The rise of the Mumpreneur!

Mumpreneurs, successful, innovative and professional women who run their own business while also managing to raise a family, are on the rise! They’re creating exciting new products and successful businesses all while enjoying the joys and challenges of motherhood! While it’s not for everyone, we’re certainly seeing an increase in the number of women taking the challenge head on and doing it well!

We put a call out to ask some of these women what attracted them to this career choice:

The attraction to own my own business is I can set my own hours, so that if my son is sick I can still be there for him. I am also able to feel as though I am contributing to family life earning the money that I earn.
Nicole Hammett www.littlemissuseful.com

My life is crazy, fun, tiring, energising, extremely busy and never boring! I love being my own boss and managing my own life instead of working for someone else (which I have done many times!).
Helen Butler www.clutterrescue.com.au

To be able to have it all and live well? It is a dream at best, being a successful Mumpreneur requires a lot of management skills, flexibility and ability to communicate to customers when family emergencies arise. But I know being a mumpreneur is one way towards having it all as a mum and a business owner.  
Rebecca Tham www.beansproutbubba.com

I love it that I can decide when to work, I can fit it around swimming lessons and coffee with friends. This morning I've taken off work, and am snuggled up with my almost two year old eating popcorn, watching a bugs life and listening to the rain. I've got so much work to do - but there's always time at night, moments like this are priceless.
Belinda Simon www.pregoli.co.nz


The attraction for me to this career is that I am able to spend quality time at home with my son as well as still contributing financially to our family, which is very important to me. It’s quite a daunting feeling to know that for the next 3-5 years you are not going to be in paid employment and be able to contribute financially as you have done in the past.
Nicole Moss www.tobyandnic.com.au

What also inspires me with being a mumpreneur is that we are bringing a new perspective to business. For example my own competitors are large corporate bodies that are out of touch with the children that they are supplying their products to where as we are a company at ground level that speak daily with others mothers about their needs and their request for healthier safer products for their children.
www.bindababyessentials.com Holly de Manincor

I'm attracted to being a step-mumpreneur for a number of reasons - flexibility, independence, looking for a challenge. So far I've ticked all of those boxes.
Claire Lane www.urbanassistant.com.au

Running my own business was a direct career choice - I climbed the corporate ladder and needed to do something more for myself.
Jo Macdermott www.nextmarketing.com.au

The main reason for the launch of the business was to be able to spend time at home rather than putting in long hours at an office. I knew that I wanted to spend time with the children and the company I was working for was only prepared to offer 3 months maternity leave without the option of a part time role on my return. I was the GM of a marketing agency, so I knew the hours would be long, and going back filled me with dread.

My business means I can work from home, enjoy being with the children and still feel that I'm busy and productive… It's great to still be busy and feel connected to the working world without being in the city.
Karen Tearney www.activeunlimited.com


I was attracted to running my own business so that I had the freedom and flexibility to work around my kids, take time off to go to events at school and kindy, and just be there more for them. I like being my own boss, calling the shots, deciding on the direction of my business. The more work I put in and the more success I have, it's me who is rewarded rather than someone else.
Imogen Lamport www.bespokeimage.com.au


Running my own business is something I wanted to do for ten years, but it wasn't until I had my children that I found the inspiration and motivation to do it. As all working Mums know it's not easy to have a career and look after your children at the same time. Having children has definitely made me grow as a person, and the most interesting thing is that without them I wouldn't have had the inspiration to find the right business idea to pursue.
Kirsty Barber www.thememoryshelf.com.au

I can say that I have recently put my Mumpreneur hat on! At the peak of the Aussie global financial crisis I proudly announced to my husband that I was going to start an ecommerce store for kids. He rolled his eyes and I am sure muttered to himself "my wife has lost her marbles!". Undeterred I worked on a business plan, enlisted a web site company and as they say the rest is history.

By launching my business I am fulfilling a life long goal but more than that I am making a career choice that gives me the flexibility to be fully involved in all the kids activities.
Mel Quick www.greengoat.com.au

I wanted to have the best of both worlds - working in admin and assisting other business people and having the time to spend with my family. By creating my own business, I have this freedom.
Hazel Theocharous www.assistinguvirtually.com.au

Business can be hard but I wouldn't swap the freedom I've had or the success I've enjoyed in both my personal and professional life, for all the full time jobs in the world - regardless that I would no doubt have earned more money that way.

If someone has the nous to run a business but wants to be with their children most of the time, I'd say go for it, you won't regret it!
Tresna McNally www.aquasparetreat.com.au


I am a mumpreneur and have been successfully running my own business and juggling a family for the past year. I run a virtual business support service from my home and love the flexibility that working in this way gives me. I am contributing to the income of my family and furthering myself professionally, while still being able raise my child full-time and everything else that is involved with caring for a family. I was attracted to working for myself, from my own home, because of the flexibility that it could give me. At the time, I felt it was a much better option for my family, than putting my son in full-time child care and having to deal with commuting/long hours etc.
Melissa Williscroft www.mjsvirtual.com.au

It seems that there are many talented, innovative and professional Mumpreneurs out there all looking for ways to combine life, work, ambition and family in a new and more fulfilling way. Running a successful business and raising a small family is hard work and won't work for everyone but for many families it seems to be the perfect way to find the best of both worlds.