Self-employment
Mom2Mom Toronto is a support group and a marketplace for "mompreneurs," a term coined to describe businesses established by mothersNew venture helps mompreneurs succeedLike other moms, Monique Fabregas struggled to balance the demands of work and family. A talented architect, she traded in a demanding career to spend more time with her daughter. But her passion for design soon gave birth to a new venture: an online community to support the "mompreneur" phenomenon. |
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 [ 2007-07-04 ] |
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The moms (from left to right) Debra Scott, Mom2Mom graphics artist; Monica Fabregas, founder of Mom2Mom Toronto; Dani Arnold, Mom2Mom forums administrator. The kids (from left to right) Mackenzie, Quinlin, and Keira. (MANUELLA PARARAS-HULBERT)
"I don't build buildings anymore, but I did build a support group and a website," says the Toronto resident. Mom2Mom Toronto is both a support group and a marketplace for "mompreneurs," a term coined to describe businesses established by mothers.
According to Statistics Canada, there are approximately 821,000 female entrepreneurs from coast to coast. Of those, more than half are mothers. Moms are not only the fastest- growing business sector, they are also the fastest growing market.
"The trend behind mompreneurs is the desire to find life balance and family security," Fabregas says. "We want to be the ones to decide when, where and how we work ... I work 12 to 14 hours a day, but they are the hours I choose. But just because we do it on our own terms doesn't mean that we're not serious and that we're not skilled."
For Fabregas, the decision to give up a career in architecture was difficult.
"There was never a time in my life when I didn't want to be an architect," she says. "It was my passion. I graduated at the top of my class and had a job waiting for me. I worked 12 hour days and loved it."
A "surprise pregnancy" changed that. Fabregas initially planned to take three months off following the birth of her firstborn, but that eventually stretched to a year. "I went back part time, which was 30 hours a week, and still took work home. I had an in-home nanny, but soon discovered that I couldn't give 100% at work and couldn't give 100% at home ... It was emotionally and physically too much for me. My husband was in law school and life was insane."
Her firm agreed to give her a year off so she could explore the idea of full-time motherhood. "I lost myself," Fabregas says. "I wondered who I was now that I was no longer an architect. I wanted to help others going through the same thing."
Last spring, she launched Mom2Mom Toronto -- the local chapter of a national organization. "As I've morphed, so has the site. It grew from a site for moms to a site for mompreneurs," Fabregas says.
Mom2Mom Toronto now boasts several hundred members and continues to grow. Through its virtual boardroom, moms can network and share resources and ideas. It is developing workshops for moms who want to start their own businesses and will host its first trade show in November.
"It offers support for new moms, which is a journey. At the same time, some moms -- like me -- discovered that we could go back to work by becoming mompreneurs," Fabregas says. "We give one another support through things like the trading of skills ... We encourage one another and share stories about how we started our businesses. We help one another take charge of the life we want to lead."
QUICK FACTS
Mom2Mom Toronto is an online village and grassroots community group that brings together mothers trying to integrate the demands of a career and motherhood. It is also a marketplace and resource for the rapidly growing phenomenon of "mompreneurs."
To learn more, visit www.mom2mom.ca/toronto.
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