To the Mom Entrepreneur : Your Dreams are Still Valid to Pursue

A huge panic deep inside me started to brew as news of a pandemic began to sweep through the country with fear of the unknown. COVID-19 was being formally introduced in a direct way that impacted my family but created a since of urgency on how I navigate this as a founder of an organization. 

 My organization Learning Motherhood supports working families but our working mom series that meets in person to help support the transition back to a career after having a baby is the heart of who we are. The series provides support to women where it is severely lacking giving the opportunity to feel educated on how to return back to work in a way that moms feel empowered, supported, and have the chance to thrive.

 Within a week all the excitement that had started to really build after launching October 19th, 2019 was in question. I was glued to the news on TV, reading every news article, and whatever data I could get my hands on to navigate how I approached our March series that was meeting the weekend everything was about to shut down. I remember so vividly the panic attack I had the last Friday my son went to school. I was holding it together as a mom of three young children and finally as I walked back from dropping my oldest off at kindergarten I broke down in an uncontrollable way. I knew what this looked like for my family but what did this mean for the business I had worked so incredibly hard to launch and finally in the last two months had started seeing some growth from the hard work put in over the last 6 months.

 My husband watched this entire panic attack unfold and as he gave me support, he immediately said you need to call your doctor. He was familiar with this side of me, he had seen it very clearly after our first child and our second. He recognized the feelings of anxiety and stages of depression that could quickly take over our family. The idea of just pushing through was not going to provide me with some sort of badge of honor and as the words were hard to hear the necessity of support is exactly the urgency required just as if I had broken my arm. 

Being an entrepreneur during this time has tested every part of who I am as a founder, individual, and mom. I have felt discouraged and sad while momentum has fluctuated at the same time. Working parents are incredibly over worked and desperately need the support but when do they have the time for the support?  This statement drives me to keep going as an entrepreneur supporting a community that is underserved. It has propelled me as a founder to keep building, growing, networking, pivoting, and knowing that I’m fueled by a deep desire to change the future for every working parent but especially every working mom.

 Some simple tips that have been a part of staying focused during the pandemic I take from the information I have shared in our working mom community and tips I use from written blog posts. In addition to that talking to my community that we are building has been instrumental in knowing what we do at Learning Motherhood is something to fight for even through a pandemic. The last thing I’ll say is I felt the need to be strong for my colleagues and community but what I learned is ultimately what is setting me free, being transparent in a way that expresses an appreciation for the good moments but acknowledging the hard ones.  Your trusted allies are the ones that believe in you and its okay to lean on them. They will and can be your best resources to support you through this time. 

 To the mom entrepreneur the stress is high as you are the only one feeding the fire but know this your desire and want to pursue your passion will prevail. We are all right here cheering you on.