An Interview with the founders of Hybrid Mom

As soon as I became a mommy blogger I found that there are so many mom advice sites out there. It was truly overwhelming. I think I've joined around 10 new groups and I can't keep them apart...much less remember my passwords for them! One twitterer recently caught my eye because of their fresh and relevant topics. It was Hybridmom. I was intrigued by the title--it sounded to me kind of techno, sort of cyborg-ish. After perusing the site I found that a) I AM a hybrid mom and b) the features on this site are actually USEFUL!! I still haven't registered for everything they offer, but I figure, like a fine wine, I will take my time to savor and digest it. 

Here is a very motivating interview with founder Stacey Smith. (comments below in green are from Mirabest)

What is a Hybrid mom?

If you have ever:

…owned a purse that functions as a diaper bag, laptop case, tote and/or contains both a cell phone and some stray Cheerios Yup!

… prayed that your mute button is not broken while on a conference call Been there!

…had a great idea for a business, but no clue what to do with it Working on that one!

… worked from a local coffeehouse to have more peace and quiet than at the home office Yes!

…had to make the choice between a big meeting and a little league game Will be there soon!

…thought “balance” is overrated, yet strived for some form of it each day. Uh-huh!

You my friend, are a Hybrid Mom! 

I love that! What inspired you to start Hybrid Mom?

I had always been an entrepreneurial spirit, starting a handful of unsuccessful companies. I was never able to take those companies to a point where they would be successful, profitable or where they would make a true difference in the world. After my second business - Swap-its! – The handmade, stylish business card for kids, teens and moms (take a guess as to why that wasn’t successful!?) folded, I recognized that although Swap-its! was a good idea, I still was lacking many skill sets to make my company a success. I didn’t qualify myself as a salesperson. I certainly wasn’t good at pushing my concept and product into the market – and I saw that most, if not all, entrepreneurs were in the same boat. They had a great product or service but they lacked experience, in some capacity, to make the company a success. 

I looked to my circle of friends, many of whom were professional moms, turned stay-at-home moms. I had an ‘ex’ sales director, VP of marketing, creative director, PR consultant and TV producer. This amazing talent was in my own reach. Imagine what would happen if we could compile one central place for these experienced, educated, talented and willing moms to find projects that fit their abilities, enable them to stay connected and engaged to the ‘work’ world, make money from consulting, contribute financially to their household, support mom entrepreneurs and ultimately, the flexibility to accomplish all of this while caring for their children! 

How do I sign up and what’s the first thing I should do? What are the highlights of the site?   

Go to hybridmom.com and DECLARE YOURSELF a Hybrid Mom! You will be prompted to fill out a short ‘profile’. You will receive an email confirmation that you have now  declared yourself a Hybrid Mom! At that point you should go back to hybridmom.com and:

o      Tell us your story of inspiration (which might get published on the site and/or print magazine)

o      Become a consultant to join our network of moms who can assist our mom entrepreneurs

o      List your company (if applicable) in our member directory/marketplace

o      Join our community to network, engage and enjoy conversation with other Hybrid Moms

o      Subscribe to our quarterly print magazine for a significant discount

What are you working on right now for the site?

How long do you have?! J we are constantly adding and enhancing the site in order to give more to our moms. We are extremely excited about our consulting and entrepreneur web-platform that is scheduled to launch in October ’09. Without giving too much away…it’s a community for moms to share knowledge and receive services! It’s going to rock!

What is the best advice anyone gave you about work/life balance?

Someone once said to me that it is impossible to achieve a balance between professional ambition and motherhood. That was the best statement I had heard, because I was beyond motivated to prove her wrong – for me and for all moms. And here we are. Hmmm...great way to turn a negative into a positive!

What would you say to someone who is working but really wants to stay at home…how can she prepare now for that in the future? 

It’s one of those decisions that you are never truly ready for. If she really wants it, then she can’t think that there is one perfect time. Because she’ll never have enough money, she’ll never find the perfect time, and she’ll never make that jump. It’s a huge adjustment on a financial and personal and emotional level. To prepare for it one must need to understand that as much as you try to prepare, you will never be fully prepared on all levels.  So true!

A lot of women want to stay home but fear that they won’t make enough to provide for the family…what advice can you give them? 

Breathe. It is more than likely they will not make as much as they were. But they need to weigh if it’s all about money or more of a balance and lifestyle adjustment. What is more meaningful – to be able to go out to a fancy Saturday night dinner or go to Friendly’s on a Thursday with the kids after your jaunt to the park during the day? True! but the problem is would they be able to afford to go to Friendly's if mom stays at home?? 

When do you think is an ideal time for moms to stay home—at the early state or later in grade school? 

This is a rough question. To me it’s important to be heavily involved in your child’s life at all stages. If I had to pick either or I would have to say younger because that’s when you are molding their personalities. Although they won’t ‘remember’ you were there, it’s more important in the development and core characteristics of the being you are shaping. When they are older, you can only hope that all your time and energy putting into them when they were young will pay off. Hmmm...that's interesting because most parents I know of older kids say later...ok, I won't put you on the spot anymore with tough questions :)...

What are the best options for work for stay at home moms? 

There are limited opportunities for work for the SAHM demographic. The party-type companies are a huge opportunity for moms to earn extra money which is why they have grown into a billion dollar industry. There are also a handful of websites that offer an opportunity for people to provide services to companies looking for assistance in project work. There are not many options for moms period. This was and is the core purpose of Hybrid Mom – to provide those opportunities and services to moms in order for them to work from home.   

Besides your site, what are some great resources/web sites for hybrid moms?

 Yes, besides Hybrid Mom…we have many relationships with websites targeted to moms: mommytrackd.com, workitmom.com, entrepreneur.com are a few of our favorites. There are a lot of good resources out there—it really all depends on the mom’s needs. There are sites to “connect,” there are sites that give advice, there are sites that sell products. That’s another differentiator of Hybrid Mom—we are shooting for the moon in having all these needs met under one roof.

What is your ultimate goal for Hybrid Mom? 

Ultimate goal for Hybrid Mom is to become a household brand. Where moms are no longer defining themselves as a SAHM, WAHM, full-time working mom, etc – but understand that we are all Hybrid Moms! With that, the ultimate goal would be for Hybrid Mom to be able to provide resources, opportunities and services to all moms who want to have flexibility in their lives. Enabling them to still be a present and involved mother, wife and friend in addition to fulfilling her ambitions and following her dreams – all with our help.  That's quite ambitious but I'm all for setting the bar high!

How many members do you have now? 

We have a new definition of what our ‘members’ are. It used to be only our mom owned businesses. Now it is every mom who is engaged with us on some level – we currently have over 25,000 moms engaged with us. 

How many would you like? 

I would like the universe of Hybrid Moms – over 55 million – is that too much to ask?!

The true ultimate goal is to fulfill our Hybrid Mom promise to all moms:

We are committed to helping each Mom nurture her own ambitions, in a world where so much is demanded of her. We understand her needs. We believe in her ability. We see her potential. We proudly provide her the inspiration, tools, and opportunity she needs to succeed.  

Thank you to Stacey Smith for generously giving her time to answer my questions. I hope that this spurs you on to join her site and that you will find content to motivate, inspire and encourage you to strive for your goals every day. I love her attitude that we are not separate groups as mothers--we are all doing our best in wearing many hats and it only can help to work together in a spirit of sisterhood. 

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