Women Entrepreneurs: Lisa Coates and Robin Rarrick

Dec. 19, 2005 — -- Monkey Muffins sprung from Lisa Coates' good intention to feed her kids healthy, but tasty snacks.

"I was looking after a bunch of kids and wanted to make a snack they would like that wasn't overly sweet," she said.

Coates began mixing and matching ingredients and pretty soon had dozens of varieties. She partnered with her friend Robin Rarrick and founded the muffin company in 2001.

"They were recipes I used to bake with my own children, and Robin and I together tweaked the recipes," said Coates, 36.

With just $3,800, the women set out to share their muffins with the world. Just four years later, Monkey Muffin's sales are just under $800,000. The muffins are available in more than 250 stores from Connecticut to Virginia. The company recently opened a satellite office in California.

Coates, who graduated from Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia, oversees recipe development for the bite-size muffins and also monitors their quality. She also serves as customer-relations specialist and art director.

Rarrick, 43, who formerly worked as an optician, heads the company's marketing, advertising, product and account management, and bookkeeping efforts.

The muffins are most definitely geared toward kids. The Web site is fun and colorful, and kids can even play a game where they dress the monkey -- sort of like a cyber paper doll. However, an integral part of the Monkey Muffin strategy is to make the products parent-friendly too.

The two women, who both live in Nyack, N.Y., and each have two children, make all the muffins by hand and make sure to include a lot of nutritious ingredients. Their chocolate-chocolate chip muffins, for example, are made with equal parts flour and zucchini.

"Monkey Muffins are wholesome," Coates said. "The first ingredient in each is a fruit or vegetable."