Have you ever felt insecure about how you would be perceived in the business world as a stay at home mom? Or maybe you aren't a full time mom but wonder how it would be to run a business from home with kids around? One of the big lessons I had to learn early on was that I never had to apologize for who I am and for my very important job of being a mom. And I learned that we never have to apologize for our kids coming first.

When Christy and I were in the last weeks of fund raising for our commercial property and the stakes were pretty high, Luca was just two years old. And when there was an immediate need of his (howling cry, bumped head, or just needed my attention), there was never any issue that I would say, "gotta go, can I call you back?" Later when there was a moment that I could call again, we'd pick right back up where we were before. No resentment, no annoyance, no inconvenience - just business as usual and how we had to juggle our time and responsibilities. Our kids and families always came first.

This was a big lesson for me to learn as a new mom. I was so insecure about letting anyone know that I was a stay at home mom trying to do my first big commercial deal until I realized that it was not only ok to be doing what I was doing with a two year old baby at home, it was something that I didn't need to apologize for either.

From that moment on I changed the rules. I started off my business calls to real estate brokers, management companies, and whoever else I was dealing with at the time, by letting them know that I worked from home, had a small child, and if I had to get off the phone quickly to care for him, I would get right back to them as soon as possible. I let them know in advance, and not once did anyone ever have any problem with it. In fact, I soon realized that they had more respect for me and what I was trying to accomplish. My worries that I wouldn't be taken seriously for being a stay at home mom were completely ungrounded because I had changed the rules and let them in on what my priorities were, while always being professional and holding up my end of the relationship.

I had learned that when it comes to your kids coming first, you never need to apologize. You just need to let others in on how you run your business so that everyone knows the rules from the beginning!

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