For those of you wanting to start a home based business or
creative venture whilst balancing the demands of motherhood…this is the book
for you!
Cat Seto and Meg Ilasco from Mom Inc. Daily are experts
in running a successful home-based business whilst running a household. Cat Seto
is a blogger mom who runs a stationary business in her studio and boutique on
Polk Street in San Francisco. Meg Mateo Ilasco is a mother, freelance writer,
artist, author and the co-founder and creative director of the fabulous home and
lifestyle magazine Anthology.
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| Meg Ilasco & Cat Seto - authors of Mom, Inc. book |
Cat and Meg share their wealth of knowledge and personal experiences
in this inspiring and practical guide book about how to run a successful business
from home called Mom, Inc.. It is full of informative advice on how to choose the
right business for you, how to write a business plan and mission statement, find
clients, and stay focused at home.
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| Cover of Mom, Inc. book |
The Marin Scoop spoke to Cat Seto to find out more about
the book:
What inspired you
to write the Mom Inc. book?
I started an online community of designing moms (Mom Inc. Daily) after a difficult
pregnancy and recovery. I wanted support from moms who were creative in spirit,
juggling work and family and doing it online seemed the most efficient means of
doing that. That's when Meg Ilasco approached me to co-author the book with
her.
You feature some
interesting enterprising moms in the book, who did you speak to?
We spoke with 17
inspiring design moms. They range from bloggers like Gabrielle Blair of Design Mom and Abby Larson of Style Me Pretty to fashion and cake designers like Cynthia Rowley and Sylvia Weinstock. Of course if you have little ones then
you'll also recognize Christiane Lemieux of Dwell Studio
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| Q & A with founder of "Style me Pretty" in Mom, Inc. book |
What factors makes a
home run business successful?
Knowing when to draw the line between your time with work, and your time
with your family. You need to treat your business as the real thing. You can
still have all the perks like wearing pajamas until lunch and being able to
pick your kids up from school, but you need to give yourself hard deadlines and
be able to say "no."
What are the main
obstacles a mother comes up against when trying to launch her own business?
Time and the space
to really map out a structured plan. This book has a section called the
"Mom Statement" and it's about coming up with not just a mission
statement for your business but a mom statement about your goals for your
family. Taking both into consideration is helpful when trying to launch a
business.
What advice would you
give a mom trying to pursue her passion project and make it a reality?
Don't be afraid to ask for support. Most of the moms we interviewed could
not have accomplished what they have without asking for help, advice or
gleaning information from those around them. If you lack time, join a mother's
group that might be entrepreneurial or creative in nature so you can bounce
ideas off of one another.
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| Mom, Inc. book |
I started reading Mom, Inc. last week, which was at a
very poignant for me as I was starting to work from home, whist writing my blog
and looking after two children while my husband travelled. This book helped me think
through a lot of factors when considering working from home, the pros and cons,
and helpful advice on how to handle the
difficult balancing act. I highly recommend it!
Read more articles about mothers who run successful
business in my “Local Businesses & Stories” section.
Mom, Inc. is published by Chronicle Books and available through Amazon.com or an independent book store near you.
