How Mom Bosses Are Shaping the Future of Entrepreneurship
Did you know that 77% of six-figure female business owners are moms? This speaks volumes about the determination, resilience, and awe-inspiring power of moms in the business world. Despite all the challenges that can come with running a business and a family at the same time, these women have achieved remarkable success as entrepreneurs.
We want to spotlight a few of our Kajabi Mompreneurs who have built successful 7-figure businesses while also being dedicated mothers - talk about major inspiration! We asked them how they balance their work and family life plus tips and tricks for other mom bosses out there.
Let’s celebrate their incredible achievements and the impacts they’ve made on their families, communities, and industries!
Nicole Burke: Building a $5M Gardening Business With 4 Kids
Nicole Burke, founder of Gardenary, has achieved incredible success - she’s grown two companies to 7 figures in annual revenue, scaled her social media following to more than 1M, and written two bestselling books - all while being a mom of four.
Balancing work and personal life can be challenging. How do you manage this balance as a mompreneur and why is this important?
One thing I keep in mind with balance is that it’s impossible to keep balance without moving. On a bicycle, there’s no such thing as balancing while sitting still. So, with being a mom of four and running two businesses, I remind myself to keep moving forward. There are days I err on the side of too much business and days I feel guilty for not working enough but my secret sauce has been not quitting or allowing myself to feel shame in any situation-giving myself grace that I’m doing the best I can. I also ask for help often. If there’s something that can be done in my home or in my business that can be done by someone besides me, I’ll hire that out. But when it really matters-showing up for my kids or my customers, I’m sure to keep that as priority.
How do you handle the guilt or pressure that can come from balancing motherhood and entrepreneurship?
There have been many seasons where I feel guilty over working too much or not being available all the time for my kids. But the one thing I keep in mind is that my ultimate goal as a mom is to set an example for them. I want to LIVE what I want for them, not TELL them what I want for them. I have three daughters who will all likely want to have some form of family when they grow up. I don’t want them to see me as perfect. I want them to see me as someone who is making progress, going for her dreams and recovering when things don’t go as planned. I think the shame or guilt mostly comes in moments when I forget that my number one goal is to be an example of a real human experience of being both a parent and spouse and a business owner. When I remember my big why of SHOWING instead of TELLING, I stay motivated and forgive myself for the mistakes and frustrations made along the way.
What support systems or resources have been most helpful to you in your journey as a mom entrepreneur?
My husband for sure. He helps me realize when I’m managing too much or something in the house is falling to the side that needs attention. He shares the load of kid and house care alongside me and his steady work made it possible for me to grow my business without the immediate pressure of financially supporting our entire family. My parents have also played a huge role in encouraging me and now working with me in our online shop. I’ve also taken LOADS of online classes and learned from leaders in my industry how to grow each part of my business. I’m a big believer in lifelong learning. I’ve joined a few mastermind groups that have helped me go to the next level as well. Finally, my team. Teamwork makes the dreamwork. I have employees that have been with me for many years and truly treat the business like their own. These are mostly women and lots of them are moms as well. So we support one another’s goals to balance life and business and keep growing together.
Can you share any memorable successes or milestones you've achieved in your business while being a mom?
The first was my first $100,000 year as a garden consultant. That year I got to buy myself a brand new van with just the income from my business. I also paid for my family to go to the beach together that year which was amazing. The next was my first $100,000 month with my online business. I remember counting down the minutes with a fellow employee to see if we could make $100,000 in one month and when it happened, I got to share the joy with my kids and husband. Then there have been my first million dollar years for both my service based business and my online business. These are huge milestones and I got celebrate these with my team by taking a garden touring trip together and with my family by taking my family to a beautiful beach home to celebrate that and my parents’ 50th anniversary.
What does being a mompreneur mean to you, and what kind of example to hope to set for your kids as an entrepreneur?
When I worked in philanthropy, I learned that when women excel economically, the entire culture thrives. I’ve found with my economic success that I’ve been able to do so many of the things I previously only dreamed about. I just passed 1 million followers on Instagram which means I get to influence so many people with the good message of the garden. My business is growing exponentially each year which means I get to provide great employment to more and more people, and build better systems and frameworks in our business to support more clients. But more than anything, with each of these moments of growth, I get to inspire my kids that no dream of theirs is impossible. My kids were all in elementary school when I started my business at 36. So, they’ve seen the whole story unfold over the last nine years. They saw me load my van with bags of soil and now they see me speaking on stages and working with people they know from social media. They still think I’m a nerd! But they know that if they have a dream, they can make it happen if they work at it everyday and don’t give up. That’s the legacy I want to leave them-that they are worthy of a big dream and that the world is waiting to be inspired by them. I love being a business owner but I love being a mom even more (the second is a much harder job!). The money and the impact are amazing but what makes it all even more meaningful is sitting around the table at the end of the workday and hearing about the dreams they have-hoping I’ve set an example that reminds them they’ll get to live out each and every one.
Lindsay Roselle: How Bossbabe’s COO Empowers Mothers like Her
Lindsay is the COO of Bossbabe, a community founded by Natalie Ellis that has grown millions of followers on social media and generated over $20M in course and membership revenue. Bossbabe empowers women to build freedom-based businesses and as a mom of two, Lindsay knows a thing or two about building a business while also balancing mom life.
What advantages do mothers have pursuing entrepreneurship?
Once you become a mother, there's all the cliche stuff like how you have more capacity or how you can multitask better. I think all of that's really true. But I think being a mother as an entrepreneur is like the analogy of the business baby versus the human baby, and understanding seasons and lifecycles. The early days are hard and you don't really know what's going to happen, and then you get better at it and you get more resilient and you learn that it changes and it's temporary. Every new season is beautiful and you miss some of the earlier stuff.
I was an entrepreneur before I became a mother and approaching entrepreneurship now, I have so much more tolerance, patience, and resilience when stuff doesn't go well because my kids have shown me that you can have a bad day and the next day is great.
Overall, being a mother gives you this perspective that maybe you wouldn't have otherwise on not sweating the small stuff and letting a bad day just be a bad day. Learning from everything and then knowing that the next phase and the next season is likely to be something that you love and learn a lot from just like the one you're in and the one you've just left.
What’s your best advice for dealing with burnout as a mompreneur?
I think the biggest thing I've learned is nourishment and I'm not a health coach, but burnout to me is the result of overriding your nervous system, overriding your body, overriding your mind.
Whenever I’ve felt burnt out is when I've ignored my gut intuition and kept doing the things that I shouldn't have been doing or doing it in a way that doesn't feel aligned.
And so I feel like to beat burnout as a mother, is to stop in the moment and ask yourself - what do I need right now? What am I not nourishing right now? Maybe it's food or water but there is also psychological nourishment and financial nourishment - stop and feel what’s wrong to figure out what’s truly out of alignment.
Dominique Broadway: Building a Finance Empire and a Family
Dominique Broadway, founder of Finances Demystified, has built a multi-figure business while also holding the mom title. She knows a thing or two about balancing priorities while also facing challenges head on.
What challenges have you faced as a female entrepreneur and a mom, and how did you overcome them?
I’ve faced numerous challenges just as female entrepreneur, but once I added the “Mom” title, there were numerous additional unexpected challenges. Two of the major challenges have been time management and general Mom guilt. When my children were little, trying to navigate breast feeding, pumping, meetings, crying babies and sleepless nights were very tough. With all of these things, you still have to show up to the meetings, run your business and deliver! It took me some time, but I finally overcame this by realizing that I could not do it all and asking for help. This was really hard for me at first, but once I was able to get help and relieve myself of some of these tasks, it was not just better for me, but for my children and family as a whole.
Balancing work and personal life can be challenging. How do you manage this balance as a mompreneur and why is this important?
I don’t think there is a such thing as balance. Some area of your life are going to be lacking, however there are ways to prioritize what is most important to you and this is my way of “balancing.” My children and spending time with them are the most important thing to me. This allows me to say no, if I need to, and even filter opportunities to determine if they are worth sacrificing time away from my family. Prioritization is key here.
How do you handle the guilt or pressure that can come from balancing motherhood and entrepreneurship?
I am not sure if the guilt ever goes away, but you do realize that your children don’t actually need you every minute of the day. When I often have to travel for work, I do feel guilty, then I see how excited my children are to spend alone time with their Dad or a weekend with their grandparents and it makes it all feel better!
Can you share any memorable successes or milestones you've achieved in your business while being a mom?
I had my first 7 figure year, and then 7 figure month while having a toddler. This was major to me, as many of us are taught they you have to stop your business or just slow down when you become a Mom and I was able to still excel and impact other people’s lives in the process.
What does being a mompreneur mean to you, and what kind of example to hope to set for your kids as an entrepreneur?
Being a mompreneur means so much to me, as I love being able to set an example for my daughters that they can to, dream big, go after those dreams, create their own wealth and that I will support them along the way.
