Do You Have a Mommy Business?

Let's face it. Even today, little girls growing up with the same fairytale ideas and stereotypes as our mothers and grandmothers did.

We grow up, we date, we strive to make ourselves attractive to men, we find love, we marry, we have children and our lives become about being a mommy and looking after our homes, husbands and children.

Today however, do we really live in the same world as they did? No, not even close. In the past, women naturally evolved into that role of wife and mommy, and nothing else. With husbands making enough money to support the family, women working while raising a family was rarely considered and typically thought of as highly unusual.

The women of today find themselves in new, and in many cases unfamiliar territory. No longer do they rely solely on their husbands to support the family, and in many cases, they simply can't. Families today more than ever rely on a double income to make ends meet but can women successfully work and contribute while still keeping up with the demands of the home and children? Yes they can, they are tired, but they do it - because they are strong and they will do anything they have to for their children.

The barrier for women is the struggle to actually earn money after paying for child care expenses to work outside the home. Many moms who have returned to the workplace have found that at the end of the day, they were making so little money that it just didn't justify working and being away from their children.

This scenario has brought about the massive work from home revolution. Women are looking for a better way of life, a balance between work and family and success in what they put their time and effort into. When women take time away from their children, they have a natural core need to make sure that whatever they are doing had better be worth that time.

I have worked with women in direct sales for 6 years now. I've met women from all walks of life, with varying levels of work experience and education, with a broad range of personalities and with an even broader range of goals and desires. But one thing holds true for all of them. The desire to make something of themselves, to be happy, and to be successful.

Several years back I heard a speaker at a conference whose words run through my head still today and I have quoted her on many occasions over the years in coaching and mentoring the women on my teams.

This woman spoke about sharing business opportunities with others and how it would be selfish of us not to share something that just might have a huge impact on someone else's life. The thing is, too often, we prejudge. We place people in categories and label them based on little and often insignificant things that we see from the outside.

This speaker described a situation where a woman was at a home party and asked the consultant if she could post date her check for the end of the month for her $20 purchase.

Here are the words I heard from that speaker, that live with me still today and still bring tears to my eyes.

"You don't know what problems a person has in their life. No matter how they present themselves, how they dress, where they work or what they tell you. You don't know if that person in front of you is actually worried about how they are going to buy groceries or pay the light bill that month. You see a person who has to post date a $20 check until the end of the month and you immediately write her off as a possibility of someone who may be successful in your business because they would not even have the money to start up, however minimal the costs."

"HOW DARE YOU?"

"How dare you deny this person the opportunity to go out and make $100 or more in one night doing what you do?"

"How dare you deny this person the opportunity to be able to look after their family?"

"How dare you deny this person the chance to be able to respect themselves, improve their quality of life and live a happier, less stressful life?"

You see, this is what I really love about what I do. I am a giver. I nurture. I do what most would say is way too much for others. But I do it because I believe. I have a vision of a better world. A better way for people and for women to treat each other.

Women CAN change the world. This is a movement we are seeing more and more. Women helping women. Look around. Look at how many organizations are focusing so much more on empowering women.

The success is obvious. Women, moms, taking ideas, vision and hard work and combining them to churn out Million Dollar businesses. It is happening all around us. How often do you see any group or organization focusing on Men Helping Men? No. It's women who do this, we have something special and we pass it on to others and that is what makes us great.

I recently had someone very negatively comment on my work and my business. She felt the need to attempt to raise herself above me in an effort to bring me down. Her words were "You're just a mommy running a little mommy business".

If a "mommy running a little mommy business" means that I have passion, drive, vision and an earnest desire to help others be successful while I achieve my own success, then yes, I definitely have a Mommy Business!

One of my favorite quotes of all time is by Albert Einstein, it reads "Great spirits often encounter violent opposition from mediocre minds".

Don't ever let anyone dampen your spirit. Live your dreams, move toward your vision and make your life everything you ever dreamed it could be.