Mumpreneur or not a Mumpreneur

 

Mumpreneur:  a woman who combines running a business with looking after her children.

It’s a real word and has been included in the Collins English Dictionary since October…..but this word has caused a bit of a stir amongst business women. Many of us have chosen this path, the perfect way to combine a career without passing on the childcare to someone else. But is the term derogatory?

Becoming a Mumpreneur has meant a positive change to many mothers who have struggled with need to earn a living whilst being there for their family and retaining their independence. But I have to admit that I am not personally comfortable with the word….after all, there doesn’t seem to be a male equivalent. I have been running my own business for the past seven years and my youngest was two when it all began, but I have never felt the need to label my career choice. I sometimes find it difficult to explain what I do…being there to take the children to school and pick them up again. Wearing jeans and a T-Shirt most days doesn’t do much for your business credibility. But if I make money that way, should I care? As long as it works for me.

Perhaps I think differently to those who like to use that label. After all, I still work in my professional capacity as a Pharmacist on odd days, working as a locum in community pharmacy, a couple of days a month for a GP and also review other Pharmacists professional development. I combine this with Adventure Togs and the usual cooking, cleaning, washing, school run, after school stuff, homework helping, shopping, and so on. Does that make me a Mumpreneur?

The online community of work-from-home mothers may have invented this new word, but the concept is as old as the hills. Women have always juggled self-employment with bringing up a family by taking in ironing or sewing, cleaning, etc. The concept is not new, but the word is very 2012!

Are you a Mumpreneur?

Photo by flickr user T-Koni

2 Responses to “Mumpreneur or not a Mumpreneur”

1. Joycellyn says:

   January 26, 2012 at 1:08 pm

   I must admit, I really used to dislike this phrase, but mumpreneur basically means a business woman who works from home while raising her child. A business woman may also work from home, but she will not be juggling the demands of raising her child at the same time.

   It is a kudos, and shows the hard work involved in juggling the two, so if you’re a mumpreneur stand up tall and proud – multitasking like this is to something to be sneered at!

   Reply
2. Elaine says:

   January 26, 2012 at 9:21 pm

   I blogged about this too http://www.littlesheep-learning.co.uk/blog/2011/mumpreneur/ I am happy to use the term as a mum with a business who juggles running a business with children but I don’t generally use it to define myself outside of the mumpreneur community.

   Reply