WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Catalog then: A spinoff of Asia for Kids, published by Cincinnati-based Master Communications, Culture for Kids debuted in October 2002. The catalog of multicultural educational products was featured in the “New Catalogs” section of our February 2003 issue.

Since then: The No Child Left Behind education reform act has made selling to the educational market a little trickier. “The government has really tightened things up,” says CEO/founder Selina Yoon. “We had to become far more customer oriented to keep up with these stringent rules.” For instance, teachers must write to the federal government to explain why it should approve and pay for a particular course of study; Culture for Kids helps them draft such letters.

Today: Though the page count has remained steady at 96 pages, circulation has grown steadily; the catalog is mailed to nearly 400,000 parents and teachers. Sales from Culture for Kids and Asia for Kids account for nearly 70% of Master Communications' revenue; the company also produces its own lines of multilingual educational products and provides consulting services.