Moms at Work

These moms are making waves at work while keeping the household running. Find out how they do it. 

Gina Kirschenheiter

Work: On “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” “Orange Country” podcast co-host, skin care line founder, real estate agent

Family: Travis Mullen, 38, Nicholas Kirschenheiter, 11, Sienna Kirschenheiter, 9, Luca Kirschenheiter, 8, Presley Mullen, 12,
Bennett Mullen, 9, Joey Mullen, 7, and dog, Meatball, 10 months 

Did you ever think you’d be on a reality TV show? “I never could have imagined I would be on a reality TV show! It still blows my mind six years later that this is really my life and I am on this show. It truly happened to me on accident. My bestie, Tatiana, told me she was auditioning for the show and my response immediately was, ‘That’s so exciting! What’s an audition?’ Ha! She had a Skype interview and they advanced her to the next round of auditions. At this point she had to fill out an application and there was a spot to add any friends that she thought may be interested. She put my name and number on that application, they called me, and after a number of interviews, I was offered a spot on the show.” 

How was your skin care line, CaraGala, inspired by your own skin care challenges? “CaraGala was created because I was fed up with being uncomfortable and self-conscious with my skin after it was negatively impacted by both my move from New York to Cali and the years of stress I went through. Stress is very real for all women and it tends to manifest negatively on our bodies and skin. I wanted to develop a line of products that were both effective and uncomplicated.” 

How did your “Orange Country” podcast happen? 

“Much like RHOC, ‘Orange Country’ was born organically. I met my co-host, Shane McAnally, through mutual friend, Walker Hayes, and when we met, we instantly hit it off. We found it comical how we were from completely different worlds and yet, had so much in common. Finally, at some point someone was like, we should really film this. And we said why not? It started that simple and has developed into something I never could have imagined.” 

On top of everything else, you’re a real estate agent. Why did you decide to launch this fourth career? “To be completely honest, I wanted to build something that would provide me with more job security and be there after my time on the show came to an end. I’ve always had an interest in real estate and have always enjoyed client-facing positions. Since obtaining my license, I have hit the ground running and love every part of it.”

How do you maintain work-life balance? “Well, it certainly helps that my co-parenting situation works so well. I try to stack as best I can, work on days that my kids are with their dad. We live down the block from each other, and I still see the kids most days because of sports and activities but it is still extremely helpful to have some time to focus solely on work. The time that I am with my kids belongs to us as a family. I am a big proponent of being present where I am. No phone at the dinner table or when I am hanging out with my kids. I also schedule one-on-one time with each of my kids to make sure they all get special time and have a private time to talk about any issues they are having. But the bottom line is, balance is hard for everyone. Most of the time the scale is tipping in one direction or another. I accept that I simply can not keep all the balls in the air juggling at one time. I am more focused on accepting that they will fall, and know that I will pick most of them up quickly and always keep going.”

What do you love about being a mom? “I love the feeling that I have watching my children thrive and figure out who they are. What a privilege it is to be a parent. I love the look on their faces when they do something that makes them proud of themselves. I love watching them succeed with things they may have struggled with. I love hearing their little giggles and belly laughs when they are playing in the other room. I love how purely and naturally my children love me … it is simply the best feeling on the planet. Wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Stephanie Fluger

City: Aliso Viejo

Work: Connection Therapy Clinic   

Family: Husband, son, 6, daughter, 5, and dogs, Chowda, 8, and Strom Tropper, 1

Biggest challenge: “I’m a full-time, stay-at-home mom and a full-time business owner, striving to support my family and employees. In addition, I prioritize my health through exercise and a healthy diet. It’s a challenging juggling act. On top of this, my son is neurodivergent and has received therapy since he was 18 months old. Despite the understanding of my business and colleagues, it’s tough when he needs extra support or becomes overwhelmed by sensory input.”

Advice for mompreneurs: “Embrace imperfection and give yourself grace. Recognize that it’s impossible to excel at every aspect of your life simultaneously. It’s OK to have moments of chaos or to feel like you’re not meeting all your goals perfectly. Instead of striving for perfection, focus on progress and finding a rhythm that works for you and your family. Understand that it’s all right to ask for help when needed.”

Whitney Sippl, DPT, WCS

City: Irvine

Work: Restored Physique Physical Therapy, Inc.

Family: Husband, Mike, daughter, Kylie, 9, son, Mason, 6

Biggest challenge: “Setting boundaries to keep a work-life balance. Owning your business typically requires you to work hours outside of the nine-to-five traditional work day, and you can’t completely unplug, so it takes effort and planning to set aside time to be present with your family. I’ve found that I need to set times where I put my phone away when I’m with my kids and husband to be fully present.”

Advice for mompreneurs: “Set goals, make a plan and get organized so you can be the most efficient with your time. I’ve found it helpful to schedule my time so that I can have the boundaries needed to be productive with work, but still have the balance to have quality family time. It also helps to pursue something that you’re passionate about so that work doesn’t feel so much like work.”

Taryn Palumbo

City: Huntington Beach

Work: Executive director of Orange County Grantmakers 

Family: Ryan, Ethan, 4.5, Mia, 2.5

Biggest challenge: “Finding balance. I am so lucky to have a flexible schedule that allows me to do everything and significant help, but that flexible schedule and help don’t give me extra time. I’m always trying to balance finding time for my kids, finding time for me, finding time for my job, time for my husband and hopefully time for friends. I am only able to do a job I love because I have help from my husband, daycare, a nanny and both my parents. Our childcare infrastructure is broken, so I am grateful for having a village to make it happen.”

Advice for mompreneurs: “Find your people. Having friends that represent and fill every aspect of my life, whether it be professional only, mom only or a mixture of both is so grounding.” 

Michelle D. Swaney

City: Costa Mesa

Work: The Potty School

Family: Husband, Matt, Timothy, 11, Poema, 9, and Sierra, 7

Biggest challenge: “A few years ago, it was personal health. I remember paying someone to make my website less ‘Google-able’ in 2018. I was really ill for a while and couldn’t keep up with the inquiries for my services. It was one of the worst business decisions a person could make, but it was one of the best decisions for my health, my family and my clients. Since then, I’ve been healed, but that season of needed rest and restoration helped me figure out how to build my business again. It’s now more streamlined and more automated for the logistical aspects so those of us serving clients have more bandwidth to pour into listening and serving them.”

Advice for mompreneurs: “Don’t feel like you need to be sitting at a computer in order to be working. I have come up with some of my best ideas while meandering with kids in nature or wandering through a museum while homeschooling. I have set ‘kid-free’ hours, and I only plan things that need my full attention then. If I can’t plan it within that week’s focused time, then it gets bumped to next week. My kid-free hours are planned down to the 15-minute increment.”

Tenille Bettenhausen

City: Anaheim Hills

Work: Diverse children’s book author (Tenille B Writes)

Family: Husband, Baron, daughters, Reese, 13, and Emerson, 10

Biggest challenge: “Not setting realistic goals and then being disappointed when I didn’t hit these huge, audacious goals for my book sales after just starting out. It takes time to build up anything, so really setting realistic short and long-term goals has helped me to not get down on myself. My books are currently available at Barnes & Noble and I didn’t realize what a big deal that was. While I was frustrated at them only being in a few Orange County stores, after talking to other local authors, it’s nearly impossible to get your book in there. So, what looks like a small win to you, can be huge for someone else.”  

Advice for mompreneurs: “Learn to say no sometimes. This past year, I had to ‘Marie Kondo’ my life. I was on PTA, serving in professional board positions, Bible studies, you name it. I had to really figure out what brought me joy and say no to the rest.” 

Jessica Hubbard

City: Ladera Ranch

Work: Casa Youth Shelter

Family: Harlowe, 6, Macallister, 2

Biggest challenge: “The mom-guilt is deafening, maddening and paralyzing. The greatest challenge for me is the guilt I put on myself when my dinner does fall short. Or when I forget to wash my daughter’s camp shirt in time for the Friday field trip. My greatest challenge is the way I beat myself up when I feel like I’m not doing enough.”

Advice for mompreneurs: “My advice is more like an affirmation: It’s OK to work because you want to. Because you enjoy it. It doesn’t make you a bad mom, and it just might make you a better mom.”

Kristin Daher

City: Tustin

Work: Powerhouse+Co. 

Family: Son, Barrett, 5

Biggest challenge: “Managing a company alongside family responsibilities is certainly challenging. The obligations can sometimes result in mistakes or missteps. Tolerating an occasional fiasco or misfire with patience, grace and acceptance — while also being resilient — is the biggest challenge in being a mompreneur.” 

Advice for mompreneurs: “Recognize that perfection is unachievable. This is not easy to do, especially for moms with high standards, but the personal growth I’ve experienced from learning acceptance has been remarkable. I’d encourage all mompreneurs to set expectations, even lofty ones, and just do your best. If there’s something that’s missed, don’t give any life to guilt or focus on failures. Instead, focus on forging ahead and making progress. Certain daily strategies and best practices complement this philosophy. These include setting boundaries for work/family time, prioritizing responsibilities to account for the limited number of hours in each day, practicing self-care, asking for (and accepting) help, communicating with loved ones and celebrating victories of all sizes.”

Sepali Vakil

City: Aliso Viejo

Work: Events by Sep, wedding planner and online business 

Family: Lance Hale, Tahira Rose Hale, 13 months

Biggest challenge: “Balancing it all! Sometimes I find myself really struggling to fit it all in — my own self-care, family time, a tidy house, business and keeping it all together. When my daughter turned a year old, I promised myself to really implement routines for moving forward. I wanted to have our family life be a priority and business comes second. The last few weeks are still a work-in-progress but it has gotten better. This new motto I am trying to honor has given me clarity and peace and allows me to feel like I am taking control of the day.”

Advice for mompreneurs: “I love outsourcing anything I don’t have time for. We get our laundry done by a service, we have a cleaning crew that comes once a month for a deep clean, I run the robo-vaccuum often to clean up any daily messes, I have a team that helps me with my emails and answering Instagram messages, and we order our meal-prep through a delivery service. These are just a few hacks I do so I can show up for myself, which allows me to show up better for my family. Creating systems that can make your life easier is the way to go.”

By Jessica Peralta and Magda Hernandez