Chronicles of a Mompreneur

A Mompreneur is a mother who starts a business - pretty obvious. Ironically, if you search google blogs, you will find some women embracing the title - and some who are offended. The ones who are offended typically argue that it diminishes their business to call them a mom-preneur, as if that means they are selling $10K worth of beauty products, not starting a "real" business. (I argue that the $10K/year of beauty products IS a real business - just run at a small scale)

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 typical 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.

Many working moms, in or out of the home, say the are "doing it for their kids." Even with mompreneurs - women claim starting a business is for their kids, to be a role model, earn an income, and, eventually, pass on their business.

I make no such claim. I am doing this for me.

Yes, I am also a role model for Gracie - an example that a woman can love her work, be passionate about helping others, and achieve financial success. Yes, I also am physically there for Gracie, around most of the time - the "quantity" theory of spending time with your kids - and I consciously spend concentrated "quality" time with her each day. Yes, I am earning an income for the family, and the expansion of my business in upcoming months will bring in even more income and success.

But I am doing it for me. I love running my own business - being in charge, able to switch directions in a moment, able to explore the success of any new idea or product, as soon as I make a choice. I love owning my time, able to spend time on my business, or myself, or with my family - completely up to me. I love working with human beings as clients, helping them with real problems that plague their lives, and make their lives significantly better. I love that whatever success I achieve (and whatever failure happens), is totally and completely mine.

I also am completely in love with my daughter. I love that she spends more waking hours with me than anyone else. I love her whispy hair, her smiling eyes, the way she runs with her arms wide open when I enter the room. I love when she surprises me by figuring something out the "books say" she should not be able to do for another six months. Or when she suddenly is able to walk down stairs by herself, or call someone by their name. I don't want to miss any of it.

But I also know that if I was there for every second, I would burn out. I would not appreciate it, because my damanding, high-energy toddler would drain every ounce of energy out of me, if I did not have something completely for myself, to recharge my batteries.

Yes, being a Mompreneur also benefits my family. But I am doing it for me.