How I became a stay at home mom/entrepreneur and how you can do this too

 

 

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I bet if you landed on this episode you might be feeling like it’s impossible to stay at home with your babies right? You want so badly to be the one there for every moment and milestone and the thought of not doing that breaks your heart.

I get it. When my first baby turned 6 weeks old I realized that that was the typical maternity leave that most working moms get. My heart was breaking just over the thought of leaving my baby that soon. In that moment I knew staying at home was the right choice for me.

Maybe you are currently a working mom wanting to leave your job. Or maybe you already stay home, but would love to (or need to) bring in some extra cash. Please know that both of these scenarios are possible. They just take some work, and maybe a little sacrifice.

 

My journey to stay at home

 

I knew from early on in life I wanted to be a stay at home mom. Which was actually kind of random considering I had 2 working parents and none of my friends had stay at home moms. But I had no career aspirations that involved me working for someone else. Never did I dream of going to some fancy college to get an expensive degree. But since I had no real example of what a stay at home mom looked like, I assumed it couldn’t be done without a two income household. Hence why I decided to start my own business.

I’m multi passionate so I did very different things. Horse training, and photography. And after years of building those up, I met my now husband Tyler. Whom just so happened to be on board with the idea of having a stay at home wife.

 

Identity crisis

 

This is where it gets a little interesting though. First off, we were not immediately in a position for me to stay home without any sort of income. And I was okay with that. After all, I did come with baggage. A dog and two horses that is. But once we did get to a position where Tyler could fully financially provide for us, I sorta hit a wall.

Even though I loved the idea of not having to work, something about not working bothered me. Mostly because I was so busy with our kids that I didn’t really have time to work on my business even if I wanted to. And that felt like I wasn’t given a choice. I struggled to shift from “boss babe” to just “mom”. And I will be frank, I still struggle with it sometimes.

But what I have come to learn is that “just mom” is a lot. You are the main caretaker, the homemaker, the cleaner, the chef, and so much more. Having a business and bringing in money doesn’t define you. You are more than a career. Something we are not often taught in this society, and that’s unfortunate.

 

How to becoming a stay at home mom

 

So you want to be a stay at home mom? If you are currently in the workforce, this is going to be a major adjustment for you. And if you currently have a business and work for yourself but want to scale back to focus more on being mom, this will also be an adjustment for you.

The first thing you need to do is find someone who is on board with the idea of you staying home. If this really is a goal for you, don’t marry someone who is totally against this concept. Now what if you are already married to someone who doesn’t love the idea? You will need to sit down with them and express why you think it’s smart for your family.

Staying at home will likely come with sacrifices. If you are not working, you will likely need to slow down on the spending. Maybe not eat out or do target runs as often. Depending on what your specific situation looks like will determine how big of a sacrifice you are going to have to make.

 

Starting a business from home

 

As a stay at home mama you won’t have a ton of time if you have small children. But as they get older, you will find that you might want to have a passion project, a small business, or even grow something into a huge empire. The world is your oyster my dear! Starting a business from home can be for the sole purpose of having some extra spending money, or maybe you need to make ends meet and you don’t have a choice.

You need to realize that being a mama is always going to come first. And your kids need you a lot. This is not for the weak. There will be days you are frustrated because you can’t get your work done because your toddler cried for 10 straight hours. Hey, it happens. Things like batch working will become your best friend.

My advice is to not take on too much. I made this mistake thinking I was super woman and could do it all. Newsflash – I could not. Pick one thing you want to sell or make and run with it.

An online business will give you more freedom but is harder to get off the ground. But ultimately it will be more scalable and passive. Not sure where to start with this? You can use something like Podia or Flodesk to sell online products!

A service based business is easier to get started but requires more of your time. Plus it isn’t as scalable, but also not impossible.

You could do both! For example: as a photographer, you could go into education or provide online resources for clients or other photographers.

 

To wrap it up

 

If you are wanting to be a stay at home mama who still gets to run her business, just know you are not alone. You have found your people here because this is literally what I am all about. Motherhood, and entrepreneurship. What a wild ride!

 

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