Comments on: Should female entrepreneurs hide the fact that they’re mothers?

By: Wearable Stories » Interview with author of The ParentPreneur Edge: parents have an edge in business

Sun, 09 Sep 2007 11:44:10 +0000

[...] A few months ago, I wrote a post about whether female entrepreneurs should hide the fact that they are mothers, and was lucky to get a comment from Julie Lenzer Kirk, author of â€œThe ParentPreneur Edge: What Parenting Teaches About Building a Successful Business.â€ She said the following: Thank you for this post! I had a problem finding successful entrepreneurs who are also parents because, as you say, so many people hide that fact. I agree that they should NOT hide it, and recently published a book for moms and dads that shows WHY you should not hide that fact. [...]

By: Interview with author of The ParentPreneur Edge: parents have an edge in business » illuminea blog

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 05:38:43 +0000

[...] A few months ago, I wrote a post about whether female entrepreneurs should hide the fact that they are mothers, and was lucky to get a comment from Julie Lenzer Kirk, author of “The ParentPreneur Edge: What Parenting Teaches About Building a Successful Business.” She said the following: Thank you for this post! I had a problem finding successful entrepreneurs who are also parents because, as you say, so many people hide that fact. I agree that they should NOT hide it, and recently published a book for moms and dads that shows WHY you should not hide that fact. [...]

By: Miriam Schwab

Miriam Schwab — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 09:49:30 +0000

Hi Tera,

Thanks for the heads-up about the book. It looks interesting!

And especially thanks for the comment – it’s great to meet my readers and know there are real people out there listening…

By: Tera Leaman

Tera Leaman — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 06:16:53 +0000

Long time reader – first time poster.
Oh my gosh you guys I don’t know if you’ve heard of “”conversations with miollionaires”" but I just found out Jason Oman who did that book is going to be doing a new one for female entrepreneurs like us. Here’s the page I came across so you can get updates about it too.
conversationswithfemalemillionaires.com
I can’t wait for it because I loved his first book. I hear he’s gonna have Martha Stewart, Ray Rachel, Kim Kiyosaki the wife of the guy from rich dad poor dad.
You can obtain more info at http://www.conversationswithfemalemillionaires.com

By: Bill Dueease

Bill Dueease — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 20:35:19 +0000

Miriam,

The way you created your business is proof that success comes because you did it your way. Congratulations!

What you discuss with your customers will certainly have a lot to do with the nature of your customers. Hi-tech people almost always focus entirely on the technical details of their work and rarely have much interest in any personal subjects. You are very right that they are only interested in results and rarely your family life.

But if your customers were mothers considering buying your special automobile baby safety device, then discussing motherhood would be a natural and enlightened subject for discussion. Or if you had designed a portable web camera to monitor the activities of babies for mothers, even though it is a technical device, I bet talking about motherhood issues might come up.

Bill

By: Miriam Schwab

Miriam Schwab — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 11:44:42 +0000

Hi Bill – thanks for your very valuable input! What you say has a lot of truth in it. You can’t succeed in something if it’s going against your life principles. I chose to start my own business so that I could work in a way that is compatible with being the mother of five kids. I needed flexibility and to be my own boss, since I knew that I would be the most understanding boss of my circumstances I could ever find. Thankfully I have achieved these goals in my current working conditions.

But I do think that at the same time we have to work according to the conventions of the business world in which we are active. Since many of my clients are hi-tech software companies and start-ups, they are under a lot of pressure and don’t want to hear about my kids – they want the work done. And I think that if you choose to work in a high-pressure environment, you’ve got to take that into account in your work as well.

By: Bill Dueease

Bill Dueease — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 22:01:42 +0000

First, I wholly support your position of â€œI donâ€™t think women should hide their motherhood, and I even think that hiding it could be detrimental. â€œ I also commend you on the three steps you present.

But, I believe that you have left off one other major ingredient that mothers who are entrepreneurs (and in essence all entrepreneurs) must follow to succeed. Entrepreneurial mothers want to create their own business to suit their own personal vision, their own personal values, their own personal priorities, and their own personal passions so they do it their own unique way. Business owners (Entrepreneurs) are the bosses. Period. Their business will only succeed if the owners are thriving personally while performing on the business and in their other lives. As the owner (the head) goes, so goes the business. (The body)

Thus mothers, women, and in fact all business owners have the power (as the boss) have the right (as the boss) and have the obligation (as the head) to create their business to suit them, the owners. So mother business owners will only succeed if the do it their way to suit their passions, to suit their priorities, to suit their talents, and to suit their beliefs and values. Walla! Mothers who design their businesses under their own rules will succeed, and they will enjoy the aspects of motherhood they want to thrive in simultaneously. If that means incorporating their motherhood and their family into the business on their terms, then they will enjoy both at the same time.

By: Miriam Schwab

Miriam Schwab — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 19:43:03 +0000

Julie – thanks for your comment! It’s interesting what you say, since I never actually thought of parenthood as an advantage in business. The reason that I see parenthood as positive in business is because it is a sign of balance in life – it means you aren’t working only for the sake of working, but for the sake of others. But seeing at as an edge – well that’s a new idea for me, and I like it!

Thanks again for your insight, and your book looks interesting!

By: Julie Lenzer Kirk

Julie Lenzer Kirk — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:30:41 +0000

Thank you for this post! I had a problem finding successful entrepreneurs who are also parents because, as you say, so many people hide that fact. I agree that they should NOT hide it, and recently published a book for moms and dads that shows WHY you should not hide that fact.

I do like the steps you’ve provided because at the end of the day, parenting should not be an excuse for shoddy workmanship but if you do it right, it can give you an EDGE in business!

Julie Lenzer Kirk
Author, “The ParentPreneur Edge: What Parenting Teaches About Building a Successful Business” (John Wiley & Sons)