Have you ever made a choice because you thought it would be the easier way? A plan that was simply good enough?
That’s what I did. In 2005, I uprooted my life and moved eight hours away from my hometown and my extended family to be a housewife.
If being a homemaker is your heart’s desire and your true calling, I will cheer loudly and genuinely for you.
Homemaking was how I thought I would survive my adult life, and that’s all I wanted then: survival.
For any of you who have entered the role of domestic goddess, you might be snickering quietly right now. (I wouldn’t blame you if you were head-back cackling!) My thinking being a traditional wife and mother would be the easy route is actually ridiculous.
My life was filled with taking care of babies, making meals that catered to food allergies and food preferences, and making sure our household purchases didn’t exceed our very tight budget. Plus, we had a hobby farm. So throw chicken wrangling and goat milking into the mix. It was home-sweet-chaos and I felt stuck in this life I had agreed to while also seeking a safe and reliable existence.
One fortunate circumstance that comes from being a traditional wife is the opportunity for cottage industries. From the farm, I was able to sell eggs, make soap from the goat’s milk that was picked up by some local gift shops, and try my hand at a couple of crafty ventures. This was my first taste of being a business owner, and I relished it.
I started to hear the whispers of possibility. I could move into a main character role in my life instead of the supporting cast for my then-husband and children I saw myself as. I could show up as more.
I’d love to tell you the story about how I went from housewife to headliner overnight, but the truth is, it took years of work to get where I am today. Hopefully, I can save you some time with this article.
Practice Generous Selfishness
I sat in a breakfast networking meeting not long ago, and one of the big takeaways from the keynote speaker was to work on yourself. When you focus on yourself and your healing and happiness, you’ll be shocked at how much easier it is to have the business things fall into place.
Even if you’re not sure you want to start a business and you simply have a yearning for something bigger, start paying attention to yourself.
Check in with yourself and make sure your basic needs are met. As moms, we tend to tune out hunger, thirst, and the urge to pee. Stop and take note of these things!
Do things to add pleasure to your day. Listen to a fiction audiobook, watercolor paint, and collect smooth rocks. If it makes your heart warm, do it.
Take Stock of Your Skills
Homemakers sell themselves short a lot of the time. I can remember going to fancy work parties with my spouse and dreading the question, “What do you do?” Instead of staying home with my children, I wish I’d said:
“I oversee the operations of a child development facility. My duties include financial management, mediation, scheduling, dietary nutrition, building maintenance, logistics, behavioral intervention, negotiation, event planning, and health and safety monitoring.
Of course, that response wouldn’t have made me popular, and people would have felt awkward in my presence, but I’m sure you understand my point. Stay-at-home moms aren’t spending their days lounging around snacking on goldfish crackers. You’ve got skills!
Marketable skills that are valuable to the business world!
Small Steps are Just Fine
I once trained to run a 10K, and the rule during training was that it didn’t matter how slow you went as long as you kept running.
There will be parts of your transformation where you feel like you’re riding a tandem bike uphill through a mudslide, and other times you’ll be riding a bullet train to your next goal, and you’ll be shocked at how fast you get there.
Sometimes, moving from homemaker to headliner can seem daunting, so make a commitment to yourself to celebrate any action that moves you forward.
Audacity is Your Friend
You deserve to take up space, show up wholeheartedly for your endeavors, and become very visible in the universe. When you’re used to hanging out in the four walls of your house, or like most homemakers in your vehicle (because moms are the invisible taxis of the world), shining a spotlight on yourself might feel conceited and self-centered. The opposite is true.
Staying hidden means you don’t give your potential audience the chance to be served by you. Being the best-kept secret with all of your skills and talents is a shame.
Show up and be visible with the audacity of a three-year-old in a superhero cape!
Reinventing your role is a process. It’s exciting and scary. There will be triumphs and doubts. You’ll need a support network. We live in a very connected world. Reach out and find a group of besties who are reliable for idea bouncing, pulling you up when you’re down, and cheerleading your successes.
You get to work toward the big beautiful life that you dream of and truly thrive instead of merely surviving.
Lou Bowers is a British Columbia-based visibility expert with over a decade of experience in marketing small businesses and four years of specializing in elevating other brands.
She has successfully guided a range of ventures, from a soap-making goat farm and having her cottage crafts in two gift shops to a parenting coaching business, showcasing her diverse skill set and deep understanding of what it takes to gain traction in competitive markets.
Lou’s expertise has been featured at Women Entrepreneurs of Kamloops, where she is a founding member, and her insights have been published in HuffPost, solidifying her reputation as a thought leader in the industry. Her story of being a glass child will be featured in the forthcoming book, RESILIENT A.F.: Stories of Resilience Vol.2. She is also the creator of Networking at Night, a platform that has helped over 150 local entrepreneurs build valuable connections and enhance their brand visibility.
Her approach emphasizes the importance of being the face of your brand, consistently showing up, and cultivating the know, like, and trust factors essential for building long-term relationships.
Through her proven strategies, Lou helps businesses create a credible and authentic presence that resonates and drives lasting success.
Lou Bowers is a British Columbia-based visibility expert with over a decade of experience in marketing small businesses and four years of specializing in elevating other brands.
She has successfully guided a range of ventures, from a soap-making goat farm and having her cottage crafts in two gift shops to a parenting coaching business, showcasing her diverse skill set and deep understanding of what it takes to gain traction in competitive markets.
Lou’s expertise has been featured at Women Entrepreneurs of Kamloops, where she is a founding member, and her insights have been published in HuffPost, solidifying her reputation as a thought leader in the industry. Her story of being a glass child will be featured in the forthcoming book, RESILIENT A.F.: Stories of Resilience Vol.2. She is also the creator of Networking at Night, a platform that has helped over 150 local entrepreneurs build valuable connections and enhance their brand visibility.
Her approach emphasizes the importance of being the face of your brand, consistently showing up, and cultivating the know, like, and trust factor essential for building long-term relationships.
Through her proven strategies, Lou helps businesses create a credible and authentic presence that resonates and drives lasting success.