I started my first job as a mother’s helper at 12 years old. I opened my first business when I was 19, and I worked an average of 3 jobs at a time until I was 26. So when my mother in law asked me just moments after Lee proposed if “I was so excited to never work again,” I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry.
You see, while I had worked out of necessity for over a decade, I have always been the type of person who genuinely enjoyed working. While the idea of no longer having the pressure to just ‘make ends meet’ was certainly appealing to me, the idea of not working at all definitely was NOT.
My mom owns her own business, as did my grandmothers on both sides AND my great grandmother, so I have a strong connection to the idea of being a working woman and doing all that I can to help support my family.
While I know that times are changing, I also know that this is something that a lot of people struggle with— particularly living in the south. Lee and I have been married for nearly two years, but it only took about two WEEKS of marriage before people started asking us when we were going to have kids.
Family friends and people we barely even knew seemed to look at the fact that I owned my own business as ‘cute’, or ‘a nice hobby’, rather than something that provided value to my life and the lives of others.
Lee still serves as the bread winner of our household, but there is a good chance that if Magnolia Grove continues to grow, that could one day change. While that is SO exciting to me, I am also already bracing myself for the social implications that it could mean, with reactions from strangers and friends alike.
It really saddens me that it is 2018 and this is still something that women deal with. That I can work my butt off to build am empire that will leave a legacy, but that it could also mean that people will think less of me because the only type of mom I want to be, is to puppies.
If you are a lady boss, hustler in heels (or yoga pants), girlpreneur— I hope that you know how amazing you are. Keep doing you.