Creativity, hard work help moms earn money at home

BY LIZ CAREY

While many women struggle to balance family life and work, there are some who’ve managed to make both work on their own terms — by starting their own business.

Called “mompreneurs” by some, they are in business for themselves — and for their families — and they’re making money doing what they love.

According to BusinessDictionary. com, a mompreneur is “a multitasking mother who can balance both the stresses of running a home-based business as an entrepreneur, and the time-consuming duties of motherhood at the same time.”

Some mompreneurs are those who sell Lula Ro leggings, or Scentsy candles from their home office. Some may run their own blog or a freelance writing service, or even work as a Lyft or Uber driver. And some may have products and services they sell that came out of their experiences being a mom.

But for all of them, being a mompreneur is a way to make money, stay engaged and pursue their desire to be a stay-at-home mom, all at the same time.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 34 percent of the U.S. population works in some kind of non-traditional employment situation. Women make up more than half of that group.

And it’s working out for them. According to a 2017 survey by HyperWallet, having a home business offers women the flexibility they want to balance family life and work.

“Almost half (48 percent) of former technology workers and 42 percent of former legal workers left their full-time job … because it was too stressful/they wanted more flexibility,” the report said.

For Duluth native Erin Napoli, having the flexibility of staying home with her newborn, and having an outlet for her creative side.

Napoli owns Erin Napoli Designs and creates wooden signs that she sells on social media and through craft fairs and trade shows.

Originally a graphic designer, she started the business in March 2014 when she decided to stay at home with her newborn son. She started the business soon after she found out she was pregnant, she said.

“My sister was giving me a baby shower and asked me to design the invitations,” she said. “After a while others asked me to design invitations and things and recommended that I set up an Etsy shop. So I did. Then I started making wooden signs because I liked the way they looked, and it was a good way for me to be crafty and creative at the same time.”

Now a resident of McGregor, Napoli said she works about 20 hours a week and makes enough to pay some of the household bills. And now that her son isn’t a baby anymore, she uses her time while he is in school to work.

When he’s older, she hopes to expand the business into a full-time endeavor.

“Balancing my time is probably the hardest thing that I do,” she said. “Bookkeeping is the worst thing to have to do, but balancing my time between my son and work is the hardest.”

Still the business provides her with more than just a paycheck. It provides her with pride as well.

“It’s just kind of satisfying to know that I can create something and someone likes it enough to buy it and hang it up in their house,” she said.

For those women who want to start their own businesses, Napoli said she’d advise them to not give up.

“It doesn’t hurt to get started with something and try it, but it’s hard to keep it going,” she said. “When I was first starting out, I’d get like one order a month. There were times when I thought ‘Is it really worth the money I’m spending on materials and advertising?’ But then, after that first year, it really took off. You just have to give it time.” – MDT

Find Napoli online at etsy.com/shop/ erinnapolidesigns

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