The Mompreneur Balancing Act

When Allison Fleming got married and decided that she was ready to have kids she knew her life would have to change, reports the Tallahassee Democrat. It was after her son was born that she decided the time was right to leave her job and start on a new path, mompreneurship.

That’s when she agreed to open a group fitness gym, Good Friends Group Fitness, with her friend of 35 years, Chelsea Garfield.

“This has given me the sense of peace that I need,” Fleming said. “When I was at work I felt like I should’ve been at home, and when I was at home I felt like I should’ve been at work.”

Fleming said she realized life was too short to spend it behind a desk and not enjoy what she was doing. At the end of a nice day, she wanted to be able to take her son to the park if she wanted.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, only 5 percent of American firms were owned by women in 1970. That share today is 30 percent, or about 7 million businesses.

Still, opinions differ on whether the startups by mompreneurs today constitute a new trend. Christy Crump, president of Administrative Professional Services & Solutions, said it’s not something that she often sees.

“I know of one woman who recently found herself divorced and needing to work, so she started her own business,” said Crump, president of the group Business & Professional Women/Tallahassee. “Otherwise, all of the small business owners/entrepreneurs I know have started their business out of choice, not necessity, and a good number of those are not wives/mothers.”

Screenshot from Good Friends Group Fitness

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