Chicago Tribune:
In order to manage her business and family, Cristen Dokic has structured her work schedule to free up blocks of time for her kids.
Dokic, who in November 2009 launched Language and Culture Plus LLC , which offers foreign and English language training, is up by 6 a.m. to check her e-mail. She makes lunch for her two elementary-age children between phone calls, then drives them to school and drops off her 16-month-old at her mother-in-law’s home.
By 10 Dokic is at the office. At 3:30 p.m., she picks up her two kids from school and drops them off at her mother-in-law’s so that she can work until 5:30 p.m.
Such is the life of a mom entrepreneur, in which the primary challenge involves splitting her focus between two passions: work and family.
Some mothers affected by the recession are discovering new opportunities for personal growth and creativity as first-time business owners. The changing corporate world has encouraged interest in entrepreneurship, and that could help the economy recover. Women start businesses at twice the rate of men, and these companies will account for 5.5 million new U.S. jobs by 2018, according to the Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute.
Photo by Seattle Municipal Archives