Hello Moms: My Story From Corporate Workhorse To Momtrepreneur

Hello Moms! I hope you are enjoying the conclusion to the holiday season. Winter, Thanksgiving, and then Christmas is my favorite time of year. Since I gave myself December off (I am a really good boss), I wanted to do something a little different. I want to share my story from corporate workhorse to momtrepeneur.

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If you’ve read the About the Mom page (they say this is usually the most read page on a blog), then you know a little of my story. But I wanted to go more in-depth and share, not just the chronological events, but the thoughts and feelings behind the events, so you can know it is possible to go from moms from corporate to a work from home and homeschool mom.

Hello Moms: You Don’t Need to Go to College to be Successful

I grew up in a military family. Yes, I’ve been to 46 states, including Alaska and Hawaii, I made it to 44 of those states before I was 15. If I attended a brick and mortar high school, I would have ended up going to 3 different ones. Thankfully, I was homeschooled.

In the 90s this was a very avant garde way to school. Most people didn’t understand it, didn’t agree with it, and thought we had no opportunity for socialization.

This lifestyle really played an important role in who I am today. I wasn’t afraid to live in a new place and I knew how to learn outside of a “standard” of teaching. All of these brought me to where I am today.

Instead of going to an accredited college. I attended an unaccredited Bible school. This is where I met my husband (yes, bonus!), and it was through the internship that I ended up living in New York City. For my internship, I lived off Broadway. I was able to watch the ball drop on New Year’s Eve from the warmth and comfort of where I lived. And we waved to freezing people on the street.

After my internship, I was offered a job. Which was a very good thing because I was getting married to a New Yorker, and we were planning to stay.

I know these are more chronological events, I promise I will deliver on the emotion and feelings behind these events. The above mentioned events were exciting, sometimes scary, not always great places to live. But the one thing I was confident about…it could change in a few months. That was something we could always depend on.

This Homeschooled, Bible School Valedictorian is Living in NYC—Hello Moms!

It was an exciting time to be living at the crossroads of the world. Until I had to move out of Manhattan and travel into the city by bus and train every day. The glamor of the city quickly faded with the reality of day-to-day life.

I was starting my first “career” job in NYC and getting married. This was super exciting, until I discovered something about my chosen career…I hated it. I was very much a square peg in a round hole. Doing the same things every day did not fit my personality. I like to be challenged. I like to figure out new things. And accounting didn’t offer these options.

Honestly, I felt trapped. New York City is an expensive place to live. It wasn’t an option not to work. And I liked working in the same place as my husband. I cared about the mission and vision of our workplace. I just hated my job.

Hello moms, are you with me? Have you ever been in a job where you just felt trapped. And couldn’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. Or any light you saw was just an oncoming train. The thought of doing this for the rest of my life brought so much dread to my heart. Ok I know that sounds dramatic, but I promised to get into the thoughts and feelings. And this is what I was feeling in this moment.

Hello Mom, We are having a Baby!

A year after we were married we found out we were pregnant with our first child. This was exciting and nerve wracking. Living in NYC, working full-time, riding the subway every day, and now we were going to have a baby. But no big deal, all the other moms, were able to drop their kids at daycare and work in high pressure jobs. I could too.

Our baby boy arrives and all the emotions that come with a first child flood our hearts. You know what I discovered that the other moms didn’t tell me—I didn’t want some else to raise my son. I wanted to be the one that he spent the most time with. For the last week of my maternity leave I think I cried every day. It did help that our office provided childcare, so he would only be on the floor below us. And, I could keep feeding him during the day. 

So although this was the best of an unpleasant situation. I still wanted to be the one to raise him. The one that he took his first steps towards. I wanted to be the recipient of all of his baby smiles. This feeling didn’t change with the passage of time or fade. Did I get used to our work situation. Yes, I did. But was I hoping to change it. All. The. Time.

Hello Moms, a Funny Thing Happened

While I was out of the office, enjoying all the baby snuggles and the freedom of being a stay-at-home mom. I was hired for another job, at the same organization but a different department and role.

I was so excited to get out of the same thing, every day grind. This new job offered challenges and something new. In this job, I overhauled the job description and overhauled my boss’ job description because there were so many things that I could do…or at least figure out how to do it. 

Culture of a Company Matters

Let’s fast forward a bit. Instead of giving chronological order of events, I want to shift gears to talk about the culture of my different jobs. Although, we worked for different organizations, they all had the same founder and are essentially connected. As promised, I am going to talk about my thoughts and feelings as a working mom. But I am going to lump them together instead of giving an order of events.

I am sure Simon Sinek has a video on company culture and how important it is. Although, I am not looking for the video, I can imagine what he would say. And it would be the exact opposite of the company cultures we worked in. 

The cultures could be described as the last man out the door was the most faithful and dedicated. If you left the office on-time, people looked at you and asked why you were leaving so early. 

Basically, our lives were consumed by our jobs. This was seen as a good thing. If your life wasn’t consumed by what you did, then there was something wrong with you. My goal with writing this post, is not to point out flaws of these organizations, but to give some context to my thoughts and feelings.

Hey Moms, Can You be a Workaholic and a Good Mom?

It is almost impossible to do both. Eventually, something has to give. Most days we left the house before 8am and didn’t get back until 8pm. Needless to say, this was unsustainable. It was a very unhealthy way to live and raise kids. But what could we do? We needed the income, we really couldn’t move, and it wasn’t an option to work from home.

Through all of this the thought still remained with me—I wanted to be home with my kids. Before the kids were even in elementary school we decided that by middle school we wanted to be in a position to homeschool them. How that was going to happen, I was totally clueless. To be honest, I didn’t think it would ever happen. Actually, I didn’t have any hope that it ever would. I thought we would be stuck on the hamster wheel forever, with no end in sight. I know, I know a bit dramatic but that is how I felt.

Hello Moms, it doesn’t Matter if the Facts are on Your Side

By the time baby number 4 made his grand entrance, I was asking more intently to work from home. We were now living in a place that wasn’t as expensive as New York City, so the possibility of changing our circumstances was an option. 

Every time I asked about working from home it was shot down. It didn’t matter that I could prove that I was more productive at home (which I was). Changing the way something has always been done is never easy. Even if the facts are on your side. 

Hello Moms, You got to Make Plans

It was obvious that I wasn’t going to be able to keep my current job and work from home. So I needed to figure out how to go out on my own. At this time virtual assistants were becoming more prevalent, but still not well known. 

I decided I was going to start working towards creating my own virtual assistant business. So I began building my website, figuring out the services that I could offer, and figuring how to do this in general. We needed to prepare before we took the leap.

Yes, this is Scary

I am a chicken by nature, hello moms, anyone else with me. One thing that being a momtrepreneur has taught me is that I don’t mind being second to someone else. I don’t mind making someone else’s ideas happen. But the same loyalty that I show, I expect it to be returned. Treat me well, and I will be your best asset. Since, I work independently now and make my own ideas happen, and I select my clients very carefully. You know how that worked out. 

And then it happened. I was laid off. Yes, sometimes we are handed lemons. At this point I was debating whether to make lemonade or freeze them and throw them at the people who deserved it.

Instead, I decided to try this virtual assistant thing. Let me tell you, it was not easy. As I am trying to get my own business off the ground, I am still applying to other jobs because we needed money coming in as soon as my severance was up. I had 3 months to make this work. 

Our daycare options were also no longer available, so I either had to figure out how to work from home. Or find a new job and daycare, which was not something I wanted to do any more. 

Yes, I was totally stressed and freaked out. I was praying hard during this time. And, I am a Christian, so I have to say God was so faithful during this time. I got my first client at 2 1/2 months into my 3 month severance. And it was enough hours to meet our minimum budget.

Mom You can Define Success on Your Own Terms

My goal was never to get rich doing this. The number one goal was to work fewer hours and be home with my kids. I have achieved this goal and then some. Hello mom, I am not going to diminish your feelings or tell you just to work harder. It is not easy, but it can be done. Yes, your feelings will rage and that’s ok. 

They say hindsight is always 20/20. After more than 7 years of doing this. I now run two businesses, this blog (podcast and YouTube channel) and my virtual assistant business. I am published, I spoke at conferences, and I have created the life I always wanted…to be home with my kids and to be the biggest influence in their lives. But it wasn’t easy. I’ve asked myself so many times, if I can really do this. And it can be done.

Just remember, if you are just starting out. Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle. It takes work, there are a lot of emotional stages to building a business, but you can do it.

Conclusion 

This was a very honest post about my story. I hope it has encouraged you that no matter how long it takes, you can define success on your own terms. If you are ready to dip your toes into the waters of entrepreneurship download your free 20-page workbook. Break free from the 9-5, be your own boss, raise your kids, and enjoy your life.