Thriving as Work From Home Moms (part 1)

by | Business

With the school starting again and more moms than ever working and rocking their businesses from home, I’m giving you a peek inside the world of some of my favorite moms who work and thrive from home.

These are moms who have kids who stay at home with them the majority of the day (or are in school during the day). Moms who build their businesses around their kids and family and stand out in my mind as women who have great tips and skills for you. These are also women I look up to and believe they’re fulfilling the work they’ve been created for.

Katie’s Instagram

Katie Fredrickson

What is your business and how long have you been building it?
I am a Young Living distributor that leads and educates a team of over 400 families. I have been actively building my biz for about 4 years.
 
What does your childcare look like?
I am my own childcare for everyday work in my business. If I have a class out of my home my husband, my mom or a sitter will watch my children. 
 
What are your plans and dreams for your business and your family?
My plan/dream is to have my income completely replace my husbands income. We want the freedom to not have my husband tied to a 9-5 but instead allow him the freedom to pursue his dreams.
 
What’s one piece of advice you have for those who are building their business and family with kids at home?
It’s 100% possible. If you can stay focused on the pursuit of your dream and surround yourself with people who will hold you accountable and cheer you on. It is important to fit your business into small chunks of open time and stay consistent with making it a priority every single day.

Rachel Johnson

What is your business and how long have you been building it?
I am a self-taught artist and creative. I do anything from painting with watercolors and acrylics, to digital design, lettering and large-scale murals. I’ve been doing contract work for about 4 years now.
 
What does your childcare look like?
My husband works nights, so when he wakes up for the day is usually when I get my work done. Occasionally we have outside care, but it’s not a regular thing. We’ve chosen to be intentional with this as a family so I work when he’s awake or for a bit once the kids areasleep for the night.
 
What are your plans and dreams for your business and your family?
I would love to be able to continue to incorporate art into our family dynamic. Big scale dream would be to get to a point where I could regularly contribute to our family’s finances so that we can help others in need on a bigger scale. I also have a passion for empowering the people I’m working with, so that is an important factor in how I operate.
 
What’s one piece of advice you have for those who are building their business and family with kids at home?
I don’t believe in the concept of a normal work/life balance. Something naturally gets pushed to a back burner. Having routines and systems in place help things run smoothly so that work can be factored in without it disrupting everything. Every day is different and the biggest thing I’ve learned is to approach it all with lots of grace.
 
Anything else you want to share?
The hustle narrative is never worth it. You cannot be all and do all. You weren’t made with that mentality in mind. Burnout and busy are not badges of honor. It takes time to build good things.

Rachel’s artwork | Instagram

Jill’s Instagram

Jill’s Business Instagram

Jill McCormick

What is your business and how long have you been building it?

What would it feel like to pass the baton over to a writer who writes five days a week for her own business and for others? It’d feel amazing.

I love writing my own words on my blog to encourage and support women who are exhausted from doing more and trying harder. But as much as I love creating my own content, I want to help others share their stories.

So I started a business to do just that.

Emerald Editing + Copywriting started in September 2018 with the goal to write words and messages that worked for them. 

Through my years of marketing and writing for my blog, I learned how tough it is to write and edit all the content it takes to run a business: website copy, taglines, headlines, blog posts, and so on and so on forever. And writing a book is not for the faint of heart either because you create a story arc, focus on a few points when you have a million in your head, and must hook your reader from the first word. 

But what if someone could help you write and edit all the content you need to create?

And for those ready to feel amazing, less stressed, and get hours of work off their plate, Emerald Editing + Copywriting is here to serve.

I write content for companies and edit books, devotionals, and website copy for others. Crafting words that work is my specialty because it saves my clients’ time, energy, and sanity.

If you’re a business owner or writer who needs encouragement, I am the copywriter + editor for you.Creating words from nothing and generating ideas is mentally and emotionally exhausting so it’s a gift when you have someone who comes alongside you and spurs you on to keep doing what you love doing. We all need a cheerleader. For my clients, I’m a cheerleader who also knows capitalization and grammar! 

 
What does your childcare look like?
For the summer, it looks like the girls entertaining themselves and doing pre-assigned chores. (They must do chores to earn Kindle time.) They now have the ability to do that, but it wasn’t always that way. However, both kids are school-age so during the school year, they are with their teachers and friends.
 
What are your plans and dreams for your business and your family?

My husband and I dream that our family will be one on mission: a family that knows God, loves God, enjoys God, and obeys God even when it’s hard. We want our girls to follow Christ whole-heartedly as well as to have emotional intelligence and to be productive humans in society.

My dreams for my business include helping as many writers as possible share their stories. God is the author and perfecter of each life story and our stories are worth sharing when they point others back to Him.

What’s one piece of advice you have for those who are building their business and family with kids at home?
  1. p.m. then the laptop closes and it’s family time. During the school year, works stops at 2:30 p.m. and I focus on my people. 
  2. Check your heart. Remember that everything you do is to be done in a manner worthy of Christ. If you’re snippy, irritated, or angry at your people for not allowing you to get work done, give yourself grace and a time out. People are God’s masterpieces and Jesus died for the people who interrupt and frustrate you. 

Having said that, work is also so important. In fact, God preordained good work for you to do, but you are to do it with a heart of love, compassion, grace, and mercy. Check your heart if you’re overwhelmed, exhausted, and cranky all the time: you’re either taking on too much, have wrapped your identity into your work, or you’re not dying to self.

Okay, so that’s two pieces of advice! Just remember sweet working mom that God sees you, He knows your needs, and He will provide. With Christ as your good shepherd, you lack nothing! 

What’s your favorite time saving or productivity tip?
I thematically schedule my days, meaning each day has an area of focus. So, Mondays and Thursdays are days I work for a media services company. Tuesdays are my writing days. Wednesdays and Fridays are client days. Saturdays are clean-the-house days and Sundays are for rest. It doesn’t mean I don’t do other types of work, but it does mean that my tasks for that day are focused around one central theme.
How do you spend time with Jesus?
 After having kids, I’m a morning person. I get up before the girls and have my quiet time with Christ. It’s a non-negotiable part of my day. If I don’t talk to Jesus at the beginning of my day, focused time with Him doesn’t happen later in the day. I talk to Jesus throughout the day, but I spend intentional time talking and listening to Him first thing in the morning.

Heather Farris

What is your business and how long have you been building it?
 
I run a Pinterest marketing agency that helps ecommerce, online personalities, bloggers and coaches use Pinterest to drive free and paid traffic. I have been building my business for nearly 3 years now.
 
What does your childcare look like?
I travel full-time so I don’t have childcare. My husband steps in and helps out when I need to check out and get work done. I usually just get up early and work before the kids get up.
 
What are your plans and dreams for your business and your family?
My dream would be to grow it to the point to where I was the creative head of the company and I had a team supporting our mission and vision. I would love to get to the point that I am going to speaking events teaching on Pinterest and helping others to wrap their mind around this amazing platform.
 
What’s one piece of advice you have for those who are building their business and family with kids at home?
It’s important to have solid systems in place for anything you touch in your business. Email, marketing, product creation, service offerings, sales calls and more. If you touch it it needs to have an SOP that way when you get ready to hand it off someone can grab it and go. 
We as moms and business owners have a tendency to want to help everyone but just remember if you aren’t growing and making money then you are going to have a hard time advancing in your business. Learning never ends!
 
What’s your favorite time saving or productivity tip?
Because of the fact that we live in an RV, I create a boundary by wearing earbuds when I’m near my children trying to work otherwise they constantly ask me questions. Most of the time I have nothing going on in my ears but they don’t know that. This has really helped me to be more productive working in a small space with 3 other people present.
 
How do you spend time with Jesus?
I sit with coffee in the mornings and just talk to him. I thank him for all of the blessings as well as the trials going on in my life and ask him daily to just keep guiding me. I also get my bible out or grab my bible app on my phone and find a verse that feels like it’s calling out to me (usually based on topic). I also reach out during the day and just continue to ask for guidance.
 
Anything else you want to share?
Don’t be afraid to hire someone to help you with projects or even a VA to help with simple mindless tasks you need to take a break from. Sometimes this opens your creativity and ability to succeed up more so you can be the business owner!

Heather’s Instagram | Website

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