But the business finally took off after the San Jose Mercury News published a wonderful feature about me in Summer 2004, and the biz had its first profitable months with an almost-full load of clients. Of course, that was just about the time we got pregnant (after we had stopped officially “trying” and had decided to put it off until my business was further along, lol).  

Four years ago today, after just 4 hours of easy labor (used hypnobirthing) and 45 minutes of intense-craziness at the end, Grace was born at 3:44 PM.  When we got home we went through the adventure of nursing with a girl who did not care about eating (and kept losing weight) until she was 4 1/2 weeks old.  She did sleep wonderfully (7 hrs at night at 5 weeks!) but could not stop moving — living in a sling, Baby Bjorn, swing, or Amby Motion Bed.  Her newborn quirks were a big shock to me. 

After those 7 weeks of intense newborn-dom, I came back from maternity leave to my business as a mom entrepreneur.

Phase 1:  Part-Time Nanny & Trading Hours for Dollars

After my daughter was born, I had fleeting thoughts of dropping my business and simply being a stay at home mom for a while (course, nothing simple in that, eh?).  But I did not feel finished with working, and frankly, I needed a break from my high-intensity, clingy daughter.  I needed grown up, intellectual stimulation.  And a situation where no one was trying to get inside my shirt.  

Since I was still seeing clients in person, I needed care for my daughter while I was working.  But day care did not seem like a good option for us, since I wanted to nurse her without pumping, and she was an always-needing-to-be-carried kind of kid.  And, face it, I wanted control over the situation and day care made me nervous.   So instead of getting on the (long) waiting list of a good day care, we opted for a part-time nanny.

We hired our wonderful nanny Sarah using Town & Country Resources nanny service.  She was more expensive than we had imagined, but she was unusually suited to us – she had a college degree, was working on her own floral design business, and had tons of nanny experience.  And, she enjoyed carrying Grace around in a sling for hours each day.  

My business went through a short post-maternity slump, because I had not been marketing or prospecting during my leave (ah, the days before online marketing).  But after a few months, I was back in business.  

Lesson Learned:  We must automate our marketing (via online marketing, eZine’s, auto-responders, etc.) to avoid slumps when life gets crazy. 

Phase 2:  The Nanny Turnstile & I’m Bored.

In Spring of 2006 I seriously thought about shutting down my business.  The business had plateaued.  And since I was bored, I did not want to pound the networking pavement to fill up the rest of my practice.  Heck, I didn’t want to fill up my practice – I resented spending time on clients.  As was not making enough money.

Instead of shutting down my practice, I hired two coaches – Kim Fulcher as my life coach and Kelly O’Neil as my marketing coach.  And gave my business another 6 months to turn around.  Kim helped me bring some balance and intention back to my life, and, for the first time, helped me find the beliefs about money and success that were keeping me in self-sabotage mode.  

Kelly kicked my butt in marketing, got me (scared and wining) to schedule my first teleclass series, and brainstormed with me to come up with the new name for my business, “The Wealth Spa.”  I started my first blog that August, and learned about Ali Brown & this whole information marketing thing.  My business world was getting interesting again.  

Then nanny Sarah went on maternity leave, so we were forced to hunt for new nannies.  We went through 4 nannies in 6 months (including a brief stint from Sarah who realized she wanted to be home with her own baby).  I can’t even tell you how many women we interviewed.  Gave offers that were too late, considered women who were less than optimal.  Then the last nanny worked for us for only 6 weeks until she gave her leave, and I was on search again.

Every time we were nanny-less I had to fight for solutions.  Backup daycare through my husband’s work was okay, but Grace always came home with a cold afterwards.  Working at home with her was okay for email but did not fly for client appointments.  When my parents were in town (from St. Louis, Missouri) they watched her so I could make client calls & teach a teleclass.  Course they could not make the 2000 mile commute more then for a vacation visit.  

Lesson Learned:  Before the breakthrough there is a breakdown – so welcome the breakdown, it means you’re ready to make a leap forward!  

Phase 3:  All Day Preschool & Projects, Teleclasses, Book, oh my!

After attending Ali Brown’s Online Success Blueprint Workshop in November 2006, I relaunched my eZine & website and my online business began to take off.  Raised my fees and standardized project fees (instead of hourly work), taking on a high caliber of clients. Started regular free teleclasses to build the email & mailing list, launched a viral movie w/ Scott Stratton’s Un-Marketing team (adding thousands to my list), and started hosting my radio show (back then on Voice America Business).  

Then in Spring of 2007, Ali Brown asked me to be part of her Platinum Mastermind program.  I freaked out when I got that voicemail – why was she calling me?  What did she see in me that I did not see (yet)? I knew her program was a huge financial and time commitment.  But at that moment I decided to get serious about taking my business to the next level, and I knew I needed that financial commitment and a mastermind team to hold me accountable.  I took the jump in faith.

Meanwhile, when Grace turned two I decided to put her in an all-day preschool (and day care) program.  The theory was if I was going to get serious about my business, I needed more time.  (And my secret theory was when my business took off, I would be able to pull her out of school and homeschool her.)  She cried for the first few days, bonded with the caregivers, made a best friend, and was then excited to go to school.

Lesson Learned:  We don’t see our own brilliance because to us, it’s ordinary.  We need coaches, teaches, mastermind partners to reflect our brilliance back for us to see.  

Phase 4:  Part-Time Preschool & No More Clients

In March of 2008, I started reading my friend Sandy Grason‘s book, Journalution, which is about how to find solutions to your life using journaling.  I had stopped journaling years ago, with some weird idea that my husband might read my journal so it was not safe (as if he would ever read it, how nuts of me).  But per Sandy’s advice, I bought a brand new, unlined, lime-green-covered journal, and sat down to answer the journaling prompt “Describe Your Perfect Day.”

The idea of a perfect day seemed so unreal I was unable to answer the question until I added the caveat, “…three years from today.”  So I described a perfect day in 2011, where I was running an publishing/information marketing/magazine business, teaching a teleclass, and talking to a coaching client on the phone, while homeschooling my daughter (and with my husband working on his own home business in the next room).  As I read my entry, I realized that I was waiting for magical circumstances (that would never happen) for my vision to arise.  Instead … what if I just did that perfect day right now? 

So I pulled Grace out of full time and put her in a 2-days a week, 1/2 day preschool program, and invested in TONS of homeschooling resources.  Stopped seeing financial planning clients (drastically reducing my income but freeing up time and energy).  Finished my first major information product.  Published my first book.  Re-launched my business as The Wealth Spa Online Magazine.  And did that with just 6 hours of regular childcare each week (plus a few days each quarter of temporary nanny time for out-of-town travel and speaking engagements).  It is possible. 

Lesson Learned:  Don’t wait for something to happen to start living life (because that day will never come).  Stop waiting.  Simply live in the moment today.  

Phase 5:  Homeschooling & and Clients again?

Until on December 30, 2008 when Grace said, to no one in particular as she was getting in the car, “This is the last day I’m going to school.”  What?  I completely freaked, I needed those 6 hours a week to make phone calls, teach teleclasses, write articles, get work done!  Now I was not surprised, really…she had stopped enjoying school when she moved to the 3 year old “real preschool” classroom that fall, with its large class size, higher student-teacher ratio, and absence of her best friends from the 2 year old room.  (And, as she told me a few weeks later, one boy had been kicking her on a regular basis, what the heck?!)

But after 5 years in business and almost 4 as a mom, my freak-out-ness was not long lasting.  Tons of resources popped up into my awareness, from Cubes & Crayons on-demand childcare/work sharing, to the zillion classes for kids in my area, to homeschooling co-ops.  After just 2 weeks, we were back in a routine, and, frankly, I was more productive than ever before.  

Now it’s Spring again, and again I’m moving to another business & personal growth phase.   The online business is growing exponentially, and I’m doing tons of speaking engagements. (Ironically to my no-more-clients decision in 2008), I’m secretly planning to open 4 one-on-one coaching spots and a 15-person group coaching program for other mom business owners.  (Okay, it’s not secret if I’m blogging about it, lol.)  After casually, speaking about my personal mompreneur strategies for the last few years, I want to bring these solutions to all of those moms who are trying to grow a business and raise kids, all without losing their minds or struggling through daily life.  

Lesson Learned:  After the last 4 years as a mompreneur, who knows what next challenge/opporunity will jump into my life tomorrow.  But as always, it’s an adventure (and that’s the point, eh?).  

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Join me for the free teleclass, “The 5 Shifts Moms Must Make to Succeed as Entrepreneurs,” where you will learn:

• Why mom entrepreneurs are different, and how being a mom makes us better business owners
• What you must do differently to feel fulfilled in your conflicting roles
• How to create the support you need asap
• The big myths of successful “mompreneurs” and work-at-home moms, and why you can’t buy into them
• The #1 mistake moms are making that’s holding them back making the really big bucks, or even just a profit

Date:  Wednesday April 1, 2009

Time:  Noon Pacific (3 PM EST)

(this free call will be recorded)

Join us at http://MompreneurCall.com

Related posts:

1. What type of a mompreneur are you?
2. A Day in the Life of a Mompreneur
3. What is a Mompreneur?