Have you ever felt like everything was a struggle? Like you were constantly fighting a never-ending battle? When you’re not in flow and it certainly isn’t fun? For me, when I am working too hard to connect the dots, at some point, usually after becoming frustrated, I sit back and realize, maybe I’m on the wrong path.
As I was working on Motherhood, Apple Pie and All That Happy Horseshit, I became concerned that I was taking on too much planning to build a business to support moms using the concepts and tools in the book. My concern surfaced as I realized that I stay busy every day doing work to support our accounting firm, bookskeep. Our company has been around for eight years now, and it’s growing and at an entirely different stage in the business lifecycle than a startup.
I decided to step back and give myself the Sacred Space to consider this question without trying to force the answer. I put it on the back burner and decided my subconscious could have its turn to ponder. Then, a few months later, the answer appeared— with all the evidence needed for a jury trial.
One of the women I interviewed for the book is Julia Nardelli Gross. She is an intentional parent and has created a thriving ecommerce business. I love the stories she shares in the book about her experiences. When I asked for advance readers, Julia volunteered. When everyone else gave me a couple of sentences as responses, she wrote me pages of well-thought-out direction. I remember reading her comments and how she answered my questions in an expansive way that would help the reader take action. I scheduled a call with Julia to chat. I wanted to know where she was in her life planning.
Julia had recently sold her ecommerce business and shared that she was considering going back into the workforce when school started for her children in the fall. She missed working directly with people and wanted her work to have a broader impact. With this information, we started a conversation about our desire to help moms realize that they can have it all and that starting a small business is a great path. Entrepreneurship isn’t the easiest path, but I do think it offers some unique benefits, such as flexibility to be the mom you desire to be while also using your unique skills to develop professionally. Based on our shared vision, Julia acquired the license to create a community and resources to support the readers of Motherhood, Apple Pie and All That Happy Horseshit.
I am pleased to introduce Julia and her business, Acorn Mom . Acorn Mom will offer courses, coaching, and an online community to help moms implement the concepts covered in Motherhood, Apple Pie, and All That Happy Horseshit. Here’s what Julia had to say about Acorn Mom:
The mission of Acorn Mom is to help mothers and caregivers unlock their entrepreneurial potential. Like Cyndi, I am a gardener and come from a long line of farmers. So, I find seeds to be tiny bits of inspiration. Especially acorns: inside each tiny, humble acorn lives infinite possibility. With the right conditions, the first tender oak sprout may turn into a vast, life-giving forest.
I know that this same potential exists in mothers, not just to bring up the next generation, but to impact their communities and the world by creating businesses that serve their whole selves and impact how society defines work and careers. I am excited and privileged to combine my experience as a “momtrepreneur” with Cyndi’s wisdom to launch Acorn Mom in the coming weeks.
