Home Work: Lessons from Work-at-Home Parents. This series of Kidoinfo Interviews with parents is about how they manage to squeeze in work time at home (whether working for someone else or running their own business) while juggling kids, homelife, and childcare (or lack thereof). Do you want to share your home work with us? We love to hear how other parents get through their day. Nominate yourself or a friend or someone you admire from afar and we may feature their work-at-home story .

Hedvig Bourbon designs and produces a fashionably functional line of diaper bags and accessories in New York. Today she shares with Maura Keating of Kidoinfo how she stylishly does her Home Work. Read Maura’s review of the Hedvig Bourbon Bug Net on Kidoinfo.

Kidoinfo: What inspired you to start your business?

Hedvig: It’s a funny story: part of my bachelorette party was to see a fortune teller. Since I had already found the man of my dreams, I wanted her to tell me about our financial future. The lady told me that if I just followed my creative ideas, we would never have any problems when it came to money and wealth. So one day, while I was strolling my son Lucas, I came up with the idea to design a chic handbag that doubles as a diaper bag and is practical to hang on the stroller, I knew it couldn’t be a coincidence.

How did you start your business?

Hedvig: With our kitchen as my design studio, I put my crafty Norwegian skills to work exploring different designs. The playground quickly became my office. While my son Lucas was running around playing with his friends, I would discuss designs and test prototypes with their parents.

The collection began with the diaper bag. Strolling around Manhattan, and going on play-dates, the orders started to roll in. I realized that I had something to offer moms everywhere looking for a fashionable answer to their baby needs. Everyone found the unique design, combination of fresh colors and bold prints, and use of hardware, buttons, and embroidery appealing. And as my own baby needs grew, the ideas for new products were created.

How do you balance work and family?
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Home Work: Lessons from Work at Home Parents. This series of Kidoinfo Interviews with parents is about how they manage to squeeze in work time at home (whether working for someone else or running their own business) while juggling kids, homelife, and childcare (or lack thereof).

My boys and I used some of Stephanie DosReis’ beautiful scrapbook papers designed for Daisy D’s Paper to make this year’s Father’s Day accordion book. The textured solids made a beautiful backdrop for the photos on the front and back covers. The scrapbook papers are reversible and also worked well for pop-collage greeting cards (pictured above) for their teachers.

Stephanie, trained in textile design, is a freelance mixed media artist and designer living in Providence with her family. Her work has been featured on popular design, craft, and family blogs such as CRAFT: Decor8, Cookie, and Real Simple magazine, to name a few. Her line of scrapbooking products and papers are available in stores nationwide as well as across the globe. She sells her work direct through her ETSY shop and through a number of shops and boutiques such as Yes Gallery in Warren, Mahar Drygoods, Tiny People based in Australia, Daisy D’s Paper, Pingg, and Modish.

Today Stephanie DosReis shares with me how she creatively does her Home Work.

Kidoinfo: What inspired you to start your business?
Stephanie: I always knew I needed to be my own boss and that my work needed to be creative. After graduating college with a BFA, I started working on a business plan (while working at Starbucks) that didn’t come to fruition until almost a year and a half later.

How did you start your business?
Stephanie: It all happened really organically, which was great. I was nine months pregnant at the time and couldn’t work with the dyes and chemicals I was used to working with for screen printing, and I was uncomfortable painting on the floor, which is how I had always worked previously. So I started making appliquéd onesies and tees and selling them on Etsy (back when it was much smaller) under the name Ponies & Sugar Cookies. It was low-key and an easy way to be creative. My shop took off really quickly and I had loads of wholesale orders as well as Etsy orders and custom orders to keep up with. It came to the point where I either had to cut back on orders or start farming out the work elsewhere. I decided to cut back and then finally phase out of that business completely. With the success of my first shop, I was able to carry most of my clientele over to the next one, where I concentrate on my painting and some textile art. I now work with boutiques, online shops, and galleries, as well as doing private commissions. I also did a professional trade show in New York last spring called Surtex, where I hooked up with Daisy D’s paper company to create a pretty large scrap-booking line.

How do you balance work and family?

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Home Work: Lessons from Work-at-Home Parents. This series of Kidoinfo interviews with parents look at how they manage to squeeze in work time at home (whether working for someone else or running their own business) along with juggling kids, home life, and childcare (or lack of it).

Maura Keating says,

We love UPPAbaby and we just can’t say enough nice things about the G-LiTE, their fabulously light umbrella stroller. So when I heard that Lauren Monahan, one of the company founders, was a mom who worked from home AND that she was somewhat local, I just had to know more. UPPAbaby is an American company— the strollers are thought up and produced in nearby Massachusetts. With three children and a growing, successful business, Lauren Monahan is an inspiration.

Kidoinfo: What inspired you to start your business?

Lauren: My husband had been in the juvenile industry for almost a decade and had experience in all aspects of product development, sales, and marketing. We had ideas about some terrific products that either weren’t being done, or were being done in ways we thought could be improved. I was supposed to be a silent partner, but just couldn’t keep quiet! My marketing and product licensing experience turned out to be a great complement to Bob’s expertise.

How did you start your business?

Lauren: Bob started by working from our house, but we quickly learned we needed to grow and add people and space, and he found it very difficult to work while the kids were nearby. We hired a director of sales (now a VP), and we just forged ahead from there.

How do you balance work and family?

Lauren: I spend the majority of my time working from home, although it’s hard making sure I’m focused on the business and still carving out enough time for the kids. I have a computer in the kitchen, so I’ll often check e-mails while the kids are eating their meals. I also work a lot at night after their bedtime. I have activities that I take the kids to where we participate together. The temptation of checking e-mail or using my cell phone isn’t an option on the ice at hockey or sitting in a circle at music class! Bob and I make an effort to carve out non-work time together. Whenever we’re home for the weekend, we’ll go out alone or with friends for date night on Friday or Saturday.

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Home Work: Lessons from Work at Home Parents. Like many of us, these parents juggle kids, work, and childcare (or lack of it), but their unique situation requires that they squeeze in worktime at home, whether working for someone else or running their own business. Hearing how these parents manage to make it work along with the challenges they face may help the rest of us with our own home work.

Today Cindy Elder, founder of Bristol Harbor Homemade, shares with Katy Killilea of Kidoinfo how she deliciously does her Home Work.

Cindy was born in New York and moved to Barrington, RI, when she was six. She graduated from Barrington High School and received a BA with a double major in creative writing and career writing from Roger Williams University. She and her husband, Bob Elder, live in Barrington with their two daughters – Elizabeth, age nine, and Emily, age ten. Cindy’s business, Bristol Harbor Homemade, is an artisan food company (formed in May 2004) that produces all-natural gourmet baking mixes such as cookies, breads, scones and biscotti. (Read Katy’s review on Kidoinfo.)

Kidoinfo: What inspired you to start your business?

Cindy: I’ve always enjoyed producing homemade treats for the holidays. When we were living in Harvard, Massachusetts–a very rural town–I noticed that many of the local farm stores carried baking mixes packaged in mason jars. I decided to package my own favorite recipes for gift giving, and it became an annual tradition. These pre-made mixes were a time-saver for me at home, so I often made extras to have on hand for quick baking with that “made from scratch” quality. They really came in handy when we were sailing with the kids in the summertime, because storage and work space are scarce commodities on a boat. It made sense to pre-mix as many things as I could so that we could eat well on board without a lot of fuss.

How did you start your business?

Cindy: When we first moved to Rhode Island, we enrolled our kids at the Gordon School. At one of my first PTO meetings there, they mentioned they were looking for fundraising ideas. I offered to make up some of my cookie mixes, and we sold out of the 120 jars in a few hours. After the fundraiser, people kept asking me for more. “I don’t care what you put it in – just get me more of that mix,” they’d say. Several of my fellow moms, along with the school’s kitchen manager, encouraged me to turn it into a business. The next step was to become a certified food safety manager, incorporate the business, and refine the recipes. Then we had to settle on a logo, an image, and packaging concepts. I worked closely with a few local retailers who gave me great feedback on my designs, and these people became my first retail customers. In the beginning, most of my sales came through fairs, events, and fundraisers where I was able to showcase my products.

How do you balance work and family?

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Home Work: Lessons from Work at Home Parents. This series of Kidoinfo Interviews with parents is about how they manage to squeeze in work time at home (whether working for someone else or running their own business) along with juggling kids, homelife, and childcare (or lack of it).

Today Ilira, co-owner of Rag & Bone Bindery shares with Anisa Raoof of Kidoinfo how she artfully does her Home Work.

Ilira Steinman runs Rag & Bone Bindery with her husband, Jason Thompson, in their renovated mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Rag & Bone is not just about selling books but about honoring the traditional craft of bookbinding to create a successful business that allows time for her family. The couple lives upstairs from the business with their two children (under seven) in their recently renovated loft.

Rag & Bone Bindery employs eight people to create a beautiful line of handmade photo albums, journals, guest books, baby books, and other fine bindings distinguished by their craftsmanship and enduring beauty. Their books, albums, and journals can be found in fine gift shops, stationery stores, photo studios, and galleries across America and beyond.

Kidoinfo: What inspired you to start your business?

Ilira: I come from a family of small business owners, so it always seemed like a possibility within reach to have my own business some day. I also found bookbinding to be an extremely meditative and satisfying craft.

How did you start your business?

Ilira: Shortly after meeting Jason (now my husband), I had to come up with a birthday present for him. After analyzing the implication of every possible gift, I decided that having recently returned from a bookbinding apprenticeship in Italy, a handmade journal was the best bet – I also liked the idea of the book as an empty vessel and it represented limitless possibilities (oh to be young and romantic again!). He was so taken by the book and the process that he started making books a few months later on his own. For five years, Jason steadfastly made all sorts of albums and journals while I labored away designing and sewing women’s hats. As Rag & Bone Bindery blossomed, we decided to join forces and make it the family business.

How do you balance work and family?

Ilira: When I am in the studio, I try to be very focused and driven so that I can play equally hard when I am with the kids. It isn’t quite so cut and dry since we live in the same building that we work in. I don’t mind that our family conversations often include talk of the business. It’s part of who we are and I think it is beneficial for the kids to know how hard we work and how rewarding it can be.

Please describe a typical day.

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I would like to introduce a new Kidoinfo series, Home Work: Lessons from Work-at-Home Parents — interviews with parents who take on work at home in addition to the work of raising a family.

Like many of us, these parents juggle kids, work, and childcare (or lack of it), but their unique situation requires that they squeeze in worktime at home, whether working for someone else or running their own business. Hearing how these parents manage to make it work along with the challenges they face may help the rest of us with our own home work.

An Interview with Danielle Bahr Eason from Myself Belts
and Maura Keating from Kidoinfo.com.
Photo of Danielle (right) and sister, Talia with some of their children

Sisters Danielle Bahr Eason and Talia Bahr Goldfarb grew up in Providence. Danielle graduated from Wheeler in 1994, and Talia graduated from Lincoln in 1990. Danielle and Talia are also the inventors of one of the most innovative, yet basic products for kids on the market today—the Myself Belt. I reviewed the Myself Belt for Kidoinfo, but I still had questions, so Danielle graciously accepted my invitation to be interviewed for a new regular feature—a series of interviews with parents who take on work at home in addition to the work of raising a family.

Kidoinfo: What inspired you to start your business?

Danielle: My sister and I invented Myself Belts after becoming moms and discovering that there were no belts on the market that kids could use on their own. My sister’s son was thin and without the bulk of his diaper after being potty-trained, his pants kept falling down! We needed a solution that would keep his pants at his waist and allow him to get his pants down quickly when it was time to use the bathroom. Allowing kids to be independent and feel proud of themselves was most important.

We created a unique patented belt closure that enables young children to fasten and unfasten their belt independently. Kids have an “I did it myself!” moment, and parents have a solution for pants that don’t quite fit right! Myself Belts solve a common parenting frustration while promoting the independence of young children.

How did you start your business?

Danielle: Myself Belts launched in September 2004 and word has spread about our fashionable and functional accessory and problem-solver for parents. We patented the design to protect our idea and had prototypes made to test the design and sizing. Once the belt seemed perfected, we took a leap of faith and started selling them to stores and through our website. Myself Belts are sold on the Web and in over 600 stores across the country and internationally. Myself Belts have been featured in Parenting magazine, USA Weekend, Cookie magazine, and Child magazine, among others. We even have celebrity fans like Cindy Crawford, Felicity Huffman, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and Sarah Jessica Parker!

How do you balance work and family?
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