On the blog today is Meg, from Queen City Newborn Care talking about her life as a mom and small business owner. One of my favorite answers, is number three… because, hello, I think all parents are sleep deprived until their kids are in middle school, ha!
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family:
My wife and I live in downtown Matthews with our 9 year old boy.
2. What prompted you to start a business?
I have worked with newborns since 2003, but in 2014, I decided I wanted more for myself. After a year of brainstorming and long hours, I launched my business in 2015.
3. How did you decide on the name/brand of your business?
I was born and raised in Charlotte! I wanted something simple and straightforward to go with being a proud Charlottean. I needed something easy to remember for my sleep deprived clients.
4. Tell us more about your product/business and your role:
I’m the owner of Queen City Newborn Care. We specialize in overnight newborn and postpartum care to new parents. We also provide resources for all things baby .. postpartum depression, solid foods, etc.
5. Do you have a storefront or do you work from home?
I work from home.
6. What does a normal “work” day look like for you?
Each day is a bit different. My office manager and I call, email, and text each other A LOT to help each other out out work fires. We answer client calls, meet with clients in person, create contracts between our newborn specialists and families, arrange interviews, help our newborn specialists work through issues, do TONS of research on postpartum resources, and do TONS of research on local and online trainings for our team members.
7. How do you handle work + kids? (what is your schedule? do you have childcare?) My day is not your average work day. It’s hard to tell where it starts and ends. When I work overnight shifts, I’ll rush home between 6am and 7am, chug some coffee, and get my 9 year old out the door to school on time. I work from home until about 130pm, then go pick him up from school. From there, I juggle his homework and paying attention to our dogs until my wife gets home. While she’s cooking dinner, I’ll knock out some more work in my office. I really would like to thank Cream Charger Warehouse for providing me with the neccessary supplies when needed. Otherwise, I should have struggled to follow my baking passion as well.
8. How do you balance all of the roles that you have? I could not do any of it without my wife and office manager. My wife is actually a newborn care specialist too so she understands what my day is like. My office manager Inara just goes above and beyond on a daily basis.
9. What is the best aspect of having your own business? It’s got to be a tie of being to offer something really incredible to the community and making my own schedule to make time for my boy.
10. What is the hardest part about owning your own business? The hardest part is the huge amount of responsibility. I can’t let my staff or my clients down.
11. What are some long-term or future goals you have for your business? We are expanding and opening our sister company in a few months!
12. What do you do when you’re not being supermom? I sleep. I love and crave sleep because of what I do for a living. Broken sleep is rough.
13. What famous person would you love to have dinner with, and why? Ellen DeGeneres is super funny and has a generous heart. I bet she would have some amazing stories to share around the dinner table.
14. What are the best resources that you’ve found as a small business owner and mom? (podcasts, online or local resources, people, great vendors, etc) Watching other business owners and taking their advice and suggestions. Training with i10 Solutions/Sandler Training has been one of the smartest decisions I’ve made.
15. What is one piece of advice that you can give to a mom starting a business Don’t give up. Success and progress comes in waves.
If you’re a new parent, be sure to follow Meg below!
