Julie is a member of Six Figure Moms Club.  I’m proud to know her and to have the opportunity to learn from her as another working mother following her dreams and working through the challenges every day.  Thank you Julie for sharing this wonderful post with us.  May you find everything you always wanted…that’s not already right in front of you.

Warmly, Angie

Just Not Enough Time in The Day

By Julie Frans

Us working moms perform magic tricks day in and day out. Every mom has a few magic tricks up her sleeve, but there’s no denying us entrepenurial, business owning, super-driven moms have to have a bit of magic tricks and crafty spells in mastering the fine art of balancing business, motherhood, wife-hood, self health and happiness.

Balancing, juggling, struggling… however you get through it, however you call it, working moms are a rare breed. And yet… we still have not mastered how in the world to add more hours into our day… or have we?

I was always busy, graduating with honors from UCSB just after turning 21. I started a business from scratch at the age of 26 after traveling the world, with nothing more than a backpack when I arrived San Diego.

After cooking aboard yachts throughout California, Mexico, and Alaska, I figured simply, “I can do this at home- no problem! Everyone needs to dine well!” Little did I know what I was getting myself into.

Website development, networking, sales, tracking, follow-up, risk management, insurance, workman’s comp, booking, staffing, payroll, permits… and the dreaded Q word… Quickbooks! I never knew I would have to be a book keeper to be a chef! I was barely cooking anymore- I was juggling 10 different jobs at all times.

I quickly adapted- I multiplied myself. I didn’t want to work that “hard” forever- I wanted a family! I wanted a business that worked for ME!.. So that I could have a happy family, take my kids to the zoo every week, do yoga, travel! Boy, was that a silly notion.

As I grew my business, my responsibilities grew exponentially. Bills multiplied. As money came rolling in in droves, money went soaring right back out in sealed envelopes. Employee uniforms! Client gifts!

Now there were 5 of us networking, not one; 10 of us putting miles on our cars, not one!

My husband, a wonderful man who jumped along for the ride after a very cush job as a private chef to an ambassador, had no idea what was in store for him, but learned to pull his weight in the business.

Whatever he may lack in entrepenurial fire, he makes up for tenfold with his raw cooking talent and creativity, his personality that sells our business with his genuine smile and compassion, and his capacity as a loving husband and wonderful father.  My Johnny, my amazing, bright and happy 1 year old, is quite possibly the most well adapted kid in San Diego- leave him with anyone friendly and he’s happy… so it seems now. But- the guilt and wonder is always there- as I forge ahead with business, growing it as I chase that ever dangling carrot in front of me, thinking… “someday,” am I leaving my 2 guys in the shadows? Am I fulfilling my duties as wife and mother as I strive for bigger, better, more?

A wise man told me I need to get over my case of the “as soon as…”

syndrome.  ”As soon as” the business is “here” I will have “this.”

This being time, freedom, zoo trips with Johnny any time I want. It’s the entrepenuer in me. It’s the dreamer. It’s the driven, determined, passionate mission of my soul to keep it going until… until what?

Until I am satisfied in every aspect of life? Until I have mastered that fine art of perfect balance? Until I feel like there are enough hours in the day?

The bottom line is that I live this life because I have to… no, not for money… but for love. For the love of the challenge, for the love of the mission, for love of the teamwork that my family has to make this business and this life work harmoniously. It’s definitely not easy running a business as a mother. It’s not easy running a business with your husband. It’s not easy pulling off magic tricks every single day to create more hours so that everyone is getting their due- husband, child, business… me! But I would not trade my life for anyone’s. I am living my passion, pursuing my dream, and making magic every way I can to keep my life in the balance. And we are making magic together, as a company and as a family, Robbie, me, and even Johnny, as we create magic in the homes and lives of the people we feed and help live better lives through food.

On April 8, I’ll be live on the air with two internet radio shows on www.wsradio.com. The first show is about entrepreneurism and the second show is….you guessed it, Twitter Talk Radio!

It’s my great honor to co-host a show about small business owners with Rieva Lesonsky.  Rieva is truly amazing.  She is a small business expert and she writes, speaks and helps small businesses all over the country.  We’ll be interviewing successful entrepreneurs and experts and talking about three major themes:

1. How despite all the negative economic news, now is one of the best times in history to start a business due to the opportunities available right now.
2. How to transition from Corporate American to an entrepreneurial lifestyle (sound familiar?  ie, my book, QUITTING IS EVERYTHING?)
3. Using Social Media to launch and support your entrepreneurial business.

Twitter Talk Radio will focus on Twitter of course but will slant largely to using Twitter for business.  You likely remember that my twitter affair started right here on Six Figure Moms Club last fall and progressed into a blog, Twitter Attraction.  Twitter Attraction and Twitter Talk Radio will work in tandem together.

But let’s get to the important stuff.  What’s in this post for you, Working Mothers?  I mentioned my best childhood friend Shelley Swisher above.  Shelley and I met in six grade and there would be weeks where you would never see one of us without the other.  She knew me better than anybody else. When my family moved to another town in the middle of ninth grade, we often got into trouble for having long distance phone bills for outrageous amounts.  If she knew me best and she thought I was going to be a broadcast journalist, then there was probably something important to that.  Why?  Because every career book out there will tell you that there are messages from your teenage years about what you are supposed to be doing with your life.  I know not all of you are searching for something new but a lot of you who talk to me are.

I loved journalism, writing, speaking, editing and all of the things I’m doing now back then.  I also didn’t like to do most of the same things I don’t like to do now too. What did you love back then and how can you turn those things into a business?

One last really fun thing about my talk show with Rieva, we’re doing a fun contest with listeners to name the show.  Look for a press release and an email blast on Monday

If you’ve been following along, you know that my love affair with Twitter has been going on for a few months now. This past weekend, I had the great pleasure of meeting the author of The Twitter Revolution, Warren Whitlock…again. Not only did I meet Warren but I also had the honor of joining him at TwitCastRadio when he interviewed Adaptive Blue about Glue, a cool new tool that enhances your web browsing experience.  Can you imagine what I asked when it came to my turn for an interview question?  Of course, you’re right!  I asked how the new tool could interface with twitter!  You’ll also hear Mari Smith stepping in for a few seconds too.  (You can hear our interview by clicking on the links above.)

I so enjoyed spending time with Warren this weekend and I could write this whole post about him.  However, that’s not what’s important for you.  Here is what I want you working mothers to hear about my experience and to put to use for reengineering your own lives if it’s helpful for you:

There are successful (and sometimes famous) people around waiting to help you with whatever you need and they are within your grasp.  All you need to do is reach out to them.

Coaches, editors and publishers have been advising me that famous people are much more within our grasp than we think and that they are much more willing to help you than you would imagine.  It’s not a natural thing for us to pick up the phone and call someone like Oprah, but hey, who knows? I just might someday soon and you should too.

When I left for this conference, I jokingly said to my husband, “Warren Whitlock is broadcasting his radio show live from the hotel and I’m going to join him”.  My husband laughed and said, “OK, Angie” with a skeptic tone.  I did know that Warren was broadcasting his show because I had invited him to dinner and I knew he had a time conflict.  I didn’t, however, expect to be interviewing his guest along side him.  Like just about everyone else that I’ve met in the social media space.  I found Warren delightful, open and so willing to reach out a helping hand (Oh, and very funny too).  Thank you Warren!

And by the way, thanks to @sugarjones for taking this great picture below of Warren and I and uploading it to Twitpics just before the interview started.  Don’t we look like a great broadcast journalist team?

“If you only get to give one answer, what ONE thing are you most grateful for?” 

My answer is STRUGGLE.  I’m so thankful for the struggle I have in my life and for so many reasons.

• Struggle makes me continue to grow and think about things from a multitude of perspectives.
• Struggle reminds me that I’m alive.
• Struggle highlights that if things are always easy that I’m not stepping up enough and that I’ve become complacent.  That’s not who I am.  I should be struggling with something.  I’m a change agent and that means that there should be struggle in my life…in every aspect.  That means there will be struggle in my relationships, my career, inside me.
• Struggle is my friend and my ally. If I forget that and let it make me feel down, then that is a sign that I’m not taking good care of myself.
• Struggle is my daughter’s friend too.  She is a lot like her mother.  I must remember who she is and how she is wired and remember that she will struggle with me and that it’s not personal.  It is her path too.

So, yes, my answer my seem a bit strange to you and that’s okay with me.  I want you to think about YOU at your CORE.  What are you truly grateful for about YOU?

YES, I’m grateful for so many other things too.  My daughter, my husband, my family, my friends, my strength, my health, my good fortune, my business, flexible work, work life balance, social media, all the inspiring entrepreneurs I’ve met, and the list goes on and on.  I’m a very, very lucky girl and with a friend like struggle, it’s important for me to stop, sit and remember all these things on a regular basis.

And lastly, let us not forget the comedic one:  TWITTER.  I’m thankful for my affair with twitter.  Yes, it’s still on and it’s hot and heavy.  I’m still in love with twitter and our relationship continues to blossom.

I wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving.  I hope you will take a few moments and reflect upon your own struggles, how purposeful they are for you and the wonderful treasures they bring to you in the end.  Be well. Be safe.

If for some reason, you happen to spending this Thanksgiving season alone or in a sad spot or if you are outside of the United States, visit my friend Gail Goodwin’s site at Inspire Me Today.  She’s always got something uplifting to say  

(P.S. Gail is about to make a huge global annoucement about an initiative we’re working on together. Stay tuned and SHHHHH until then.)

President Obama’s ability to reach out and connect with Voters, specifically Generation Y is due to the fact that he embraced their language: texting and communicating with social media tools. Compare this to John McCain, clearly a novice, and it’s easy to see how a younger generation might feel they have only one clear choice for President. They just can’t relate to someone who can’t communicate with the tools of today. It’s a text book example of the generation gap.

So you say, interesting enough but how does this impact me, the working mother?

Think about it for a minute. If Barrack Obama can use Social Media to have a landslide competitive advantage over his competition, then why can’t you? If you’re an entrepreneur or you’ve been thinking about starting a venture, what can you learn from this recent presidential election? What can you implement for your own business? What can you plagiarize from Barack Obama’s presidential campaign? If our President used Linked In, Facebook, My Space, Twitter, why wouldn’t you? After all, he did spend millions on his campaign, likely the largest budget for market research this year. Why wouldn’t you maximize the research that he’s already done and copy that for your own business?

Clearly, I am a Social Media evangelist. I believe that Social Media is the path for working mothers to flexible work. In fact, I believe that it’s the path for not only working mothers but for anyone looking to lead a more independent lifestyle. Think about it. For the first time in history, the playing field has been equalized by the internet. We’ve all got the power to step up to the plate and hit a home run. Why shouldn’t it be you?

So, go see what your new President did to get elected and copy, copy, copy. Working moms, the man just showed you exactly how to do it. All we have to do is watch, listen and implement for our own businesses. How lucky are we to be living in these times?

Got examples of things you’ve already done? Love to hear from you so that other moms can learn! Leave a comment and if you like this post. Please stumble it!

Here are a few other interesting articles covering our new President’s Social Media success and predictions about how he might continue to use it moving forward:

Mashable: How Will President Obama Use His Massive Social Media Influence?

Search Marketing Gurus: Barack Obama: The First Social Media President?

Advertising Age: Obama’s Rivals Should Steal From His Social Playbook

Read Write Web: Obama’s Social Media Advantage

As I drove to the event that evening, I was having a phone conversation with a friend who couldn’t understand as I explained that winning wasn’t important to me. My friend was coaching me that the only reason I wouldn’t win was because I hadn’t set my intention to. I was laughing and trying to explain that I was already a winner and that getting a trophy just wasn’t that important to me. I was in a very calm state of mind with no expectations for the evening.

I hung up the phone and revisited the following as I prepared to enter the ceremony:

• The day Six Figure Moms Club chose me (and believe me, it chose me long before I ever embraced it), i started winning because I’ve been so inspired by every working mother I’ve ever met.
• Knowing that another working mom has the confidence in me to nominate me for an esteemed award like this already makes me feel like a winner.
• The members of the Six Figure Moms Club tribe and the commentors on my blog are the awards that drive me to push harder.

I’m different today now that I own my own businesses than I was in the competitive, corporate world and I’m proud of my transformation. I was pretty competitive in my old self. I still am but I have to say I like my self actualized self a lot better. I’m putting this out there because I know there are some of you that need to cross the same bridge that I have and it’s a bit scary. Believe me, I know. But let me tell you…it’s so worth it. Take it from a loser. You might not win a trophy…but you’ll win much more.

Just so you know, the winners were really phenomenal, here are just a few examples:

• Barbara Bry, Founder of Athena and Proflowers.com and Producer and co-host of Radio Show, “I’m There for You Baby:The Entrepreneur’s Guide to the Galaxy” et al
• Pat Brown, NBC 7/39 Emmy Award Winning Journalist and community servant
• Midge Constanza, Women’s Rights Advocate and Assistant to President for Public Liaison to President Jimmy Carter
• Debra Emerson, Executive Director, St. Madeleine Sophie’s Center, Adult Developmental Disabilities Center]
• Ruby Randall, COO Vistage International, and past CEO of Anthony Robbins Companies

I’m not offended. I’m actually quite flattered. You see, I perceive bloggers as cutting edge and I’m happy to consider myself as part of a new and upcoming industry. However, uninformed people don’t take me serious as a blogger. They think I’m playing. It’s so entertaining to me how people react to things they don’t understand.

You see, blogging is just another form of media like TV, Radio, Magazines, Newspapers, Outdoor Advertising. You can make money with blogging similarly to how Dr. Phil or Oprah make money with TV. It’s all about personal branding and having a consistent, authentic message. Not only is it another form of media, it’s the newest form and it’s GROWING…while other mediums are decreasing.

A career in blogging is a huge, personal commitment. I spend at least 20 hours per week on my blog/internet presence. That includes writing, marketing, programming, search engine optimization, strategy, research, benchmarking, making friends in the blogosphere, monetization, researching, helping friends in the blogosphere and much more. And get this, 20 hours doesn’t seem like nearly enough. (This doesn’t even include my torrid relationship with Twitter. Remember that from my previous posts? And, by the way, if you aren’t already, follow me @aaswartz on Twitter)

So, why am I sharing this and why is important to you? A couple of reasons:

1. I want you to open your minds to the outside-of-the-box career options that you might not have considered yet as a working mother. Perhaps there is something right there that could make a huge difference in your happy factor.
2. The Tipping Point for the Web 2.0 world is getting closer every day. Given the current economic situation and where the stock market is, might you want to consider investments in Web 2.0 space when you are thinking about reinvesting your money??? I will be. If you are skeptic about the Web 2.0 Tipping point. Check out my recent comment at Harvard Business Publications.
3. The Social Media community is fresh and inspiring. They have a lot to teach us. Go meet them and see what you can learn. The industry is fast paced, upbeat, positive and so inspirational. Why wouldn’t you?

Yesterday, it was my great pleasure to attend Social Media Simplified in Ventura, Ca with some of the brightest and most successful people in the industry. Make sure to stop back later this week when I’ll be talking more about what I learned from Mari Smith (The Pied Piper of Facebook), Deb Michek(Twitter Evangelist Coach Deb), Denise Wakeman (The Blog Squad), Linda P Taylor (”Insider Secrets”), Nancy Marmelejo (Viva Visability) and Simon Leung (Google SEO expert).

Hint Hint: If you can’t wait to read my post and you’re feeling twitventurous, go to http://www.search.twitter.comand search on #smsv and you’ll see all the tweets related to this wonderful event. Pretty sweet huh? And you wonder why I’m having an affair with Twitter?

You see, Rachel so graciously agreed to be a guest lecturer for a Six Figure Moms Club event in San Diego. Rachel and I spoke to a room of folks fairly new to social media about the almost endless benefits and ways to make money on the internet.

I spoke before Rachel arrived and started with a live Twitter feed up on the screen. The group was very inquisitive about Twitter and wanted a casual overview of how it works. We talked about the following:

• The feeling of confusion many people experience when they first sign up for Twitter. We discussed how many of them (me too) had signed up, sat there looking at the sceen saying, “Okay, I don’t get it. Now what do I do? How do I figure out who to follow?” or ” These people that have asked to follow me seem like stalkers. How do I block them? How do I make sure to protect my privacy and make sure I’m safe?”
• @PHDBRE was Tweeting away and had four posts in a row on the twitter feed. Everyone wanted to know why so many? Was she just really talkative? An overpromoter? What was she doing? I read her tweets aloud and explained that she was in the midst of conducting an online survey. Also, that @PHDBRE and I had communicated through DM’s earlier in the day about bloggers and my guess at their potential MBTI type of NT. This lead to a discussion of What is a DM? and Next, “Wow, Angie, Do you know her?” “Well, No, not face-to-face, but I hope to soon, and we did have a business related conversation (140 characters of course) earlier today”. They were amazed, glossy eyed and somewhat enthralled.
• Next we discussed how @AshleyMahaffey who was in the room, came because she found out about the event through connecting with me on Twitter. Next, we discussed a potential Tweetup between Ashley, me, @AnnVertel and @MariSmith sometime in the next few weeks…all as a result of Ashlee following me on Twitter.
• The group asked how do you learn Twitter lingo. @AshleyMahaffey offered a great resouce I can’t remember (so I’m hoping she’ll post it in the comments here) and I refered again to @MariSmith ’s Twitter LIngo Demystified.
• We also discussed that although several folks were interested in starting a blog, there were only a few folks in the room (in addition to the folks mentioned above) that had blogs like www.sandiegobargainmama.com, and www.healthwisewomen.com. This took us to a discussion of the untapped market of opportunity awaiting these six figure moms if they chose to embrace it.

Ok, back to Rachel, the main speaker. She presented, “Creating a FAPulous Website” and talked about how websites must have a clear Focus, contain a call to Action and be Personal. She then discussed the elements of a great website and maximizing the user experience. I twitted as she presented in hopes that any Tweeps not able to attend could get a taste of what she was talking about. (You can see what I tweeted by going here). Rachel also discussed how easy it is today to develop alliances with people using social media. Specifically, she discussed how she and her husband felt lucky to be corresponding with Guy Kawasaki, famous author/blogger.

We started a discussion in tandem both in the room and on Twitter about preferred Contact Management Systems/Autoresponders (aWeber vs. IContact) that continues today online. Meanwhile, Rachel’s husband, @webocsupport was twitting me, “Is the presentation over and what have you done with my wife?” from her home over an hour away. The night was a great success.

Today, just before writing this post, I finished my work day ordering some printed goods from a vendor I learned about at the event last night. When I called, she said, I know you, I follow you on Twitter and I offer discounts to all my Twitter friends. Check out @vpg_printing. She’s even offering some fabulous bonus to whomever is lucky enough to become her 1000th follower which she expects to happen by November 1. Perhaps that could be you?

One last note. If you are still wondering what you can do with Twitter, check out this great blogpost written by Dahna M. Chandler about Warren Whitlock, who she deems “Dr. Twitter” ” Why Do I Need Twitter and How Do I Use It? A Twitter expert tells you”.

Maybe, I’ll deem myself, “Mrs. Twitter” and see if that sticks….but alas, I think I might be getting ahead of myself a bit in our relationship…

So, again, can you see just a little why I can’t help but continue my affair with Twitter? I’m smitten.

Ok, I admit it. I’m crazy in love with Twitter. Just like my historical attractions to men, this is happening with Twitter because I’m learning things I never even conceived. My relationship with Twitter started about six months ago when we casually started seeing each other. I signed up for a twitter account and then installed the Twitter application on my facebook account. By doing this, I could tweet and my updates would show up in Twitter and on my Facebook page as “status updates”. So efficient which really does it for me. I thought Twitter and I knew each other pretty well. But little did I know, our relationship, analogous to relationships with men, was to grow in layers.

Next I went to Blog World Expo, a true Twitter explosion. The entire conference was run using Twitter as it’s heartbeat. Below are just a few examples of Twitter’s usage.

• The conference leaders created a unique identifier (a hash code in Twitter lingo) for the conference and instructed attendees to identify all messages with this code. That allowed us to track all conference related tweets.
• Most sessions had twitter displayed on the presentation screen so that attendees and seminar leaders could have live, direct communication during presentations which made for a real-time, interactive learning experience. This also allowed participants to almost be in two places at once since you could be reading other seminar tweets from other rooms.
• Most conference related communication was done using Twitter. (This included anything related to conference materials, schedule changes, meetings, after hours events, lunch, etc.)

I really started to get the power of Twitter for business and my heart raced faster.

The next big step in our relationship was the Vice Presidential Debate last Thursday. Did you realize that on certain channels, Americans could tweet their thoughts while Sarah Palin and Joe Biden were debating. Check out Hack the Debate? Seriously! Tweeps were sending their tweets into public television and they were appearing across the bottom of the TV screen complete with their Twitter names and pictures. They were likely censored but this was an historic moment for social media. Think about that. People all around the globe had the opportunity to weigh in on the VP debate. I kept thinking, “the only way this is really happening is if the government does not really grasp how Twitter works”. So incredible. I couldn’t sleep well that night thinking about the possibilities for working women and the next thing that Twitter would teach me. What WOULD be next?

So, the next thing was a random encounter with a work colleague I hadn’t seen in three years. I started to update him about me. He stopped me and said, “I know all about you Angie. In fact, a bunch of us were just talking about you at lunch. We were talking about how often you update your facebook page. We keep track of what you’re up to and in fact I know who you had lunch with yesterday.” A bit embarassing for me that this friend thought I had nothing better to do than update my facebook page so I asked him if he knew about my friend Twitter. He did not. So, what’s a girl to do to explain her relationships? Until the world catches up, it’s nothing but opportunity for those of in the know.

So why am I choosing to out myself and my relationship with Twitter? Because ladies, each day the picture becomes clearer and clearer to me that there are so many opportunities for all of you who have even a slight interest in the internet to create so many great opportunities for yourself. Coincidentally, our live Six Figure Moms Club meeting in San Diego this week covers this topic. You can reengineer your career using New Media options if you want to.

If you would like to learn more about Twitter (or New Media in general), check out expert, Mari Smith’s, Twitter LIngo Demystified

Mari is amazing and continues to stay on the cutting edge of New Media as it seems she in a different learning conference every other day. If you only choose to follow one person on Twitter. She’s a great person to start with. I’ll be writing a post about her soon so stay tuned for more on Mari.

For example, I once interviewed a woman who was previously a partner in a very large law firm in Washington DC making over $.5 Million per year. Prior to deciding to start a family, she was the major breadwinner for her family. Once she and her husband embarked upon becoming three, they decided her husband’s career would become the focus and hers would take the back seat.

They left DC and relocated to the Midwest where he settled into a lucrative lead position in a prominent company. She got pregnant, had a baby and started consulting. At the time of our interview, she was a bit lost and although she was doing great work and award winning research, she felt uncomfortable charging for her services. Why is this? It is certainly a phenomenon I see in many women once they off ramp from their high powered careers to care for their children. It’s like our identities are so tied to success and the path that planned for ourselves that we don’t know what to do once we take a detour. What’s up with that? Do we feel guilty? Are we just confused? Can it be that we have tied our self worth so deeply to our salaries that we don’t know what to do once we take a different path? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic so please post your comments and let’s discuss.

Very interestingly and conversely though, women just a few years younger and still without children, can’t imagine this being an issue. Last Friday, I had a discussion with Ginger, Founder of Girls Just Want to Have Funds , a 20 something women’s finance group in Washington DC. Ginger posed the question of “Why Do Professional Women Lose Confidence?” to her blog readers. These readers are a few years younger, well educated and most do not yet have children. They are likely the Six Figure Moms of the future. The responses indicate that this group of educated, young ladies feel they will not experience this same emotion once children enter there lives. Hmmm. I’ll be interested to watch them and to understand whether a younger generation is better equipped to deal with this juggle/struggle. It will be interesting to watch their responses over the next few days.

What do you think? My bet is, as sorry as I am to say this, that unless they’ve been able to build a flexible career for themself already, they’ll be dealing with the same issues that you Six Figure Moms of today are. What CAN we do to help create a different path for them? Well, for one, if you are in a supervisory role, think about what you can do to make change. If you have power, you can be a change agent. What’s stopping you? Your image? Shame Shame ladies!