Mikki Morrissette is a member of the Minneapolis/Twin Cities Incubator. Her website is Choosing Single Motherhood.
Absolutely I was inspired to become an entrepreneur because of motherhood.
Before my daughter was born, I made ends meet as a freelance writer, making just enough money to pay my rent, travel occasionally, and go out with friends. Then I returned to the corporate world for a few years, eventually making roughly $100K as executive editor at a large New York City publishing company. The salary enabled me to buy my home, travel to Madagascar to work on a novel, and proactively choose to become a single mother. After seven months of maternity leave, I intended to go back to my 10-hour days -- not enjoying the work but needing the income. Or so I thought.
Initially I was panicked when I learned that my boss had decided to "job eliminate" me while I was on maternity leave. Not smart timing on his part. But I parlayed my enhanced severance package into a return to the freelance lifestyle. Only now I had a young daughter to take care of. "Freelance writer" is not a lucrative profession. I needed to make the mental switch to become an entrepreneur. One who did not simply take paying assignments when she could land them, but who actually created her own platform.
I used my experience as a Choice Mom -- which is a hugely untapped market and community -- to write a book, Choosing Single Motherhood: The Thinking Woman's Guide. I moved to my home state of Minnesota, so that I could take a few years to interview more than 100 single women about this choice, along with child development experts. I used my background to self-publish the book a year ago.
The book has sold in 10 countries so far, and is about to go into its fifth printing. I was pleased when I recently sold 300 books in one month. More pleased when I sold the next batch of 300 books in one week! And even more pleased when I recently signed a lucrative contract with Houghton Mifflin, which will begin distributing the book in February 2008.
Currently I write an email newsletter that goes to 450 women. I am developing a website of information and support resources that already serves 800 visitors each month. I moderate an online discussion group that includes hundreds of women in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia. I've officially incorporated my own specialized Be-Mondo publishing business, and am putting the finishing touches on the first of several new books I have planned for the coming years.
But the true stretch of my entrepreneurial skills will come in 2007, when I launch teleseminars, and workshops in several cities. I am in the beginning stage of conversations with an international sponsor. And it was the comment of my incubator leader here in the Twin Cities that enabled me to take this next (scarier) step. I knew I needed to do workshops, but was hesitating at the thought of being THE focal point for women to pay to see. Margrette said my true skill, as exhibited in the book, is in facilitating conversations from a variety of experts and thinking women. And just like that, it clicked. The mind switch. OF COURSE, I finally realized. I would develop workshops that include a variety of amazing women who offer insight and inspiration for the strong-minded, independent mothers and mothers-to-be who seek out my book and website.
And best of all, I get to develop all of it as a "stay-at-home" mom, with flexible time to spend with my 7-year-old daughter and her 2.5-year-old baby brother. MUCH better than working 10 hour days to earn substantial revenue for someone else!
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