Back to Basics - What is this blog anyway?

Last week I was in Las Vegas for my Mastermind Meeting (through Alexandria Brown) — a transformational time both personally and for my business (oh, and I also did a bit of partying, ask me about the pole dancing story …). 

But as I was reflecting on my business strategy, I got to thinking about this blog.  Chronicles of a Mompreneur was originally designed as a sort-of-personal blog, sharing my adventures as a mom business owner.  But somewhere along the way I stopped posting about my personal adventure, and just wrote articles and tips about internet marketing and business strategy.  Read more

About

About Elizabeth Potts Weinstein

Elizabeth Potts Weinstein, is an attorney, CFP®, host of The Wealth Spa Radio Show, host of The Wealth Spa Video Show, and author of Grow Up! Strategies: The 7 Legal & Financial Strategies You Need to Up-Level Your Small Business. Elizabeth specializes in teaching women solo-entrepreneurs and business owners how to experience holistic wealth in their business & lives.

She regularly speaks and is quoted by the media, including NBC11, CRN Talk Radio, WPCV Radio, Efficio Radio Network, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, the Chicago Tribune, Copley News Service, San Jose Mercury News, San Jose Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, and Reader’s Digest. Elizabeth lives in San Jose, California, with her husband Mark, their young daughter Grace, and Adia the cat.

Find Elizabeth on:  Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, LinkedIn, MySpace, and YouTube.

About The Wealth Spa^(TM)

The Wealth Spa^(TM) is an online magazine for women entrepreneurs & business owners who want to experience holistic wealth in all aspects of their lives. Resources include information on finance, small business law, time management, book & product reviews, internet marketing, business strategy, and personal growth. Members can get help via The Wealth Spa weekly live radio show & podcast, the The Wealth Spa Video Show, The Wealth Spa Insider weekly eZine, blogs, articles, periodic live teleclasses & videocasts, books, study-at-home courses, exclusive live events, and private coaching.

7 Secrets to Running Your Business With a Sick Kid at Home

Grace, my 2-year old, came down with a 102 degree fever last night, so she could not go to preschool today.  But I did not have a nervous breakdown (unlike me last year) and was able to keep my business afloat.  What are my secrets?  Read more

A Day in the Life of a Mompreneur

Monday August 6, 2007

5:55 AM - I wake up to a tiny hand pulling on my arm.  "Mommy?"  Gracie (age 2.4) climbs up on my bed and cuddles with me.  She tells me about her bad dream ("cat was mean and scary").  I hope she wants to cuddle for a while longer.  No luck.  "Mommy up!  Wake up time!  Hungry!"  Ugh.  It’s still dark outside. 

6:03 After giving Gracie a cereal bar and plopping her down in front of the TV for a Dora show, I check email and delete spam.  Answer an email from my mom about my sister’s new engagement, and travel plans for September.  Read the front page headlines on cnn.com to make sure the world did not explode.  Read more

Top 7 Myths About Work At Home Moms

From the comments I get from former co-workers, friends, family, and what I read all over the Internet, the world definitely has an inaccurate view of mompreneurs.  What is it actually like to be a work at home mom?  Here’s the Top 7 Myths about Work At Home Moms: Read more

From Outside the Mommy Wars

Sad that as moms we are not always united as sisters, but there can be a real division & resentment between the working moms and the stay at home moms.  Brought on by secret guilt (even for those moms who don’t believe it’s true) … these working moms feel guilty for not spending as much time with their kids, and these stay at home moms feel guilty for not bringing in money, or for abandoning their careers.  So, they accuse each other of being inadequate women/parents.

Of course, not all working moms or stay at home moms feel this way - most don’t, I’m sure.  Most of us are perfectly comfortable with each woman making her own choices, and mostly comfortable with our own choices, and we stay out of any nasty fights — and even support each other!  But there are a few outspoken women who assume their choices are the only "Right" choices for everyone.

But where do we fit in?  The work at home moms?  Or even my subset, the work at home moms who opt for part time childcare?  Am I in the stay at home camp, because I am at home?  Am I in the working camp, because I have a business?  Read more

What is a Mompreneur?

A Mompreneur is a mother who starts a business — pretty obvious. Ironically, if you search google blogs, you will find some women embracing the title — and some who are offended. The ones who are offended typically argue that it diminishes their business to call them a mom-preneur, as if that means they are selling $10K worth of beauty products, not starting a “real” business. (I argue that the $10K/year of beauty products IS a real business — just run at a small scale)

But, if you search Mompreneur, you will find this term used to describe women who have founded multi-million dollar businesses, some even publically traded. And describing a network of women who are starting small at-home businesses, as well as small-to-start businesses they plan to grow to empires.

The complaints are typical feminist backlash. Acknowledging that we are women, and mothers, is not diminishing our success, or hard work, or legitimacy. It’s creating a community of women with similar challenges, who can network and support each other. It’s not like the big boys are calling us mompreneurs to keep us out of their fancy wood paneled club — we are calling ourselves mompreneurs, and creating our own club. Except ours has big windows overlooking a playground.

I call myself a Mompreneur as a completely conscious branding strategy. I am running my business differently because I am a mom and want to spend time with my daughter — not running it in any lesser way, but infinitely more efficiently, using technology and making choices to create a business where I can make great money, help people, and still have a great life with my family. And, that is part of my shitck. Having toys in my office, a playset in the garden, pictures of my daughter on my About Us page — my clients know I have a daughter, it give us a topic to discuss and bond over, and they buy into ME, not just my services.

Gracie has helped me take my businesses to the next level — now I have more reasons than ever to run my business Smart instead of Hard.