Introducing Mom Boss Insider

Welcome to Mom Boss Insider! This newsletter is a personal passion project for me. I have searched for years for sufficient support as a working mom and a business owner (mom-owned).

I have gathered my years of career experience, business owner experience, and mom experience into a series of newsletters which will include my own lessons learned and helpful resources for other Mom Bosses!

The aim is for all of us to thrive and not just survive our careers, our businesses, and our day to day.

This is for you: the mom-owned business owner, the career mom, the future mom, and supporters of moms!

My Personal Journey

Since I was a child, I knew I wanted to be a mom AND I wanted a career.

By the time I was 23, I had received by B.S. in Accounting, Master of Accountancy, and a CPA license. Why did I choose this path? Financial independence and self-reliance were important to me. I didn't want to rely on anyone else. I started my career at the #1 Largest Accounting Firm in the world, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). I joined the audit team for a Fortune 300 company and worked as a team member for multiple IPOs and M&As. My second corporate job was in Financial Reporting and Analysis for a Forbes Global 2000 publicly traded company.

The experience at these big companies was incredible. The knowledge I gained could not be taken away.

Ultimately, I left the corporate world because I wanted a family. I wanted to be a present mother AND grow my career without having to sacrifice. At the time my husband was traveling for work 5 days a week. Between my non-flexible work schedule and his required work travel our children were destined to be raised by a caregiver if we had them.

Fast-forward and I started providing CFO services to small and medium-sized companies with a mentor and partner.

I had my first child. I reengaged with work only 4 weeks postpartum. My book of business grew. Breastfeeding my first child while simultaneously typing on the computer while simultaneously on a client call. My childcare had to leave at 3:30 to pick up her own children and my husband worked for a company that had mandatory office hours daily from 7:30 am – 6 pm. This chaos was not my goal.

I had my second child. I reengaged with work only 2 weeks postpartum. I had two children under the age of two and I merged my CFO company with my current Co-Founder's accounting company to create Tentho – the Future of Accounting. I commuted an hour and a half (one way) to our office and was notoriously late to relieve my childcare and worked until midnight regularly to "catch up". This still did not meet my vision for having a family and being a career mom.

Tentho grew. My babies grew.

In 2022, Tentho was recognized as the 2nd Fastest Growing Company in South Florida (under $25 million in revenue).

This year (2023), I was recognized as a Top 250 Power Leaders in South Florida. Only 17% of the list included women.

All of this was exhausting – to say the least. So how do we find the support?

Always by the Numbers

Finding statistics on moms (working moms and business owner moms) is exceptionally hard but here are the most interesting ones I found...

• 21.9% of the US labor force are moms with children under the age of 18.
• 88% of women-owned businesses are solo whereas 61% of male-owned businesses are solo. Solo meaning one owner and no employees.
• Mom-owned businesses generating over $1 million in revenue per year make up less than 1% of all businesses. Specifically, this is approximately 270,000 mom-owned businesses of the total 32.4 million businesses in the United States. As a comparison, only 4% of all businesses reach the $1 million per year in revenue mark.

The way I see that there are 270,000 mom-owned businesses proving it can be done! Proving that moms are growing the economy and raising little humans to be contributing members of society.

As a matter of fact, 71% of women-owned businesses with children under 18 years of age made charitable donations in 2019, compared to 64% of women-owned businesses without children under 18 years of age and 48% of male-owned businesses.

Here is the great thing about these statistics regardless of men, women, or women who are moms … bringing more moms to the table does not remove seats for anyone else. Instead, the table grows. The table does not have a finite number of seats. It is not a piece where we each take a slice. It is an ocean where there is plenty of space for everyone. We all benefit!

Moms are economy growers and community contributors!

Where do all these numbers leave us?

The Next Step

It makes me feel not alone in my career and business growth journey. It makes me feel inspired to do better for other moms. It makes me want to talk about being a working mom because we are not alone … but we need more support. It makes me feel validated that I am conquering something hard.

I chose entrepreneurship to "balance" work and family (more on this topic later as I do not believe balance exists). But let's be real – entrepreneurs work 7 days a week. It's not glamourous. The difference is I am allowed to pick up my children from school (and get back online). Or take them to a doctor's appointment (and get back online). I don't have to eat away at my PTO bank for this.

The good news is more corporate companies are offering flexible work arrangements for all parents to allow for the child's sick visit without requiring a reduction in the PTO bank. We need more of them to follow this trend.

Mom-owned businesses are a growing part of our economy. Mom-owned businesses make significant impacts within the community. So, let's talk about it! Let's support each other. Where do the moms you know need more support so they can continue to grow our economy and raise contributing members of society?

We are achieving and we are succeeding!

Filling up the cup,

Helen

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Co-Founder of Tentho – the Future of Accounting. Contact me directly if you are interested in using Tentho as a board member, CFO, tax accountant, or financial accountant.

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Article Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics (2021), National Association of Women Business Owners (2021), US Census Bureau (2019), American Express – The State of Women-Owned Business, HeyMama