In this new series, I will be putting the spotlight on a different successful work from home mom each time. Today, I’m featuring a Q&A with Danielle Tate, the Founder & CEO of MissNowMrs.com, a name change after marriage company, and the author of Elegant Entrepreneur, a book for women business owners who are focused on starting and growing their businesses.
What has been your biggest challenge or struggle regarding working from home?
I did a very poor job of owning my status as an entrepreneur. I felt that my lack of business background and the fact that I ran my company out of an office in my home kept me from qualifying for that title.
As soon as I owned my role as an entrepreneur, I had the confidence to plug into various groups and business connections. My company and personal self benefited immediately.
Please share a typical day in your (workday) life.
- 5:15am – gym (I’m a Megaformer devotee.)
- 7:30am – breakfast with my family
- 8:15am – take my son to school
- 8:45am – start my workday
- 3:30pm – pick my son up
- 5:30pm – dinner with my family
- 7:30pm – my son goes to bed and I go back to work
Favorites:
1. Quote/Mantra 2. Book 3. Technology 4. Working from Home Resource 5. Advice
1. She who DARES wins.
2. Greatest Salesman In the World & Elegant Entrepreneur 😉
3. Pinterest
4. I don’t have one..but my mom set an excellent example.
5. Create your own definition of success. Do not allow society, companies, or colleagues to affect your definition.
Please tell me a little about yourself.
I have been happily married to my husband for 10 years. Our son, Merric is 6 and he is by far my favorite “startup.” Two mischievous cats round out our family.
Please tell me about your work.
I am the founder & CEO of MissNowMrs.com as well as the author of Elegant Entrepreneur: The Female Founders Guide to Starting & Growing Your First Company.
My name-change misadventures sparked the idea for an online name-change service. With zero business background and a great deal of work, I built that idea into a multi-million dollar enterprise with 300,000 customers in two countries.
My journey as an accidental entrepreneur has been an interesting one. Recently, I noticed that there aren’t enough female founders and the women who do start businesses aren’t scaling very quickly. This discovery prompted me to write a book with the mission of lowering the barriers to entry and success for female founders. I wrote the book I always wished for as I founded MissNowMrs and struggled to learn the ropes. By mapping the 12 steps from idea to exit and demystifying the emotions associated with entrepreneurship I hope to inspire readers to start up!
How do you personally define success?
Success to me is being a great CEO, great wife, great mom, great daughter, and great friend. I have realized that I cannot do all of them at the same time, but I schedule my days/weeks/month to ensure that I do the top priorities to feel successful in each category.
If you had to start over today, what would you do differently?
I would have owned my role as an entrepreneur earlier and found a mentor in wedding tech to help me as I rapidly scaled my company. I missed out on many connections and opportunities by not telling my story as a female founder.
Anything else?
I believe that women should lean in to their startup (or company) to stand upright for themselves. Working hard to create your own business will pay off when you have the power to control your paycheck, work hours, and lifestyle. Female founders have the best shot at “having it all” and attaining their definitions of success.
Thanks so much to Danielle for her inspiring words. You can learn more about her at MissNowMrs.com or Elegant Entrepreneur. You can also follow her on Twitter at Elegant_Entre.