Our readers want to get to know you first, tell us about YOU what is your story.
I’m a mom of 2 grown sons and ran a licensed family daycare for over 15 years. As a born ‘kid whisperer’ I became a Special Education Assistant and after my sons were born I trained to be a La Leche League leader and doula. During those early years I voraciously read and learned the book version of parenting that I was using with my sons to a reasonable level of success. When I started doing daycare that’s when things really ramped up with hands on skill building. Getting 4-7 kids up the door on time and keeping them from the normal squabbling kids do was a crash course in multitasking and coordination.
Now let’s talk business, what do you do? Have you always wanted to have your own business- what inspired you to go down this journey?
I was born into a family of entrepreneurs my Mom is an immigrant from Holland and she instilled an I can do anything I set my mind to work ethic. I wanted to stay home and raise my kids more than anything, I used to joke that I was born in the wrong era and after trying a couple businesses I landed on daycare on the suggestion of a friend. I never looked back. It allowed me to stay home, even after I divorced my kid’s dad, I was able to build a brand-new house and be there for them every day. It was not perfect, but it was perfect for us.
What advice do you have for moms who want to start a business?
- The first thing I want to say is to dump and thoughts that you have to be a supermom. You’re going to have days that working on your business seems impossible and days when you’ll say why did I wait so long.
- Don’t be afraid to get your kids involved and delegate things to them like sweeping the floor drying dishes, dusting etc. It may not be done perfectly however these are skill they will thank you for later...and so will their significant others.
- Lastly make sure you sleep, don’t make the mistake of staying up late so you can work because you, your kids and business will suffer.
Life is full of lessons, what has motherhood taught you?
That I’m going to make mistakes, unintentionally hurt my kids and when I look back I need to say I did the best I could with what I had.
