Quirky NDG business receiving international attention
Article mis en ligne le jeudi 4 novembre 2010
Photo Anja Karadeglija
Miriam Glassman runs her company out of her NDG home.
All it took Miriam Glassman to start a business was a computer, a phone, and a simple idea – for five dollars, she will make a flattering phone call on your behalf.
“It started off as… a reminder call to tell people they’re incredible. It’s one of these things where I feel a lot of people forget how awesome they are, and it would just be a fun, lighthearted way to send a message, getting this call from a stranger telling you you’re awesome,” she explains.
The company offers different types of calls, including apology, cheer up, and appreciation calls, as well as corporate packages and calls from Santa Claus.
Glassman left a job in marketing almost a year ago to explore business ideas, and now runs Flatter Me out of her NDG home. After rejecting many other ideas, she came up with the inspiration for the company in a brainstorming session.
She remembers thinking: “it’s simple, I love it, it’s funny, I have to try this. I didn’t know if… anyone else would like it.”
She says it was the simplicity of the idea and the ease of starting it up that appealed to her.
“I am surprised by how fast it’s taken off,” she says.
Since the website was launched in late September, the company has also received some unexpected media coverage. In addition to Canadian media, Glassman was written about in an Italian newspaper, has appeared on the radio in Los Angeles, California, and will appear on Finnish radio.
“I’ve definitely been up late some nights trying to keeping up with the demand and planning,” she explains. “It’s definitely been the most thrilling thing that’s happened to me, in the sense that I took a huge risk and did something really out of the ordinary… I think I’m just amazed that it’s actually happening.”
Most of her clients come from North America, but she has also placed calls to Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and Italy.
While she says that some periods are busier than others, Glassman has plans to expand the business already. She will start offering the service in French, and later Spanish, and is working on enhanced services for corporate calls.