Our Story...

A few years ago Michele and her husband, Andy (narrator of this story), launched Michele Baratta atHome which offers women the opportunity to own their own home based business and sell Michele Baratta jewelry through home parties and online.

This story didn't happen yesterday. It really began in June, 1988. Michele, while visiting San Diego spent the early part of the evening at a restaurant / bar that will remain nameless. She had been there for only an hour when she suggested to her friend that they should leave. Her friend said "ok, pick two guys to dance with first." Michele, eager to leave looked around and saw Andy & buddy at the railing up above. She walked right up and asked us to dance. "Sure, we said eagerly!"

As I overheard Michele talking to her dance partner about her passion for art, I suggested we change partners (as I had just graduated with a degree in design & communications). That, was the beginning of our life-long journey together.

At the conclusion of that short night I asked Michele to go out again the next night. She said "yes." At the conclusion of that date, I suggested we meet again. She said, "sure, but I live in LA." - So, with only a 120 miles and 3 brutal hours between us, I made the trip to LA several times before I left for my pre-planned back-packing trip around Europe for 5 months.
So, with a sweet good-bye we parted ways with no real plans of reunion or communication other then a "see you again in half a year or so."

I was on my way to a well-needed vacation after 5 years of college. (yes, 5. I moved from NY to CA and lost a few credits along the way)

Finding my away around Europe was easy. I had a backpack, a Eurail pass and a buddy. We floated from city to city and country to country. Our travels were everything we had hoped for. Meanwhile, Michele's eccentric Dad had planned a spontaneous cruise in Greece and invited Michele. "Sure, she said."

Well into her 2 week cruise in Greece her Dad suggested he get off the ship and go home (as two weeks on the ship proved to be simply too much!) Michele without argument suggested she'd get off too, but travel a few days first on the isle of Corfu.

While her cruise came to an end, I had miraculously ended up on the same island nearly 2 1/2 months into my travels. Remember, there were no cell phones or computers in 1988, (sounds so long ago as I write these words) nor did we make any plans together...

One random day while riding a moped on a very remote windy dirt road to the pinnacle of a random mountaintop on the isle of Corfu I pulled over to take in the sites. While resting for a brief moment the purr of another moped comes barreling down the road and comes screeching to a halt. Well, needless to say, we turned toward each other, did a double take, and Michele promptly yelled out "Excuse Me?" - Yes, it was I, standing there in all my glory on a warm late summer day in 1988 staring back at my future wife saying "ahhh, hello - yes it's me!"

Time passed, we got married and had two beautiful children. It wasn't until our our children were in elementary school when Michele's friends started asking if they could have a box of Michele's jewelry to sell out of the back of their car. They wanted what Michele had. They wanted to pick and choose the hours they worked. Her friends suggested that she offered her jewelry to women to sell out of their home. Coincidentally, Michele always said....“I wanted to give women the opportunity to stay home with their kids and make a living too.”…

This was a new business idea for Michele, yet not a new concept for me. I had previously started a technology firm building software for companies such as Avon, Herbalife, Usana and other Direct Selling companies.

So, in the Fall of 2005, together we launched Michele Baratta atHome.

Andrew Detwiler brings 20 years of design and technological expertise in both the print advertising and web mediums. Detwiler, an entrepreneur has been a partner and co-founded two successful companies. Studiotoolz, an online “print on demand” marketing and web portal for advertising and Direct Mail, and Michele Baratta atHome; a Direct Sales Party Plan company. At Michele Baratta atHome, Detwiler and his team had doubled revenues for each of the four years since conception. During his Creative direction at Studiotoolz, Detwiler implementations grew to nearly five thousand members.
Early in 2000, Detwiler and his team consulted to implement a CRM IT system for Usana. The company under his successful design and business acumen then became iCentris, a leader in web technologies for other Direct Selling Companies such as Avon, Herbalife and Longaberger. In addition, Detwiler implemented a painting process for large format graphics used as backdrops in movies. His accomplishments in this patented process earned him and his team an Emmy® from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and a Technical Achievement Award® from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Included in Andrew’s career accomplishments, is a performance track record of exceeding creative objectives, driving strategic partnerships and creating brand awareness for a multitude of companies.