Tell us a little bit about yourself and your entrepreneurial journey.

While I was employed in the traditional corporate world, I always received design requests from friends, mostly from those starting their own businesses. At first, after working 10 hours a day at the office, I took on a limited number of projects. As my skills developed with each project and my friends were impressed with the outcomes, I took on more work and began to really enjoy this newly found “paid hobby.”

Word of mouth spread with momentum, and I was getting continuous referral work. I was getting compensated for doing something I loved. It slowly dawned on me that I was building a business that was making money. When I was laid off from my job, it was a natural and easy choice to transition into this business full-time.

First and foremost, I am a Mom. That itself is a full-time job. Interwoven between my role as matriarch and wife, I love being a creative designer. Being a designer and doing what I love is the most amazing occupation I could imagine.

As a mompreneur, I pride myself on being organized. I create lists and calendars to keep up with schedules and activities for my family and business. The flexibility of being a freelance professional allows me to design around my family responsibilities. (more…)

By Golda Smith

Being a work at home mom is amazing. Let’s face it; you have the best of both worlds… a 30 second commute to your office and the pleasure of spending as much time with your children as you want. Sadly, the biggest mistake that many mompreneur’s make is that they try to take their life and fit it into someone else calendar.

We’ve read and even heard many successful business owners talk about the importance of having a calendar and making a list and while those things are important many are still struggling. What makes perfect sense and works effortlessly for me and my kids, would be a complete nightmare for another family. (more…)

By Bola Ajumobi

I had been nursing an entrepreneurial itch for a while but while pregnant with my second child, this passion went to a feverish pitch. Maybe it was all the raging hormones. I poured my heart and soul into this venture, an online children’s bookstore. I battled self doubt, put-downs from family and friends and an ever-increasing list of tasks to tackle.  I am celebrating the first year anniversary of opening my virtual doors and thought it a good time to reflex on lessons learned in my first year in business.

It will take twice as long.

When preparing for a product launch, website launch or redesign always give yourself some time buffer and try to avoid announcing a launch date. Do a soft launch first where you can test processes on the back end and work out all the kinks before announcing a launch. Murphy’s Law, Things will fail at the worst possible time is a constant here.

It will cost twice as much.

There are always unanticipated costs that show up. It is near impossible to have your cost accurately figured out before launching a business. Small businesses also neglect to put aside funds for marketing. (more…)

By Shelley Kim

We are so used to hearing about successful men in the media that we often forget about the women who are highly successful too.

It seems that men tend to outnumber the women at this moment in time within the business world: think Bill Gates and Microsoft, think Steve Jobs (R.I.P) and his Apple empire, think Larry Ellison and the Oracle Software company.

Right now there are many women employed in high positions within some of America’s Fortune 500 Companies but you may not have heard of them: (more…)

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your entrepreneurial journey. 

Fitness has been my passion since high school. I decided to pursue a full time career in the fitness industry after working as a group exercise instructor and personal trainer in college. I obtained a Masters in Nutrition and Exercise Science and held a variety of jobs. Although I loved helping people achieve their health and fitness goals, working odd hours (like a 5am-1pm shift) for very little pay was starting to wear me down.

I decided something would have to change when I became pregnant with my first son last fall. My family is my top priority, and I needed a job that would allow greater flexibility because I wanted to stay home with my baby. Becoming a Beachbody Coach gave me the opportunity to continue helping others along their fitness journey while working from the comfort of my own home with flexibility to set my own hours. (more…)