{Momentrepreneur} Meet Lauren: How I got myself out of credit card debt and used my experiences to inspire momentrepreneurs

Today meet Lauren, who turned her vast experiences of being an entrepreneur, the good times and the bad, into a venture that assists moms to be successful entrepreneurs, as well as supporting and encouraging moms who choose to be a “human pacifier”.

1. Tell us about yourself, a bit of background.

5 years ago I would have told you that I had two deep yearnings in my life, two long-held dreams that I had not yet fulfilled.  The first was to become a Mother.  I am happy to report that dream became a reality on 3^rd October 2013, and becoming a Mom has been, undoubtedly, the best thing I ever did in my life.

The second was to write a book. I’m still on a higgledy-piggledy pathway to doing just that.

My Mom was an Entrepreneur for most of her working life, and I followed in her footsteps.  My first business was a church hall gym I took over from my Mom shortly after I matriculated (in 1990). I taught Aerobics classes in the evenings while working as a Junior Copywriter at a below-the-line advertising agency by day. 

Copywriting was my first writing job, and I believe it’s always stood me in good stead.  The agency’s main client was Leisure Books/Leserskring, and one of the favourite parts of my job was writing book reviews for their catalogues.

The second successful business I owned was a Massage Therapy Practice. I completed an Aromatherapy & Swedish Massage course part time while working, before I set up my practice.  I went on to hone my skills; I studied Refloxology, Shiatsu, Polarity Therapy, Reiki (Master and Master Teacher) and Quantum Touch while building a busy practice.  

In 2000, I moved to Johannesburg, leaving my massage practice behind.  This, and ill health due to burn-out, led me to my next venture, network marketing a brilliant nutritional supplement called Cellfood, by Oxygen for Life.

I became a Training Consultant for Oxygen for Life, training their distributors, Health Practitioners (Doctors, Homeopaths, etc.), Health Shop and Pharmacy staff on product knowledge.

A few years down the track, when pharmacies started being bought out by big chains, the company decided to focus on the retail market and shut down their network marketing division.

I started building a second network marketing business, Nutrihealth Africa.  I also became a Trainer for Nutrihealth after a few months.  Within a year my network represented half of their entire network and they offered me a corporate position as Head of Network Marketing. 

A big part of my job was creating and presenting training on health, wellness, product, business, selling and leadership, so I had plenty of chance to write and create in this period, and also gained a huge amount of experience in public speaking.

Nutrihealth created two separate divisions, a retail division, focusing on sales to pharmacies, and a Network Marketing division. Sadly, due to factors outside my control (huge expenditure on advertising costs, product returns in the retail division, low profit margins on top selling products), Nutrihealth closed down, just when the network was at its peak. 

I moved back to Cape Town to be closer to my support system, my family and friends, and I went back to what I knew best, network marketing. This time I chose global companies, Nu Skin and Stemtech, which I felt were less likely to shut down or move the goal posts (this has proven true). I wrote articles on network marketing for the SA Guide to Business Opportunities, adding freelance journalism to my bag of tricks, and re-kindling my love of writing.

I made money, but it was too little, too late. 

As an entrepreneur, you have good months and bad months, you get used to feast or famine.  I had no idea I was in for a long dry spell that would ultimately see me virtually destitute.

Over the few years after Nutrihealth closed down, I built up a tremendous amount of credit card debt, as well as personal debt to friends and family. I was accustomed to earning a lot, and I hadn’t learnt how to reduce my expenses to the bare minimum.  I kept thinking I would bounce back faster than I did.  

My luck turned during Soccer World Cup Fever in 2010, when I met the wonderful man who became my husband, and father of our gorgeous son, Benjamin.  Daniel was already a father, of a daughter, Skyler, who is born on the same day as me, and that was our initial attraction.  He was also the Regional Manager for a freight forwarding and clearing company called Premier Freight, and was looking for a new sales person for his branch. Daniel convinced me to apply for the job, and I’m so glad he did. 

Daniel was a brilliant trainer, he taught me to succeed in an entirely new industry, and at the same time taught me how to go about clearing my debts.  We worked well together, and, well… as they say, the rest is history.  Within 3 years we were married, and a few months later, we had our precious son, Benjamin.  I was 40 at the time.

Having a child at 40 is a unique experience.  You have different priorities in life by then, and it seems easier to set your own needs aside to accommodate your little one. For a good year and half I was entirely content to be a wife and Mother…. and then an idea for a book started coming to me.  Finally! I knew what I would write about it… and this is how I embarked on my new career, this is how I became a Mompreneur.

2. What were you doing before you started this business?

 

I was a stay at home Mom (and housewife).

I resigned from my job at Sasfin Premier Logistics (previously Premier Freight) a month before my son was born.  My plan was stay home for at least 6 months so that I could breastfeed my son exclusively for the mandatory 6 months (as recommended by WHO & UNICEF).  6 months quickly turned into 12, and then 18… and as the months went by, and my attachment to my son deepened, I realised I would never go back to full time employ.

3. What prompted you to start your business?

That’s when I decided it was time to do what I’d always dreamed of doing – writing a book. 

4. Is your business full time or part time and why?

Very part time, for now.  My son is only 2 and half years old, so he only goes to school 3 mornings a week. The only time I can work is when he’s at school, out with his Dad, or napping. 

5. How do you juggle the responsibilities of being a mom with your work?

It’s tricky sometimes. When ideas are flowing and I want to write, I’m not always able to.  Benjamin is my priority. It’s an exercise in patience and unconditional love.

6. Do you have a business plan? If so, can you share a bit about your strategy to make it successful?

Not a business plan, as such, but I do have a plan of action.

7. How do you get clients/ market yourself?

I am building two blog websites which will in time market my book and any further products I may develop in the future. From my understanding of today’s publishing market, writers have to become a recognised brand before any of the big publishing houses will notice them.  So the goal is to provide rich content on my websites, in order to attract traffic and build an e-mail subscriber list. Once my subscribers know and trust me, they become willing buyers of my products.

8. What’s your biggest challenge right now?

Finding the time to do everything I need to do, while still ensuring that Ben is my priority.

Other than a few guest posts, I am doing everything myself: choosing and getting to grips with my wordpress theme, designing a logo, writing, editing and proof-reading content and free e-books, creating and uploading images, setting up a You Tube Channel and uploading videos, connecting with other bloggers in my niche… all this takes time.  Learning each new internet marketing skill takes time.

9. Did you need a lot of money to start off? And how long was it before you made a profit?

Having only set up my sites mid-January this year, I’m not making a profit yet, and I don’t foresee myself making a profit for at least the first year. I’m in the very fortunate position that I don’t have a turn a profit just yet. However, I do have to keep my business afloat.

Set up costs were not too expensive, because the annual cost of domain registration is not too pricey.  However, there are monthly costs of web hosting, training, keyword and site comments tools that have to be borne. As my subscriber base grows there will be additional costs.

I still have some income coming in from Stemtech to cover these, and I’m also submitting some articles to websites in my niche. Hopefully network marketing and freelance journalism will do the trick until my websites start to generate their own income. I’m also dabbling in some affiliate marketing.

What makes your brand unique from other brands?

I am building two distinct brands, to cater to two slightly different markets.

Happy Human Pacifier is aimed at pregnant and breastfeeding Moms.  It’s  a site celebrating attachment parenting and extended breastfeeding. It’s also where I will launch my book: “Happy to be a Human Pacifier.”

Inspiring Mompreneurs is aimed at Mom and Gran Entrepreneurs, or Aspiring Entrepreneurs, and provides inspiration, information and opportunities for Moms to make money, part time, or from home.

10. Share with us your social media links and website.

Happy Human Pacifier

Inspiring Mompreneurs

Google Plus

You Tube Channel

Linked In