This week’s revelation: I like working from home. This sounds silly. Who wouldn’t? Well for this workaholic mom, after weeks of feeling anxiety about not being in the office, I have come to a place where I am enjoying being at home every day, and I also do not feel especially compelled to be at the office. This transition has taken several weeks, a few months really, of feeling daily guilt about my absence from work. No doubt this is why it feels like a revelation. Chalk it up to maternal instinct, but suddenly nothing is as important as being with little Eva. Beyond that, I am thoroughly enjoying being able to multi-task my work to-do list and my home to-do list throughout the day. You know I’m not happy unless I have a full task list!

Typically coming home from the office was met with the exhaustion of immediately needing to jump from work mode to domestic mode, looking after our two boys, not to mention trying to address things that need attention on our fixer upper New England home. My work is never done! But being home the past several weeks has given me the opportunity to put our house on the to-do list, and multi-task to tackle some much-needed updates and repairs. Bringing our garden to life, throwing some paint up, reorganizing our living spaces are just a few things that my husband and I have been able to devote time to between feedings and Skyping. Making such regular progress in this area of our life has been really cathartic–especially now that the kitchen is done, and small jobs seem all the more manageable!

That said, Pearse Street is (as always) my other “baby,” and I am bugging my staff with questions and updates just as frequently if not more than I usually do. But so long as things are running smoothly, I don’t feel that I need to be in-office, in the flesh, when I can be occupying dual roles, at home and at work. The irony is that when I started the business 5 years ago, this is precisely what I had mind, until our business grew so quickly that my level of involvement was no longer open for negotiation.

This could all be a phase. As Eva grows and starts to be able to hold her own with her rambunctious brothers a little better, I will no doubt feel more compelled to return to my daily office regime once again. For the time however, I am glad to be able to take this reprieve and the opportunity to re-prioritize and take care of some long-neglected home matters, bettering our personal lives and my overall peace of mind!

I’m officially that negligent blogger! I have a good excuse however. I’ve spent the past few weeks anxiously awaiting the arrival of our third child, and this Mother’s Day, I was blessed to finally meet her! Since leaving the hospital early last week I’ve been able to catch up on my email, get updates on projects, connect with my clients and coordinate a few milestones at work. (So glad she came on a weekend!) Unfortunately six weeks maternity leave is just not in the cards for this C.E.O.  :/

That said… my head is still quite firmly in the new-blissful-mommy clouds. Our little girl is officially a true beauty and an amazing blessing. The experience of having children is well beyond words, as any adoring parent can tell you. It’s a combination of relief, bliss, excitement, anxiety and of course, the inevitable exhaustion. I have been overwhelmed by all of this, in addition to the great amount of love and support from our friends, family and extended network of Pearse Street team members and even clients! (more…)

It’s official, we’re in business kindergarten! Hmm, maybe business years are like dog years, because it definitely feels more like 40 than 5. In any case, I registered www.pearsestreet.com on March 8th, 2005, marking the birth of a new chapter in my life, and a whirlwind roller coaster ride into entrepreneurship. Five years feels like a short period of time, but it has been so full of activity, growth and learning. Here’s a retropective!

2005.

Pearse Street's First Logo Design, May 2005

As I was wrapping up the writing for my last issue at Destin Magazine, the idea of establishing Pearse Street as my first entrepreneurial endeavor took shape. I had spent the past year profiling local businesses for their features in the magazine, and in the process I could not help but feel that the potential for starting up my own business was well within reach. Thanks to the support of my husband, a military firefighter at the time, I designed our first logo after hours, and first website design came to life in March. Voila, we were in business! My first client was a local author and Hollywood actor, Thom Gossom, Jr. who I met while heading up the Emerald Coast Writers group. We ended up developing a number of websites for Gossom’s various projects, and maximized our circle of friends, cow0rkers and author connections to keep Pearse Street profitable for our first year in business. (more…)

So I took the weekend off.

I still checked my email and Facebook a few times a day, but made a point to not aimlessly surf or brainstorm new concepts. I cooked some decent meals, cleaned my house, played with the kids, tackled a few small home projects and hosted two poker tournaments with our friends. Productive, good fun, exhausting.

Sunday nights are usually my pre-game into the work week so that when I get to work on Monday morning to a pile of work, I don’t feel too overwhelmed. But this past week was a mix of loving work and hating work, so I am wondering how to emotionally prepare for the next five days.

It was actually a pretty good week overall. I connected with two Inc. columnists this week. Meg Hirshberg, writes regularly on the juggling act of balancing life and career. As a mother of three, she sympathized with my current “condition” (as I’m calling it these days) and the challenge of maintaining clarity through the nonstop chatter and activity of a two-year-old and a four-year-old at home. It’s always encouraging to connect with someone who has been there, especially someone who’s writing about it. I read another post by a fellow Smith College alum and new mom whose maternity leave has expired. She mentioned her surprise appreciation for having emerged from the “pregnancy fog” at work. I had forgotten all about this and was momentarily excited about when that day will come for me too. After seven months, the fog begins to feel permanent.

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When I first discovered the term “mommypreneur” I took to it pretty quickly. I still celebrate being a mother and a business owner, and the challenges that those dual roles play in my life, at home and at work. I recently learned that as a female C.E.O. of a high-tech firm, I represent less than 1% of the total private companies founded in a year. I knew I was an oddball, but I don’t think I quite realized to what extent. With so few others, it’s obviously difficult to find peers or even mentors. In fact, searches to connect with other pioneering mothers or successful young women are often met with a bunch of spam.

For example, on Twitter, to build a following you often “follow” other users with the same interest based on some keyword searches. Following multiple accounts who identify as working moms or mommypreneurs yields a barrage of spammy Direct Messages. Some of them lead you to scam websites that promise profitable work-from-home opportunities, or only marginally better opportunities to network with thousands of other professional woman–for a price! Why is a window into this very small world fraught with scams and closed doors that only open with hefty membership fees? It truly saddens me that this community has been targeted as vulnerable for exploitation, when I imagine what women starting out in the business world are met with on their initial search for insight and resources.

That said, in my ongoing search to find like-minded others, I have found a few valuable online meeting places for professional women and mothers. Unlike the majority of sites that target the same demographic, these sites are focused on important professional topics and have the ultimate goal of elevating women professionally, not just lining their pocket books. (more…)

Warning: This is probably extremely offensive to both sexes. Sorry, it’s just the way I feel.

As a young female in a professional role  typically occupied by men (C.E.O.), in a male-dominated industry (web/software development and technology), it would be fair to say that in order to get through my day I have to be a bit mannish at times. I also work mostly with men on my staff, and I’d say 90-95% of our clientele and service providers are also male. Now, I’m not the type of feminist who feels the need to de-feminize herself to excel professionally in a “man’s world.” I do religiously wear pants and mundane colors to work, but trust me, I celebrate the sisterhood! There are times, however, when I have exchanges that leave me thinking, Holy Trump, where are your cojones? And why are mine bigger than yours?!

Moodiness, wishy-washiness, whininess and above all dramatics are all qualities that I have a hard time accepting in my male or female counterparts, especially when I’m the one with the triple progesterone levels on a daily basis. (Thanks, baby!) In fact when it comes to women, I realize that I may have even higher expectations for attitude, management and professionalism, because of my role and the responsibilities I carry with it.

It is certainly odd to think about gender roles in our particular professional environment. For all intents and purposes, I am “the man” at work. Decision-maker, bread-winner and even at times defender. And while I sometimes bring the boss mentality home with me, truly, I’m more than happy to come home to my two little babies who love me for being their mommy: the nurturer, meal-cooker and house-cleaner. The way going to work can save my sanity at times, coming home to my domestic role can do the exact same thing. (more…)