When she launched her own children's furniture design business 12 years ago, Kelly Neal Mariotti had some notable disadvantages: She had no design background whatsoever and had never worked a day in the furniture business. "I'm completely self-taught in the industry," she says. "Needless to say, there was a lot of guesswork and trial and error involved."Of course, Kelly also had some impressive advantages: an accounting degree, a law degree and two years of working in mergers and acquisitions at a big New York law firm. "I was able to see a lot of companies and learn how they manage, how they raise money and how they operate," she says. But perhaps her biggest advantage is having parents who were entrepreneurs themselves. "The family joke is that they taught me to do payroll at age nine," notes Kelly.With entrepreneurial spirit in her blood, it's not surprising that the idea for Green Frog Art hopped into Kelly's mind quickly once she decided she wanted to strike out on her own. The name arose from a brainstorming session with friends, and Kelly liked it right away because green is a gender-neutral color, frogs are considered lucky in many cultures, and she found it juvenile and fun without being too cute. Kelly was living in New York City and working as an attorney when a good friend who was pregnant said she'd like to have a limited-edition print for the baby's nursery, like one that Kelly had from childhood depicting dolls having a tea party. But good art appropriate for a nursery was difficult to find. "Art has always been an interest of mine," says Kelly, who loved frequenting museums when she lived in the Big Apple. A couple of years after her friend's baby was born, Kelly left her job and, with a small loan from her parents and a $15,000 profit from the sale of her condo, launched Green Frog Art, selling limited-edition prints for nurseries through a direct-mail catalog. "I loved practicing law but never intended to spend my life as a lawyer. My background in law and accounting was always part of a grand plan to one day run my own business," she says. Kelly started small with Green Frog Art and outsourced the framing at first, then opened her own framing shop and hired an artist to paint on the matting, which she says was very successful. THE IDEA TAKES OFFInitially, Kelly believed art galleries would be a good outlet for the prints, but she soon discovered that parents tend to make shopping for the nursery an event and do it all at once. She decided baby stores would be her best fit, and that's when things began taking off. First, a store requested hand-painted lamps to go with the prints. Soon Kelly took on rocking chairs as well as other pieces of furniture. In 1997, she moved her business from New York to Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, half an hour from Jacksonville, in part because she found Florida to be a business-friendly state with a lot of local artistic talent. "Jacksonville was, and still is, growing rapidly, and I thought the environment would be a good one for a fledgling company," she explains. Another reason for her choice: Her parents lived there. Kelly's mom, Linda Carpenter, became her business partner and manages the sales department of Green Frog Art. She says that while Kelly wasn't exactly a risk-taker as a child, the entrepreneurial and creative spirit was always there. "Entrepreneurs need a constant drive, and that's Kelly. She never gives up," Linda says.In 2000, Kelly moved the production of her pieces to China, where she was able to work with factories that agreed to do a smaller minimum of hand-painted items than those in the United States (100 rocking chairs, for example, rather than 1,000) with better pricing. BMW GUYThat same year she met a Florida neighbor and manager of a local resort, David Mariotti—someone who would become a very important part of her life. "One Friday night, everyone in my office had plans to go out with friends or on a date except me," Kelly says. "When pressed by some of these young women, many of whom were college students, I said my only prospect was the cute guy that lives on my street, wears a suit to work and drives his BMW by my house twice a day. The only problem was that I didn't know his name or whether he was single or straight." For six months, these women asked her for updates on "BMW Guy," and because of that, Kelly started noticing David more as he smiled and waved while driving by. At the same time, David had been secretly hoping to meet Kelly but couldn't figure out how to do it. He finally asked a mutual friend at the church they both attend to introduce them.Just eight months later, they were engaged. A year and a half after that, David became Kelly's husband. "David and I share the same values—we love our families, enjoy being at home and are both practicing Catholics," Kelly says. MISCARRIAGE TO IVFFor three difficult years, Kelly and David endured the heartbreak of infertility and miscarriage. Two rounds of in-vitro fertilization were unsuccessful. Finally, Kelly's third round of IVF (plus acupuncture and herbs) brought Ava, now 1, into their lives. "I have a special appreciation for Ava," Kelly shares. "We were at the point where we were starting to believe we would not have a child." While becoming pregnant was a challenge, Kelly says her pregnancy was easy and uncomplicated. She wasn't able to achieve her goal of a natural childbirth, however, because Ava was in the breech position and was delivered by scheduled C-section a week before her due date. There's a lot of upside to being the boss when you're a mom, Kelly says, but she vividly recalls one of the early downside moments—having to go into the office to do payroll and sign checks only nine days after Ava's birth. "I wasn't even allowed to drive yet, so David took me, and we brought Ava so I could nurse her," says Kelly. Fortunately, the office is only seven minutes from home.Until Ava was 3 months old, Kelly continued to bring her to the office or worked from home. Then she hired a full-time caregiver and began leaving the baby home on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, when she works from 9:00 to 5:30. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Kelly—who still breastfeeds—works from home but takes breaks to take Ava to Kindermusik one day and to The Little Gym the other. "I work just as hard now as I did in my days as a lawyer, but being able to create my own schedule makes it possible for me to lead a much more balanced life," she says. WEARING MANY HATSWhile Kelly and Ava are out, their caregiver runs errands, does laundry, prepares organic baby food and cooks one dinner a week. Most other nights, David, who also has a short commute to work, prepares dinner. And a housekeeper comes in once a week. On weekends, Kelly tries not to work but rather to focus on the baby and the rest of life: "We go to the gourmet grocery store and take our dogs on walks together." David, a triathlete, says the key to keeping their household running smoothly with two parents working full-time is cooperation. "For us," he says, "the parenting lines are transparent, and we wear many hats."FLEXING AT WORKIt's not only for herself that Kelly seeks a balanced life. Her friend Sarah Zebroski, communications director at Green Frog Art and mom to James, 3, says flex schedules are a big perk for all employees. And the workplace, she says, has a fun, family-like atmosphere, welcoming not only children but also the occasional Vizsla (the breed of Kelly's two dogs). Kelly and Sarah can often be found brainstorming work ideas and musing about preschool and potty training. "I am always amazed at how she handles everything and makes it all appear to be a piece of cake," Sarah says.While Kelly may make it look easy, she says being an entrepreneur is both more difficult and more satisfying than she had imagined. Today, Green Frog Art has seven employees and six sales reps, and its clientele has included Rod Stewart and other celebrities. "It's very rewarding to look back and realize that from a mere idea I have grown a nice business that sells beautiful products that people want their children to live with," Kelly says. The hard part is making quick decisions to remain competitive. "My dad once told me that entrepreneurship is like swimming in a lake. Once you jump in, your job is to swim, float, tread water—whatever it takes."