Next Generation Of Moms Stay At Home And Work

Seminole Chronicle:

She stays home every day, cooking, cleaning, caring for the kids - and bringing home the bacon.

More and more women are getting into the entrepreneurial spirit, with more than 50 percent of U.S. businesses being women-owned, employing more than 12.8 million people and ringing in more than $1.9 trillion in sales, according to the Center for Women’s Business Research.

And many of these business owners aren’t just women, but moms. But while many people think moms already have enough long hours in their days just from maintaining a household and working an average nine-to-five, the millennium supermom has added a new title to the list.

Today, dual-income households are as standard as peanut butter and jelly, but one attractive feature that has women taking the extra leap into entrepreneurship is the flexibility it brings them. Since it’s a daily occurrence for children to get sick or get in trouble at school, many moms look to self-employment for that extra bit of freedom.

Oviedo resident Theresa Prada, owner of the caretaking business Prestige Concierge Services, LLC, agrees that a main attraction of starting her own business was the flexibility it allowed her to give to her three children.

“I’ve always been one who goes above and beyond and gives 110 percent of what’s expected at all my jobs,” Prada said. “But unfortunately, when you have children, people look down or think you’ll call in more than usual.”

Prada said now she feels she can make her children a priority by taking care of them when they get sick or chaperoning school field trips without feeling guilty.