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Q: Tell us about yourself and your family.
Married? Children? How many?
I am WAHM to 3 beautiful boys, my golden boy who is seven,
my honey boy who is four and my diaper testing, constantly climbing, sunshine
boy who turns one in Februray. Life is never dull when you have three wild
things keeping you busy!
Q: If you have children, what is your favorite part
about being a mom?
Watching them master the little skills as they grow up,
watching them sleep like angels after a full day of
hyperactivity, and of course, all the hugs and kisses and good
morning snuggles! Never being bored because there is
always new things or ideas coming from their fruitful
imaginations.
Q: Cat or dog person? Why?
Both! Currently you could call me a cat person.
Before staying at home with my children I was a small animal
Veterinarian. I most recently worked at a Cat Hospital, which I really enjoy. We have three
beautiful cats, two of which are Bengals, and one rowdy DSH.
Before my children were born, my constant companion was my
Belgian Sheepdog, who went everywhere with me (my start to
attachment parenting), so I am a dog person too.
Q: Favorite color? Least favorite? Any
particular reason?
Green, like all the wonderful things that grow outside.
I am very into plants and nature. Other colors I like
are the dark purples, like in flowers and other natural
colors. Least favorite would be the neon colors, too
unnatural for me!
Q: What type of music do you prefer?
I think you would call it Alternative. I listen to the U
of PA college radio station.
Q: Last book that you read - or tried to read?
Currently we are reading the Harry Potter books at bedtime.
If I had time I would be reading books about Holistic healing
and living and much more, I love books.
Q: What do you prefer to do in your spare time?
Hobbies/Interests?
Spare time? Before kids I loved gardening and
horticulture! I am also interested in holistic healing.
I would love to have my own Holistic Veterinary Practice some
day, but for now my priority is being home for my children
while they need me.
Q: What was the inspiration behind your business?
Being home with my children and helping promote cloth
diapering. When my first was born I looked for
information on cloth diapering and got only bad information and
discouragement (and was laughed at by lots of moms). I
tried the local cloth diapering service (two counties away, not
very local or popular in my area), but did not realize that
they were using poor quality diapers, which lacked the
absorbency my boys needed. I stumbled into the world of
cloth diapering accidentally looking for cloth training pants
for my oldest. I was so upset when I learned that there
are so many effective diapering systems available; if only I
had known. So, my mission was to bring the world of cloth
diapering to my area where there was no cloth diapering
information available! People need to know that cloth
diapering really is as easy as, and more convenient than,
disposables with the benefit of being so much healthier, cost
and environmentally effective.
Q: How long have you been in business? Is your
business all online or do you have any local business?
I started DiaperWare in the Spring/Summer of 2001.
Currently 95% of my business is online because I do most of my
work overnight while my boys sleep. They hate when I
drag them places to talk about "diiiaperrrs." Diapers
are so stupid when you are a very grown up 6-year-old. I
am hopeful that when my children are older and in school that
I will be able to have more of a local presence,
because my area needs more cloth diapering information and
resources.
Q: How did you go about starting your business?
What was the VERY FIRST thing you did?
Spent way too much time on the web learning everything I could
about cloth diapering! Then I spent way too much time on
the computer learning about what you need to start a business
and get online.
Q: What did others think when you started your business?
Were they supportive?
They thought I was spending waaaay too much time on my wacky
hobby. No one believed in cloth diapering enough to think
that it could be a viable business option. Everyone is
surprised that it has grown into what it currently is.
Q: Do you have a business plan or flying by the seat
of your pants?
I do not have anything written down, but I keep a few things
in my head. So mostly you could call it flying by the
seat of my hopefully sensible pants.
I have tried to keep the focus of DiaperWare on selling
WAHM products. WAHMs always have the most useful ideas
and creations when creating new diapering products. They have
the most experience in using these products and know what
innovations would most likely make their lives easier and
better! They use first quality materials to make their
products for high quality merchandise that really works.
Selling WAHM products means nothing is ever written in stone
because things change so frequently.
Q: What is your daily routine?
I try to get up at 4 AM so I can get orders processed before I
have to get my golden boy up and ready for school drop off and
the post office run at 8 AM. Then I spend the rest of
the morning with my sunshine boy finishing up what I did not get
done and doing what needs to be done around the house.
Or we go out to activities (speech therapy for G,
playgroups, grocery shopping, meetings, errands, etc...).
Then, after they are
in bed I finish up what I need to do for DiaperWare.
Saturdays and Sundays are my catch up days.
Q: What have you found to be the toughest part of the
job of WAHM?
Balancing all my responsibilities and being patient with the
children when I have soooo many things that I need to do.
It would be better for my children if I could afford to be a
SAHM.
Q: What do you feel is your greatest strength and the
greatest asset that you bring to your business?
Lots of experience providing good customer service, an eye for
quality merchandise, a sensible approach to things and a
pressing need to make things work.
Q: How would others describe you?
Intuitive, insightful, great listener, capable, determined,
and principled - one who follows through with actions.
My co-workers wrote these statements and I felt very flattered
by them.
Q: On the other hand, what do you feel is your greatest
weakness - how have you dealt with that in your business?
Not having the time, energy or resources to deal with all that
I have on my plate currently. There is so much I would
like to do with DiaperWare and many other things, if I only
had time. Does anyone know where I can find a Time Turner like
Hermonie's?
Q: How would you describe yourself?
Kind, gentle, thoughtful, pragmatic, hard working, dedicated.
Wacko!?! I can be very single-minded about things I feel
passionately about like attachment parenting, whole foods,
food allergies (and the evils of dairy), breastfeeding and
more!
Q: What is your favorite part of your job?
Talking to other great moms!
Q: What is your favorite other WAHM/WAHM sites?
There are so many great sites and every day there is so much
new that it is hard to pick a favorite.
Q: What is your definition of a WAHM?
A mom who works at home so that she can take care of her
children herself.
Q: What is most important to you in a Cloth Diaper
Resource site?
Basic cloth diapering information for newbies.
Frequently encountered trouble shooting like 'what to do with
fleece that repels' and 'stinky detergent buildup on diapers.'
Reviews and feedback on all the new stuff on the market to
help everyone wade through all the products to decide what is right for
different babies in different situations. If one diaper
were the best for all babies then there would not be so many
different successful products available. But every baby
is different and so, trying to decide which product is right
for each baby becomes boggling. Anything that helps sort
out the confusion would be great!
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