Expecting Entrepreneurs

Launching your own business is tricky enough – what about starting a company while pregnant?

More women are attempting this new method of having it all, all at once. Women like Bonnie Marcus, president of the Bonnie Marcus Collection, and Celeste Gudas, founder and CEO of 24 Seven, Inc. – both launched businesses while launching a family.

“I felt like the nurturing I gave to my family was the same nurturing I gave to my business,” says Gudas. “In some ways, starting 24 Seven paralleled starting my family and required a similar set of skills. It was like jumping off a cliff in both directions.”

Marcus started her stationery business in 2002 while pregnant with her first child. “There [are] times that are exciting and glamorous, and times that are frustrating

and exhausting,” she says. How did she do both – and find success? “A fellow ‘mompreneur’ told me to be comfortable with dust bunnies. With three boys and a growing business, I realized I cannot do everything.”

MSNBC profiles five successful mompreneurs who started companies, from consulting and toy manufacturing to blogs and nonprofits.

How can you make it work for you? Experts advise staying flexible, being a self-starter and realizing there are no guarantees in business or parenting – sometimes you’ve got to take risks.

Bonus PINK Link: You can have a successful business and a family. Here’s how to balance both.

Minute Mentor: Bonnie Marcus gives more tips on balancing business ownership and motherhood.

and let us know your success tips for mom CEOs.

By Caroline Cox

“Do the best you can, where you are, with
what you have now.” African American Proverb