Book Review
The book, Mother / Founder: 68 Women on the Trials and Triumphs of Starting a Business and Raising a Family, by Amanda Jane Jones & Jennifer Fernandez is an inspirational and empowering celebration of more than sixty women who are both dedicated mothers and successful entrepreneurs. Starting a business can be daunting, scary, and exciting, all at once; so too can starting a family. But they can coexist, as the incredible roster of women in this book demonstrates. Entrepreneurship can be both a sustainable and fulfilling model for working motherhood.
Each woman profiled in Mother / Founder: 68 Women on the Trials and Triumphs of Starting a Business and Raising a Family shares insights from her journey as well as powerful lessons and practical advice, including:
How to plan for maternity leave
The benefits of sharing financial information with your peers
Key points to include when drafting a contract
Creative ways to include your kids in your work
The value of building support systems, from advisory boards to nanny shares
Resources for securing grants and fellowships
Tips for preparing taxes as a freelancer
How to avoid the "mom guilt" trap
Filled with first-person stories of designers, makers, CEOs, farmers, pastry chefs, artists, lawyers, educators, and more, Mother / Founder captures with unprecedented candor the unique challenges and joys of what it means to launch and run a business while being just as fiercely dedicated to raising children.
Author Quotes
There are roughly eighty-five million mothers in the US, each with a unique set of circumstances and goals, so of course there isn’t one proven path to entrepreneurial success.
We hope we have created in Mother/Founder an empowering resource for anyone needing inspiration as they forge a new path or career for themselves, whether they work from home five hours a week for some extra income or dream of owning their own Fortune 500 company.
We want to empower mothers, to support them and raise them up, because we know they are already equipped with many of the tools necessary for success.
About the authors
Amanda Jane Jones was the co-creator and founding designer of Kinfolk, and is now a freelance graphic designer, illustrator, and children's book author. She has been featured by Architectural Digest, The New York Times, and Martha Stewart Living, as well as online publications that include Mother Mag, Cup of Jo, Domino, Wit & Delight, Oh Joy!, VSCO, Gap, and Click Magazine. Her product collaborations include Opinel, Revival Rugs, Solly Baby, and Schoolhouse Electric. She is a recent transplant to the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, after having all of her children (Jane, Miles, and Wes) on the south side of Chicago. Her kids were the inspiration for her books Yum Yummy Yuck, The Hair Book, Fuzzy Furry Ouch, and Decorate the Tree.
Jennifer Fernandez is a former magazine and digital editor who has written about design, travel, and food for nationwide publications that include The Wall Street Journal, Architectural Digest, Travel + Leisure, Esquire, Departures, House Beautiful, Elle Décor, Martha Stewart Living, Better Homes & Gardens, and Domino. She currently resides in Brooklyn with her husband and two young daughters, Sophie and Maren.
Why LoA loves it…
Every woman entrepreneur who is also a mom knows how challenging it can be to launch a business and raise a family successfully and simultaneously. But we know, from speaking to the 2 million-strong inspirational women entrepreneurs in our Lionesses of Africa community, that it’s possible - they are doing it every day. That’s why having line-of-sight and hearing the experiences and insights of other mother founders is so important. The book Mother / Founder: 68 Women on the Trials and Triumphs of Starting a Business and Raising a Family by Amanda Jane Jones & Jennifer Fernandez is a great resource, sharing personal stories from mother founders that will inspire and motivate every woman entrepreneur who is juggling life and business. A great read! — Melanie Hawken, founder & ceo, Lionesses of Africa