ABOUT HER:
Amy is a mom of two girls and Founder of Moms Empowering Moms which serves as a resource for mothers to support and empower each other to become leaders within their families. communities, businesses and lives. Amy's entrepeneurial spirit is evident in her many professional certifications. She has worked in real estate, as a certified personal trainer with a specialty in pre and post natal fitness and prior to that she was a gymnast and doula.
Most recently, Amy has focused her energy on being an author, a business trainer and coach and the owner of a successful home-based business. She is committed to helping people create financial and time freedom through the power of residual income and most recently is passionate about taking the concept of business development for mom entrepeneurs to a level currently unprecedented.
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT:
Empowered Mommies (EM): Ms. Allen, thank you again for giving us the opportunity to sit down with you. You are such a wonderful role model not only as a formal doula and birth educator, but also as a successful entrepreneur. Can you share with us how you began your career and what made you decide to focus on creating Moms Empowering Moms?
Amy Starr Allen (ASA): Thanks, Ivanna. And, yes, I'd love to talk about how Moms Empowering Moms was created. I've always been an entrepreneurial spirit... I've worked as a realtor, a personal trainer, a musician, and a doula among other things where I could dictate my own schedule and hours. I've always liked the idea of being in business for myself. However, most of the things I've done have demanded quite a bit of time away from home. When I was about 6 months pregnant with my first daughter, I started to realize that I didn't want to be working out of the house so much... I wanted to be there for my child and avoid having to put her/him into full-time daycare.
One of the businesses that I was doing at that time was a way to create residual income (a home-based business in the wellness industry). At that point, it was just one of many other businesses I was running and I wasn't spending a whole lot of time on it. But it was like a lightbulb went off in my head at this point in my pregnancy where I realized that if I just really committed to this business and created more residual income, I would also create a lot more time freedom in my life and be able to stay at home w/ my baby. So that's what I did!
I made the decision and never looked back. And now that I have a substantial residual income coming in (that supports my family every month whether I work or not), I've become very passionate about helping other mothers do the same which was the inspiration behind the birth of Moms Empowering Moms. So now I spend my time helping mothers to be in business for themselves and to create residual income so that they can spend more time w/ their families.
I also really believe that when we are making a difference in the world we are better role models for our children. And I love being able to set an example for my children that lets them know that they don't necessarily have to grow up and go to work for someone else. They see our lifestyle and how much time we get to spend together, and I want them to grow up knowing that they can create the same thing for themselves.
EM: What do you think are some of the challenges moms are facing today in terms of juggling motherhood with other aspirations such as starting their own business, etc?
ASA: One of the biggest challenges mom entrepreneurs face is being able to balance work time and family time. When we work from home, it's easy to be distracted, so it's very important to create boundaries and clarity around our schedules. I'm a single mom now, so I do a lot of my work hours after my kids (who are 2 and 5) go to bed at night. They spend every other weekend w/ their father, so I use that time to be productive as well. And I have a couple of days per week that they go to preschool so I use that time for my business. The rest of the time, I make sure I'm present w/ my children and I don't work or take calls. I have very clear boundaries when it comes to my time.
EM: How do you hope to take the concept of business development for mom entrepreneurs to a new level?
ASA: I am VERY passionate about the idea of women and mothers supporting each other and holding each other accountable so we can all acheive success beyond our wildest dreams. One of the best ways to do this, in my opinion, is through the mastermind model. I am in the process of developing an online system, program, and community that will allow women to be placed into a mastermind group w/ a handful of other women so that they can all contribute ideas and resources to each other as well as create a system of accountability so that they can all help each other succeed. I will also be providing lots of valuable resources and tools for members of the community to help them take their businesses to the next level (or figure out what type of business they'd like to create if they haven't done that yet).
We will also be doing live events all of the country to bring mothers together and give them lots of valuable training, as well as facilitated mastermind meetings where valuable friendships and partnerships can be formed.
EM: If you had to look forward a decade, how do you hope your website and business will have influenced mothers?
ASA: I can vividly see a powerful community of mothers who have started businesses and succeeded beyond what they were ever able to do in the corporate workforce, etc. I know that there will be an incredible sisterhood created through our community that will prove to be priceless for everyone involved. And these women will all be developed into leaders who will be going out and inspiring others in their businesses, families, communities and lives (and many of them will be speaking at our live events!). It's very exciting!