I watched Dr. Phil the other day and this was his topic! Wow!

I couldn’t believe how strongly against working moms, some of the stay at home moms were.  Well, probably just one in particular.  She shared that staying at home was the ‘be all’ for moms, and anyone who chose any differently should be ashamed!

Now, I love my children (4 natural and 2 stepsons), but I distinctly remember when my oldest ones were 4 1/2 and 6 mths old my thoughts and feelings.

I’m a smart person who’s life revolved around changing diapers, potty training, cleaning up puke…and although I love my life the question kept nagging “Is this really all I’m meant to do???”

Entered my first business, and the need for ADULT conversation.

I chose a Home Party Plan biz because of two factors: I chose when I worked & it enabled me to be at home as much as possible for my kids!

I loved getting ‘dressed up’ and talking to a ‘few adults’…without having to intervene in between toddlers fighting over a toy, who’s feelings were hurt and the many things we moms take on.

What a gift I thought I had been given.  Even better, I left for most of my shows at 6:30 and my kids went to bed.  So, on top of making a great income….yup in the 6  digits people…I did around 12 shows per month and since my kids went to bed at 7 I only missed 1 1/2 hours of their awake time.

Plus here were some great benefits of having my own business:

• Getting out with other moms/women
• Being the center of attention (ha ha not really, but I just wanted to see if ya were really reading)
• Definitely more $$; in fact, I was soon making more than my ex…who at the time resented that..oh well
• Great tax savings! It’s true, when you have your own home business, you get a tonne of tax breaks!
• I felt like a woman! (to quote Shania)
• Plus my kids NEVER saw the inside of a daycare

If someone years ago had JUDGED me based on my decisions, I would’ve felt very very sad.

After all, what I have learned the most is that being a Happy mom is truly the best gift I could ever give to my children!!!!

Speak up moms, let’s hear your side!

Sincerely

Jody In Beautiful BC

Jody Maley is Motivational Speaker & Trainer, mom of six,retired entrepeneur, ToastMaster, Queen of the Home Party Plan Biz!

http://www.DesignedforDivineDestinations.com

“Where its not just about the Destination, it’s the Journey to Get there!”

Once upon a time…..there was a mom who had two little children.  One was five and the other six months old.

Loneliness and just having that feeling inside of her that there was ’something more’ she decided to run a business that had just literally fallen into her lap.

She bought a ’starter kit’ at a home party show cause it was way cheaper to do that than to ‘outright buy’ all the wonderful things she had fallen in love with.  Candles, crystal and solid brass items…quality pieces that she couldn’t just ‘buy now’ on her family budget.

Once she gleefully opened up her kit of “goodies” she actually sat down and started reading the ‘manual’ that came with it. Mmmm…to think that she could actually make a dollar or two spurred her ‘creative genius’.

Her skeptical husband said, “How are you going to do that? And who would be your customers? This product is too expensive!”
She knew though in her heart that ’something had led her’ to this particular product.

Having invited over for dinner one of her most skeptical friends, who also had a great taste for expensive things, she said to her husband “Look, if Mrs. Skeptical decides to buy what I have, and wants to host a party for me…then I will know that this is, indeed, the business for me!  Not only that, but she will decide this tonite within the first 15 min’s of coming into our house!”

Well, skeptical husband didn’t even wait 15 min’s….Mrs. Skeptical came into the house…saw the mom’s new pieces and within five min’s said “Oh my goodness, this is beautiful! Are you selling this? I used to sell MaryKay and I will host a party for you!”

Born in that moment in the mom’s heart was confirmation that she had indeed chosen a great product, and if she could instantly get Mrs. Skeptical on her side…success would be hers…and it WAS SO!

I guess I don’t need to tell you that I was that mom! I made a decision to start a business & had three key ingredients that made me start, and also three “motivators to my success”. 

Just how successful was I? Let’s try to the tune of $4,200/week average, won National Leadership awards, earned Top Ranking Consultant too many times to count!  I must just add here that I accomplished this in a tiny little town with less than 10,000 people!

Here are the Top three reasons most moms/mompreneurs decide to start in a business!

1) There are just plain lonely and in desperate need for some Adult/Female conversation!  Let’s face it….women on average talk 40% more than men, so if you are planning on your DH (darling hubby) to provide that Convo that you need everyday just to stay sane…uh it ain’t gonna happen!
2) Need for the Extra income.  Whether you have come from the corporate job and have now decided to be a SAHM (stay at home mom) or like our young family the need for that little bit extra is a top motivator for moms!
3) Knowing that your life is missing just that “Something”…that you were meant to do!  After all, every mom at some point wonders if this is all her life is cracked up to be: changing diapers, nursing, breakfast lunch dinner, bath times and puke times!  It doesn’t mean you don’t love these things…maybe minus the puke, but you start to seriously question what your “Better good” is!

Let me continue my story just a little bit more!

At my shows, which I absolutely Loved doing BTW, I had hundreds (yes hundreds) of women in other businesses keep asking me two questions: 1) How do you keep getting so many bookings? (I averaged around 10-15/mth) and 2) How are you getting such high sales? (again I AVERAGED around $750…which mean some were the minimum $250 and some were over $1500!)

At that point in my business these were two questions I honestly couldn’t answer!  I guess I didn’t have a ’set formula’ then for success!  I loved what I was doing, I loved sharing what I was doing and I definitely loved to make the money I was making!

After I ‘retired’ from that business, God has a great sense of humor so I developed ‘allergies’ to alot of the fragrances,  I tried a few other business’s sucked in by the money aspect.  Did I do well in these other business’s? Sadly, no!

I hopped from business to business, trying to find the ‘right one’ for me again!  I tried everything from scrapbooking (mom of six here) to vitamins (health is good right?) to even an on-line self development course (which I found after having been told I had a hrt condition). 

Now, don’t get me wrong, I really did love all of these businesses and I’m 100% certain of their merits and value that I could add to peoples lives….but one thing was missing….my heart!  That little voice in my gut saying “This is what you are meant to do!”

I started some real ’soul searching’.  I don’t believe that something happens in our lives for no reason!  So I sat down and for four months really worked out what my passion is!

Here it is: “My passion is to help other moms/mompreneurs learn the three steps I did to Be happy, Love what you do & Make money doing it!”

Here are the three steps that I realized years after many ladies were asking me how I got more bookings and higher sales:

1) I knew that something in my life was missing and allowed something new to open up to me!
2) Once I fell in love with a certain product (or passion) I was not deterred by what other people told me. I was focused and used the simple techniques that I was told by my mentors.
3) I knew in my heart that this was for me, and I believed that it was going to work for me.

Bio: Jody is a WAHM, owner of www.DesignedforDivineDestinations.com, mom of six of a blended family, an accomplished ToastMaster & Speaker and has a passion to work with mompreneurs!

Being a “mompreneur” is the new logo for moms all around of one key essential, Balance.

Having balance today means that a mom can have the option to choose a different path! We wear many different hats today by being a mom. Mom, taxi driver, cook, psychologist and oh yeah, major six figure executive.

I’ve been a “mompreneur” for over 13 yrs and I wouldn’t change one thing.

Choosing to have my own business can sometimes be scary (uh, but isn’t that how one grows and stretches?), it can sometimes be hard to maintain that balance (many business TeleConferences have been interrupted by a bleeding something or just the need for a hug), but I would not choose anything else!

Being a “mompreneur” also has many rewards too!

No time clock! I work when I want to, not when I have a boss pressuring me to get a report in.  BTW this makes my work the best quality I have ever produced, because it comes from True Passion vs Obligation!

My children (six in total) have never seen the inside of the daycare system!  This is something that has no price tags, my time is my most valuable commodity and I will not settle for someone else watching my kids take their first steps.

When I do have to go away for work, yes I get booked quite a bit to speak, run seminars and do Business Coaching, it’s like a mini-vacation.  It’s more Fun than work and it’s always a pleasure knowing I’m getting paid for this too!  When I return home, refreshed and ready with more ideas, my family gets the best of mom.

I always shake my head when so many moms come to me frusterated, burnt out and definitely not in Balance.

Here are some of my best tips to help you restore that Balance in your home/business and hopefully bring back some of that passion that made you start your own business to begin with!

1) Take care of YOU! Set aside a few minutes every day to drink  your tea, write out some things that make you happy and just ‘take in the moment’.  This will literally take about 10-15 mins, but you need to take this time for YOU!
2) Make sure you have a great day planner/calendar for your whole household.  This way your family can see when your set ‘working hours‘ are and you can plan when you are going to have your family time.
3) DreamBoards are essential! How do you know how far you have come, if you have no clue to where you are going?

These are just a few things that I make sure are done everyday to bring balance to my own life.

So don’t hide your light under a ‘bushel’, step out and say I’m a mompreneur and I’m proud of it!

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We have all found ourselves sabotaging ourselves. Most of the communication we participate in any given day is internal dialogue. At some point or another we have all said to ourselves “I’m not good enough” or “I don’t deserve this“. It’s not a good dialogue to have. Certainly this sort of communication with yourself is something to be changed.

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