While reviewing the photos sent to me, and making graphic materials and captions for it, I got amazed at how nice the products for the client testimonies were for this particular WAHM of the Week Feature – and I am not exaggerating. You will see later that one of the finished products that our WAHM of the Week makes is Pinterest-level wedding souvenirs that are simple yet to classy and fab.
Anyway, before I get too carried away, allow me to introduce to you–
Happypinaymommy.com’s 12th Work-at-Home Mommy of the Week, Mommy Grace Rayos-Abando of Imprints.
Mommy Grace started her WAHM business more than a year ago. Imprints – is basically a printing business for almost anything you would like to have a print on – in the Cloth Diapering world that would mean brand tags, thank you labels, bum prints, and the like. In fact, Mommy Grace supplies tags to a lot of Cloth Diaper WAHMs, so if you want to see her workmanship and you have an HF in your baby’s CD Stash, there is a big chance, the brand tags sewn on the side of the nappy is from Imprints.
Anyway, she mentioned that she really intended to become a WAHM to be able to personally take care of her kids and at the same time get some source of self-satisfaction about earning her own money and helping her husband. And boy, you’d really be inspired with Mommy Grace’s story! She has a flourishing business, and she takes care of the kids and manages the home all at the same time! You’d really wonder where she gets all the energy to take care of her boys – yes two energetic boys – tend to her business, and do all the house chores.
Well, maybe her secret is time management. Mommy Grace and I exchange PMs during wee hours – we joke that we have the same work schedule – hence the conversations/informal interview happen while we both work, when we have both accomplished our house chores, and the kids are already asleep.
So for those of you ladies who would like to set-up an enterprise, or any home-based business – read on, and find out that yes, it is possible to stay home with the kids and run a happy source of livelihood at the same time.
Here is an excerpt of our interview with Mommy Grace:
Happypinaymommy: When did you become a WAHM?
Mommy Grace: My being a Work-at-Home-Mom officially kicked-off in October, 2014. But even before that my interest in business started when I quit working the time I got pregnant with our first born (2011). It was also that time my friends and I ventured in a dimsum franchise, which unfortunately didn’t turn out well that we had to close it down. So being the unemployed that I was, my mother-in-law (a WAHM herself) involved me in her small backyard garments/sewing business from which I did inventory, accounting, and some manual end-of-line processing i.e. trimming and folding. While learning the in-and-outs of the enterprise, my husband and I saw an opportunity in printing since we had to outsource it from different printers. Then we started to do some research, studied the market, and even interviewed people from the same bandwagon. We found it feasible that it can be done even at home and had the sufficient funds for the printing business package. So around September, 2014, we didn’t think twice and we purchased the set for me to get started working from home.
(Post continued below)
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- Local Cloth Diapering Information – local detergents that are safe for cloth diapering, locally available washing machines that are great for cloth diapers, Survival tips for Condo-living families etc.
- Under P300.00 Christmas Gift Ideas for your child’s teacher.
- Where to buy Materials for your DIY CD Project
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HPM: Why did you decide to become a WAHM?
Mommy Grace: Aside from the mere reason that I will be able to personally take care of our kids, and help our family’s ends meet, working at home was actually also for my self-satisfaction. Earning on my own makes me feel better about myself that I am not fully dependent on my husband’s salary, so I sometimes splurge on shopping without being guilty (heehee). Another reason is that I always loved all sorts of crafting – it serves as a breather from household chores and the toddlers’ tantrums. It really helps that the products I create are quite diverse so it doesn’t really get mundane at all – shirts, mugs, tags/labels, bum prints for cloth diapers, souvenirs, invites, business cards, and many more.
Mommy Grace’s Imprints offers custom prints on almost every thing: shirts, jackets, mugs, pillows, souvenirs, invites, business cards, brand labels and tags, bum prints for cloth diaper, mousepads, flipflops, jigsaw puzzles, and many more. Here are some of her finished products. Here is a link to her FB Page.
HPM: What is the greatest challenge you have faced in relation to being a WAHM?
Mommy Grace: We have no house helper so I do everything – cooking, washing the dishes, cleaning the house, bathing, feeding, teaching and mothering the kids (plus I still breastfeed the 19mos tot). In between those chores and especially during wee hours are the only times I am able to work so time management is definitely a challenge. In this business line (or in all businesses) also learning never stops, there would always be something new or innovation each day. I have to keep up with technology and modernity, extracting creative juices from my brain requires hard work.
A Balanced Life: Mommy Grace taking wacky selfies with her boys. Asked what their pastime is, Mommy grace says, they just love horsing around, wrestling, cuddling, hugging and kissing, and of course, pigging out. “Mahilig kami kumain,” she says.
HPM: What advice can you give to those who may want to become a WAHM?
Mommy Grace: Here are the pieces of advice that I can give to moms (or moms to be) who are considering to working from home — 1. Do what you love, love what you do and stick to it. It is true and proven many times that if you love what you do, you’ll never feel working a day in your life. I love being a mother, I love being a wife, I love to stay at home, I love crafts, and I love being an entrepremom! 2. Continue to learn every day, even if you’re just at home. There are so many things and ideas you can explore. You might end up finding something you can be passionate about. 3. Never dwell on your failures, be brave enough to move on and get back on track. 4. Always be thankful, live a simple life and refer to #1.
Little Grace: These photos were taken when Mommy Grace was three years old. Told her we had the same flower girl gown. hahaha. As a child, Mommy Grace said, she loved playing outdoors — Chinese Garter, Taguan, Agawan-Base are the happy childhood games she so loved playing with her playmates.
HPM: Who inspires you?
Mommy Grace: I have lots of inspirations but my husband and kids are on the top of the list, they keep me going and motivated at all times. I am inspired as well by other people especially entrepreneurs with humble beginnings, learning about their lives and their stories of both success and failures. I also get inspired by myself, that I keep trying always to become better, wishing that someday I will also be able to inspire others.
Mommy Grace and her family, her very supportive husband Vener, and their boys three-year old Santi, and one year old Gavin.
HPM: How does your husband support you?
Mommy Grace: My husband, of course, is my number one supporter and critic. He hadn’t really been much of a risk taker so he keeps my balance as I, most of the time, am being on the extremes of being too confined and too aggressive. He tolerates the things I love to do and doesn’t get tired of driving for me.
According to Mommy Grace, this photo was taken the night before her husband Vener’s leg surgery. She says “we are each other’s person.”
HPM: Can you tell us how your usual day/week goes?
Mommy Grace: An ordinary day for me starts with the usual mommy duties and coffee helps me thru the day. In between those duties, I multi-task in answering messages, or doing some online research. Yes, I admit that I am very attached to my smartphone (I cannot live without it and internet, seriously) since the business I run is more or less 70% thru online transactions. While the kids are napping, then I will have to continue with the layouts, printing, or cutting. If there are products that are scheduled for shipping, I will have to pack them and personally go to the courier tagging along the two tots. At night, I watch some news and teleseryes as my leisure. After the kids are asleep, I resume working on orders until I feel the need to rest. One perk of being a WAHM I should say is that one is not entailed to a definite working hours. I work when I have to, and rest when I want to.
In spite of her very hectic schedule, Mommy Grace takes time to stay in touch with her college friends. Shown in this photo with her from left to right are her girlfriends Get, Christine, and Kristine — Mommy Grace is second from the right. According to her, they have been friends for 13 years now. They became close when they were in third year college as ECE majors at the Batangas State University.
Like our other WAHM features, we also sought the testimonies of Mommy Grace’s clients. And like what I said in the opening part of this post – the products are Pinterest material!
Joyce for instance was so happy about the wedding souvenirs she ordered from Mommy Grace!
One of Mommy Grace’s Client, Joyce says “I never imagined I could ask for something that fabulous for a wedding souvenir (at a budget). Her oozing passion for what she does reflects her designs.”
Joyce shares “I had Grace make the souvenirs for our wedding last December, and she was one of the easiest vendors I had for our event- hands down meticulous with details and she always tried to communicate her ideas every chance she got. I think it’s very important that she made me, a very busy client, feel prioritized although I was aware she was simultaneously working on other ‘individualized’ projects that time.”
She continues “When it comes to ideas, she conceptualized most of it, even up until the awesome awesome packaging! I just told her I wanted this specific print for the shirt, and she finalized with a souvenir my guests all love and found very personal(ized). I never imagined I could ask for something that fabulous for a wedding souvenir (at a budget). Her oozing passion for what she does reflects her designs.”
Aren’t these Pinterest-perfect?? Joyce added “She added “the quality of her work is also up to par with other (overpriced) commercially sold products. My friends still tag me wearing the shirts, still in excellent condition.”
Joyce further enthuses: “And I also want to let it out there that Grace’s products are very affordable. With that much artistic touch and manual handcraft, it’s really amazing how she tries to sell her products at a reasonable price! She obviously knows how tipid moms do it. Generally, I give her work of art 5 stars for every category: Details, Quality, Price and Ease of Transaction. And will I order from her again? Absolutely.”
Another happy client of Mommy Grace is a WAHM as well, Mommy Jay Anne Kho-Tacbas of Tahi Kho Cloth Diapers.
“Grace is super nice and accommodating! The first thing I ordered from her was my product tag. I don’t have any idea pa before on to what size or material should I use, and she patiently answered all my questions! I then get to know her as my queries turned into chikahan, haha!”
Mommy Jay Anne on Imprints: “I love customized stuffs, and knowing she can do almost anything I can possibly think of, well, that is AMAZING!!! I started ordering customized bum for my son Marko, I even have my hubby’s face printed on it too! She is full of ideas! She suggested my thank you tags to be button-shaped and printed on kraft for added “artsy” look.”
Mommy Jay Anne Added: “I can go on and on listing her superb attitude towards her customers, and how her ideas and products always meet my expectations. Basta, she is one of the best suppliers I have, and she became my friend over time.”
So there you have it. Hope you have learned a lot from the WAHM experience of Mommy Grace. If you have a Work-From-Home-Mom that you would want to be featured, please feel free to head on over to my Facebook Page and leave me a message. Please hit the like button too so you could receive updates from Happypinaymommy.com directly on your newsfeed.
A happy homemaker is a Happy Pinay Mommy!
Leaving you with a video on how to work from home with kids:
https://happypinaymommy.com/2015/11/27/where-to-order-the-best-lechon-in-manila/