Mom Spotlight - Danielle Wilson - sweetpeanut.com

Mom Spotlight - Danielle Wilson

1) Provide an overview of your company, how many hours you work, what made you decide to launch your own business.

The Sweet Peanut Clothing Company designs, manufacturers and wholesales infant clothing across North America.  As of Spring 2007 it is also available for sale on our website.  I currently work on average 20 hours per week.

Prior to starting Sweet Peanut I worked in advertising and marketing, primarily advertising agencies, for 12 years.  When I became pregnant with my first child the company I was working for was not supportive of finding a solution for my maternity leave.  In order to keep my job I returned part time to work when my son was four months old.  When he was 11 months old and I was preparing to return to work full time I was let go.  It was one of the best things that ever happened to me.  Five months later I started Sweet Peanut.  That was now almost two years ago.   I now work for myself, part-time, raise two boys and look back on the 50 hour work week of advertising agency life as something that would have been very stress inducing while raising two children.

2) Provide an overview of your home life, how many children you have, childcare arrangement,if married your husbands career and how you share the responsibilities at home.

I have two children (3 years and 10 months).  I have childcare two days a week for my big boy and one day every two weeks for both.  Fortunately children nap and I work four hours a day on the days I have childcare for the big guy and two hours a day on the other days.  My husband has been really supportive of my career change and not only does he stamp envelopes and delivery packages when needed he does bath and bed duty so I can get another hour of work in the evenings.

3) Can you discuss how you network and the importance of networking to your business.

The biggest part I miss working for myself from a home office is the network of other people and a social environment to plug into.  A playdate at the park doesn’t provide the same stimulation as walking down the hall way at work and asking for help brainstorming solutions to a design problem.  I have developed a number of email relationships with other women making the same change as me, but unfortunately email is my largest networking outlet with the current age of my children.  In the past six months I have begun speaking engagements with the Women’s Enterprise Society, which provides tools for women entrepreneurs in BC and that has been a great addition to my business.

4) Of your female friends with children how many of them continue to work now that they have children.

I only have one friend who has gone back to work full time for her company after both her maternity leaves and only one friend who is a full time stay at home mom.  The rest are re-defining and creating new work situations.  I have two friends who were home full time with their kids for a few years before starting their own business; I have a friend who continues to work for her company 25 hours a week as a consultant; I have a friend who is an employment lawyer and when her firm would not consider part-time after her maternity leave went to work three days a week.  I have a friend who is an elementary school teacher and job shares with another mom.

Part of my philosophy with Sweet Peanut when looking to hire is to actively find other moms who are doing the same thing as me.  My fabric designer works part time from home with her two children.  My graphic designer works from home with two children.  My PR consultant has hired someone to take her work load at her firm and takes on some projects while home with a new born.  My office relief is a grandma.

5) Can you offer any advice for achieving a balance between your family life and your career.

I think the most important thing is to know what you really want and continually remind yourself of that when things start to feel out of balance.  For example, I really want to be home  with my children, especially when they are this young, and I want to create a full time job to step into when they begin grade school.  This vision is a really helpful thing to come back to when I’m feeling over-obligated or over-whelmed or questioning my sanity when I’m packing orders on my kitchen floor at 1:00am!