When I was in high school, I sat in the guidance counselor’s office as she asked me what I wanted to major I wanted to pursue in college. I looked blankly at her and replied, “I don’t even know what I want to do next week, how am I supposed to know what I want to do for the rest of my life?” I was so envious of my classmates that just knew exactly what they were meant to be, while I didn’t even have the slightest clue.
Upon graduation, I knew my clock was up on making a decision so I picked the most basic major I possibly could: Business. While I was in college, I worked at U.S. Bank, and thought I had really found my place. But, after 2.5 years at the bank, I realized due to our rural location there wouldn’t be many opportunities for advancement, and I knew I needed something more out of my career. I started a new job with our local grain cooperative and really enjoyed my job. However, I felt like my husband and I were living pay check to pay check and I knew there had to be something more.
I started looking in to part time jobs in our area, but I hated the thought that I would spend my entire day at work, and have very little flexibility. It was around this time that started an at home MLM business. I saw there was income opportunity, and I poured all of my time and energy into growing my sales. I took courses on social media branding, Pinterest growth, and Facebook advertising. After 2 years of implenting everything I had learned, I was stuck with the harsh realization that I wasn’t passionate about the business. What I was passionate about was growing a social media presence. That was when opportunity #2 knocked at my door.
I was scrolling Pinterest and clicked on a course about virtual assisting. I was intrigued, but not completely sold on paying yet another $200 for a course with no guarantee that I would see results. I listened to the free webinar, and decided I would give it a try. I started the course and within 14 days, before I had even completely finished, I landed my first client. By the time I had finished the course I had earned back my $200, and was on track to quadruple that in the next month. After 6 months, I was consistently earning $2,000 each month, matching what I was earning working 45+ hours a week outside the home, without doing any sales!
Since taking the course 7 months ago, my original $200 investment has been returned to me over 35 times. Has it taken sacrifice? Of course! I had to cut out TV, wake up a little earlier in the morning, and dedicate part of my Saturdays to working. But in return, I get a flexible, part time job that allows my family to put away extra money into savings, take vacations, and pay off our debt. Now that I’m a mom, I can’t imagine spending any extra time away from my little girl. With this sweet side gig, I earn an income without having to miss out on supper with my family, bath time, or reading books before going to bed.
EDIT (09/2018)-
I have received so much response on this post over the past year, and have had so many inquiries about working from home from other mamas. So this past summer, I founded Work From Home Mama, an online community for moms who want to work from home. Along with the community, I created a course to help you launch your own work from home business from scratch as a Social Media Manager. If you are interested in learning more about the course, click HERE.
