Working On My Own Terms

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A mom who works from home while caring for her baby.From a young age, I knew I wanted to have children and stay home to raise them. Once I got married, that idea started to disappear since we lived in Fairfield County and had a mortgage and other expenses.

While on maternity leave with my oldest, we ran into some daycare issues before I was heading back to work. At dinner, my husband suggested it would be best if I stayed home with our son to celebrate my birthday. Considering this is all I ever wanted, you would think it was the best birthday gift ever.

I was not prepared to stay home; I was torn between staying home and returning to work. It was a tough decision, but I quit a job I loved. 

Since then, I’ve had two sons, who I adore immensely! My husband is a firefighter and is additionally involved in union committees associated with his job. His schedule fluctuates daily, so being home is a great constant for the boys. I have tried to go back to work part-time in traditional settings, and unfortunately, based on our hectic lifestyle with my husband’s job and the cost of daycare, I have not found anything that would work for me until this past birthday.

I went to a Stella & Dot trunk show with a girlfriend as a filler activity before attending the annual birthday dinner with my husband. I had never been to a Stella & Dot party and heard amazing things about the brand. I sold another direct sales product before and thought I would never do something like that again.

I walked into this party with no expectations and came out with a bag, a pair of earrings, two birthday gifts, and a phone call a few days after the trunk show to talk “business” with the stylist. I was enamored by how much fun I had in two hours and realized I could make money doing this.

After three weeks of extensive research on the company and various scenarios that play into becoming a Stylist for Stella & Dot, I signed up. I have not only made some money on the products and treated myself to some new accessories, but I found something that allows me to be the constant person in my sons’ lives while working as little or as much as I want to, have fun, and be social with adults for a few hours a week.

I am now working on my own terms.

Besides the gorgeous items, I have a wealth of support from other women in similar situations to mine who wanted to start a family, left their jobs, and wanted to have an identity aside from “mom.” I also can donate to charities to support friends and families looking to raise awareness for causes near and dear to their hearts. That is something that I have not been able to do for some time, and I want my sons to know that it is important to help others in the community when we can.

The support I received thus far from coaching is incredible. When I am having an “I really don’t know how this can pan out moment,” there is someone I can reach out to (whether via text or social media) who will be there to support me. I don’t know most of these women personally, but they understand and want to see others like them strive for greatness! My husband even gets excited for me when I tell him about the things I’ve achieved in two months.

Everything works out for a reason.

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Erica
Stay-at-home-mom to two handsome young gentlemen and wife of a firefighter. Our life changes on at the drop of a hat- see how we manage to keep it all together! We are a Crossfitting, Paleo eating family (for the most part) who love going on little adventures whether its to the Stamford Museum and Nature Center, Trader Joe's or far away to have some delicious not-so Paleo food. Our household is currently obsessed with trains, bubbles, Play-Doh, and spending as much time outside as possible.

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