Mother / Founder: 68 Women on the Trials and Triumphs of Starting a Business and Raising a Family

by Amanda Jane Jones, Jennifer Fernandez

An inspirational and empowering celebration of more than sixty women who are both dedicated mothers and successful entrepreneurs.

Starting a business can be daunting, scary, and exciting, all at once; so too can starting a family. But they can coexist—as the incredible roster of women in this book demonstrate, entrepreneurship can be both a sustainable and fulfilling model for working motherhood. Featured here are the stories of more than sixty mothers (including big names like author and artist Maira Kalman and Justina Blakeney of the Jungalow but also farmers, lawyers, pastry chefs, and more), who describe how they pursued their entrepreneurial dreams, overcame obstacles, achieved success, and found professional contentment, all while providing for their families and parenting their children. The authors are themselves self-employed moms (Amanda Jane Jones is a freelance graphic designer, illustrator, art director, and mother of three; Jennifer Fernandez is a freelance writer and editor and mother of two) and include within the book are personal essays in which they open up about their own struggles and triumphs in balancing motherhood with their creative ambitions. They also offer readers tools and practical advice for starting a business and tackling the unique challenges of entrepreneurship and parenthood. It all adds up to a one-of-a-kind manual-cum-gift book for women looking to start and grow their own businesses.
 

Genres: Business, Nonfiction

336 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 29, 2024

Reviews

[SmileyB]

While there are some inspiring stories the book seem to take no notice to the men involved in the stories, neither women, nor their children would exist and for many they would not have been able to start, build or grow what they dreamed and that is widely overlooked. It is a privilege to have such love, care, help and support and is definitely a major part in these stories. However, the book makes it sound like these women decided they wanted to build something or have children and spontaneously made it happen. As a woman I am generally not a fan of books writing in this form because there is an underlying disrespect to the men in their lives. Clearly I am not a feminist. Not worth keeping and not worth a second read

[Naomi Qin]

Somehow doesn't really resonate with any of them. Moreover, when I see some of their schedules (running a business + cooking for the family + childcare duties) I thought they didn't have a husband but most of the time it turns out that they do. The other party is barely mentioned in most of the stories. I don't feel empowered after reading this book, but exhausted 🫩

[Kayla Hollatz]

The stories were absolutely inspiring, but the author tried to cover so much ground in each woman's story that most felt a bit surface-level. After the first fifteen, the rest began to sound pretty similar, especially with the advice column. However, if you have a mom friend who's been wanting to start a company, this coffee table-style book could be a great gift!