Mompreneur Profiles

Mompreneur Profiles were provided by local mothers who run their own businesses.  We thank them for sharing their experiences with us!

A Baltimore native and lover of crab cakes, football and wine, Brianna Carter traded her sommelier studies and career in restaurant management for a freelance writing business after the birth of her 3-year-old son, Declan. Despite being diagnosed with PCOS and being unable to utilize fertility and hormonal therapies due to a history of blood clots, Brianna was able to conceive and her son not only brings her joy, coupled with tantrums, but he is also her inspiration.

BNC Original is based in St. Augustine and has clients throughout the United States. Brianna primarily writes content and blogs for websites, but in August 2020, she self-published her first book, Positively Penelope: A Day at the Races, the story of a 10-year-old girl, who is wheelchair bound and has a tenacious ability to persevere. She also writes and chronicles her misadventures in parenting at www.mamaknowsada.com and on her Instagram @mama.knows.nada.

Brianna’s Advice to Other Moms: You are not alone, mamas. Feel all your feels; you’re a human with needs, too. You can’t look after others if you are not looking after yourself.

Samantha Everhart, mother and homeschooler to two young girls (10 and 2), is also the face behind Samantha Everhart Photography. Specializing in children and family photography, Samantha enjoys making stunning connections with the amazing humans that she calls her clients.  When she isn’t hard at work helping her clients capture memories, she enjoys spending time outdoors with her family – mudding, trail walking, or just sitting on her front porch next to her husband and watching her girls soak in the sunshine as they play. 

Wife and mother to two boys (17 and 5), Korin Menard, a licensed mental health counselor and behavior therapist, relocated to Flagler County from Massachusetts 6 years ago. In addition to spending time with her family at the beach, at local football games or finding new adventures in the area, Korin recently started her private practice – Mental Health Transformations LLC – in Flagler Beach. 

She has been working to get rid of the stigma around mental health or reaching out for help with a child’s behavior. Her goal is to bring transformations and peace within families and she particularly enjoys providing tools to reduce negative behaviors in young children/toddlers to reduce negative behaviors and increase peace within homes. Korin prides herself on creating individualized plans to work with each family to improve their overall outlook and emotional health. The best advice she received when starting her business was to “Let your passion lead you. Remember we’re always learning so continue to hone and sharpen your skill.” 

Thanks to COVID-19, Korin, like most mothers, had to juggle being a mom, teacher, chef, housekeeper, scheduler of multiple zoom activities, entrepreneur and wife. Not to mention, navigating the best ways to utilize and implement telehealth to ensure she was able to continue to provide care to her clients and their families. These challenges not only increased her resiliency but she was able to use them to propel her as they increased her problem solving and time management skills as well as her overall outlook while creating a stronger bond within her family.

Korin’s Advice to Other Moms: Mothers are often required to take on multiple roles, and it is absolutely normal to become overwhelmed. Don’t be afraid to delegate things to your support. Leveraging our support systems does not make us inadequate. On the contrary, it is a trait of a great leader. Never underestimate your power and ability. We are only limited by our imaginations.

Nicole Blondin is not only the boss lady at Blondin Electric Inc, an electrical contracting company in Palm Coast, FL, but she is also mother to a 7-year-old son who is currently in enrolled in iFlagler Virtual. Nicole is proving there is nothing she can’t handle, as she is currently juggling schooling her son with running a business and a household. She admits that it has been a bit of a challenge, but as she says, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right!?”

Logan Sincavage, a wife and mother of two (3 and 11 months) who enjoys reading, baking and all things music, is a private practice licensed mental health counselor. She specializes in trauma and relationship work for both individuals and couples and is based in St. Augustine. The best advice she was given when she started out as a female business owner was to believe in herself and to follow her passion. And, she had excellent female mentors that encouraged her to pursue her calling to help others and to trust that if she worked hard, success would follow. 

Things were not always easy for Logan, her daughter had colic as a newborn and she struggled with Postpartum Depression. Despite a very difficult initial 3 months of her daughter’s life, she was able to get through that challenging period with the support of her husband, friends and therapist.

Logan’s Advice to Other Moms: It is OKAY not to be perfect and to feel like you don’t know what you’re doing. None of us have all of the answers and it is okay to ask for help. You are doing the best you can and you are exactly the right mother for your child/children. Give yourself some credit! 

Owner of a home staging company in Flagler County, Lucy Castro has grown her business and the spaces she furnishes into something she is very proud of. There were times when she thought she was never going to make any money, and there were time when she felt like a complete fraud. But, she didn’t let that stop her. She kept learning and practicing, and next month, Lucy will be setting up a vacation rental, one that is destined to be a great before and after transformation – and who doesn’t love a great before and after!?

Lucy’s Advice to Other Moms: Keep pushing even when it is hard.

An attorney working with young families to set up estate plans and handling Social Security disability claims, Kaitlin Wildoner is also a wife and mother to a daughter (21 months) and a new edition who arrived in mid-March. Kaitlin left her former position with a small firm a few weeks after she found out she was pregnant with her oldest, and she is proud that she was able to “grow” both her daughter and her law firm at the same time. Owning her own firm has allowed her to spend every afternoon with her daughter as she is in control of her schedule.

Kaitlin’s perspective on being a working mother is unique as she is a part-time Stay-at-Home-Mom and a part-time Working-Mom. Despite the fact that many times there are not enough hours in the day to do both, Kaitlin and her husband have figured out how to make it work so they can both thrive in their careers and parenthood, while still having time for each other.

Shawna Dean relocated to Florida last year and is mom to three boys (21, 13 and 10). Shawna runs two businesses – My Gutsy Gluten Free Life, a Facebook group she runs because she has celiac and wants to help others who need to eat gluten free and Beach Front Computers, a computer repair shop located near her home.

Real Estate Agent and mother of two (5 and 2), Michel Cloward relocated to St. Augustine last year from Los Angeles. Before moving to Florida, she was a consultant for Cyber Security, but that industry doesn’t pay well in Florida and would have kept her away from her, then, newborn baby. Real Estate seemed like the most desirable career for her after the move as it allowed her to control her own schedule and provided an endless potential for income. 

She chose to hang up her license at Sunshine Realty in St. Augustine Beach. The office is just blocks away from her home and is a nice, family-friendly environment. She has since partnered with another mom and they are working together to dominate the St. Augustine Beach real estate market. Michel credits Real Estate with providing her with more flexibility to work her schedule around the care of her children. She enjoys bringing her daughter to Open Houses so she can, in her words, “see how Mommy works and be my little helper!”

Mom of three boys (8, 5 and 2), Megan Kling of St. Augustine, runs a successful real estate business alongside her husband, Gabe. The pair met after while Megan was attending Flagler College. Gabe, a former world-traveling, professional surfer, is a Real Estate Broker at Endless Summer Realty and Megan handles all of his marketing and branding, and she assists his real estate customers with the staging and the interior styling of their homes. 

Two years ago, she created @staugustine.homes on Instagram to share their life in St. Augustine and to market their real estate business. It is a real estate Instagram account, but it is presented through the eyes of a mom. Megan is not in a quiet office or showing pretty houses all day, she is at home with the kids, at parks, at school drop off and at dentist appointments. She share the work at home with kid moments, bloopers and behind the scenes peeks. Megan and Gabe do hire sitters so that she can stage homes and they can do house tours but she is also at home a lot, trying to work, trying to cook, trying to be a good mom and trying to hold it together.  Their Instagram account is successful in so many ways but she mostly loves the connections and real life friendships and relationships that have come from it, and Megan and Gabe feel more connected with their local community than ever before.  

According to Megan, “Being a mom is hands down the most amazing role I will ever play in my life and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I love that I get to spend my days being a mom but I am also so grateful that I get to support our business from home and mostly through social media.”

Courtney Hammons is a 46-year-old mother of three (15, 14 and 5). Her youngest has mild cerebral palsy from her premature birth and her middle child attends Florida School for the Deaf and Blind. All three Courtney’s children are adopted, two from East Africa and one domestically. Prior to the addition of her youngest, Rachel, Courtney was running an event planning business. When Rachel joined the family, her needs showed Courtney that she needed to close her business so that she could focus on Rachel’s daily therapies and getting her to a better place. However, Courtney did not lose her entrepreneurial spirit. 

Now that Rachel is in school and they have a routine, she decided it was time to jump back into the entrepreneurial world and Dream TentZzz was born. They provide slumber parties for boys and girls in custom designed tents.  From unicorns and mermaids to video games and camping adventures, they have everything covered.  They also offer packages for BFF’s who may need to quarantine in their own houses and homework hideouts for kiddos in the midst of virtual or brick n mortar school. 

Abbie Paul, mom of two (3 and 1), runs two businesses- Garland Activewear (www.garlandactivewear.com) and Tidewater Tots (www.tidewatertots.com). Abbie recently launched Tidewater while managing Garland Activewear through the Covid crisis and working partially from home. Abbie’s brands are proud of their commitment to manufacturing their apparel in the USA and employing many people in their local communities.

Abbie’s Advice to Other Moms: I’m no expert in this but my best advice for working mom entrepreneurs is to embrace the chaos, continually speak life into your family and business and delegate, delegate, delegate!!  It’s easy to get stressed and down when the load is heavy, so I am always working hard to keep a “we can do it” attitude and positive mindset. And remember, you’re doing a GREAT JOB!

Bailey Rowland, mother of two (4 and 2), owns a bakery with her husband, Nils. The pair grew up in Gainesville, both attended the University of Central Florida and both graduated with Hospitality Management degrees. Bailey then furthered her studies in marketing and Nils attended pastry school. Always one to want to bring joy to people and earner of “Most Likely to Bright Your Day” in high school, Bailey spent time working at private clubs and resorts where people were happy and on vacation. But she was looking for something more casual where she could make her own hours and be close to her family. 

The couple started their business in a tiny, 200 square foot kitchen inside of a local coffee shop, owned by a friend. As clubs and resorts were eliminating Pasty Chef positions, the Rowlands sought to design desserts for those types of properties and become preferred vendors for hosted weddings and events. Five years later, they are now in a 5,000 square foot kitchen with a retail store, they service over 300 weddings each year and they sell wholesale desserts to private clubs, resorts and restaurants throughout Northeast Florida. 

Bailey remembers being told “to look at owning a business like a long road trip. Be along for the ride! You always have to keep going but be open to taking turns and new directions you didn’t necessarily think you would go.” According to Bailey, “everyone opens a business with a plan but you learn a lot along the way and if you don’t keep learning how to move more efficiently, continue to be greater and adapt to the changes around you then you will just be going in a backwards direction.”

Bailey’s Advice to Other Moms: Having a business is very similar to having a child, it’s important to nurture it even into adulthood.