This week, Karri Flatla of the Alpha WAHM Blueprint stopped by to answer some of my questions about becoming an Alpha WAHM… and to explain what a work-at-home mom needs with a blueprint anyway. I think you’ll feel inspired by what Karri had to say, and hopefully you’ll start thinking about how having a blueprint can benefit your own work-at-home life too.
Please do remember to leave a comment at the end of the post. For one thing, I would really like to know what you think about this particular topic.
PLUS you’ll be entered in Karri’s Comment Contest and could be the lucky winner of her popular digital compilation 99 Tips & Aha Moments to Grow Your Online Business (Rocket Science Not Included.)
WAHM-Articles: How can having a “blueprint” help a work-at-home-mom? Is this different than a business plan?
Karri: The Alpha WAHM Blueprint is very different than a business plan, and in the book I recommend getting clear on your personal blueprint BEFORE you write a business plan. That said, if you’ve already written a business plan, or the one you have is outdated, this “blueprinting” process is still critical to your long term success as a business owner.
A business plan lays out the nuts and bolts of running and growing your business. It’s very “left brain” if you will. However, a blueprint forces you to dig deep and understand WHY you want to have a business and WHAT you want it to bring to your life (and the lives of your loved ones).
Without teasing apart the different aspects of your vision and purpose, even the best laid “plans” will fail to provide any real value to you as an entrepreneur who is bound to face difficult decisions along the way. You need a compass, not a to-do list!
So a business plan tells you what to do, and a blueprint tells you why you’re doing it in the first place (and if it’s even the right thing at all!).
WAHM-Articles: You call your book an “empowerment guide for work-at-home-moms.” Why do work-at-home moms need to feel empowered? What do you believe we are lacking?
Karri: We need empowerment more than ever now. Working moms today have very few role models that make any sense for the realities they face here and now. Modern moms who also have paying careers are expected to be and do EVERYTHING for their families. On the one hand, we’re supposed to keep a beautiful, perfectly groomed home, dedicate our full attention to our children no matter what our own needs are, and look fabulous doing it.
On the other hand, we’re educated, we’ve earned our own incomes prior to getting married and having children, and we know what it means to have something (a life) to call our own.
Experts tell us it’s about work-life balance. In Alpha WAHM Blueprint, I passionately disagree with this sentiment. In fact, I ask women to let the notion go completely. Instead, let’s shoot for something more meaningful—like a true integration of work, love, passion, family … all of it. The modern work-at-home mom wants synergy, not separation. She also wants to stop feeling like she has to be perfect and instead can just focus on what brings her the most meaning and joy. If that means the kids don’t get as many home cooked meals or mommy-made crafts, so what?
Kids—and their dads—want mom to be happy. That is all your family really needs. The media and societal norms have construed it to be more complicated than that, but it’s not.
WAHM-Articles: Karri, you managed to write this book while being a mom to two little boys and running a successful web marketing business. How do you keep yourself motivated to grow and develop your business?
Karri: I’m as human as anyone else on this journey. That means some days I feel like packing it all in and just baking some cookies for my kids. But then I remember why I started doing this in the first place (and that I don’t like working in the kitchen much!). I am doing this because I want—with all my heart and soul—a life designed by ME and my family, not “the boss” or some corporation’s idea of work-life balance.
This is why having a personal blueprint is so important. It provides you not only a sense of deep purpose and meaning, but it serves as a reminder when things aren’t looking so hot in your business. When you stay connected to the real you—to the truth you’re striving to live each day—very little can stop you from achieving your work-at-home dreams.
Thank you so much for visiting WAHM-Articles, Karri!
If you want to learn more about getting empowered and creating your own personal blueprint, you may want to check out Karri’s book, Alpha WAHM Blueprint.
Please remember to comment below to enter Karri’s Comment Contest. Do you think having a blueprint would benefit your business? Have something else to add? We’d love to hear from you!