Inspirational Mom Marathon

The down-turned economy has left many small business owners wondering what the future holds for them. The fear of losing their business has encouraged several mom entrepreneurs to look for opportunity while others cut spending and layoff employees.

Thirty inspirational women will be highlighted over a period of 30 days on The Mom Entrepreneur blog, which offers tips, advice and resources for balancing motherhood with running a company. These mom entrepreneurs’ stories demonstrate how these amazing women have decided to make “lemonade from lemons” using a little creative ingenuity.

“I have received dozens of emails from mom entrepreneurs all over the country telling me their “glass is half-full” stories,” said Traci Bisson, owner and founder of The Mom Entrepreneur. “From Misty Gibbs, owner of My Inspiration Lounge whose vision is to “help women feel empowered, especially during this time, so they can take control of their lives and become better prepared for future downturns,” to Sarah Laufer, owner of Play Outdoors whose business launched in 2008. Laufer has decided to focus on “being who we are and continuing with our goal of creating a place where parents and kids are encouraged to get outdoors”.

These women and 28 more will be featured in a 30-day inspirational story marathon starting November 15 and concluding on December 14.

Mike Michalowicz, author of “The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur” (Obsidian Launch, LLC, 2008), in a guest post for The Mom Entrepreneur blog said “so here we sit, as entrepreneurs, on an economy that sucks. It will either revive over the next year or two or even perhaps die. But one thing for sure, it will get worse before it gets better. And it is now, right in this moment, that it is the best time to start a business.”

The 30 stories in 30 days marathon will highlight mom entrepreneurs who also feel that now is the best time to start or grow a business because even in a sour economy lies optimism, promise and positive change.

To learn more about The Mom Entrepreneur and to follow the 30-day inspirational story marathon, visit http://www.themomentrepreneur.com/.

Dara Torres promotes exercise, embraces role model status

Dara Torres has been an inspiration to many in her return to the pool and recent Olympic success.  She authored her own article for the USA Weekend newspaper insert where she talks of being a role model and provides motivational tips.

The important thing to remember is that you can always find time to exercise. If, say, you’re a working mom, instead of taking the elevator in your building, take the stairs. You can always try to find little ways to do a little bit of exercise each day or every other day.

And then there’s diet. When I wake up, I have this nutritional drink, which I had before each one of my races. It has every single nutrient and protein that I need in a meal. The point is that getting the right nutrition is essential to your health and fitness, even if you aren’t an Olympic athlete.

The active lifestyle is one that she is already introducing to her 2 1/2-year-old daughter, Tessa.

Exercise was very important to me growing up, and I am already trying to teach Tessa how important it is. The funny thing is, she already loves it.

Read the entire USA Weekend article “You can always find time to exercise.”

Here are some other relevant Dara Torres articles:

Dara Torres: 2012 Olympic Games a ‘possibility’ - MSNBC
Dara Torres throws out first pitch at Yankees game - AM New York
Dara Torres Walks The Runway At Fashion Week - NY Post
Doctor dives in to repair swimmer Torres’ shoulder - CN

The Best Companies for Working Moms

Working Mother Magazine has released their annual rankings of the best companies for family friendly employment.  The top 10…

• Abbot
• Baptist Health South Florida
• Bristol-Myers Squibb
• Earnst & Young
• IBM
• KPMG
• The McGraw-Hill Companies
• Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
• PricewaterhouseCoopers
• S.C. Johnson & Son

According to the article there are many companies with innovative and progressive cultures that support a balanced life of work and family.  The list includes several new companies including Dell.

From flextime and telecommuting to backup child care and parental leave, these winners are expanding the concept of family-friendly benefits to make sure they cover adoptive parents, fathers and grandparents as well as working mothers—even as the economy stumbles.

View the full list of top 100 companies

View the entire article

Angela Hines - super mom becomes lawyer

Meet Angela Hines, the once-struggling mother of five and public-housing resident from Queens who put herself through hell, and law school, while lavishing the kind of affection on her children that would make any loving parent proud.

Whoever said, “You can’t have it all,” hasn’t met Angela  Hines. “I never really thought of it in those terms,” she says. “But I just knew that if I kept moving forward one step at a time, eventually I’d reach my goal.”

Hines graduated from CUNY Law School and was admitted to the bar in January, fulfilling a lifelong dream. Her professional life as an attorney will cap a career trajectory that includes earning her bachelor’s degree in law and paralegal studies at New York City College of Technology (City Tech), working at various jobs, including spending months as a bus driver at JFK International Airport, and successfully completing her studies at CUNY Law School.

These accomplishments are all the sweeter because during this time Hines struggled as a single mom to bring up a family of five — that’s right, five children! Three were born while she was an undergraduate at City Tech and two while she was working as a paralegal before attending law school.

“Growing up African American in a low-income Queens housing project, I realized early on that getting an education would be my only way out. Often, luck was not on my side,” she explains.  “My Mom died the day before I was to take my placement test for college.” Taking out loans became a way of life for her, a strategy she says she looks at as an investment, “even though I feel like I’ll be paying back forever.”

It’s clear that Hines has imbued her children with her love for education. Today, they are all well on their way. Her 19-year-old is a sophomore at Virginia State; her 17-year-old attends the School of Art and Design; her 14-year-old is studying at Taft, a boarding school in Connecticut; and her seven- and eight-year-olds are both enrolled in the Gifted and Talented program at P.S. 106, their neighborhood elementary school in Far Rockaway, Queens.

“My kids struggled along with me,” she explains. “I realized that I had to stay focused. And I always knew that if I succeeded, they would succeed. It was that simple.”

Succeeding, for her, always also had something to do with helping others. As a resident of Far Rockaway, for example, Hines became familiar with the difficult life situations of immigrants.  She translated that knowledge into becoming the chief administrator of City Tech’s Immigration Clinic for the past four years.

“The clients love her,” says Concetta Mennella, chair of City Tech’s Department of Law and Paralegal Studies, explaining that Hines’s main duties involved supervising work-study students and volunteers. “She’s accomplished wonderful things — like working doggedly to overcome obstacles faced by people whose citizenship applications were first denied by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.”

Hines, who happily states that she married her longtime boyfriend in 2006, says that she plans to devote her legal career to working in the public interest. “Her story is an inspiring example of how an individual can break out of a cramped environment, make positive life decisions, tackle the challenges of earning a bachelor’s degree, move on to complete law school, pass the bar and finally enter a career with the goal of serving the community,” Professor Mennella says.

“Through it all, being a mom didn’t stand in the way of her career moves. And her educational and vocational journey didn’t interfere with her determination to nurture her family. Angela did it all. She’s one of our great against-the-odds success stories,” Mennella says.

New York City College of Technology (City Tech) of The City University of New York is the largest public college of technology in New York State. The College enrolls more than 13,500 students in 57 baccalaureate, associate and specialized certificate programs. Another 15,000 students enroll annually in adult education and workforce development programs, many of which lead to licensure and certification. Located at 300 Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn, City Tech is at the MetroTech Center academic and commercial complex, convenient to public transportation.

Angela was featured in the NY Daily News earlier this year.  You can read the article titled “Hero mom to be sworn in as lawyer” here.

Sources: NY Daily News, CUNY Newswire,  CUNY

41-year-old Torres makes US Olympic Team

OMAHA, Neb. Forty-one-year-old Dara Torres completed her improbable Olympic comeback, making the U.S. team for the fifth time by winning the 100-meter freestyle at the U.S. Olympic trials. Read more

Story of Grace

As shared by Mary Ann McCoy,
Founder and Executive Director of Children of Grace

I met Grace Talitwala when I arrived in Jinja, Uganda in 2002. She was a lovely, young widow that sincerely welcomed me into her country and into her heart. Read more