Necessity Fuels Entrepreneurial Mom

The Morning News:

Ashley Leis is proof that necessity is the mother of invention.

The former mortgage lender invested about $50,000 to open an hourly drop-off daycare service out of frustration.

She decided to be a stay-at-home mom when she had her daughter four years ago but soon found that at-home life was a tough row to hoe.

“(Staying home) was very important to me. I quit work a couple of months before I had my daughter. We had to downsize our vehicles and our house. But I didn’t want to miss watching them grow.”

With the birth of her daughter and two years later, a son, Leis learned that stay-at-home motherhood is a job that never ends.

“You can’t call in sick. You can’t call an assistant,” she said. “It’s the most demanding job with the least amount of support. You don’t clock-in, clock-out or take a lunch break. There’s no one to talk to. There’s so much you miss. It’s completely fulfilling as a mother, yet you completely miss out on part of the adult world.”

She decided to start her own mothers’ support and activity group when she couldn’t find one to join. The choices were limited, waiting lists long and membership fees too high.

So Leis created the Bentonville Meet-up Moms last summer. The group now has 171 members and a Web site, www.nwamoms.org.

“It’s turned into a huge deal for me. It all just started because I wanted a support group,” Leis said.