Mother of All Deals

She's not your typical business executive.

Vicki Croucier doesn't work on the top floor of a big office building, wear important-looking suits, or care about making more money than she knows what to do with.

Instead, she mostly works from home, wears clothes that can easily transition from work to playing with her three-year-old son and hopes to make money off of commissions she gets with sales from her soon-to-be-launched website.

Being a mom is her passion, one that sparked her idea for a new website that brings moms deals from all over the South Bay.

They are her clients, she is the "Chief Executive Mom" and she can't imagine working for anyone else.

A 15-year resident of Rancho Palos Verdes, Croucier is almost ready to launch Local Deals for Moms - South Bay, a website that brings moms deals from local businesses in the area.

An MBA to her name, Croucier was laid off from her job at a company in Torrance in 2008.

"It was a blessing," she said, explaining the milestone's she would have missed in her son's life had she been too busy working. "I would have missed his first steps. ... (Losing the job was) the best thing that ever could have happened to me."

She noticed a gap in deals for South Bay moms and decided to make it her job to fill it.

"I thought 'Well, why don’t we have a local (source) for deals here?'" she said.

Many deals outside of the area weren't worth the drive, Croucier said.

"Do you really want to sit on the 405 for an hour to get half off a manicure in Culver City?" she asked and then said laughing: "You’d have to give me a free deal and you’d probably have to pay me."

With Croucier's site set to launch in mid-April, she's been visiting businesses to inquire about deals on everything from massages to discounted birthday parties for kids.

She said part of the site's aim is to support local businesses.

"This type of business is a great ... (way) to benefit our local economy," she said. "Let's keep our dollars here in Palos Verdes or in the South Bay."

The site will act sort of like the popular deals site Groupon, with customers purchasing deals to redeem everywhere from restaurants to nail salons.

"There’s so many great businesses here in the South Bay," she said. "We deserve to have our own deals."

Working hard to find deals by the April launch, Croucier, who explained her calling is to be a mom, said the job doesn't feel like work. 

"It's a lot of fun," she said.

Visit the site's Facebook page for more information on deals and how to get involved. Croucier is also hiring local "mommy consultants" to help search for bargains.