How did this happen? Well, I have to thank Marta Frey, the Director of the Small Business Development Center at the Collin County Community College District. When Moms Out Loud was but a speck of an idea (and I was still employed, which must not have conveyed into the article), I met with Marta and “pitched it” to her for her reaction. She very politely told me that it sounded like a great idea, but that I may be a tad too aggressive in my assumptions on how fast it could launch and take hold. (Me? Expectations too high? Strange, I’ve never heard that before.) Anyway, she, and the SBDC, have remained a great resource as I’ve gotten my business going. On her recommendation, Kim called me for an interview.

So, I met with Kim Nguyen over a Starbuck’s blended lemonade last week (a great reason to go to Starbuck’s…like I need another reason to go to Starbuck’s) and had a wonderful discussion. She wove it into a nice article profiling the trend of Moms (like so many I now know) opting out of corporate life and into something they are passionate about that provides them more flexibility to balance their family and career. Overall, I think she nailed it, even though there was some appropriate “poetic license” used (on my part, at least). And now I feel like I have four more comrades on this entrpreneurial ride I’m on, which is great. (Check out the Teacher Depot in Frisco, Dawn Michelle Photography, Homemaker CEO, and The Executive Organizer.)

There is only one place I feel like I really have to correct the article, which says MOL is targeted to Moms who stay at home. In fact, Moms Out Loud is targeted to all Moms, not just those who stay home. One of the great things about the way we’ve scoped Moms Out Loud is that any Mom can find something useful in it, whether it be the reviews of local businesses, the local events calendar, the Mom/parenting content, or the social networking. And every mom as an individual will probably use it differently than other Moms. So, I hope every Mom from every walk of life will use it and find it helps solve some of the hassles in her life.

And thanks again, Kim, for a great discussion and for spotlighting some of the great Mom-owned businesses here locally.

Name: Jill

City: Plano

Marital Status: married

Mom to: Samantha (“Sami”), 15-month old girl

Occupation: Attorney. However, I have started my own business, Sweet Cheeks. I specialize in monogrammed diaper covers, onesies, bibs, burp cloths, etc. for babies and small toddlers. I also carry other speciality items from vendors I personally love, like Swankie Blankie and Elegant Baby.

What is sitting on your bedside table right now?

A lamp, a decorative plate with writing pens and paper on it. A glass of water and coaster (of course!). I think even a wrapper from one of Sami’s snacks. I have a pile of sam’s books on the floor that won’t fit on the nightstand because we read each night in my bed before she goes to bed.

What is the last thing you told your children that your own mother told you when you were a kid?

I love you.

What was the last meal you cooked from scratch and when?

Does breastmilk count? BECAUSE I DON’T COOK.

What was the best piece of parenting advice you got? Who gave it to you?

My mom gave me the advice. You have to put babies on a schedule! My daughter is wonderful at bedtime and sleeps well. She is a very happy girl and I’m happy to think that I contribute to that happiness in many ways!!

What are three products that you could not live without?

Blackberry (soon to change to my new i-phone!), a car, toothbrush and toothpaste!

If you could put one product on the market that doesn’t exist today, what would it be?

I am soooo sick of traffic. I think I would invent a space travel option on my NEW i-phone (a machine would be too large to haul with me everywhere and I’m already pretty attached to my blackberry). You could simply enter a location and you would be “beamed” over there. (I guess I’m showing my age using the word “beamed”!!!) Then I wouldn’t care about the price of gas!

Has your definition of success changed since you became a Mom? If so, how?

Absolutely! I can’t really describe it. I think you have to experience it to truly know what I am talking about. The best way to describe it is “a change in focus”. I focus on my daughter’s successes! If she says a new word, if she’s happy, if she learns a new skill….those are now my success stories.

Fast forward a short 3 months later. How quickly the roller coaster can dip down!

My first dose of reality was the speed with which businesses were responding to our outreach. Those who did respond did so with overwhelming support of the mission for Moms Out Loud – to help local Moms find information, share tips, connect with each other, and celebrate their lives. But there were others that were: on vacation, swamped with kids out of school for the summer or their own summer camps, swamped with other business stuff, or – gasp! – not interested in advertising until the site is proven out (what?!?). So, while our business partnerships have been building steadily, the rate at which they are building didn’t meet my initial expectations. (OK, so I was told my people who’ve been in this kind of business much longer than me that I was a bit unrealistic in those expectations, but am I not building the most amazing Moms web community ever?!? )

My second dose of reality was unrelated to the business entirely – well, kind of. It is how much I enjoy being with my kids. The only explanation I can give to this revelation is “you don’t know what you don’t know.” Tucked away in my little (well, OK, it was big) office in corporate America for 45-50 hours a week, I thought I had an idea of what my kids were doing every week day between Grandma and their Montessori school. BUT, in reality, I didn’t. And now that I have the chance to participate more in their daily lives – wow. It’s nice. Being able to go home at 3:30pm to take my boys swimming after their nap (instead of getting home at 5:30pm just in time for a little rough-housing before dinner) is pure joy. Makes me want to do that a little more often…… like every day.

My third dose of reality was the actual result of my 10 weeks and multiple thousands of dollars of investment in a web development company that was supposed to deliver my product. I had had a sinking suspicion I’d made the wrong choice from early on in our build, but brushed it off as to my overly controlling personality and inexperience in web development projects. Turns out my intuition was right. They are now fired, and I have a new team in place, but unfortunately because the code was so bad, they’re having to start over on the build.

So, with my new frame of reference, I spent the July 4 weekend contemplating all of these developments. (OK, so I also sketched out a book to write a book next year about Mompreneurship and its challenges, but most of the time I was contemplating what this was going to mean for me and Moms Out Loud.) How would I respond to the hard realities of the start-up business world? I’ll tell you how:

By Being an Orange!

For the literalists among us:

By Succeeding Despite These Challenges!

I won’t lie: the thought of walking away did cross my mind. For a split second.

But then I got mad. (And for me, getting mad is a sure-fire sign I’m going to make something work.) I got mad for the obvious reasons: because a crappy web guy had taken my money and delivered a horrible product…… that because of that crappy product, we were going to have to delay the site launch….. that my personal financial situation was going to be even more pinched than we had expected because of the delay.

However, I got the most mad at myself, for even contemplating for one second not pursuing my dream and building my business, which in my three-year-olds words, is simply “Helping Other Mommies.” Giving up? Yes, easier. But then I wouldn’t have the web-site that I have been craving since I got pregnant with that three-year-old. And no other Moms would have it, either.

To me, the promise of Moms Out Loud and what it can offer for Moms in our area is worth a bit of a struggle. Nothing worth having is easy. This won’t be either. It may be harder than I thought, but in the end, the gain is more than worth the pain. So I re-doubled my commitment to making MomsOutLoud.com a smashing success.

BUT – don’t be surprised if you see me with the boys at the pool this afternoon.

Being a true pragmatist, I figured officing at Mom’s was my best option.

As I packed my briefcase the evening before I was going to become an office squatter in her guest bedroom, I gathered a few essential items.

And then, I took a picture, because the items seemed to me to be just what any Mom would take to her office.

Some of the items are not unusual – quite unisex, in fact: laptop, power cord, notebook, pen, business cards and coffee mug, a couple of reminder stickies, and a newspaper article I saw in my hometown weekly paper that sparked a thought for a blog entry (to come later).

But most are purely “Mom”:

• Pictures of my boys
• Good-smelling hand soap (current favorite: Bath & Body Works Sensual Amber. Yummy yummy.)
• Big bottle of hand lotion (current favorite: Aveeno Naturals. Just the right richness, not greasy.)
• A lint roller and refill (did I mention there are two office kitties?)
• Hair scrunchies – on the very slight chance I find myself at the office without a ponytail
• A basket to put the lotion and lint roller, plus whatever else I decide I forgot, into to keep the guest bath from getting cluttered

I know these are purely Mom items for several reasons:

• It took my husband 6 months after the birth of our second son to take a picture of our new boy into his office at work, and then only after one of the women in his office (thanks, Naomi!) confiscated a picture of us as a family of three and drew in an additional baby. And I consider him a great, involved, and loving Dad!
• Would any man you know be caught red-handed with special hand soap or lotion? Or scrunchies?
• My husband’s answer to bathroom organization is shoving everything under the sink. Of course, when all you do is jump in and out of the shower, using an all purpose shampoo/bath wash combo, beyond which the personal grooming routine is brushing teeth and shaving….well, there’s just not that many things to keep track of.

So….before I put all of these items into my bag to take over to my new office, I took a picture, thinking others might appreciate laughing at what makes us uniquely women! I sure did.