Commentary / Other Authors

This article is written by Trisha Philbrook, a graduate of AssistU, and my Virtual Assistant. Trish has a heart for moms who want to raise their children themselves AND bring in a little extra money with an at-home job. This is her open letter to like-minded moms with a little advice on how to get started as a WAHM.

“Hello O4L friends!
I call you my friends because I’m the behind-the-scene administrative gal for Martha and although I’ve never met most of you, I still feel like you are my friends. Martha approached me about writing an article. This is a topic I know a lot about and could talk about all day.

To tell you a little about myself, I am a wife and mother to three precious girls. Their ages are five, two, and one. My husband and I decided after we had our first daughter that I would stay home. So, for the first 4 years of our first daughter’s life, I did not work. Actually, I never really thought about whether I would work from home, but realized after our third child that I needed that “me” time and working sounded like a great idea. When I set out to find a job, I knew that if this was going to be part of my “me” time, then it better be something I enjoy.

Below, I have put together four simple points that I feel would be a great start if you are considering the world of stay-at-home/working mom.

• Consider how many hours you can work from home.
  This may be time while the kids are napping, in the evening when your husband gets home, during the weekends, or even getting a sitter for a couple days during the week. Whatever you decide you need to know how many hours a week/month that you have available to work. Remember you need to be flexible in case of sick/cranky kids (I didn’t consider this when I first started.)
• Make a list of jobs you would love to do even if you don’t think there is a possibility that you could do it from home.
  You would be surprised at what jobs you can do from home these days. I enjoy doing administrative computer work. This may sound boring to many of you, but to me that was my ultimate dream and something I really, really enjoy doing. Start making your list of what you enjoy doing.
• Update that resume!
  It may take you a while to remember some of the important dates so, get it done now so you can email it immediately if necessary. I have a great story about how I became a Virtual Assistant …email me and I’ll share with you how that happened.
• Network.
  Networking is so, so important. When I began looking for a job to do from home, I told everyone I knew that I was looking for a job to do from home and let me know of any jobs they hear of. By doing this, I still receive job opportunities that I can now pass on to my other friends that are looking for jobs. I could write a whole separate article on networking. The best networking resources for me has been Facebook and my local Moms Club.

I hope this helps you or someone you know to get a start on a new direction. Please feel free to email me if I can be of further help. I would love to talk with you.”

You can reach Trish at [email protected]