妈妈级创业者如何家庭事业双丰收

创业需要进行大量的规划、协作、计算、文件提交、营销等。下面八位女性在照顾孩子的同时，均取得了创业成功。

她们是如何做到的呢？照顾家人是一项重要的、耗时费力的工作，它让人没有太多体力和情感能量，去进行商业冒险。更重要的是，这几位妈妈级创业者，在开始考虑创业时，大部分都有全职工作，这迫使她们不得不做出重要的生活决定。这些决定不论对于她们的思想还是心灵，都绝非轻易做出的决定。

但尽管困难重重，这八位创业者都成功掌握了事业、家庭和自我平衡的艺术，而且在外人看来，她们毫不费力便实现了这种平衡。下面是她们的成功秘诀。

随时捕捉创业机会

一天晚上，香农•戴维斯PT, DPT博士发现她的孩子努力在屋子里四处追逐家里养的宠物，于是，她认为需要有一款能够让孩子在地毯、瓷砖和木地板上独立移动的平衡设备。经过一系列原型测试和反复试验之后，香农设计出了一款完美的产品：小小平衡箱，这款产品可以帮助婴幼儿安全地坐下、站立和走路，无需成年人协助。

香农并不满意性能不佳的稳定设备，如带座位和轮子的学步车，她从自己和孩子遇到的问题出发寻找解决方案——毕竟其他人也会面临同样的问题。

希瑟•瑞安特工则有不同的经历。在海军罪案调查处（Naval Criminal Investigative Service，NCIS）工作期间，因为没有足够的时间陪伴家人，希瑟一直深感遗憾。儿子幼儿园毕业的时候，希瑟只能在距离幼儿园八个州之外的地方，通过Skype观看毕业典礼。在那一天，她发誓要做出改变。

希瑟在调查严重犯罪方面有着丰富的经验，例如虐待儿童、性骚扰和谋杀等，因此，她认为自己可以通过提供对犯罪心理的洞察，帮助无数家庭找到自我保护的方法。数年来，希瑟从最危险的“坏人”身上收集了大量的信息。通过分析这些信息，她创建了实用的安全课堂——“城市安全”（Safe in the City），目标人群是女性和家庭。

认识到家庭与事业是平等的，没有必要让一方凌驾于另一方之上。

弗莱施•赫尔施是著名的“妈妈们的商业顾问”，她最初希望将家庭时间和用于发展事业的时间相结合。在休完产假之后，她本可以继续自己喜欢的全职工作，但弗莱施希望能更进一步，将自己掌握的婚姻与家庭咨询专业知识，与自我创业相结合——特别是建立了针对妈妈们的商业指导公司。

如此一来，弗莱施可以100%掌控自己的时间安排，因此她能够根据自己的时间和方式，安排陪伴家人的时间。弗莱施认为，要想保持健康的平衡，“不要在家庭时间工作！”将工作时间与家庭时间分开，可以让一个人不论在哪种场合下，均能更全身心地投入其中。

Learn.Do.Become公司创始人艾普丽•佩里，在陪伴家人之外的空闲时间，帮助其他人“构建有价值的生活。”艾普丽在四个孩子上学或写作业的时候，打理自己的公司。当所有人都有空闲的时候，他们会一起做家务，打扫庭院，做饭和处理其他杂物，然后一起享受天伦之乐。

艾普丽说道：“我家里有四个活泼好动的孩子，在这种情况下经营公司需要大量的耐心和创造力！这当然离不开团队的努力，很多时候，我都想知道我们大家在思考什么。但总体而言，这种方式适合我们，能够跟爱人和四个孩子在一起那么多时间，我们很高兴。”

尼科尔•罗杰斯在创业过程中，从未将孩子排除在外——至少在创业之初是这样。尼科尔创建的Agriprocity公司，致力于帮助农民和食品加工商建立长期、直接的关系。在创业之前和创业过程中，尼科尔要到世界各地进行调研，出席各种会议，这些活动帮助她一步步实现创业的梦想。在这个过程中，她始终将孩子带在身边。

对于创业过程，尼科尔表示：“带着小婴儿穿越大洋，从迪拜飞往加拿大，这让旅程变得很有挑战性。现在，我们的儿子在公司办公大楼里的幼儿园上学，我们可以有灵活的时间陪伴他。”由于家人与事业之间并不存在物理上的距离，这令尼科尔更容易与丈夫和儿子保持亲密的关系。

充分利用妈妈的身份

有人或许会将养育子女看成是事业倒退，但不论是指导其他妈妈们如何创业的弗莱施，还是通过“Get Safe Academy”帮助其他家庭保持安全的希瑟，这些妈妈级创业者们，都将养育子女视为一个重要的优势。Domestic Objects公司的创始人萨拉•贾格尔知道，自己的产品（漂亮的手工游戏帐篷）可以吸引其他父母，因为她最初设计这些产品便是为了自己的孩子。她还知道，自己的帐篷无需使用高科技，便可以鼓励孩子们进行富有想象力的游戏。

萨拉说道：“我的客户几乎都是妈妈们，她们希望通过各种方式，让孩子们积极主动地参与游戏，远离电子设备。如今，iPad和其他电子设备在孩子们的生活中无处不在，我希望用其他的方式，让孩子们发挥自己的想象力，一起游戏，让孩子们动起来，享受游戏的乐趣。从营销的角度，我认为自己的经历可以帮助我进行销售。”

认同自己的选择

很可惜，职业女性经常会收到有害的评论，人们质疑她们在发展事业的同时，是否有能力经营幸福的家庭。妈妈级创业者们遭遇到的质疑，是普通职场女性的十倍。Best Mom Products公司创始人、《创智赢家的妈妈级创业者：减少曝光》（Shark Tank Mompreneurs Take a Bite Out of Publicity）一书的作者瑞秋•奥尔森表示，她选择的创业道路，是向女儿们展示女性的领导力，这反而让她更有能力应对其他人的负面评价。

对于抚养子女和创业，瑞秋说道：“你的方式不一定适合所有人，而且也没有必要得到所有人的支持。人人都有自己的方式。如果有人贬低我的选择，我会把这种意见看做是他们内心状态的一种体现——那正是他们在自己生活中尚未解决的问题。我不会把它视为针对我的个人攻击。”

Luxe Link、The Waxing公司和Citrus Studios等公司的创始人卡利卡•亚普是一位著名的连续创业者，她独特的商业生活方式，对于她和她的家庭而言，是正确的选择。卡利卡说道：“我不会有任何负罪感。我知道我为自己或我的家人所作的事情，是为了所有人的幸福。而且，不论在工作还是家庭生活方面，我一直都在努力做到最好。我‘全身心地投入其中’”。

卡利卡正在与孩子们一起创建一家名为Conscious Kids的新公司，公司将致力于培养学龄儿童的道德领导力。通过让孩子们直接参与创业，一方面，卡利卡可以为孩子们树立正面的榜样，另一方面，作为妈妈，她还可以增加与孩子们的互动。

实现家庭与事业的平衡并不容易，但这八位妈妈级创业者都实现了创业成功，并且没有以牺牲家庭为代价。现在你已经知道了一些可行的方法，你会如何设计自己的创业道路？

译者：刘进龙/汪皓

Entrepreneurship involves a lot of planning, writing, calculating, paper-filing, marketing and more. Each of these eight moms did it all—with a kid on her hip.

But how did they do it? Caring for family is a major and time-consuming commitment that leaves little physical and emotional energy behind for business ventures. What’s more, most of these mompreneurs had full-time jobs when they began considering starting a business, compelling them to make major life decisions that couldn’t have been easy on the mind or the heart.

Against all odds, however, all eight mastered the art of balancing business, family and self—and in a way that, from the outside, looks totally effortless. Here’s how they did it.

By recognizing opportunity

Doctor Shannon Davis PT, DPT understood the need for a carpet-, tile-, and wood flooring-compatible balance device that would allow children to move independently one night when she noticed her baby struggling to chase a family pet around the house. After a slew of prototype tests and instances of trial and error, Shannon devised the perfect product: the Little Balance Box, which safely helps babies and toddlers sit, stand and walk without assistance from an adult.

Instead of settling for inadequate stability devices like seated and wheeled walkers, Shannon took advantage of the issue she and her baby were experiencing—after all, others had to be dealing with the same problem.

Special Agent Heather Ryan has a bit of a different story. During much of her time working with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), Heather regretted being unable to spend sufficient time with her family. When her son graduated kindergarten, Heather could only watch via Skype from eight states away. It was that day she vowed to make a change.

Because Heather had extensive experience investigating major crimes like child abuse, sexual assault and homicide, she thought she could provide insight to the criminal mind that could benefit individuals and families seeking methods of self-defense. By analyzing the information she’d gathered from the most dangerous of “bad guys” over the years, Heather began Safe in the City, a practical safety class aimed toward women and families.

By realizing neither priority (family or business ownership) had to come over the other

Flesché Hesch, branded “the business advisor for moms,” originally wanted to combine family time with that spent on advancing her career. Though she could have returned from maternity leave to a full-time job she enjoyed, Flesché thought she could go one step further by combining her marriage and family counseling expertise with self-employment—specifically, by starting her own business coaching company for moms.

By being 100 percent in control of her own schedule, Flesché was able to make time for family when and how she wanted. To maintain a healthy balance, Flesché says, “No working during family time!” Separating work time from family time allows one to be more mentally and emotionally present during each.

April Perry, founder of Learn.Do.Become, helps others “architect lives worth living” between time spent with her family. While her four children are at school or finishing up homework, April builds her business. When everyone in the family is free, they work together to complete housework, yardwork, cooking and other chores before having fun.

“Running a business from home with four active children definitely requires a lot of patience and creativity!” April says. “It’s definitely a team effort, and there are many days I wonder what we were thinking, but overall, it works for us and we enjoy being able to spend so much time with each other and with our children.”

Nicole Rogers didn’t exclude her kid from any part of the entrepreneurial process—at least, not at the beginning. Nicole founded Agriprocity, a company that fosters long-term, direct relationships between farmers and food processors. Before and during startup, Nicole travelled around the world conducting research for her business, attending conferences and meetings that each took her one step closer to opening. She did it all with her baby boy.

“Taking a baby across the ocean from Dubai to Canada made the journeys challenging,” Nicole says of the process. “Now, our son attends nursery in our office building so we can have flex time with him.” The absence of physical distance between Nicole’s family and her business makes it much easier to remain close with her husband and son.

By capitalizing on their own motherhood

Though some may view parenting as business setback, mompreneurs like Flesche, who teaches other moms how to start their own companies, and Heather, who helps other families stay safe through Get Safe Academy, view it as a major advantage. Sarah Jagger, founder of Domestic Objects, knows she can appeal her products (gorgeous, handmade play tents) to other parents, because they were originally made for her own kids. She also knows her tents are a great way of encouraging imaginative play without the use of technology.

“My customers are almost always moms who are looking for ways to keep their kids active, off electronics, and engaged,” Sarah says. “Today, iPads and other electronics are embedded in children’s lives, and I wanted to find ways to get them using their imagination, playing with each other, being active and having fun. From the marketing side, I think my story helps me sell.”

By owning it

Unfortunately, it’s all too common for working women to receive hurtful comments and questions regarding their abilities to raise happy families while advancing their careers. Mompreneurs experience this tenfold. Rachel Olsen, founder of Best Mom Products and author of the book Shark Tank Mompreneurs Take a Bite Out of Publicity, says she followed the entrepreneurial path to demonstrate female leadership to her daughters, which only strengthens her ability to deflect negative comments from others.

“It’s not for everybody, and it doesn’t need to be,” Rachel says of parenthood and business ownership. “We all have our own path to follow, and when someone discounts my choices in anything, I look at it as a reflection of what they internally have going on—issues they haven’t resolved in their own life. I don’t take it personally.”

Kalika Yap, founder of Luxe Link, The Waxing Co., Citrus Studios, and many others knows as a serial entrepreneur that her unique business lifestyle is right for her and her family. “I don’t feel guilty at all. I know what I do [for] myself or my family is for all of us. I also work very hard and try my best in both work and family life. I’m ‘all in,’” Kalika says.

Kalika is on track to starting a brand new company with her children called Conscious Kids, which will focus on ethical leadership in school-age children. By involving her kids directly in business ownership, Kalika is both a positive role model and a more interactive mother.

It certainly wasn’t easy, but these eight mompreneurs managed to master business ownership without sacrificing family. What will you do with your entrepreneurial career, now that you know anything is possible?