Top 50 Mompreneurs, 2011
They cook, they clean and, between naptimes, they run kickass companies. For those who run their own mom-centric firms, the responsibilities of motherhood are only half the battle. Babble is running our first ever salute to the top 50 mompreneurs who pull all-nighters, suffer enormous financial set-backs, and balance business and baby every day to make their entrepreneurial dreams come true. Here's how they did it.
- Christina Couch
50 / 50
50
Debbie Wiener | Slobproof!
Debbie’s Rankings
bright idea
Company: Slobproof!
Location: Silver Spring, Maryland
Children: Two sons, 15 and 19 ⢠Age: 52
Inspiration: “Back in 2000, I looked around my house and saw that the white sofa was totally brown, the curtains were covered with fingerprint stains and the walls were stained,” Wiener recalls. Her options: scream at her husband and kids everyday or find peace of mind. “I decided I needed to redecorate with things that would hold up for the slobs I lived with,” she says.
Perspiration: Wiener, who has run her own interior design firm for years, began paying attention to durability over aesthetics and started recommending stronger, stain-proof furniture to her clients. When her story got picked up by USA Today, Penguin publishing called her to write a book. “I never thought that this was a viable business, it just fell in my lap,” Wiener says. She wrote Slobproof! Real-Life Design Solutions in 2008 and decided to design the furniture that, up until then, she had only talked about.
Balancing motherhood, an interior design business, media appearances and a burgeoning furniture company nearly tore Wiener into pieces. “I would work all day, take a break to drive carpool, make sure that everything was cleaned up and the laundry was done and then go back to the basement until 2 a.m.,” she says.
Success: Slobproof! is a full-scale company with 19 products for sale and 41 products in the works. The furniture was praised in The New York Times.
Debbie’s line is awesome!
Besides her interior design expertise, Debbie is a kind, thoughtful and terrific person!
Ronni in Potomac