Name: Jill Salzman
Business: Founding Moms
About Founding Moms
The Founding Moms, a collective of meetups for mom entrepreneurs, launched in 2009. We’re now holding Founding Moms’ Exchanges, or meetups, in 30+ cities around the world for thousands of mom entrepreneurs.
What inspired you to open your business?
No inspiration involved. It was because of my yearning to meet other women who were running their own businesses and who were raising families at the same time. I didn’t know any. So I started a meetup here in Oak Park, IL, and 6 months in we had 200 members. That’s when I knew I had to do something about it, and The Founding Moms was born.
What has been your biggest unexpected challenge?
Running a company that functions in many different cities. You’d think this would be an expected challenge, right? Honestly, I didn’t even think about it. I’m a bit of a dive-right-in gal, so I launched in city after city with hosts in each city holding the Founding Moms’ Exchanges. The challenge has been to make sure they are quality Exchanges without actually showing up in each city to make sure.
How do you balance family/business?
Schedule, make lists, and compartmentalize. I try to incorporate my 2 and 4 year olds in everything that I do since I work out of a home office. And I definitely stick to my lists, which are never too long, so they are not self-defeating and I feel that I accomplished something every day.
When you are really stressed, you are most likely to ______________________
Eat chocolate.
A piece of advice for other Moms interested in opening a business
Don’t think about it. Just do it. If you spend time dallying over making a business plan, or even whether to make one, you’ll never get started. And then you’ll never know if you really do love what you are doing. Just dive in and try it. There’s no wrong answer, you have to figure it out as you go!
Fun fact about you:
I prefer to pour the Junior Mints into the popcorn at the movies and shake it up.
Are you a Mom with a business? We would love to feature you. Email us for more information.
