DETROIT – Metro Detroit mompreneurs are working to help each other be successful at both running their own businesses and juggling parenting duties by organizing a day-long summit to connect them with expertise and resources.
Lara Galloway, one of the summit organizers, knows exactly what mompreneurs need as she is one herself. Galloway is a business coach, speaker and author of "Moms Mean Business: A Guide to Creating a Successful Company and a Happy Life as a Mom Entrepreneur."
"While there are lots of groups and events that offer support to entrepreneurs and startups, mompreneurs have specific needs that aren't being met by local incubators, investors and pitch competitions. We turn to each other and ask for advice, but there is no organized resource to help us get the help we need when we don't know who to ask," Galloway said.
The 2016 Money Smart Mompreneur Summit is April 28 and will feature talks and panels on topics that include growing a business while raising a family, choosing the right financial goals for your business to support your family's needs, and how to maximize your marketing on a shoestring budget.
"The Mompreneur Summit was created to fill in the gaps and help mom entrepreneurs solve some of the unique challenges we face. These include: getting work done even with an infant on your lap; deciding whether to grow a business or keep it small to handle family priorities; or how to set reasonable financial goals and growth goals that allow your business to grow without sacrificing your family," Galloway said.
The event is hosted by three local mompreneurs: Galloway of MomBizCoach.com, Kelly Masters of Graceful Communications, and Karen Evans, attorney and adjunct professor at Lawrence Tech.
"For a mompreneur, success is defined by more than business metrics and a balance sheet. We can't afford to sacrifice our family priorities in order to run a successful company. We have to be successful at both. And that's exactly what the small business resources currently available neglect to help us with," Galloway said. "If our families start to suffer due to the demands of our businesses, we are often forced to choose between the two, and this is a choice that other entrepreneurs don't have to face. The Mompreneur Summit will help attendees make powerful choices about how to best build and grow their businesses in a way that supports their role as mom and family manager."
The 2016 Money Smart Mompreneur Summit, sponsored by Money Smart Week, Talmer Bank and Trust, and Lawrence Technological University, runs from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Lawrence Tech University UTLC Gallery, Southfield, Mich.
It includes a resource marketplace with exhibits and information from small businesses for other small businesses. The exhibits include graphic designers, marketing/copywriters, web designers/SEO experts, health insurance experts, bookkeepers, financial coaches and a small business attorney.
"We created the Summit as a non-profit event to make sure this critical support is available to all local mompreneurs. My goal is for each attendee to walk away with new ideas and solutions to their problems as well as a peer group of other women entrepreneurs who truly get them. They will benefit from the 20 experts who are participating as panelists, speakers and exhibitors in our Resource Marketplace," Galloway said.
Tickets are $15 and must be purchased in advance. To purchase tickets or more information, including the itinerary, click here.