These OC moms share their personal challenges and offer advice to being your own boss.
Savannah Foster
Family: Husband, Brooks, Beckham, 4, Romy, 2, and Millie, 6 months
City: Aliso Viejo
Business: NFL agent and vice president of client relations at Athletes First
Biggest challenge: “With a 24/7 career, I find myself on my phone way too much, and I struggle with unplugging and remaining fully present while at home with my family. I’m constantly working to maintain a better balance and give my kids the best version of me.”
Best advice for mompreneurs: “Take everything with a grain of salt. Each day is different and presents its own set of challenges, and you must remain flexible and do the best you can with what you have in that given moment.”
Divya Mirchandani
Family: Husband, Rick, Aaron, 2, and an English chocolate Labrador, Brady, 4
City: Irvine
Business: Pediatric emergency medicine physician
Biggest challenge: “For me, the biggest challenge as a working mom is making sure I have a good work-life balance. Given my demanding career, I chose to be a nocturnist so that I can be home during the day, afternoons and evenings with my son, fur baby and husband, but also get some ‘me’ time I need outside of work.”
Best advice for mompreneurs: “It’s OK to put your career first. And if the time comes, it’s OK to change and put family first. I propose that the most authentic behavior is when we are transparent and accept that, we must balance the needs of the whole against our own desires in the moment. Understanding that being fulfilled in one dimension of our lives can lend itself to being fulfilled in so many others — especially as a wife and mom. Second, we should empower women, especially working moms, and make sure we are valued, and given equal opportunity. We should all seek to make sure all women have a seat at the table.”
Courtney Brown
Family: Husband, Armando, Aiden, 8, Cali, 6, Nolan, 4, and Alice, 2
City: Newport Beach
Business: Owner of Eternal Grace Photography, specializing in maternity, newborn and family sessions
Biggest challenge: “Creating a work/family life balance — especially with homeschooling.”
Best advice for mompreneurs: “Time management and flexibility. Create windows of time to work on your business and windows where you turn off work to focus on your family. This has been the key to creating a successful business without feeling like I’m burnt out or neglecting my family.”
Brittany Eastwood
Family: Husband, Shane, Wyatt, 14, Scarlett, 13, Winter, 1
City: San Clemente
Business: Residential realtor; ambassador for The Mom Walk Collective for city of San Clemente
Biggest challenge: “Biggest challenge is the juggle of it all and balancing work life and mom life. Real estate is a very difficult industry with new challenges in every transaction and managing clients personalities and expectations, all at once while remaining professional and upholding the highest ethics and integrity. Then doing all of that, while staying present for my own children and husband. My family always comes first and I don’t want them to feel the negative effects of being in such a hard industry. So being able to find that balance and not ‘bringing my work home.’”
Best advice for mompreneurs: “Get to know yourself to the absolute core of who you are. Then love her more than anything in the world. I think so many times we look for answers outside of ourselves, and they will never be outside of us. They will always be within us. When you truly know who you are and can love yourself entirely, you are able to go through life’s ups and downs in a way that your children, partner and friends can find strength and inspiration from, just by watching you. Go after every desire burning inside of you. Gut feelings and a mother’s intuition are worth more than anything on this earth. If the path is being paved, follow it. Just always be open to taking the direction you may not have expected. Lastly, happiness is only a state of mind, so strive for finding peace in every unexpected turn. There is always, always a silver lining.”
Karina Benitez
Family: Husband, Daniel Jimenez, Mason Alexander, 9, Alan Daniel, 3, Benji Abel, 3 months
City: Buena Park
Business: Owner and co-founder of Pizza D’Amore, with Buena Park, Stanton and Long Beach locations
Biggest challenge: “My biggest challenge as a mompreneur is only having 24 hours a day to be the best I can be in all aspects of my life. Time management has got to be the hardest hurdle for many of us mompreneurs because our family and our success depend on us 100 percent. Sometimes I feel like I neglect my business because I’m out spending time with my kids and vice versa, but we must create a balance between our personal life and business.”
Best advice for mompreneurs: “Write down all your goals no matter how unrealistic they may seem, once you have a clear vision of what you want, go and get it by working harder than every single person you know. Some words I live by: be hungry, be humble and be the hardest worker in the room. Build a strong support system like I did. I have an amazing hard-working family and husband that support all my ideas and stand behind me at all times. If I win, we all win.”
Marisa Christine Draper
Family: Jenna, 22, Kara, 20, Alyssa, 16, Tyson, 11, Brody, 9
City: Laguna Niguel
Business: Owner of Learning Tree Preschool
Biggest challenge: “My day never ends. From the time I wake up to the time I go to sleep I’m bouncing between family and work duties. Since I work from home, my biggest challenge is keeping home duties and school duties separate. I often feel like I’m going to my second or third job. (Many times I’ve had a second job over the years.) My preschool/daycare kids leave just as my own school-aged children are coming home from school. My kids used to get jealous when the other children would call me mom. I am ‘school mommy’ to the little ones I care for. Another challenge is keeping my patience with my own children. Luckily I have very high energy and patience levels.”
Best advice for mompreneurs: “Set aside parts of your day for all the different roles you play. Finish the things you start. Multitasking projects and not finishing them causes unnecessary stress and mess. Getting things done and off your to-do list will keep you productive. Schedule time to take care of yourself to do things you enjoy that are separate from being a mom and work. I do nice things for myself throughout the day. I keep special snack and drinks onhand to brighten my day. Sometimes I’ll wake up and say what’s one thing I can do to lighten your load today and as a friend to myself, I do it. You don’t have to do everything perfect and it’s OK to ask for help. I keep baskets in each room of my house, if I don’t have time to put everything away.”
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Suzy Crawford
Family: Husband, Jon, Caleb, 5, Mila, 3, Charlotte, 1
City: Ladera Ranch
Business: Owner of Suzy Crawford Coaching, working with female entrepreneurs
Biggest challenge: “When I was in the corporate world, my biggest struggle was setting boundaries between myself and how much I worked. I struggled with actually ‘checking out’ when I was done for the day. This was especially hard when COVID hit and I was working from home. The lines between work and home were blurred and I found that I never actually stopped working. This led to some detrimental burn-out and overall crippling stress. Now as an entrepreneur, I actually find it easier to set these boundaries. I get to determine what I do and when I work because this is my business … I love that. The biggest struggle I have faced now is making sure that the stress of work doesn’t trickle into my life at home. Because this is my own business, any stress I face is magnified. I don’t have the security of a big corporation to fall back on. I have been fortunate enough to not face large struggles as of yet but even with the slight ups and downs it is hard to not let this impact how I show up with my family.”
Best advice for mompreneurs: “One of the biggest challenges many of my client mompreneurs face is embodying the mindset of the CEO. We get to do it all. We get to have it all. You just need to decide what your ‘all’ is. You have the power to rewrite your story and build your empire. When we doubt that this is possible, then it won’t be possible. So I encourage all mompreneurs to look outside the standard confines of what they are being told is possible and dream big.”
Lillian Lobue
Family: Nathan, 20, Isaiah, 13, Jaslyn, 10, David, 1.5, and Penelope, 8 months
City: Tustin
Business: Owner of Top Boss Cleaning Services
Biggest challenge: “Turning off the ‘work mode’ to be there for my family. We provide a service that doesn’t sleep. Our families and homes need help 24/7. Work can be addicting, but giving myself the time to end work and attending to my family is No. 1.”
Best advice for mompreneurs: “Don’t stop and keep going! Don’t give up. Dreams do come true, with one, two or five children. It’s all about having a balance and asking for help when needed from family, friends or a spouse during the hard and stressful times.”
Katie Hart
Family: Husband, Caleb, Morrison, 4, Cassidy, 1
City: Rancho Santa Margarita
Business: Owner of Wild Hart Shop, making custom tumblers
Biggest challenge: “My biggest challenge being a mompreneur is work-life balance and making sure that I spend quality time with my family, but still maintaining my business.”
Best advice for mompreneurs: “Set a schedule and stick to it. That way you can still spend time with your family and your business doesn’t consume every second of your day.”
Vanessa Knowles
Family: Hailey, 15, and Caleb, 12
City: Garden Grove
Business: Owner of Free to Be Me Studio of Performing Arts
Biggest challenge: “Making sure that I set a healthy balance between work and home life. The nature of my work is that I am always creating and working towards building my company and adding value to my programs, and the nature of motherhood is that my priority and focus is on supporting my kids and all of their activities and passions. Luckily, both of my kids are performers and enjoy the arts, but they each have other interests as well and I want to make sure I can encourage and support them in all of the ways. Being fully present at home and at work takes a lot of intention and planning, but it’s something I will always prioritize. Making sure that I am fully present in the moments that my kids need and want me, has been my biggest challenge, but I feel like I do a good job.”
Best advice for mompreneurs: “Find a business and career path that you’re passionate about and that motivates you to be the best version of yourself. Model for your kids what it looks like to create a career that is truly fulfilling; one where hardwork and sacrifice is worth it and the work is rewarding. Set aside intentional time where work can wait and make sure your children know that while work is important to you, quality time with them is invaluable. Time goes by so fast and so owning my own business is the hardest thing I have ever done, but the freedom to be able to show up for my kids has made it worth it.”
By Jessie Dax-Setkus
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