This mompreneur needed a dose of inspiration
I’ve been searching for a conference, but wasn’t finding one for which I connected to the theme or participants. Then my amazing bookkeeper and business consultant , Ariane tagged me in an Instagram post about a new mompreneur conference happening in SF. How perfect! One day of listening to inspiring mompreneurs with other mompreneurs. I signed up right away! And as serendipity would have it, another one of my client’s luxury nail salon in San Francisco was tapped to provide mini mani’s at the event PLUS we’d be debuting her new line of 10-free nail polishes for which I helped with branding… Indeed I would be In Good Company!
10 Reasons Becoming a Mompreneur Made Me a Better Business Owner
I’ve been thinking about how my business has evolved since my little one was born on the very last day of 2015. I gratefully was able to give myself a little 3 month break then slowly get back into the swing of things. And during the last 21 months of my little one’s life and the new life of my business, a few things started to improve in my business. While at the conference and listening to the amazing panel of speakers, which included many powerhouse women business owners, their stories echoed what I had in my mind about how becoming a mom made me a better business owner.
Here are my reasons In no particular order
1. Mom’s get shit done!
Daycare ends right at 5p and there is no way that the little one is going to let me answer just one more email. So my time is capped and the to do list has to wait. The saying goes – give a busy person something to get done and it will get done! Well, moms are the epitome of busy. So give it to a mom, she’ll squeeze every available minute of the day. It’ll get done!
2. Like my toddler, all failures become learning experiences
We’ve all heard that the only failure is when you don’t stand up again. Well this is in full light now. Taking a lesson from my son, as I teach him to shake off his falls and spills. We all make mistakes in life and business. And instead of wasting energy saying sorry for mistakes or agonizing how we should have done things. It’s now a quick shake it off, an assessment of what happened, and a note on how it will be done differently next time.
3. Delegate, it doesn’t make you bossy… you are the boss
This probably is the biggest contribution to my success as a mompreneur. As my time got more limited yet my responsibility increased, I had to get help. And time to invest in my amazing team… Web designer and all around right hand man, Jeff, my virtual assistant (link to ahelpinghand) my wonderful bookkeeper who sends me my numbers with suggestions every month, and building out a fuller team with a new intern that Jeff is training! Yes – double duty! And now I have the power of 4 supporting me.
4. Fostered networks, connections and relationships
This one was a little bit challenging for me in the beginning because I had this – let me do it myself – attitude. This got me nowhere quickly and left me feeling very lonely. Especially during the first year of being a new mom. Don’t get me wrong, I tried mommy groups in the beginning but I never connected with the groups at the time. Hence at the beginning of the new year, I was on a hunt for a conference and groups to which I had a good match and made conscious choices to catch up with other mompreneurs I knew. Now, naturally, I’m meeting like minded women and creating great collaborations in these new circles! Instead of feeling lonely, I’m feeling connected again.
5. Alignment with values (attract like minded clients)
Becoming a mom brought my personal values into light because now I had a little person with whom I wanted to share my truth. And I want to show not tell. Because my values were at the fore, naturally, clients that did not fit with my values effortlessly dropped away. This was not a conscious maneuver to drop clients – instead a very organic one. Like minded clients began reaching out and connecting with me because we aligned on a heart level. I’m so grateful to have so many wonderful clients with whom I am as passionate about their businesses as I am about my own.
6. Forging ahead and not comparing (as much)
Comparison is my kryptonite! I used to grind my work to a halt because I would get so worked up about how I wasn’t good enough. But after the baby came, for some reason, I stopped looking at what others were doing and focused on polishing up what I do best. There wasn’t any time to compare. Only time to do and move forward. And to realize that I and my business create amazing websites and brands for organizations for which we have shared values.
7. Stress management or else
Being a mom or dad is extremely stressful. There is always something that requires your attention with a little one. But in that cycle of stress, sometimes the only thing you can do is take a quick breath and get through it and move forward. There is no stopping, there is no time to throw a fit. Only time to take a cleansing breath and move forward. Oh and yoga twice a week helps too!
8. Found creativity and stimulation
I’m not sure why, but after having a child, I had the desire to up my game. To show up as the best possible me in terms of the work that my business was delivering. I started to look at our work and determine what we’d need to do to make it truly shine for our clients. I wanted to delight our clients and our client’s clients. This process is continually evolving and my company’s work will continue to push the bar in delight. Like a musician practicing the same phrase day after day, month after month, year after year, it doesn’t get boring, it gets more inspired, more polished and more delightful.
9. Ingenuity = Lack of resources + surplus of responsibilities
When you have a family, there are no longer those quiet moments of sleeping in, or staying up late to watch TV. Time is a scarce resource. And yet your responsibilities have increased 10 fold. Do we have enough diapers, coffee beans, clean clothes, stuff to make lunch, a clean kid… all of that before your first coffee. A little person who can’t do anything for themselves is completely dependant on you. Yet in those brief times where your brain is on autopilot when you’re cooking dinner, changing a diaper, or comforting a screaming toddler, clarity and sparks of ingenuity happen where suddenly you have the perfect solution to that pesky problem. Mom’s have to be creative in problem solving on the fly. And it’s this ingenuity that is perfectly paralleled to making decisions on a dime in business that work.
10. Birth of an authentic leader
During my maternity leave those first 3 months, I would check in once a week but wasn’t doing any work. It was the first time in 10 years that I had an extended break in my work life. It was during this time I had space to vision what my business would look like when I returned to work and how my role would need to change. In all those years of running my business I realized that my business was running me! I finally became the CEO of my business. From that vision I set up systems to automate many of my client on-boarding, started delegating much more work, and set up plans for future growth.
Yea, mompreneurs are awesome!
Maybe you are also a mompreneur, or thinking about hiring a mom – or a parent, know you’re in good hands!
Let me know what you think about mompreneurs and your experience in the comments.
