Written by: Adam Toren

Entrepreneurship involves a lot of planning, writing, calculating, paper-filing, marketing and more. Each of these eight moms did it all — with a kid on her hip.

But how did they do it? Caring for family is a major and time-consuming commitment that leaves little physical and emotional energy behind for business ventures. What’s more, most of these mompreneurs had full-time jobs when they began considering starting a business, compelling them to make major life decisions that couldn’t have been easy on the mind or the heart.

Against all odds, however, all eight mastered the art of balancing business, family and self — and in a way that, from the outside, looks totally effortless. Here’s how they did it.

By recognizing opportunity
Doctor Shannon Davis PT, DPT understood the need for a carpet-, tile-, and wood flooring-compatible balance device that would allow children to move independently one night when she noticed her baby struggling to chase a family pet around the house. After a slew of prototype tests and instances of trial and error, Shannon devised the perfect product: the Little Balance Box, which safely helps babies and toddlers sit, stand and walk without assistance from an adult.

Instead of settling for inadequate stability devices like seated and wheeled walkers, Shannon took advantage of the issue she and her baby were experiencing — after all, others had to be dealing with the same problem.

Special Agent Heather Ryan has a bit of a different story. During much of her time working with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), Heather regretted being unable to spend sufficient time with her family. When her son graduated kindergarten, Heather could only watch via Skype from eight states away. It was that day she vowed to make a change.

Because Heather had extensive experience investigating major crimes like child abuse, sexual assault and homicide, she thought she could provide insight to the criminal mind that could benefit individuals and families seeking methods of self-defense. By analyzing the information she’d gathered from the most dangerous of “bad guys” over the years, Heather began Safe in the City, a practical safety class aimed toward women and families.

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