Transcript
Before becoming an entrepreneur, I had to deal a lot with the corporate culture and observed the conditions for high-achieving women there, especially those which are related to career and family. A lot of successful career women do not have children & it is not because they chose to remain childless (and in fact there are women who make this choice consciously – and there is nothing wrong with it, as far as it is their own choice) . Still the vast majority, in fact, might want to have kids, but if you like to climb a career ladder in most of the cases you still have to do your NON-CHOICE, which is either or.
There was research in the US that shows 75% of surveyed men in executive positiving reported having kids. The opposite holds true for women, 49% of these ultra-achieving women are childless, while 19% of their male peers are. A work-life balance still remiss a myth in corporate culture.
I recognized these disparities very early & started thinking and looking for solutions. How can I have it all? And, yes, I wanted to have it all! Entrepreneurship was the answer. I didn’t want to adjust myself to things, but rather make things to adjust to my own needs.
In order to be flexible regarding time & place of your work, I needed to become my own boss. And so I did. And when I had my first child it paid off. It was the best decision that I made, to quit my job & start my own business. I enjoy having flexibility as a mom & adjusting my work schedule & meeting around my needs. I could work on my laptop next to my child when he was slipping.
Mompreneurship was very rewarding & at the same time challenging as well. Although my husband took one-year paternity leave, so we can equally take care of our son, it was still very difficult for me not to feel guilty of not having enough time for my son, my business, and myself too until we managed to find our own way of balancing parenting. And which we are constantly improving & adjusting.
Indeed, mompreneurs are a special category of entrepreneurs. Because when you are a mom who is running a business, it feels like you have two startups at the same time. However, one of the startups is a more life-long startup & could also be quite emotional.
Mompreneurs face more challenges than other entrepreneurs do. Besides, common entrepreneurial challenges which are connected with the growth of my company, operations or investment, mompreneurs have to deal with guilt, feeling of constant stress, burnout & lack of time.
That’s why it was so important to create this separate course in order to tell the stories of different mompreneurs on how they manage their business and life. And also To Give Toos & encouragement for moms who run businesses, to deal with these challenges & make it happen.
