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Poop, Puke And Boogers - Lessons For A CEO

Public speaking - no problem
thanks to my kids!
I was at a baby shower this weekend and was talking to a mom who has been home with her kids for 7 years. We started talking about what she's thinking of doing next, and she told me she has no marketable skills because she's just been a mom. My mouth fell open, and I exclaimed, "Are you kidding me?!? JUST a mom! You've learned so much as a mom!" She looked surprised and then admitted she had.

Our conversation got me thinking, why are we as moms so quick to think so little of ourselves. This job is hard! We are amazingly resilient day after day, hour after hour. I know I am a very different person than I was prior to being a mom of 3 and am positive I have learned a ton. If you want a breakdown of some of the great skills that will translate perfectly into any professional endeavor, here's a start of some I know my fantastic mom friends have acquired that I probably have, too😜

1. Quick thinking - come on, Mom friends! You know you all have this! Remember the time you were out in public and one of your kids pooped on you/puked on you/sneezed on you? And then you ran into that mom who always looks perfect? And you didn't bat an eye but just kept on going. Remember the time  that one of your kids had a major meltdown next to the mom whose child is always perfectly dressed and sits and reads silently while out in public? Remember the time you had a birthday party you forgot about but could not have your child miss and you managed to get there almost on time with a birthday gift and clean child in hand? If you're a mom, you've had at least one of these happen, and you figured out what to do with little or no preplanning. Or maybe not. But you took care of it. Top execs need to think on their feet as well. Did you ever think about that, my mom friends?

2. Humility - man oh man, moms, we OWN this! Who else do you know who can prepare dinner while doing laundry while talking to her BFF all while helping with homework (that new math was invented with the sole purpose of torturing us, I have decided)? Another mom, that's who? And guess what moms say when you ask what they do? "I'm JUST a stay-at-home mom." Just. Wow oh wow! I was a stay-at-home mom for 18 months without any outside employment, and it is most definitely the hardest job I've ever done. Stay-at-home moms have no idea what goddesses they are until later in life and then say, "How the heck did I ever do all of that?" The most influential leaders are also the most humble, truly. Breathe that one in!

3. Negotiation skills - so you have one pink cup, two blue cups and one yellow cup that are exactly the same. You have three children, all of whom know they NEED the blue cup or their world will end, literally fall apart, tragedy, chaos, the apocalypse bad. What do you do? Well, like any good mom, you negotiate like the Mom Boss that you are. And as any good mom knows, negotiating with toddlers and preschoolers merits the Nobel Peace prize because once they have their mind set on something, kids will not give up. And we moms have got it - some days great, some days not so great, but the situation is handled. And guess who else handles negotiations? CEOs of businesses. Mom Boss is not sounding so ludicrous any more, is it?

So next time you open your mouth and say you're JUST a stay-at-home mom, think about all that you do and all that you have to offer. And then take a good hard look at some of the incredible Mompreneur options out there because you can handle anything that life throws at you - just ask your kids! Don't believe me? Lorraine Akeman is just one of the many people who agrees on how much moms learn and can contribute in the professional world and wrote about it in SheKnows - take a look here and stop belittling yourself! You deserve so much more!

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