Women have to harness their power – its absolutely true. It’s just learning not to take the first no. And if you can’t go straight ahead, you go around the corner. -Cher

I know many of you are considering becoming Mompreneurs, or starting your own businesses and I for one think there has never been a better time!  I would highly recommend creating your own job.  Here is my story (I’ve tried to keep it as brief as possible, since this is a blog and not a novel; I have to keep reminding myself of that).

After my son was born I began A Night in Bloom more out of necessity than for any other reason.  The gas prices and daycare costs barely made it worth it for me to leave my baby in the care of others.  I had attempted to return to my job as a designer at a flower shop (which I loved!), but bringing my colicky baby along with me was just not in the cards. Although everyone at work tried their very best to accommodate us, it just wasn’t a match.    Despite me working part-time on the weekends, money was really tight and there was no way Bryan and I could manage on just his salary along with the expenses that come with a new home and a new baby.

Fortunately I had tons of experience working for florists by this time, and I knew there was a market for more personalized service in wedding florals.  Every once in a while I would hear about a florist that specialized in event work only. I loved this idea.  I knew how labor intensive weddings were, and I knew many brides were really put off when in the middle of a consult meeting they would be put on hold so I could answer a phone call, or help the driver figure out where one of the delivery cards had disappeared to.  Or even worse, a family would come in to order funeral flowers in the middle of a wedding appointment.  In a nutshell, brides seemed to be feeling like they weren’t a priority of storefront flower shops anymore.

I recognized that these brides were in need of more personalized attention, and I developed a plan to start my own floral design business.  So I slowly began designing weddings from my home.  Although I didn’t have a beautiful storefront location to meet brides at, I used this to my advantage and offered to meet brides on location.  What could have been seen as a real problem was actually an advantage, and I began getting more and more calls.  Daycare was certainly not an option in those days , so I tried my best to schedule all of my work around Matthew’s naps and worked many, many late nights.  (I will be offering lots of tips on how to work around your kids schedules in later posts).

The first few years were a struggle, and then the year finally arrived where I began working nonstop.  I had events booked for just about every weekend of the wedding season.   Around the same time I learned I was expecting baby # 2, in October of all months!!!  It was quite the year.  Although I did slow down long enough for my stay in the hospital and to get acquainted with my darling daughter, Violet, I still continued to work.  In fact I managed to book so many weddings for 2011, that I realized I was out of room for many of them in my home.  Which led me to a big decision…I was going to have to find some space outside of my home.  Which I did.  Thanks to this decision, my family and business have never been better!

I encourage everyone out there who may be considering this type of venture to go for it! Please stay tuned for more posts from Mompreneur Land on Mondays.