But the business finally took off after the San Jose Mercury News published a wonderful feature about me in Summer 2004, and the biz had its first profitable months with an almost-full load of clients. Of course, that was just about the time we got pregnant (after we had stopped officially “trying” and had decided to put it off until my business was further along, lol).  

Four years ago today, after just 4 hours of easy labor (used hypnobirthing) and 45 minutes of intense-craziness at the end, Grace was born at 3:44 PM.  When we got home we went through the adventure of nursing with a girl who did not care about eating (and kept losing weight) until she was 4 1/2 weeks old.  She did sleep wonderfully (7 hrs at night at 5 weeks!) but could not stop moving — living in a sling, Baby Bjorn, swing, or Amby Motion Bed.  Her newborn quirks were a big shock to me. 

After those 7 weeks of intense newborn-dom, I came back from maternity leave to my business as a mom entrepreneur.

Phase 1:  Part-Time Nanny & Trading Hours for Dollars

After my daughter was born, I had fleeting thoughts of dropping my business and simply being a stay at home mom for a while (course, nothing simple in that, eh?).  But I did not feel finished with working, and frankly, I needed a break from my high-intensity, clingy daughter.  I needed grown up, intellectual stimulation.  And a situation where no one was trying to get inside my shirt.  

Since I was still seeing clients in person, I needed care for my daughter while I was working.  But day care did not seem like a good option for us, since I wanted to nurse her without pumping, and she was an always-needing-to-be-carried kind of kid.  And, face it, I wanted control over the situation and day care made me nervous.   So instead of getting on the (long) waiting list of a good day care, we opted for a part-time nanny.

We hired our wonderful nanny Sarah using Town & Country Resources nanny service.  She was more expensive than we had imagined, but she was unusually suited to us – she had a college degree, was working on her own floral design business, and had tons of nanny experience.  And, she enjoyed carrying Grace around in a sling for hours each day.  

My business went through a short post-maternity slump, because I had not been marketing or prospecting during my leave (ah, the days before online marketing).  But after a few months, I was back in business.  

Lesson Learned:  We must automate our marketing (via online marketing, eZine’s, auto-responders, etc.) to avoid slumps when life gets crazy. 

Phase 2:  The Nanny Turnstile & I’m Bored.

In Spring of 2006 I seriously thought about shutting down my business.  The business had plateaued.  And since I was bored, I did not want to pound the networking pavement to fill up the rest of my practice.  Heck, I didn’t want to fill up my practice – I resented spending time on clients.  As was not making enough money.

Instead of shutting down my practice, I hired two coaches – Kim Fulcher as my life coach and Kelly O’Neil as my marketing coach.  And gave my business another 6 months to turn around.  Kim helped me bring some balance and intention back to my life, and, for the first time, helped me find the beliefs about money and success that were keeping me in self-sabotage mode.  

Kelly kicked my butt in marketing, got me (scared and wining) to schedule my first teleclass series, and brainstormed with me to come up with the new name for my business, “The Wealth Spa.”  I started my first blog that August, and learned about Ali Brown & this whole information marketing thing.  My business world was getting interesting again.  

Then nanny Sarah went on maternity leave, so we were forced to hunt for new nannies.  We went through 4 nannies in 6 months (including a brief stint from Sarah who realized she wanted to be home with her own baby).  I can’t even tell you how many women we interviewed.  Gave offers that were too late, considered women who were less than optimal.  Then the last nanny worked for us for only 6 weeks until she gave her leave, and I was on search again.

Every time we were nanny-less I had to fight for solutions.  Backup daycare through my husband’s work was okay, but Grace always came home with a cold afterwards.  Working at home with her was okay for email but did not fly for client appointments.  When my parents were in town (from St. Louis, Missouri) they watched her so I could make client calls & teach a teleclass.  Course they could not make the 2000 mile commute more then for a vacation visit.  

Lesson Learned:  Before the breakthrough there is a breakdown – so welcome the breakdown, it means you’re ready to make a leap forward!  

Phase 3:  All Day Preschool & Projects, Teleclasses, Book, oh my!

After attending Ali Brown’s Online Success Blueprint Workshop in November 2006, I relaunched my eZine & website and my online business began to take off.  Raised my fees and standardized project fees (instead of hourly work), taking on a high caliber of clients. Started regular free teleclasses to build the email & mailing list, launched a viral movie w/ Scott Stratton’s Un-Marketing team (adding thousands to my list), and started hosting my radio show (back then on Voice America Business).  

Then in Spring of 2007, Ali Brown asked me to be part of her Platinum Mastermind program.  I freaked out when I got that voicemail – why was she calling me?  What did she see in me that I did not see (yet)? I knew her program was a huge financial and time commitment.  But at that moment I decided to get serious about taking my business to the next level, and I knew I needed that financial commitment and a mastermind team to hold me accountable.  I took the jump in faith.

Meanwhile, when Grace turned two I decided to put her in an all-day preschool (and day care) program.  The theory was if I was going to get serious about my business, I needed more time.  (And my secret theory was when my business took off, I would be able to pull her out of school and homeschool her.)  She cried for the first few days, bonded with the caregivers, made a best friend, and was then excited to go to school.

Lesson Learned:  We don’t see our own brilliance because to us, it’s ordinary.  We need coaches, teaches, mastermind partners to reflect our brilliance back for us to see.  

Phase 4:  Part-Time Preschool & No More Clients

In March of 2008, I started reading my friend Sandy Grason‘s book, Journalution, which is about how to find solutions to your life using journaling.  I had stopped journaling years ago, with some weird idea that my husband might read my journal so it was not safe (as if he would ever read it, how nuts of me).  But per Sandy’s advice, I bought a brand new, unlined, lime-green-covered journal, and sat down to answer the journaling prompt “Describe Your Perfect Day.”

The idea of a perfect day seemed so unreal I was unable to answer the question until I added the caveat, “…three years from today.”  So I described a perfect day in 2011, where I was running an publishing/information marketing/magazine business, teaching a teleclass, and talking to a coaching client on the phone, while homeschooling my daughter (and with my husband working on his own home business in the next room).  As I read my entry, I realized that I was waiting for magical circumstances (that would never happen) for my vision to arise.  Instead … what if I just did that perfect day right now? 

So I pulled Grace out of full time and put her in a 2-days a week, 1/2 day preschool program, and invested in TONS of homeschooling resources.  Stopped seeing financial planning clients (drastically reducing my income but freeing up time and energy).  Finished my first major information product.  Published my first book.  Re-launched my business as The Wealth Spa Online Magazine.  And did that with just 6 hours of regular childcare each week (plus a few days each quarter of temporary nanny time for out-of-town travel and speaking engagements).  It is possible. 

Lesson Learned:  Don’t wait for something to happen to start living life (because that day will never come).  Stop waiting.  Simply live in the moment today.  

Phase 5:  Homeschooling & and Clients again?

Until on December 30, 2008 when Grace said, to no one in particular as she was getting in the car, “This is the last day I’m going to school.”  What?  I completely freaked, I needed those 6 hours a week to make phone calls, teach teleclasses, write articles, get work done!  Now I was not surprised, really…she had stopped enjoying school when she moved to the 3 year old “real preschool” classroom that fall, with its large class size, higher student-teacher ratio, and absence of her best friends from the 2 year old room.  (And, as she told me a few weeks later, one boy had been kicking her on a regular basis, what the heck?!)

But after 5 years in business and almost 4 as a mom, my freak-out-ness was not long lasting.  Tons of resources popped up into my awareness, from Cubes & Crayons on-demand childcare/work sharing, to the zillion classes for kids in my area, to homeschooling co-ops.  After just 2 weeks, we were back in a routine, and, frankly, I was more productive than ever before.  

Now it’s Spring again, and again I’m moving to another business & personal growth phase.   The online business is growing exponentially, and I’m doing tons of speaking engagements. (Ironically to my no-more-clients decision in 2008), I’m secretly planning to open 4 one-on-one coaching spots and a 15-person group coaching program for other mom business owners.  (Okay, it’s not secret if I’m blogging about it, lol.)  After casually, speaking about my personal mompreneur strategies for the last few years, I want to bring these solutions to all of those moms who are trying to grow a business and raise kids, all without losing their minds or struggling through daily life.  

Lesson Learned:  After the last 4 years as a mompreneur, who knows what next challenge/opporunity will jump into my life tomorrow.  But as always, it’s an adventure (and that’s the point, eh?).  

–

Join me for the free teleclass, “The 5 Shifts Moms Must Make to Succeed as Entrepreneurs,” where you will learn:

• Why mom entrepreneurs are different, and how being a mom makes us better business owners
• What you must do differently to feel fulfilled in your conflicting roles
• How to create the support you need asap
• The big myths of successful “mompreneurs” and work-at-home moms, and why you can’t buy into them
• The #1 mistake moms are making that’s holding them back making the really big bucks, or even just a profit

Date:  Wednesday April 1, 2009

Time:  Noon Pacific (3 PM EST)

(this free call will be recorded)

Join us at http://MompreneurCall.com

1. Don’t Procrastinate (too much).  My eZine was set to go to my web designer today (for html formatting), but since I started working on it on Monday, it was mostly done.  I was able to complete the eZine in about 30 minutes during Grace’s nap.  But if I had started today, I would be working on it right now (at 9:30 PM), freaking out.
2. Share That You Are a Mom.  I had to reschedule a meeting with a colleague today — who totally understood.  I don’t reschedule people unless I have a sick kid, and since my people (clients, contact) all know that I am a mompreneur, they are not taken aback.  Anyone who does not want to be bothered by someone with a kid does not do business with me anyway, since I am upfront (and good riddance). 
3. Be Flexible.  I had planned to upload and format a new podcast page today, but it is just getting uploaded now, and may not be formatted until tomorrow.  That means the design for a related postcard, and the press releases, will also be delayed.  But I’m okay with that, since it is not the end of the world that things are one or two days behind.
4. Use Plan B (or C).  I didn’t need to do it this time, but I have used a nanny service to find last-minute childcare for my sick daughter.  Costs and arm and a leg ($17/hr plus referral fee of 25%) but worth it so I don’t have to cancel a client meeting. 
5. Use Your Systems.  My virtual assistant (who is doing her job from vacation this week) answers my email and voicemail, so that gets done even if I am out of the loop.  Many of my email, contact us forms, and other website stuff have automatic response systems to catch the rest. 
6. Build a Flex Day Into Your Plan.  I plan that I will spend one day with Gracie home with me, during the work week.  That day is usually Thursday, but if she is home with me Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, then I can send her to school on Thursday, and still get the same work done that week.  Does not work this week, since she’s still running a fever, but came in handy last month. 
7. Embrace the Chaos.  Grace, who felt pretty good even though she had a fever, loved hanging out with mommy today.  We went to the mall, did crafts, and cuddled on the sofa.  Instead of worrying, I made a conscious effort to enjoy the time we had together today. 

What do you do when you kid is home sick?  Leave a comment and share your suggestions.

5:55 AM – I wake up to a tiny hand pulling on my arm.  "Mommy?"  Gracie (age 2.4) climbs up on my bed and cuddles with me.  She tells me about her bad dream ("cat was mean and scary").  I hope she wants to cuddle for a while longer.  No luck.  "Mommy up!  Wake up time!  Hungry!"  Ugh.  It’s still dark outside. 

6:03 After giving Gracie a cereal bar and plopping her down in front of the TV for a Dora show, I check email and delete spam.  Answer an email from my mom about my sister’s new engagement, and travel plans for September.  Read the front page headlines on cnn.com to make sure the world did not explode. 

6:15 Cook breakfast of eggs with cheese, onions, and green peppers, for myself (I’m on Atkins, so I have to cook for each meal, ugh) – while that is cooking, clean up the kitchen and tidy the living room.  Grace asks to do art, so I get down some letter stickers and construction paper, so she can make a collage while I eat.  I wish I could eat in peace, but that does not always happen.  Then get Gracie some crackers and juice as second breakfast.

6:50 After I clean up dishes, and pack her lunch for school, I hunt around the house for a clean set of sheets and blanket for nap time at school.  Since I did not launder her usual nap blanket (who wants to do laundry every week?), I ask Grace if it is okay to use a "new" blanket.  "Yes, new blanket.  I’m cold, blanket?"  She wants to use the blanket now – mental note to not forget blanket just because Grace abandons blanket in random part of house.

6:55 Grace wants me to listen to the dinosaur CD (classic kid tunes with dinosaur lyrics), so I play that as she practices turning her light on and off.  I tidy her room, then tell her lights are not for playing, and she just smiles as if saying "just wait until you leave the room, then I can do whatever I want."  She then says "exercise!"  We get on the floor and do leg lifts and sit-ups (a great way to make sure I do my sit-ups), she does a few so-called jumping jacks, then jumps on top of me so I do the last few sit-ups with 28 pounds of girl on my chest.  Ouch.
 
7:30 I try to take a shower, but get distracted because Grace cannot find her Dora doll.  We look everywhere, to no avail.  Dora, where are you?  Oh no, we have no replacement because that doll is discontinued, maybe I should get a backup on eBay?  Finally get into the shower as Grace decides to wake up daddy.  Too bad for him. 

8:30 Take Grace to preschool.  Praise god, my husband filled my car with gas last night — chivalry is still alive.  Get Starbucks coffee on the way home.  Oops, forgot to bring the mail, so don’t run by the post office on the way home like had planned.  That means I have to remember later in the day, which is even less likely. 

9:05  Get home, gather up laptop and papers to go "to work" in office (attached to garage).  Set up in office, check over email and delete spam.  Throw emails to answer in the Follow Up folder like a good GTD girl (but will I actually look at them later?).  Confirm schedule and to-do list with myself.  Start working on writing blog posts for the week for The Wealth Spa Business Blueprint blog — idea is that I will get all my blog posts (for 3 blogs) done for the week, today, so I can work on the book for the rest of the week.  Rough draft of the book is due on Wednesday, and I want my full second draft done by the end of next week. 

10:00-10:17 Phone call with host of radio show on which I am appearing in late September.  We chat about ideas for the show (had not thought about it ahead of time, so had to wing it) and about my business.  Need to remember to get her $100 "donation" and info sheet.  Move her email from Press folder to Follow Up folder. 

10:17  Work on blog posts.  Change mind and decide to shorten one post, which was going to be way to long if I covered the entire topic — now it is a three-part-er.  Did a book review, which I also post on my Squidoo book review lens and amazon.com.  For some reason, can’t get Squidoo to display amazon.com links of any kind, which sucks.  Will have to figure that out later.  But maybe I don’t care, because I only get like 17 cents per book sale anyway.

11:31  I’m really hungry.  Go into house and get current novel (Arrow’s Flight by Mercedes Lackey, which I have read like 10 times already), and go to Baja Fresh for lunch to (1) get an Atkin’s friendly bare chicken burrito with no rice meal, and (2) feel like a real business person who goes out for business lunches.  Yes, I am part of grown-up, non-hermit society! 

12:35 PM – Back in office, finish up posts for TWSBB and procrastinate on anything else by checking email and reading blog RSS feeds on Google Reader.  Decide, no, I’m not going to procrastinate!

1:00 – 1:20 Get Acquainted phone call with prospective client.  She will probably come in for an hourly consultation in a week or two.  Have to look up her name because could not understand her well, probably because we were both on mobile phones and my 1-800 number is over VOIP. 

1:23  Start working on posts for Chronicles of a Mompreneur.  Pace around the room instead of writing because am stuck.  Come up with new post that is a "top 7," which tends to be easier to write than plain paragraphs, and would be good to submit to blog carnivals etc.  Also decide on posts that cannot be written until later in the week, because they are either based on things that are not done yet (radio website not finished) or require me to wear makeup (video), which did not happen today.  Great, a valid way to procrastinate on work, and can cross that off my list. 

2:25  Worry about The Wealth Spa Radio Show website.  My web host (my dad) has the domain name registered, but I don’t have any of the login info so I can’t upload wordpress and figure out what I have to do for podcasting my radio show (starts next week).  I emailed him on Saturday and have heard no response.  If he was a company, I would call and nag, but since he is my dad … doing business with family (especially parents) can be a problem. 

2:31 Start working on posts for Travel With Toddler blog.  Close email program so checking email as procrastination tool is more difficult.  Decide to get Coke Zero drink to procrastinate instead (means I have to go inside house).  While inside house, check mail (not there yet) and see little magnet left by city councilperson, with helpful numbers and dates for local events.  I have a fleeting thought of running in the San Jose Rock & Roll Marathon in October, until I remember that I don’t want to run in a marathon. 

2:48 Working on TWT blog.  Check Squidoo lens on flying with toddler, and there is a comment from Mom2Mom that they are going to cover it in their September issue.  Cool. 

3:29 Take a break.  Re-evaluate tasks for the day.  Probably will get blogs done, not sure if will get to eZine or not.  Write in calendar that for sure will take off Thursday to spend with Gracie, and will take her to Happy Hollow.  Get cheese for snack, yum.  Check snail mail (nothing interesting). 

3:54 Finish up work on TWT blog.  Decide to create new Squidoo Lens on family travel book reviews, since already doing family travel book reviews on blog.   Having trouble uploading a photo onto the new Lens, hum, Squidoo has made editing lenses better (can add html links, etc.) but the photo upload is buggy.  Realize it is 4:40 so may need to stop soon. 

4:52  Got an email from Host Services at Voice America with the audio for my new radio show – the commercials for the show, and the leadin’s.  Wow, very creepy and cool to listen to an announcer-chick voice talk about me in official, radio-sounding way. 

4:57 Shut down computer and pack up to pick up Grace from school. 

5:15 Arrive at Grace’s school during pick-up rush-hour.  A bad idea, have to get a tiny parking space for my SUV.  (why have tiny parking spaces at a school parking lot, where everyone has huge kid transport vehicles?)  As we leave, Grace says "cheeseburger, fries?!"  I decide to say yes today, so we go through McDonald’s drive through (I get a southwest chicken salad, since I am on Atkin’s).

5:35 At home I first have to set Grace up with her dinner, then feed the cat.  Why does everyone else eat before I get to eat?  After she finishes, Grace comes over and whines — probably because she did not get enough attention from me right after we got home, in her opinion.  She wants a band-aid for an "ow" on her knee that happened like 2 weeks ago.  I comply, just so I can finish eating in peace. 

5:41 I decide to go check my email for a minute, which means that Grace comes up 30 seconds later to try to get my attention.  "Sticker book!"  I get out a new sticker book (Dora, of course), and we pick out stickers and figure out where they are supposed to go in the book. 

6:05 Grace says "outside mommy" and I realize that the backdoor is standing wide open — she has figured out how to open the backdoor.  Great.  We go outside to play.  Grace starts playing with "painting" water (using a paintbrush to paint water on various outside things), so I get to read my book for a bit.  She decides we should go for a walk, so I get my iPod and we get the stroller out.  Great, will I get my walk in today?  No, after 3 minutes she’s too cold (it’s very windy today) so we come back, and she refuses to believe that a blanket will keep her warm, so we go inside. 

6:27 Grace plays while I do some emailing and RSS feed reading.  

6:54 She runs up and says "mommy up!  mommy pick up!  sit on lap!  mommy sit on couch! watch Little Einstein’s!"  We cuddle on the sofa while Grace watches Little Einstein’s.  I give her some "bear cookies" (aka Teddy Grahams). 

7:21 "Mommy, exercise!"  We go into her room to do another set.  I try to get her to read a book with me, but that reminders her of dinosaur sticker books (and we don’t have one, so she’s upset).  I distract her by asking her if she wants to take a bath.

7:31 Grace takes a bath.  I call Mark (husband) to see when he is coming home, and he asks me to record a show that starts at 9 pm, which is not a good sign. 

7:42 Grace’s bath does not last as long as I would have liked.  She now sits on her little chair in front of the TV (wrapped in a towel) to watch the same episode of Little Einstein’s again.  Hey, at least that show has classical music and art, so it’s not bad TV, right?  I go into the kitchen and clean up from dinner and her lunch box, then tidy up the clutter left behind by the cleaning people (they clean and find tons of junk under furniture, etc., and leave a bunch of stuff for me to put away).  Grace (still naked) asks to sit on my lap, but I tell her "I only let people with clothes on sit on my lap."  She chooses being naked over sitting on mommy’s lap. 

7:52 I remember that I forgot to call a friend back, but can’t remember her kid’s sleep schedule and don’t want to call in case it messes them up.  I can call her back tomorrow – and make sure the post-it note with the message is on my planner notebook. 

7:54 I start working on my to-do list and plan for tomorrow (written on a sticky post-it note that is stuck to the front of my planner).  Tomorrow I am going to dictate the last two chapters left in my book and send them out to be transcribed, and email a survey to my panel to gather leads for case studies for the book.  I have a 1 pm call with my book coach.  Then I will go through all client files where I am waiting for something (papers, a decision, etc.) and send them a reminder (aka nag) to get it done.  If I have time, I will then work on client projects.  Hum, Grace is now running around wearing a wood bead necklace, and nothing else.  I shut the drapes.

8:01 I fold laundry that’s crazy wrinkled because it has been sitting there for 3 days.  Grace announces "I did it" because she went BM in her potty.  "Yay, Gracie!"  She finds two used toilet paper rolls in the bathroom (why didn’t the cleaners throw them out?) and put them on her forearms and runs around making monster noises.  I ask her to throw away a used dryer sheet, so she takes it to the recycling can and find that it contains interesting stuff, like an egg container and a used soda bottle.  She comes up to me and says "soda and eggs!  soda and eggs! I want soda and eggs!  Please soda and eggs for me?"  She apparently wants me to cook her soda and eggs.  Um, I don’t think so. 

8:17 Grace announces "I go to sleep in my own bed."   I’m all about that. 

8:30 Grace is tucked in.  I turn the muted TV to HBO so I don’t miss my show on at 9 pm, and sit down at the computer.  I check the stats on my websites and blogs, Squidoo lenses, RSS feeds, and my eZine.  I update some Squidoo Lenses and publish a group. 

8:59 Big Love is on! 

10:00 I love that show.  Mark finally arrives (with sushi for his dinner). 

10:17 After a quick visit with Mark, I’m off to read in bed. 

10:45 Sleep

1. We are not "real" business owners.  I personally know work at home moms who are making six and even seven figures.  I also know work at home moms who just make a few thousand bucks a year — and that’s exactly what they want.  How much money you make, and whether your business is in a fancy office, is not determinative upon whether your business is "real." 
2. We all work in our underwear.  I’ve never (okay, maybe once or twice) worked in my underwear and rarely work in my PJ’s.  Actually, I wear regular casual clothes 1/2 the time (today I am wearing a t-shirt and capri pants), and business casual the rest of the time, with a few fancy outfits for networking events.  Now, I do work in the early morning or late night in my PJ’s, but so do employed-office people who take work home. 
3. We all are doing MLM or network marketing.  Yes, some of us are, but many of us are also doing service-based businesses, information products, manufactured or home craft products, consulting, or internet businesses.   
4. We all homeschool our kids.  Some WAHM’s homeschool, but heck, my 2-year old is in preschool.  Not that I don’t admire homeschoolers, but it just does not work for us, and that’s not why I’m staying home. 
5. Our business income is "second-income" to the family and is not as important as our husband’s income.  Pleeze.  Some moms’ income is the non-essential stuff (toys, family vacations, eating out, etc.), but some are making more than their spouse, and some are single moms — for example, my sister. 
6. You can always tell if a business is a "home business."  I doubt it.  It’s not too hard to look "real" or "big" — I constantly have clients who think I am in a fancy office building and are very surprised to pull up to my house for a meeting.  I also get calls from salespeople who want to know if my marketing budget is over $100,000, and if my annual revenue is over or under $10M.  (ha! not quite yet!) 
7. We are going to get a "real job" when our kids are in school, or go off to college.  I don’t know about you, but I will never work for someone else again.  Once I’ve been an entrepreneur, I can’t go back.

Do you have any myths you would like to share?  Leave a comment below and I will address them in an upcoming post. 

Of course, not all working moms or stay at home moms feel this way – most don’t, I’m sure.  Most of us are perfectly comfortable with each woman making her own choices, and mostly comfortable with our own choices, and we stay out of any nasty fights — and even support each other!  But there are a few outspoken women who assume their choices are the only "Right" choices for everyone.

But where do we fit in?  The work at home moms?  Or even my subset, the work at home moms who opt for part time childcare?  Am I in the stay at home camp, because I am at home?  Am I in the working camp, because I have a business? 

I find that I am in neither.  When I tried to find a play date group for me and Gracie, I did not fit in.  The stay at home moms didn’t understand why I had part time childcare or why I sometimes had a meeting.  The working moms wanted to do everything in the evenings or on the weekends, which I like to save for family time.  From both camps I would get a lot of "It Must Be Nice" statements — as if being self-employed just fell into my lap from the WAHM fairy.  I always felt weird.  Maybe that was just my problem … but I find that I fit in more online with other self-employed moms, than any mom groups around here in the offline world. 

Have you all had this problem?  Where do you fit — or do you also find that you are in a separate category?  Have you ever found a good playdate group? 

A Mompreneur is a mother who starts a business

But, if you search Mompreneur, you will find this term used to describe women who have founded multi-million dollar businesses, some even publically traded. And describing a network of women who are starting small at-home businesses, as well as small-to-start businesses they plan to grow to empires.

The complaints are ridiculous feminist backlash. Acknowledging that we are women, and mothers, is not diminishing our success, or hard work, or legitimacy. It’s creating a community of women with similar challenges, who can network and support each other. It’s not like the big boys are calling us mompreneurs to keep us out of their fancy wood paneled club — we are calling ourselves mompreneurs, and creating our own club. Except ours has big windows overlooking a playground.

I call myself a Mompreneur as a completely conscious branding strategy. I am running my business differently because I am a mom and want to spend time with my daughter — not running it in any lesser way, but infinitely more efficiently, using technology and making choices to create a business where I can make great money, help people, and still have a great life with my family. And, that is part of my shitck. Having toys in my office, a playset in the garden, pictures of my daughter on my About Us page — my clients know I have a daughter, it give us a topic to discuss and bond over, and they buy into ME, not just my services.

Gracie has helped me take my businesses to the next level — now I have more reasons than ever to run my business Smart instead of Hard.