Mompreneurs, Amy Eilert and Christina Kastendike launched Cupcake Envy LLC, a custom dessert gift service specializing in artistically sculpted mini cakes in September of 2006. Owner, Amy Eilert is a mommy of 2 boys, Ben, 9 years old and Sam, 6 years old. The idea for Cupcake Envy came from Amy creating funny classroom desserts for her oldest son's Kindrgarten Class. It all started with the mini cheeseburger cupcakes and little turkey dinner cupcakes. Amy spent countless hours designing funny looking treats for the classoom celebrations throughout the year until finally deciding that quirky looking cupcakes was a great business idea. Shortly after starting Cupcake Envy, Christina Kastendike moved into the house next door to Amy and they instantly bonded. Christina is the glue that holds this business together. She is the organized one and has brought order to a quickly growing business. Coincidentally, Amy and Christina were both former Public School teachers before leaving their careers to stay home to raise their family. Christina is a mommy to an adorable little boy named Sam, age 20 months and is pregnant with her 2nd child, a boy due in August. Our kids go everywhere with us. We bring them on deliveries, to expos, photoshoots, and now the kids assist setting up for our new series of classes. Cupcake Envy is a family affair. When we hold class in Wake Forest, Ben is the greeter. He welcomes the students and shows them where the water fountain and bathrooms are. Big Sam put himself in charge of putting all of the prices on the cake decorating products that we sell after class. Baby Sam is a super cupcake taster. While we bake, baby Sam is busy reorganizing the cabinets, luster dusts and color gels. I wouldn't have it any other way. What a great way to model good work ethics, working with customers, time management, and following your dreams. Chris and I are very fortunate, Cupcake Envy has brought us such wonderful experiences that we can share as a family.

Cupcake Envy's artistic mini cake designs have been featured on Brides.com, Daily Candy, NC Signature, Skirt! Magazine, Premier Baby and Child, Midtown Magazine and Cupcakes Take the Cake along with building a significant cult following on the web. Cupcake Envy is gaining national attention for their quirky mini cakes and their abililty to ship nationwide. Classes are offered in Wake Forest and welcome all skill levels, ladies night out, school aged kids, clubs, and home bakers and cake decorators. We have no connections or investors. We got this far by working hard and following our dreams. The journey has been great so far and we are excited about Cupcake Envy's future. You can check us out at www.cupcakeenvy.com and classes are posted on our blog . When times get crazy and hectic, Chris and I remind ourselves that someday we will look back at these days and laugh. But the truth is, we are laughing already. If you have a dream and the commitment to see it through, you can do anything. Why, because we are mommies!

In 2003, my friend and I started Smart Moms. We were both stay-at-home moms seeking work at home. However, we found only scams. Garla and I founded Smart Moms to help moms find legitimate work from home jobs. Our first client was a realtor. She needed an admin assistant in the office. We found a qualified on-site admin from among our database of candidates. Over the years we've had a mix of work in the office and work at home jobs.

What we love about what we do is the satisfaction of making successful matches and hearing about the results. Moms regain self confidence and feel productive again. They are making money and getting pats on the back. The employers get a mature, skilled worker. She has 15 to 25 hours a week to get her job done and she is efficient about it then heads out to do the other things in her life.

We wish more employers would realize the tremendous value a mom brings to their business. Many are hesitant fearing low committment. Well, we haven't seen that yet. Our moms have been making a positive impression on companies in the Triangle for over five years.

Women are starting businesses to create the flexible work schedules they can't get in the corporate world. The work/life balance issue stretches across industries and up to the highes professional levels. Inventive moms are starting businesses that feed their souls as well.

I think this is an awesome blog and could not agree more that Moms/Women are the fastest growing entrepreneurs out there right now. Why? I believe we feel the need to be there for our children and shine through this tough economy! If anyone can set goals and achieve them, it's a Mommy on a mission. So kudos to us all and good luck to us all.

I started Digi Time Capsule in September of 2007 and launched my first product, the My Pregnancy Digi Time Capsule in December of 2008. The journey has been exciting and scary but all worth it.

The My Pregnancy Digi Time Capsule is all about valuing family, capturing our journeys, being conscience of the environment and understanding that women are busy and time is precious! This pregnancy product is eco-friendly, easy to use and for everyone.

The My Pregnancy Digi Time Capsule is a combination of a digital scrapbook, photo album, journal, letters for the future, 100's of thought provoking questions, family tree & time Capsule. It is all about capturing the now and sharing it with the future. This pregnancy product is truly the latest and most comprehensive tool to capture your pregnancy!

The My Baby Book Digi Time Capsule is the follow up of the My Pregnancy Digi Time Capsule and will be available on line and in stores in August.

I am adding value to families and women looking to truly capture the journey's that we each take in our lives in a very easy -to-us way!

Congratulations to all these awesome moms who are focusing on family AND work - so glad we are finding ways to mesh these two formerly contradictory ideas!

My name is Michelle Hardy, and I am the owner of SweetBaby Signs. We offer a unique and fun way to announce the birth of a baby or a child's birthday with a selection of one-of-a-kind, artistically designed yard signs. The signs are available for rent and come with a hand-painted keepsake for the family to treasure for years to come. We even have something special for the big brothers and big sisters.

I have a traditional - unisex - stork, a princess stork, a cowboy stork, a big baby buggy sign, and a birthday cake.

My website is www.sweetbabysigns.com. Please check it out!

Good luck to all of us out there!

Go Moms! Fortunately, us moms have a lot of time to think up creative ideas while we're vacuuming, cleaning, etc... ;)

A few years ago, I started my own mural business named Cadydid Rooms. Basically, I just bought a few books and starting practicing and teaching myself. I've had no art training at all.

Now, I teach art classes for girls and moms, I sell my art, I have painted murals for Yale Hospital in CT, UNC's Pediatric Surgery Center, Clayton's CareNet center and numerous homes and business all over Raleigh.

So, for all you moms out there, keep up the good work! It can be done with lots of patience and perseverance.

Check out my website at www.cadydidrooms.com and if you're interested in my upcoming classes in June, sign up!

Cadydid

I was so excited to see this blog -- it is exactly what I have been looking for! My name is Jan Sedway and my business partner, Jill Simpson, and I opened Peek-a-Do! the salon for kids (www.peekado.com) in 2005. We are both moms and we wanted a fun, friendly place to get our kids' hair cut. We wanted a place where our boys could get great cuts no matter how squirmy they were and our girls to get cute styles with a little glamour thrown in to make it feel like a special event. We couldn't find this place anywhere and knew lots of other moms looking for the same thing so we decided to create it ourselves!
Peek-a-Do! is across from Southpoint Mall in Durham. In addition to haircuts, we offer manicures, up-dos and ear piercing and have fantastic, award-winning birthday parties!!
We want Peek-a-Do! to be actively involved in our community and we would like to support local mompreneurs in the process, so we are currently seeking local moms (and dads and anyone else, really) who has created child-centered items that would be a good fit for the retail part of our salon. We are looking for locally-made high quality toys, kids' jewelry and hair accessories. If you are interested in talking with us about selling your product, please email me at jan@peekado.com. Thank you!

These are some great business ideas. I love seeing women, especially Moms who are committing themselves to entrepreneurship. Last summer I left a comfortable job with a large company after 8 years. I started my own business working as an independent consultant. I didn't give myself enough time to build my business and ended up giving up after only 6 months. I took a new position at another large IT company where I am a manager. I'm not happy in the job, I have very little time to spend with my two preschool aged children and I know I could be successful in my own business if I could spend more time on a business plan. I would love to hear more about how you planned your start-up venture. Thank you for these great stories.