working mom woes: No, You won’t Steal The Milestones from me
Years ago, I was sitting on my couch, fashion blogging, eating a huge salad, and feeling my baby boy move around like a ninja. I was just about 9 months pregnant at this time. I had been laid off my corporate job in publishing many months before. It was a time when many companies nation-wide, were laying employees off due to the economy in our country.
After I got laid off, I saw it as the perfect time to try for a baby with my husband. This is why I didn’t hurry to job hunt. I got pregnant, and enjoyed every minute of it. But, I couldn’t just dedicate myself to waiting for baby to arrive. I had to do something. I was finally free of the corporate chains. I could finally do whatever my heart desired. So, I began lifestyle blogging. While I learned a lot, I also realized blogging doesn’t bring in a good income immediately. It takes a long time, and a lot of hard work for blogging to become a strong source of income.
As I got closer to my due date, I became more and more nervous about work after baby. I knew I didn’t want to be a stay-at-home mom. I wanted to have my cake and eat it too. I wanted to have my baby, not miss a single milestone, raise him myself, but also have a career. Our baby came, I was in love. I focused on nothing else but him for many weeks. After that, my career anxieties came back. I was still firm about not leaving my baby at a daycare, or with a nanny. Somehow I wanted to have my dream career, and be a full-time momma. I was so determined….nothing was going to stop me.
I started digging into job boards for remote jobs. Mind you, this was in 2012, so remote job opportunities were mainly gigs, or short-term contract jobs. But, alas…it was something. And I had to start somewhere. Luckily, I did come across short-term contract jobs that were related to my speciality - communications, media, writing, marketing, etc.
I applied to the ones that stuck out to me the most, and I got the jobs on the spot. I did it! I began to make decent money, in the fields I loved and had experience in, while also getting to spend every waking moment with my precious baby. I felt so accomplished, so whole, so grateful.
The years went by, and my client list grew fast. I was doing remote work for clients from all over the world in fashion, lifestyle, media, event planning, entertainment, beauty, I mean….was this real life?! Yes. It. Was.
Eventually, we had a second baby, and I continued my career from home, while getting to watch my two boys share priceless moments together. By that time, my oldest son was in his Pre-K years, so I started meeting other mothers with kids the same ages as mine. I would say, 90% of them were all stay-at-home moms (by choice). But, they were all on tight budgets. They didn’t do family vacations, go out to dinners as a family, and date nights were basically foreign concepts for them. I didn’t understand how any parent could deprive themselves of a better lifestyle, when there were so many amazing work from home jobs available.
Making mommy friends is very much like dating. You meet, you go on a first date (with kids of course), and then the questions start….this is where it goes from “mommy date”, to 60 Minutes Interview. I remember one mom specifically, we went to lunch with the kids, and she was throwing the questions at me like darts. The entire lunch was like a lightning speed round of Jeopardy. I could barely get any bites in of my food, because I couldn't stop answering questions. But, the one question they’d all ask me (and still do to this day) is: “do you work?” I tell them I do, that ever since I had my first son I work from home for clients in the media, editorial, fashion, and beauty industries. And, that’s when I get the look…the confused, questionable, semi-envious, “this isn’t going to work out between us”, look.
I would go into some more detail of what I do, and how I made it happen. Some of them seemed intrigued, while others seemed over me and my ability to start my work from home journey, and establish a solid list of clients on my own. Sorry, not sorry. The ones that were interested in learning more about remote work in their niches, wanted tips, resources, and advice. And I was more than happy to educate them, and guide them. But, unfortunately none of them did anything about it. They continued on their heavily budgeted lives, foregoing experiences for their kids, and themselves.
One of my pet peeves is people who set limitations on themselves. And also people who don’t EVOLVE, and stay stagnant in their lives. We’re not here to stay locked in the same place all of our lives. We’re here to grow, change, learn. It bugs me how many people, especially parents clam up after having children. There are far too many incredible remote job opportunities available.
I obviously can’t force any of these mothers in my life who have remained stagnant in their lives. I can’t make them get their shit together and take advantage of what’s out there. So, instead I used them as my muses. I created Workflow. Workflow takes the headache away from weeding for quality remote jobs in the creative industries. Although the number of remote jobs has grown tremendously in the last few years, it can still be challenging to filter out the garbage remote jobs from the truly high-quality ones. I built Workflow to be a one-stop resource for ALL, and ONLY the most incredible, high-quality remote jobs available in the creatives niches - such as editorial, writing, marketing, graphic design, copywriting, social media, branding, and more.
It has been such a jaw-dropping experience getting to raise my kids, while also getting to live out my career dreams simultaneously. I never put either things on hold. I had my cake, and I ate it too. And, so can you!
If you want to jump directly into the gold of remote job opportunities, check out Workflow, and get full access today!
