The Commerce Times

Powermoms prove that work and motherhood do mix

These days, mom doesn’t just wear the pants, she wears the suit jacket as well.

Four “mompreneurs”, Julie Cole, Tricia Mumby, Julie Ellis and Cynthia Esp from Hamilton are the founders of Mabel’s Labels, a company that produces labels “for the stuff kids lose.” They were winners of the RBC Momentum Award at the Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards last December.

Mabel’s Labels’ business plan is straightforward – manufacture dishwasher, microwave, and laundry safe labels to help moms lead more organized lives – and has turned their basement venture into a multi- million dollar success story, with celebrity clients and international expansion.

Seven years ago, all four women were working in traditional jobs – one financial planner, one lawyer, one teacher, and one graphics manager – said Julie Cole, co-founder and company spokeswoman. “The traditional workforce can be unforgiving to mothers. This came at the appropriate time too, also because we had the business idea,” Cole said.

“At the time I had a couple of young kids, and we were constantly asking questions like ‘who’s sippy cup is this?’ or going to the daycare and saying things like ‘I might have left my bottle lid here, have you seen it?’ So we created a product that people would use,” she said.

Cole, now a mother of six, said that one of the secrets to the Mabel’s Labels success is a strong understanding of the target market – and Cole, Mumby, Ellis and Esp are their own market. “We knew that the people who were going to be buying these were people like us,” Cole said. “[The product] had to be durable. It had to be cute. It had to have good value.”

As a result, the company’s sales continue to increase at over 85 per cent a year and the women have been featured in a number of magazines and on several television networks. But before the fame and profits, people were skeptical. “When women or mothers start businesses they are often viewed as hobbies. You know, mom is making widgets at home so she doesn’t have to go back to work,” said Cole. “We never approached our business as a hobby.”

Cole’s experiences have lead her to believe that advertising oneself as a “mompreneur” isn’t always the best idea. Sometimes, big business moguls see women who incorporate motherhood into their businesses as too bogged down. “People assume you are going to be scheduling work between play-dates and naps and diapers,” she said. “People started once they met us and saw that we have business goals, and do strategic planning, and ex- pect a lot out of our business and ourselves.”

When the four women accepted their award at the Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards gala, Tricia Mumby, co-founder & VP marketing and special programs, had one thing to say to young businesswomen looking to take a similar leap of faith: “Just do it. If you start at no- where, you have nothing to lose.”