Mom Spotlight - Jill Earthy

Mom Spotlight - Jill Earthy

1) Provide an overview of your company and your job, how many hours you work.

I currently wear two hats in my professional life, one as the Executive Director of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE) and the other as Co-Founder of momcafé.  FWE is a non-profit organization of over 400 members with a mission to mentor and educate female entrepreneurs through four primary programs; e-series program, Roundtable events, a Student Internship program and a Mentor Program.  I have currently committed to 25 hours/week with FWE, however, like any “part-time” role, the number of hours I spent each week is closer to 35-40.  My role as Executive Director is newly created and I hope to help guide the organization through a strategic growth phase.  I love my role supporting female entrepreneurs.  I am inspired everyday!  During my recent maternity leave with my second daughter, I found that many women, like myself, were struggling to figure out what the next steps along the career path were.  These women had invested 10-15 years into developing a successful career and then decided to have children.  They are now torn with finding a balance between maintaining a stimulating and fulfilling career with spending time with family. There are so many choices available these days.  Some women decide to stay at home, some decide to leave their jobs for entrepreneurial endeavours, some return to the corporate world on either a full or part-time basis.  I wanted to create an environment in which these women could all come together to discuss the choices and the challenges, and to share ideas and resources to help make whatever they choose work for them.  The result is momcafé, a series of events connecting inspired Moms.  We feature two Moms at each event and provide a supportive environment for a group discussion.  Our first event on September 21st sold-out with over 55 amazing women present.  The energy in the room was incredible.  Our next event on November 2nd will also sell out with 70 women present.  Women want to help each other through the sharing of ideas and talking about issues and challenges.  Working together is a powerful thing.  As a Director and Co-Founder of momcafé, I am currently spending 15-20 hours/week on this project.  However, as its success continues to grow, I anticipate having to spend more time.  The challenge for me is how to maintain two part-time jobs that I love but that make up a full job and a half in hours, while still spending as much time as I can with my two young daughters.

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 daughters, one and three years old.  I currently spend three days a week downtown working for FWE and have a nanny who comes to our home on those three days.  My older daughter also attends preschool three mornings a week.  We are fortunate in that my husband has a very flexible job.  He likes to go into the office early (he leaves the house by 5:00am!!) but is then home by 4:00pm to relieve our nanny.  This means that I am on my own in the morning, making getting ready for work a challenge, but it also allows me to work later and not have to rush home.  The days that I am downtown, my husband will prepare dinner.  I usually buy the food and plan the meals but he will assemble the meals which is a huge help!  The two other days of the week that I am at home, I juggle working on momcafé with spending time with my daughters.

3)  Are there certain organizations or individuals who have been the greatest influence and support in terms of assisting with your career and business decisions.

I have been fortunate to have a strong group of supportive friends, family and business colleagues.  Certainly the women that I work with in both FWE & momcafé have a huge influence in providing me with the inspiration to do what I love.  My Mom is also a role model for me as she has always managed the balance between working and always being there for her 3 kids.  Her generation was the leading edge.  I just think that she did not ever sleep!  I think it is so great that there are now several organizations providing additional support, resources or even just a place for women to come together to talk about the issues of the day.

4) Of your female friends with children how many of them continue to work now that they have children. Are they entrepreneurs, work full-time, part-time, job share?

I would estimate that of the women I know with children, 5% have decided to stay home f-t, 40% are entrepreneurs, 15% returned to the corporate world f-t and the other 40% are working p-t.

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

I wish I had the answer.  Some words of advice that I have received include, knowing when to “turn off” from work.  This is incredibly important.   I find that with all the roles I juggle, I am never able to give 100% to anything.  I am working on some strategies that will enable me to do this better and I recommend to others to allocate certain times for certain tasks.  I have also heard many people say that “you need a wife” to achieve a successful balance.  My husband is great but the majority of the tasks involved with running a busy household, do default to me.  It seems to be a maternal thing.  I certainly take a lot of responsibility for this default role as it is in my personality to be in control of things.  The other words of advice are to prioritize and to assign tasks that you do not enjoy or are not good it, to others.  My husband likes to say that we have different expectations.  He is very supportive but feels that only about 75% of what I think need to be done, really needs to be done.  Think of all the additional time you would have if you prioritized and let the little things go!!

Christmas on a Budget

Does staying on budget during the holiday season seem like a pipe dream to you? With all of the Christmas parties and celebrations, gift exchanges at work, decorating your home, planning large meals for your family, and buying gifts for your friends and family, we often suffer from what you might call a 'consumer hangover' after the holiday season is over! And let's not even mention all the Boxing Week sales!
 
Here are a few stats for you to consider: The National Retail Federation in the US expects each consumer to spend an average of $849 on 24 gifts this year. Seventy nine percent of consumers expect to spend the same or more than they did last year…And only 21% expect to spend less. And although people think that they'll have the extra credit card bills they incur during the holiday season paid off by the end of February, it actually takes them about six months! Does that sound familiar?
 
So how does a person stay on budget during the holiday season? Well, it all comes down to budgeting, creativity, and planning ahead.
 
Here are a few ideas:
 
- Redeem points: I'd venture to say that most, if not all of us, collect points from at least one retailer. We all know about Air Miles, Petro Points, HBC Points, etc., which are a great alternative and "free" way to do your Christmas shopping! And did you know that you can exchange points from one retailer to 'buy' points for another? Points.com is a great site that allows you to track all your points and swap one retailer's points for another. You can even points to someone else!
 
- Ebay! Now that the Canadian dollar is virtually equal to the US dollar, take advantage of it by shopping on Ebay or other online auction sites.
 
- Homemade coupons. Get your kids involved, and have fun with it!
For kids to give to grandparents: one car wash, one hour of weeding in the garden, one afternoon organizing old photographs
For parents to give to kids: one afternoon at the zoo, one trip to the museum, one hour of board games
For adults to give to each other: one backrub, one homemade dinner of your choice, one game of tennis
 
- Use your kids' artwork. Grandparents, uncles, and aunts can't get enough of charming gifts from children's artwork. You can make calendars, notepads, mouse pads, just about anything, out of their artwork!
 
- Go to thrift stores for books and small toys
 
- Inexpensive art. Search online for suppliers of affordable wall art to give to the new homeowner or college student in your life.   
 
- Give things like homemade cookies to friends and coworkers.
 
- Buy next years' gifts after the holidays. We all know the great deals are coming after December 26th! Imagine how much stress you could avoid by simply planning ahead, buying gifts while they're on sale, and avoiding the rush next year?!
 
Those are just a few ways that you can save money and still enjoy your holiday season. We still have a few weeks left before the big day, so put an hour or two aside one evening this week to go through your budget. Pull out last year's credit card and bank statements and take a look at how much you really spent. Do some comparison shopping online. Be realistic, and set parameters for yourself.
 
Get creative, get your kids involved, and just have fun with it! Enjoy the holiday season, and stay safe!
 
Do you have a great budgeting success story to tell? Email me at julie.d.tremblay@freedom55financial.com and tell me about it! I'd love to hear your stories and ideas!
 
 

Celebrating the Holidays

By Michelle Vandepol; Author of Mother Mexico

Celebrating the holidays is something we look forward to while trying to minimize the damage done by dealing with deadlines, work parties, increased expenses, and holiday time. Celebrating is about more than surviving. Even if you are not one of the ones the articles on organizing talk about who have their shopping already done, you can still make the holiday season about more than the mall crush.
     

Make sure to photograph the small un-posed moments that are more important than the holiday cards in the end. It will help you focus on the moment instead of the whirling bustle of activity.
     

Enjoy how others celebrate without feeling pressured to incorporate how everyone else does it into how you do it. Pare down the clusters of engagements that tend to happen in December, picking a few of most priority and plan around them, creating a few small ones of your own if parts of your calendar are clear of any festive fun.
     

Look at your time, stuff, and money resources available and think of the smallest way to add to it to make your plans a go. Whether it's sticking to a gift giving list or making crafts at home as a family activity, this will simplify your holiday efforts and maximize the results.
     

Plan your memories in advance. Pull out the old fashioned stops or put a new spin on the old ways. Tailor them to what your family needs. A lot of the standbys (trimming the tree, playing the snow or hiking in the forest, collecting pinecones for seasonal table toppers, attending seasonal services, visiting with family and friends) don't cost much if anything. If you focus on the family and friend celebrations you can keep costs to a minimum or splurge on something larger like a family trip to the ski hill if time and money allow.
     

Deal with wardrobe issues for holiday parties as early on as you can. Put aside an hour to try on outfits pairing them accessories and keeping them hung and clean, ready for the event. If you can, do it without shopping. It saves time, leaving more for the good times, not in preparing for them.
     

Compartmentalize work and deadlines. Now the life/work balance is at critical mass. Do what you can early, adding on to your work day in small increments. You can pull out a project right before Christmas break without the long hours. It's about the bit of fore planning and steady execution.
     

Simply making a realistic plan for expenses before payday will ease a lot of stress. Most will not be a surprise (gifts, entrance fees to events, clothes, entertaining food budget) even though there are more of them this time of year.
     

Make your goal not just sanity but reveling in the special time of year. Celebrating is more than getting through. It is joining the kids in their wide eyed amazement whether in nature's snow or people's increased goodwill for this reminder once a year about what life's really about. This year make the holiday about the holiday.

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