Terri Alpert
Founder and CEO of Stony Creek Brands including
Uno Alla Volta
The Artisan Table
Cooking Enthusiast
Professional Cutlery Direct
Select media coverage
2. Select Awards
2007
Entrepreneur Moms of The Year
Terri was one of three American
women selected for this honor in
the first year it was given.
2010: 2002
Cooking Enthusiast wins Inc 5000. The Award of
2007, 2008, 2009, 2010: Excellence For
Uno Alla Volta wins Inc 5000 award. Entrepreneurship
1999, 2000, 2001:
Professional Cutlery Direct
2001 wins Inc 500 award.
New Breed Of Innovators
Terri was named the “Cutting-
Edge Kid” and one of fourteen
must watch executives in the
catalog industry
2009
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Blue Ribbon Award
Uno Alla Volta is one of only 56 U.S. businesses to win this
honor. "Winners of the Blue Ribbon Small Business Award
represent the country's finest business success stories," said
Thomas J. Donohue, the U.S. Chamber's president and
2009 2000 CEO. "In today's difficult business climate, it is especially
Enterprising Woman of the PCD is the important to highlight those companies that continue to
Year Runner-Up For excel. It is their dedication to sound business principles that
One of 36 Nationally Innovating will enable us to rebuild our nation's economy."
Customer Service
3. National Press
PCD and CE – Experts in Kitchen Tools
2005: “The Kindest Cut” – Cooking
Enthusiast, a source for fine cutlery.
1993: Recommends Professional Cutlery
Direct as the place for knives.
1994: Cook’s Illustrated lists Professional
Cutlery Direct as the primary source of knives
for their first ever test of chef’s knives.
Excerpted from “Square Spoons
in Round Pots Create a Stir in Excerpted from “Take a Dip Back into
Excerpted from “The Kindest Cut” December 6, 1999 Kitchens” January 31, 2000 the Old Fondue Pot”
''If the person you're buying the knife for is not likely “With a round spoon, you may as “The reason fondue always comes back
to be diligent on maintenance, choose a harder knife,'' well be using the tip of a is because it’s food as entertainment-
says Terri Alpert, CEO of Professional Cutlery Direct screwdriver (to scrape) what’s at and that resonates with a lot of people,”
(www.cutlery.com, 800 859-6994), a catalog and Web the bottom of the pan,” Alpert says Terri Alpert, CEO of Professional
retailer. says. “Round spoons are for Cutlery Direct…”
eating. Square spoons are for
cooking.”
4. National Press
On Terri, Entrepreneur and Innovator
2000: Terri Alpert named one of its “New Breed of
Innovators” by CatalogAge Magazine.
2004: Excerpted from “Connecticut At Its Best - You can Go Home
Again” Ms. Alpert doesn't think Connecticut is sufficiently pro-business.
''It has some of the highest health insurance costs,'' she claims, as well as
Excerpted from “Something to prove: What happens when steep payroll taxes and workman's compensation rates. ''Wages for call
you tell a woman she can’t.” May/June 2008 centers and distribution centers are higher here and workers are harder
to come by.''
As the only woman physics major at Brown University in 1984,
Alpert never felt accepted by her classmates. “They looked at
me as if I were from another planet.” After college, Alpert
worked at Morgan Stanley. On maternity leave, she decided to
start a company with less than $10,000. “My colleagues
thought I was crazy. The hardest challenge is the most Excerpted from “Serial Entrepreneurs: They Just Can’t Stop
appealing. Having others tell me I can't do something only Themselves” March 2005
motivates me more."
Don’t fall in love with the product. When Terri Alpert started her
first company, now the Cooking Enthusiast catalog, she devised her
business model before devising the business. When she set about
starting Uno Alla Volta, she looked for products that were more
Excerpted from “Class Act: How you went from class difficult to source [staving off competition] and settled on one-of-a-
clown, jock or geek to entrepreneur.” November kind artisanal …. She’s excited about her product, but far more so
2005 about her refined business model.
Terri Alpert describes herself as being social but also Also
“very nerdy” in high school. She believes her high “Recruiting Strategies: Motivation” October 1999
school traits help her now as an entrepreneur. “Moving Up and Out” December 1999
Besides being the photography editor for the school “Estate Planning” December 2000
newspaper, Alpert was also captain of the math team.
5. Direct-to-Consumer
Industry
Terri is a leader in her industry.
She is actively involved in educating her
colleagues and shaping public policy.
Excerpted from “A Cut Above” August 2008 Cover Story
6 Tips From Terri
1. Never Rest On Your Laurels. Change can happen in an instant.
2. Use Your Financial Statements As a Rearview Mirror. Focus on the road ahead so you prepare yourself for the first tip.
3. Don’t Skimp On Inventory Management.
4. Treat Your Vendors As You Wish To Be Treated. Always pay on time or early without ever having to be asked. If you do this, they’ll be there for
you when you need a favor or when you want to negotiate extended payment terms.
5. Always Treat Your Customers As You Wish To Be Treated. The value of your business is based mainly on the value of your customer base, which is
nothing more than the sum of the quality of all of the most recent experiences of your customers. Leverage every contact point.
6. Always Treat Your Employees As You Wish To Be Treated. They’re the ones who’ll accomplish tips No. 4 and No. 5.
6. Direct-to-Consumer
Industry
Terri is a reliable source sought out by the • 7 Merchants Sound Off About USPS 5 Day
trade press to provide clarity to the issues Delivery, February 2012
• Which Way Will the PRC Rule?, September 2010
facing multichannel merchants in today’s • Branding From the Inside Out, July 2010
world. • Postal - Don’t Get Mad - Get Involved, Op-Ed by
Terri Alpert, October 2009
• Live From ACMA Forum, May 2009
• Carving A Broader Niche, December 2003
• Weak Dollar Packs a Strong Punch, January 2004
• Improving Your Receiving Line, January 2001
• Getting the Goods in Faster, February 2002
• New Breed of Innovators, June 2001
• Catalogers Say USPS Cutbacks May be
Good for Mailing Industry, February,2012
• Mailers React to USPS Fiscal Crisis,
September 2011
• Catalogers Applaud PMG’s Views on
Exigent Rates, July 2011
• Attendance Up at National Cataloger
Forum but Should be More, June 2010
• Thoughts From Nashville, April 2010
• People in the News, May 2010
• 50 Best Tips of 2008, December
• Mail Stream, December 2002
2008
• Building a Catalog From the
Ground Up, August 2007
Terri serves on the board of
directors of ACMA, a recently
formed industry association.
7. Books
Our company is a role model for many.
Terri is often asked to give advice to other entrepreneurs.
Terri is featured in the
opening chapter.
A CEO can’t take care of
her business if she doesn’t
take care of herself first!
Noelle Nelson
features the
Terri provides advice to new culture of Terri’s
managers on how to get the most company
out of an executive coach. Terri’s early days in 1993 serve extensively.
as a case study.
8. Radio
Terri has made numerous
Terri was a guest discussing holiday gifts
radio appearances over the for cooks on several occassions on “Dining
last two decades. Whether Around” with Gene Burns, a San Francisco
talk show.
talking about cooking tools,
entrepreneurship.
leadership, artisanship, or
public policy, Terri
communicates.
Terri was a frequent guest
discussing the latest in cooking
tools on WNPR’s “Food Schmooze”
with Faith Middleton.
Terri was a frequent guest on “Food Talk” with
Arthur Schwartz, on this New York area station
throughout the 1990s.
In 2009, she was a featured entrepreneur on Terri was the resident cutlery expert on
“Launchpad” with hosts Liz and Joan Hamburg the syndicated FM show “Let’s Eat!”
with Prudence Sloane
9. Mentorship
Terri has played an active role nurturing other
entrepreneurs and their ventures.
ZEO – Taking Control of Your Sleep
This revolutionary technology is making big waves in the consumer and
medical space. The company began as the dream of three Brown
University undergraduates whom Terri took under her wing. Serving as
a founding board member, first investor, interim management and
chair of the CEO search committee, Terri helped steer the company
during its early years. The company has raised more than $20 million in
Venture Capital.
Brown University’s Entrepreneurship Program
Bringing Sustainable Nutrition to Africa
Terri served on the board for ten years and guided
Terri provides on-going guidance to the young
the $50K business plan competition each year.
entrepreneurs behind this dynamic non-profit
startup which is making tremendous impact.
10. To Learn About Terri’s Entrepreneurial Story, you may listen
to her recent interview at:
www.unoallavolta.com/terriinherownvoice
Provided by The Women’s Advantage Project