The Kindness of Strangers

This week I was reminded of all the rich and wonderful connections I have made because of my blog.  I had the chance to visit the Sea Life Aquarium with Deb a.k.a. San Diego Momma .  Her blog is a must: read bold, irreverent, and often thought provoking.  We “met” when something she had written on her blog touched me, and I sent her an e-mail to share my own experience. 

Last week was the first time we had spent time together face to face, but it felt like we were already old friends.  Our older daughters adore each other.  Deb and I have some of the same favorite authors and passion for writing.  I always enjoy meeting moms who don’t mind talking about kids and their work…sometimes in the same breath.  Although she had only known me for about a day (plus several months of blog correspondence and one brief  Mom’s Night meeting) she offered to secure me an invitation to the Elephant Odyssey exhibit  press preview at the zoo and to refer me to Knudsen who is sponsoring some kind of great state park contest and was looking for local blogs to host it.  Knudsen never called…bummer State Park passes would have given me plenty to blog about.  Still, I did secure an Elephant Odessy invite, and the kids had a wonderful time.

While at the Zoo, Charity who runs the PR firm Virtue IMC came up to me and offered to introduce me to the PR person .  A mad hunt for this woman ensued which ended with Destiny hugging her in the zoo parking lot, but that’s a story for another time.  I was overwhelmed by Charity’s gesture.  It was amazing that she went out of her way to help a person that she had only met casually at a Mom’s Night Out.  That parking lot meeting may open alot of doors for me, and I am very grateful for it.

Anyway, the moral of this little tale is that if you are going into a business that serves other moms, be sure to start a blog and actively participate in the blogging community.  In addition to meeting some great friends you could  also find some unexpected opportunities.

Book Review: Secrets of Millionaire Moms

Although I love blogging and social media, I will always be a book person.  Earlier this year when I decided to take my entrepreneurial journey more seriously I started haunting the business section of the library.  There are some really great books out there about  the great juggling act of being an entrepreneur and mom .  One book that provided a great combination of inspiration and practical advice on this subject was Secrets of Millionaire Moms by Tamara Monosoff founder of Mom Inventors Inc.

In her book she profiles a number of famous entrepreneurs including Victoria Knight McDowell, founder of Airborne Health and Maxine Clark founder and chief executive of the Build a Bear Workshop.    My favorite anecedote is that Victoria Knight McDowell, who was still a school teacher when she was first developing her Airborne product enlisted the help of school staff, students, and even parents when she needed to attach 44,000 samples by hand to preprinted post cards! 

This book is well organized and contains a wealth of good information.   It gives you ideas on how to get started, market your business,  deal with finances, as well as balance work and mothering. 

I’ve been feeling in kind of a slump lately,  so I plan to take this book on vacation with me next week and give it a second look.  I don’t know if I will ever be a millonaire mom, but I find it inspirational to read about fascinating  and confident  women who have “made it” in business.  Hopefuly in a few years I will have my own business stories to tell.

If you own your own business and/or are a mom inventor check out Tamara’s Website http://www.mominventors.com/ .  You can purchase Secrets of Millionaire Moms and Monosoff’s other  book  The Mom Inventors Handbook on Amazon.com .

Request for a Miracle

Dear Friends and Readers,

Please forgive this temporary change in theme.  This blog provides me with space to reflect and there is something that has been weighing heavy on my heart.  If you can, please take a moment to say this prayer on Deana’s behalf.  Thank

 

As some of you may know my life has been touched in many ways by the legacy of John Henry Cardinal Newman through the work of several Newman Catholic Ministries.  My mom’s faith was strengthened by the Newman Center at UCSF, my parents met and fell in love while serving as co-advisors of the Newman Club at College of Marin, I was involved in the Newman Community of UC Santa Cruz for many years.  The Marianist priests who served as Newman advisors married Ken and I and baptized Justin.

 

John Henry Newman was a real person who lived a very holy life.  He is being considered for sainthood by the Catholic Church.  Part of that process is to document miracles that may have occured due to the potential saints intervention.

 

I have a friend who is the mother of two preschoolers.  She has faced much adversity and joy in her life.  She suffered infertility, adopted two young boys, and nursed her husband through a serious illness.  This September she was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph system.  Deana has battled bravely with her disease, but to no avail.  Her family has been advised to call Hospice and she is currently at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas receiving one last round of chemotherapy which may not work.

 

Deana Reynolds is a wonderful caring person who has touched many lives.  I’m sure she will do just fine with God in heaven, but I can’t help but think that she still has work to do here on earth.  She needs a miracle, and I would love to honor John Henry Newman by obtaining a miracle on her behalf.

 

I know this sounds crazy, but please take a moment to pray the prayer below and asking Cardinal Newman to intercede for Deana Reynolds. 

 

Thanks,

Bridget

 

 

John Henry Cardinal Newman

 

God our Father,

your servant John Henry Newman

upheld the faith by his teaching and example.

 

May his loyalty to Christ and the Church,

his love of the Immaculate Mother of God,

and his compassion for the perplexed

give guidance to the Christian people today.

 

 

We beg you to grant the favors we ask

through his intercession

so that his holiness may be recognized by all

and the Church may proclaim him a saint.

 

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

 

 

Please report any favors received to:

The Vice-Postulator 

The Oratory, Birmingham 

B16 8UE 

England 

Twitter Moms

Looking for a site that gives great advice for budding entrepreneur as well as a chance to reach out to your potential market?  Twitter Moms can be an amazing resource.  Started just a few months ago, as way for Moms to build their Twitter followers it has really developed a life of its own.

I find it is a great way to keep up with what is going on in the blogosphere in the field I am working in.  Through Travel Moms on Twitter Moms I have connected with some of the top bloggers on family travel.  I even have a book review scheduled as a result of this amazing resource.  Other boards for WAHMs, bloggers, and entrepreneurs have provided me with useful marketing advice.

Twitter Moms has also served its stated purpose of helping me to optimize Twitter.  Now I follow many family travel bloggers and have a consistent source of new materials and places to post comments.  It is a lot easier than subscribing to a bunch of RSS feeds or constantly surfing the net or using bookmarks.

I would recommmend joining Twitter and Twitter Moms for any budding entrepreneur.  It’s fun.  It’s addictive.  It also makes life easier.  What more can you ask for?

-Bridget

Election Night Reflections…Work-Life Balance

Well, I cast my vote on the day after my youngest had a bout of the stomach flu and was unable to make a speech evaluation.  In the midst of cleaning up barf for the eighth time, I found myself wondering…how our our future fearless leaders going to pull this off?

It’s amazing and exciting to me that  most of presidential and vice presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle have school age children.   What an amazing journey this campaign must be for these families.

 When Sarah Palin was first announced I thought it was exciting that a woman was on the ticket.  I must confess I that I feel like a tratior to my gender.  As I learned more, I didn’t think, “Wow, that’s great- supermom…governer, potential VP, parent to several children including one with special needs…you go girl…you do it all.”  Instead as a mom who had weathered the procession of evaluations and home visits that accompany raising a special needs baby,  I found myself asking, “How on earth is this woman going to pull this off and still give her family the attention it needs?”  Later developments in the Sarah Palin saga added to my uncertainty.

I read an interview in Parents Magazine with the Obamas.  It sounds like they both try to be present parents.  I admire Michelle Obama for putting her career on hold for the moment as her husband reaches for the stars.  I think she is a great lady who has much to offer our nation.  I am hoping that her work life balance will include being a great mom and bringing some of the spirit and innovation that encouraged an outpouring of volunteers in Chicago to the position of first lady if she has the chance to fill that role.

I have made my choice, cast my vote, and am very satisfied with my candidate of choice.  Unlike the rest of America, however, I don’t think the world will end if the other candidate makes it to the White House.  We have two solid candidates to choose from this time around.  I just wish they would stop putting each other down and starting sharing their complete vision for our country, including how they will fix social security.

I am looking forward to watching how the President and VP alike, whomever he or she may be manages to juggle the responsibilities of their office and the needs of their families.  My prayer for them is that they will be able to give their families the love and support they need, while creating a better nation for us all.

Well off to try and do the same on a much smaller scale .  It should be an exciting night.  Hopefully Jared’s flu will not return, and I will be able to follow the election returns with the little ones sleeping peacefully.

-Bridget

Mommy’s Business Trip

Tomorrow I am off to the Labelmaster Dangerous Goods Symposium in Deerfield Beach, Florida.   With two Grandma’s taking care of three kids there is  a lot of planning involved in getting out the door. Funny how the gender divide works.  Today my husband hopped on a plane to a conference unencumbered with a bag packed by yours truly.  Tonight I am working late, putting together detailed instructions for Grandma, packing suitcases for each child, cleaning the toad aquarium, buying dog food, packing up my laptop, putting down every last contact number.  How do guys get off so easy ?

I’m aprehensive, but excited.  My goal is to learn more about training, network with other Dangerous Goods trainers, and maybe explore partnering with a very big company.  I’ve collected all the good advice, packed my bags, now it’s time to take some risks, and turn Class7Training into a successful business!  Wish me luck.  I’ll try to post an update midweek.

In the mean time for more frequent mommy business travelers, how do you pull this off on a regular basis? Hats off to you.

-Bridget

Ladies Who Launch Gives The Courage to Follow Through

One of my kind readers posted, “My head is buzzing but is keeping me from acting…got ideas…just not (courage) or maybe its follow-through…”  This has been one of my biggest challenges as I have started both my businesses.  There are still times that fear paralyzes me and actions I know I should take, but I am inhibited by the fear of failing.

A few months ago, as I was searching for work at home oportunities, I came upon a website entitled “Ladies Who Launch”.  The site is geared toward woman entrepreneurs.  The founders offer incubator workshops across the country.  They sound really exciting, but I don’t think I will ever have the time or resources.  I find the articles informative and motivating.  The groups are less helpful.  We are all just starting out, so there are may people asking for advice and few people answering it.  I continue to post in the hopes that the community will grow more vibrant as it continues to grow.

The founders of Ladies Who Launch have written a book by the same name.  This was an invaluable resource and motivating force for me as I worked on my book this summer. The excercises in Ladies Who Launch help you to clarify your vision and gives you the motivation to act.   This book is definitely worth the purchase price!  Although I must confess I found it at the library.  Check it out, it is a source of courage for the fledgling entrepreneur.

-Bridget