I just got back from a trip to Las Vegas where I spoke at the International Mom’s in Business Conference, put on by the Moms in Business Network. What a great day! Working mothers came together to support each other in being mothers AND working women! Gina Robison-Billups, founder of the MIBN, said to me several times, “I just can’t believe there are no other large organizations dedicated to supporting working mothers.” Well, here is a great organization.
Besides speaking, I facilitated a luncheon panel of “Moms Who’ve Made a Million”. How powerful! I’ve spoken of the “mommy tax”- the issue that the biggest pay gap isn’t between men and women, but rather between women with children and everyone else. Yet where were three “Moms Who’ve Made a Million”! (Among them was Kate Everett-Thorp, CEO of Real Girls Media Network, and Marsh Engles, of the Marsh Engles Show.) It is so inspirational to see women with children who are making fabulous money.
The most common question was, “How do you balance motherhood and working?” To various degrees, all the women answered, “Delegate domestic work!” These women valued their families and their careers, in that order. But the rest—they outsource. They hired housecleaners, organizers, you name it. One millionaire mom (Lisa Hammond, CEO of Femail Creations) said that when she’s really busy, they eat every meal on recycled paper plates. Cleanup is a snap. She can go from eating with her kids to playing games after dinner, and skip the clean-up! She told a story about her daughter coming home from a stay-at-home mom’s house, and how strange it was that the family ate on “hard plates” and put everything into serving dishes before the food was put on the table. What a waste of time, said her daughter! They just had more dishes to wash!