Thursday, November 29, 2007

A unique networking group

Today I met up with a wonderful group of women in a networking group organized by Nicola Ries-Taggart and it's called Moms in Business. It was our first meeting and about 12 came - not bad for a first time!

Turns out there are quite a few moms out there like me who are not completely a stay-at-home mom, nor are we full time workers. Many of us are starting our own businesses or are indepentent contractors or consultants. Moms in Business is an opportunity to network, talk about business, talk about kids and how to juggle all that into a manageable life

Today two big issues were discussed. First was an issue that Golf and I face: we can't afford child care - even part time child care is very expensive. But if we are able to get Aidan to a pre-school part time, it would free us to work hard during those hours, bringing in more business. It was a quandry that several moms had faced and we talked about different options and gave me some good ideas to look into.

Second issue was how to tackle the feelings of isolation that work at home moms feel sometimes. Many women talked about how they don't ever get out of the house or their sweatpants! One said that she simply didn't have any nice clothes any more, and if she and her husband were invited to a nice party, she'd panic because she didn't have anything appropriate in her closet. Because of feeling isolated and not getting out to talk to people, MARKETING their business was a problem for a few.

It was a diverse group of women - some had only children, some had teenagers, some had two kids in school, some in creative artistic careers, others in more analytical types of careers. All were very interesting and engaging to be around and I look forward to next month! Thank you Golf for babysitting Aidan this morning. :)

No comments: