Nontraditional work arrangements aid families

by Jill Henry

SBJ Reporter

jhenry@sbj.net

For parents, spending time with family and earning a living is a constant balancing act.

For some, altering their work hours is a solution, while others leave the traditional work force to work from home.

Single dad Shelby Williams has found a way to include his children in his work as director of marketing and sales at The Oasis Inn and Convention Center.

Most of his duties can be taken care of during normal business hours, but when his job involves special events held at The Oasis, Williams often takes his kids along.

"They'll eat backstage, I'll pop out and make my appearance, make sure the customer or whoever is using the convention center is happy, and then cut out early," he said.

Since his divorce two years ago, he has also taken advantage of day care, YMCA's Prime Time after-school care, and his grandfather and aunt when he's in a bind for child care for his kids, ages 5 and 7.

Williams estimates he clocks close to 70 hours on the job each week, and part of those hours are worked on weekends, when his kids spend time with their mom.

Time spent at dad's job isn't excessive for Williams' kids. "It's usually an evening thing," he said. "It wouldn't be more than an hour."

Williams lets his kids be part of the decision-making process. "They don't like a babysitter coming over. They don't like going somewhere being watched. They'd rather be backstage. It's fun, and they'd rather be with me," he said. "I always give them those options. I want to make sure they're comfortable."

Staying home

For other parents, the solution is to work at home.

"Home-based businesses are the growth industry of our time, no doubt about it," said Betty Lorton, business and industry specialist with University of Missouri Outreach and Extension.

Lorton said close to half of her clients are in the process of starting or are interested in starting a home-based business, and many are moms who would like to be at home with their kids.

Allison Baird Holiman's home-based business, By Invitation Only, evolved from a part-time job printing custom invitations and stationery at Paper World. She had considered starting a home-based business to spend more time with her kids, ages 5 and 7, and when the shop changed ownership last year, Holiman decided to make the change.

"I just kind of jumped in," she said. "I didn't really think about it at all. I saw this opportunity and I thought, You know, I'm not going to get this opportunity again and I'd better take it while I've got it.'"

Holiman now works from four to five hours a day, six days a week, meeting clients in her home by appointment only.

Spending more time at home rather than on the job is important for Holiman, a former schoolteacher.

"I taught one year after my first son was born and it was the worst year of my life," Holiman said. " I just knew I wanted to be at home with my kids, and I would do anything and give up anything to be able to, hopefully, be the kind of mom my mom was."

That desire led to Holiman's resignation when her son was 15 months old, and a part-time position at Paper World while her son attended Parents' Day Out at Kingsway United Methodist Church two days each week.

Holiman took out a small business loan of $25,000 to purchase the equipment she had used at Paper World. "I just started where the old Paper World left off," she said.

With one child in school all day and one in school mornings only, Holiman said she does the majority of her business in the mornings when they're both gone. "If I haven't finished what I need to during the day, after they go to bed I can come in and work on it again."

She said the business is well on its way to becoming full-time, a goal she is shooting for as her youngest enters school full-time next fall. In the meantime, she is pleased with the business' growth on a part-time basis.

"Paper World, I think, did about $10,000 to $20,000 worth of printing business their last year. From June until December, I had done $12,000 worth of profit. I felt really good about that."

Replacing full-time income

When Jennifer Bouse was a fourth-grade teacher expecting her first child, she and her husband sat down and studied the feasibility of her becoming a stay-at-home mom.

"We weighed the options between what we would spend as far as day care plus expenses that I would have while teaching," Bouse said.

She left teaching and is now an executive senior sales director for Mary Kay. Her business began part-time seven years ago with an investment of $100.

Four years ago, she decided to go full-time with her business, and she now leads a sales force of approximately 200 women.

As a full-time mom of two, ages 4 and 6, Bouse works 30 to 40 hours each week, with 15 to 20 of those hours spent away from her home office.

Part of the appeal of a home-based business for Bouse, along with the ability to be a full-time mom, was the potential to earn more than her income as a teacher. Her unit's retail sales for 2003 reached $400,000.

Commission checks "average between $8,000 to $10,000 a month and my highest check was last month, almost $12,000," she said.

More important, she said, is being active in her children's daily lives.

"(My kids) see me at home all the time," she said. "I bring home a paycheck every month, yet I'm at everything dance, gymnastics, field trips, home room mom, all of that. I don't have to sacrifice my children for my job, and I don't have to ask permission either. It gives me flexible hours so I'm able to choose the times that I'm out and, because I quit to stay at home, that's important to me."