Women At Work

The Mom Entrepreneur (TME) is a blog dedicated to helping women who are balancing motherhood and running a company. At first blush, her Lemons to Lemonade feature appears to be limited to the mothers who have said, "Enough!" to being bounced from job to job because of our crappy economy and moves on to explore how these women have aimed to create something of their own on their own terms.

Founder of Bisson Barcelona Traci Bisson Barrington knows from personal experience what it was like a few years back to have tried and failed at business (what good businessperson hasn't?). She also knows what desperate measures businesses need to take to stay afloat in these erratic times to keep co-workers from collecting unemployment.

Little did blog author and PR firm owner Barrington know that I, Susan Levine, 60, could relate. Even though I no longer have to juggle play dates, carpools, homework, and music recitals, I still have my own time constraints that involve grandparenting, caregiving for aging parents, and retirement planning. I feel the economic crunch the same as younger folks but I know that I have less time to reverse my financial faux pas. Finally, I, too, have hopes and dreams that include the lure of being my own boss, creating some income, and someday (not too soon, I hope!) "leaving this world a better place."

Kudos to Traci for using her smarts to do battle with the current economic trends. Rather than lay off her team, she chose to cut corners by bringing her kid home rather than go to daycare, canceling trade shows, and postponing meeting with consultants. Online social networking substituted for face-to-face contacts while her blog enabled her to "vent" her frustrations and get supports from others "in the same boat."

For anyone who wants to be a participant rather than a spectator in this generation's economic "New Deal," consider reading The Mom Entrepreneur, a blog by a young mother who combines the challenges of motherhood with innovation, creativity, and expertise of owning her own business.