This is the last Financially Savvy Friday featuring the WAHM. Today represents the fourth post in our series – if you missed the first 3, you can find Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 here. While we typically focus on money saving tips, this series focuses on parents who earn income, while also being home with their families.
Multi-Talented, Multi-Tasking Wonder Women
This series started as a single post to feature a handful of women, all WAHM‘s, who inspired me to pursue my vision for PlaygroundParkbench. Since launching PGPB, I have had the opportunity to encounter even more WAHMs with amazing stories through blogger networks and as PGPB followers. I continue to be awed, humbled and inspired by all these women have built and what they accomplish in a 24 hour day. Women entrepreneurs are a force to be reckoned with!
What started out as as a post featuring 3 women, has grown to well over a dozen. The first week, we featured Melissa, Co-Founder of weeSpring.com; Rachel, a pediatic OT by training and Founder of CanDo Kiddo; and Kira, a freelance writer and blogger at Sunshine and Hurricanes. In Part 2, we featured Jennifer, Co-Founder of a production company, Think Ten Media Group; Zebulun, a WAHD, SEO Specialist and guest blogger at Suzy Homeschooler; Helen, a Professional Blogger at Kiddy Charts, a leading UK Parent Blog, and Media Consultant; and Cindy, an Online Educator and Manager. Last week, we featured Lauren, a hand stamped jewelry artist and founder of Lazy Sunday Jewelry; TC, a professional photographer and founder of Big Bash Photo; and Clare, an in-home daycare provider at Clare’s Little Tots.
This week, a few moms pulling more than just double-duty! We are featuring a seamstress and fitness coach, an author and parenting coach, and an ESL tutor. Despite the diversity of jobs, many articulate a consistent message: working from home not only can generate income, it provides a creative outlet, flexibility, and life balance (although that takes practice even from home!). Oh, and an added bonus – NO commute! May you be as motivated by them as I have been. Please show them your support by checking out their websites and products.
Mrs. Mary Mak, Mother of 3, Owner – Mrs. Mary Mak and a Health and Fitness Coach
I am a mother of 3. I am the owner and sewist of Mrs.Mary Mak, as well as a health and fitness coach. I started my sewing company in February of 2011, and I started my beach body business in March 2014. I started sewing just making nursing covers for women in my online birth board (November 2010), and from there, it snowballed into a clothing, home decor and hair bow business. I began health and fitness coaching originally for the discount on products. I had over 100 pounds to lose and knew it would take awhile. As people saw me having success, they wanted to know more about what I was doing I found I had a passion for helping people!
With both businesses, I get to stay home and be present for my boys. I have had measurable financial success, but more than that, the joy I’ve been able to bring to others has made my journey through life so much more enjoyable. I split about 40hours a week between the two businesses.
I do all my sewing in my home office, a converted extra bedroom with desks for my machines and shelves for all my fabrics. Everything else is computer based which means I can do it anywhere. Laptop in bed, my phone on the beach. The freedom is fantastic. I maintain balance with a set schedule in 30 minute increments. Family things come first, and then I fill in around that. I use a fantastic planner called the passion planner. Working from home has brought balance to our lives. Having special needs children, the ability to drop everything and run up to the school has been a god-send.
You can purchase beautiful, hand-crafted baby items, boutique-style hairbows and embroidered attire and home decor at Mrs. Mary Mak. You can learn more about her beach body business at Mary Mak Fitness.
Ariadne, Mother of 3, Author and Parenting Coach
I am a parenting coach and writer. Most of my work is supporting parents, writing parenting articles and keeping up with the latest research on child development and parenting practices. I have a website, I published a book last year, I facilitate play groups, and I also coordinate a positive discipline parenting magazine. I have been working in the field of parenting education since about 2007.
After my first son was born I became involved in many different parent support programs. I was eventually invited to facilitate some of these programs and also found the Positive Discipline series
The benefits of working for home for me is that I can make my own schedule and can prioritize my time with my children. When they were younger, I worked less, and typically, only during nap time and in the evenings. Now I can get a lot of work done while they are at school. I am really passionate about what I do, when parents reach out with positive feedback and let me know that the changes they have made has helped them enjoy parenting again, that their child is doing better, I consider it a big win, for all of us.
I do a mix of volunteer work in local communities and work from home, I would say I invest about 20 hours a week into helping parents. I mostly work from my home office but sometimes I will write in the waiting room of my kids ballet or karate class too! One of my most popular articles was written on a plane ride to visit family as the children had fallen asleep!
I’m great at balancing my time between work and my children. The laundry…not so much! I’ll confess that ever so often I need to give myself a reminder to be better organized and mindful about balancing work and home care. I make sure to dedicate lots of time to play and be with my children, so this year I want to see if I can also do better with keeping the house organized (it might be a lost cause) but I will keep trying!
You can learn more about Ariadne’s business at Positive Parenting Connection, and be sure to check out her first book, Twelve Alternatives to Time Out: Connected Discipline Tools for Raising Cooperative Children
Varya, Mother of 3, ESL Tutor and Blogger
I an ESL tutor for young children. It started, or rather restarted, when my oldest (now 6 years old) was 3 months old. I used to work as an ESL teacher before, and friends of friends asked to find a tutor for their children. So here I was! I also ran an English playgroup for a year before I had baby #3.
First and foremost, my condition is that my children are with me during classes (now 6 months old, 2.5 years old and sometimes my 6 year old). The older ones don’t always stay in my class, and I also don’t have many students at home at the same time (if it is a one-on-one class older ones are in their room and little one is in Ergo or in exersaucer; group classes allow older ones to participate). It also allows me to contribute to our budget and savings. And of course, as a blogger who writes about crafts, education and multilingualism, I get to put theories in practice and share with others.
I work a total of 4 – 6 hours a week, and do it all from our living room. Working from home provides my children the opportunity to socialize with other children and learn as well. And whilst my husband does have quite a few tutoring hours besides a full time teaching job, he doesn’t need to take as many hours, and we get to have dinners together. Plus, since my schedule is flexible, I can always postpone a class to participate in some activities with our family.
You can check out Varya’s latest crafts, education and multilingualism tips at her blog, Creative World of Varya.
Show your support for WAHMs!
Mrs. Mary Mak
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Sewing business: Mrs. Mary Mak Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MrsMaryMak  Fitness business: Mary Mak Fitness |
Positive Parenting Connection
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Website: Positive Parenting Connection   |
Creative World of Varya
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Website: Creative World of Varya |
Inspired to put your expertise to work yet? To read more great WAHM profiles, be sure to check out Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of our series. The opportunity to be home with your kids, while also endeavoring in something that utilizes your professional skills, is definitely a work-life balance worth striving for, if you can.
We love to network with other WAHMs, and the more stories we tell, the more women we hope to inspire! Given the great response, we may have to make this an annual series – so iff you would like to feature your blog or business in our next WAHM Series, please email us!
