The Costco Connection - May/June 2010

“Many moms admire that I have taken the risk to leave the corporate arena.”

Juggling and boundaries

In the end, mom entrepreneurs encounter many of the same challenges, pitfalls and perks faced by any other home-based business. Being a work-at-home mom doesn’t magically solve all those work/life problems. If they’re not careful, women who start their own businesses say, they find it easy to get distracted.

“It’s really hard,” says Wee Piggies founder
Cornelius. “People tell you that at the begin-
ning, but you don’t listen. I’ve had times when
[my] kids have gotten my financials and the
accountant gets my kids’ school work.”
Isabelle Lipari says that setting up guide-
lines from the very beginning made the dif-
ference: “We had very strict rules. After the
workday, we would not talk about the busi-
ness. Setting the rule for [my] home office:
Kids are not to come to the office. Kids knew
what they were allowed to do.”
Throwing all of the responsibilities of
motherhood into the mix makes for a tough
juggling act. Business activities are typically
planned during downtime, when children are
napping or at school, or at night, while they’re
sleeping. Often, work is taken care of in transit.

“ A lot of my business is done in the car when I have downtime—while I’m waiting to pick up my children from dance or hockey,” says Cornelius. “My BlackBerry is my third child,” she laughs.

Moms also rely heavily on other family members—parents, husbands, siblings, sometimes even their children—to help out.

“My parents help take care of the children
when I have meetings and drive them to
extracurricular activities,” says Quinton of
Stories Worth Telling. “My husband patiently
advises on what he thinks might work for me.
My mother and two sisters provide encour-
agement and understanding. My father is my
accountant and has set up my books. He
makes sure I pay my taxes on time and pro-
vides advice earned from his many years of
work.”
All agree the efforts have been well worth
it, and in ways beyond financial measure.

“I love being my own boss, setting my own hours and feeling the true sense of accomplishment in knowing that I am creating something and making my ideas come to

The Costco Connection
Starting a business? From Costco’s mem-
ber services to business and consumer
products, every mom we interviewed cited
Costco as a great resource and a large
contributor to her business’s success.
life,” says Broback. “Although it has been dif-
ficult balancing home life, kids’ schedules and
many franchisees at once, it is absolutely
worth the trade-off when I consider both the
time I am able to spend with my family and
the life lessons it is teaching them.”
“It has been a highly rewarding journey, a
business education, a self-esteem builder and
creative outlet for both of us,” says Bea Moritz,
the other half of Bealoo Kids. “The process of
creating and running Bealoo has been a
source of inspiration, showing us that we can
accomplish just about anything.”
Says Draper, “My main aim was to be
there for my young children, and this reason
alone makes it worth it!” C