4 Mompreneurs Share Their Best Business Tips
Entrepreneurship is hard, there’s no sugar coating around it. But mompreneurship, that’s a whole different feat. Managing a flourishing business, a family, and children can be a balancing act for mompreneurs with side hustles and full-time roles. As a solopreneur myself, I admire the mothers that juggle it all on a daily basis each day. I interviewed four mothers that juggle mompreneurship for their best tips for female entrepreneurs or aspiring mothers.
Meet Christina of Christina Jones Photography
Lifestlye and brand photographer, mother of two
Christina is a natural light photographer serving up branded photography to female creatives in the Tampa Bay area. Along with managing her business, Christina is the mother of Solomon (7) and Olivia (2).
When she’s not out shooting or editing for clients, Christina and her family are dancing to tunes or play outside. Christina’s passion for photography actually started from taking photos of her little ones and partnering with brands on Instagram. Christina explained, “I started doing photography on the side when I had my daughter Olivia. It's how I started my business!”
Along with using her calendar religiously, letting go of full control in her business has been the most impactful tip she’s used for managing her time as a mother of two. “Give yourself room to grow! Don't try to do everything.” Along with having nonnegotiable time off on Sundays for family time, outsourcing is the next step for Christina in her business. “I'm in the process of outsourcing some of my editing, and plan to hire a VA soon!”
Meet Danielle of Stride Media Group
Public relations practitioner, mother of one
Danielle is the co-founder of Stride Media Group where she aims to get media coverage for women- and minority-owned businesses in the Tampa Bay. When she’s not strategizing during Stride Sessions with her business partner, Danielle is the mother to 8-month old Elijah. Here journey to entrepreneurship was far from glamorous and began out of her control. “I was still working for a national nonprofit when I had my son. While on maternity leave, with my three-week-old in my arms, I received a call that they were going to outsource their PR department. We were all being released.”
This was the sign she needed to take her career advancements into her own hands. Danielle keeps it real about the transition to entrepreneurship postpartum saying, “I tried to be a mom boss immediately afterward but my body resisted. I was still healing after the baby but determined to keep working, and it just wasn’t feasible.” Now that entrepreneurship is in full swing for Danielle, she finds that accepting help from siters and their mothers is the best way she can manage her time. Danielle believes balance is unattainable for any entrepreneur, especially when it comes to balancing work and family time.
“Some days I’m going to be a bad co-founder because my baby comes first and I want to be wholly present. On other days, I can’t be as attentive to him as I’d like because it’s time to be a rockstar businesswoman. And I’m okay with that. I embrace that. I’m learning to just do my best where I am and whenever I can. That’s all I can do.”
The biggest lesson we can learn from Danielle is the power of giving yourself grace and learning the power of saying “no” when it doesn’t serve your business or is the best use of your time.
Meet Karla of Fresh Metrics
SEO and Analytics expert, mother of two
Karla is a digital analytics expert that specializes in well-implemented google analytics solution websites. Fresh Metrics was a decision made from the perspective of how Karla could have more freedom for her daughters, Isabel (13) and Scarlett (8).
Karla expresses, “My goal is to have more flexibility to be with them when I need to. My big dream is to spend summers in Europe with them exploring new countries and cultures.” When it comes to juggling her business and being a mother, meal prepping is a tip she uses each week to save energy when planning dinner each night for her girls.
When Karla is spending time with her girls, she ends work promptly at 5 pm and will plug away in the evening if she has the energy. Taking holidays off, prioritizing appointments, and making time for her girls is made easier by systems she has in place for Fresh Metrics. When giving her best advice to fellow entrepreneurs, Karla suggests, “I would say to build your systems as soon as you can. You need to see what works for you and what you can sustain. Also, it will probably take trial and error and that's cool.
The biggest learning curve Karla has experienced during her journey as a mompreneur is to trust her expertise. She preaches doubling whatever price we have set in our head since service providers often undervalue their work.
Meet Yamel of One Love Doula Services
Lifestyle blogger and doula, mother of five
Yamel balances being a lifestyle and mommy blogger as Kurly Crown and owner of One Love Doula Services. Yamel is a side hustler blogging all about motherhood, personal style, and natural hair over on her Instagram along with sharing her family of five. Here tribe includes a 21-year-old girl, an 18-year-old girl, 12-year-old boy, 5 and 3-year-old girls. Yamel had the desire to provide additional income for her family but expressed that starting her doula business even scarier as a mother.
Yamel said, “My role as a mom for sure played a role in my choice to dive into entrepreneurship. My husband and I have a goal that all our kids that choose to go to a college graduate with little to no loans. By having my own business, this allows me to have a say on what amount of income I bring in yearly.”
Since she is often on-call for birth means always having my phone on her as a doula, Yamel has only responded to emails on her computer and is working to limit her cell time. She explains, “This helps to put business hours in place in regards to client inquiries. I am working on putting the phone away more often and making that a non-negotiable.”
As a mother of five, managing her time with her blog and demanding doula business has made outsourcing a necessity for her success. “The best tip I have and I learned this the hard way, outsource the things that bring you headache and deviate from you truly loving your business. For me, I am deathly afraid of anything that has to do with our website, I will probably never learn the ins and outs of that and that’s ok with me.” Additionally, she’s looking to outsource tasks at home and continue to grow her team of doulas to free up her time for her family.
Key Takeaways
Outsource — whether it’s personal tasks or within your business, your time is invaluable.
Balance isn’t completely attainable, but establishing nonnegotiables and routines can help.
Entrepreneurship looks different for everyone and each journey is characterized by non-glamourous parts.
Follow your dreams and allow your loved ones to be a driving force in your success.
The freedom provided by entrepreneurship is worth the long nights and tough chapters along the way.
I hope these mompreneurs taught you something that you can apply to your business or side hustle. Whether you’re a mom-to-be or female entrepreneur, these words of wisdom can apply to any hustler out there looking to make an impact with their business.
