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Meg Fisher didn’t waste any time escaping Iowa’s 20-degree temperatures on Dec. 18 for a getaway to the Bahamas, a day after graduating from Drake University with bachelor’s degrees in marketing and entrepreneurial management.

The 21-year-old entrepreneur also hasn’t procrastinated in pursuing her dream to open Lincoln&Lexi LLC, a business featuring a proprietary line of children’s apparel and accessories.

Fisher was inspired to start the company while working part time as a nanny and during her employment in a high-end clothing boutique while still in high school.

“In a sense, it was hard to go to college because I already knew what I wanted to do,” said Fisher, who graduated from Van Meter High School in 2006. “But I knew I needed an education.”

At first, Fisher imagined the business as a retail storefront location in Des Moines. But her entrepreneurship capstone course at Drake helped her evolve the business model into a mutli-level marketing strategy.

That structure, she said, will help the business save money by eliminating some overhead costs.

“I also will be able to keep a much lower inventory,” Fisher said, “because I can order on an as-needed basis and will only be charged when I sell the item.”

Fisher will initially employ designers from Wyoming and Arizona to design and manufacture her custom and hand-sewn products, which include clothing, blankets, diaper bags and maternity ware.

But she would like to soon put together a much larger local team.

“I make the decisions on what designs will be used, help in the picking out of the fabrics, sell the products, all of the organization of parties, events, ordering, et cetera,” she said.

Expectant mothers and first-time parents or grandparents are among Fisher’s target clientele.

“I wanted to have a store that I could run, be my own boss, have the ability to choose all the products that would be sold,” she said. “And most of all, I wanted to make sure whatever I chose to do, that I loved waking up every day to go and work.”

Fisher will operate through at-home parties and baby showers, offering parents an alternative way to shop for children’s items.

She hopes to open the business officially on Feb. 1.