Motivational Monday: Interview with Charmaine Graham
Today´s Motivational Monday guest is Charmaine Graham. This mom of two was inspired by her own adoptions to start up not one, but TWO companies, Adoption Profiles and Adoption Connections.
1. What is your business?
I have two companies. www.adoptionprofiles.ca and www.adoptionconnections.ca. AProfiles is directed to consulting, marketing and designing of profiles (books about oneself that are used by prospective birthparents to choose the family for their child) for couples hoping to adopt domestically in Canada and the USA. AConnections is an online meeting place for couples wanting to adopt and women with a pregnancy who are considering an adoption plan for their child.
2. How did you get started?
After adopting my son I received a substantial amount of feedback from adoption professionals regarding the high quality of my adoption profile. Matched in only 32 days we didn’t wait long. I helped a few friends after this who were considering adoption and they all were placed quickly as well. With our second adoption we were matched in 7 weeks and our social worker sat me down to tell me that we were definitely onto something in regards to creating our books that really reached out and touched birthmothers. So I decided to see if I could make a business out of helping other couples adopt.
3. What mistakes did you make when you were starting out? What did you learn from them?
Editing is so important, and not my strong point. So I learned that it is okay to sub work out to those who know what they are doing. I have a professional editor on staff, a designer, and consultants! I learned what I was good at, and what I wasn’t; and I honour that in order to provide a quality product!
4. How long have you been working from home? (Was this your first business or have you had others where you worked from home?)
AdoptionProfiles.ca was my first business venture and I have been doing it from home for over a year now.
5. What are your tricks for balancing work, kids and household chores?
I am still learning how to balance work, kids and household chores. In all honesty, this is one of my biggest challenges, as it is for most Momprenuers. I make rules for myself because I believe discipline marshals energy. So the computer is only on at certain times of the day (but as I write this I am breaking the rules-always a challenge), I make sure to have ‘me’ time and I am always aware that I shouldn’t care what my clients think of me as much as I care about what my kids think of me.
6. How many children do you have? How old are they?
I have two children; Macarthur who just turned 3 in August and Madeline who is 18 months.
7. When do you usually work?
I have different times of work each day. Usually the night before I consider what I need personally for time, what my kids need and make those the priority. Then I figure out when I can work without offending anyone in the house (for instance, not so great to turn my computer on when my husband is feeling frisky or when my child is having a breakdown over a broken cookie-though those are definitely tempting times to want to escape into work!).
8. What is the best part of being a mompreneur? And the worst?
I think the best part of what I do is helping other people find their children so they can have the opportunity to live the lives they dream of. That is the great reward. I would like to say the great reward is not having to leave the home to work, but in all honesty I don’t need to work so that doesn’t come into play as much for me. I think the worst part is always struggling with the balance required to do my job both in a work sense and in a parenting sense.
9. What are your plans for the future of your business?
Right now I am trying to let go of growing the business too much or too fast because I don’t want to miss what is going on with my children so I am currently looking to hire someone who knows a bit about adopting to help me out. This way when the kids start school next year I can really put my all into it.
10. What advice would you give new work at home moms?
I want to say worry more about what your kids think of you than what your clients think of you. But I want to balance this with making sure you feed what drives you without losing yourself to either your work or your children. Isn’t life always about balance? It is for me.
Great interview. It was nice to “meet” Charmaine. Thank-you for sharing her with us, she has a lot of helpful advice and an interesting perspective.
I´m glad you enjoyed the interview, Laura. You can meet a new mompreneur every Monday here on At Home Mom! It´s part of the new Motivational Monday.