankie Keeper instead of pitching a how-to article about it to Parents magazine.

Since she is a pretty crafty person, she was able to put together some prototypes and make this venture a reality.

In the meantime, she posts a blog about different challenges of motherhood, life and making sense of it all. You can read her pithy thoughts and irreverent observations at http://leslieamsmith.blogspot.com.

A past president of the Junior League of Long Beach, she credits that experience with her ability to create and follow-through with an entrepreneurial plan that makes an impact. “Never underestimate the value of volunteering,” she says. “I have learned more from volunteering for the American Cancer Society, YMCA, and Junior League than I ever learned earning a paycheck. The bonus is that I have life-long friends from each experience.”

She has a few more business ideas up her sleeve, so keep an eye out for what’s next.