Being a mom is such a happy but hard work. If you combine trying to help in augmenting the family budget, then the mommying gets all the more challenging.
I have decided to write a series of posts to honor Work at Home Moms (WAHMs) who combine mothering and earning an income. This is also meant to inspire those that are still on the fence about working from home, that yes it can be done, and a lot of moms are successful in doing it. This is not exclusive for the WAHMs of the Cloth Diapering World, as we will also be featuring work-at-home-moms with various lines of work such as those who do virtual assistance, online tutorials, bake pastries, own shops whether online or brick and mortar, etc. This also not meant to sideline stay at home moms, or work-outside-the-home-moms. This is just spreading positive mothering vibes. We are all in one team remember?
Anyway, this will be a weekly thing, and for our pilot post, allow me to introduce you to our WAHM of the Week, Ms. Jaclyn Elma Chua, the mommy behind Myook Butts Cloth Diapers.
Let’s peek into Mommy Jaclyn’s WAHM life, through excerpts of our interview:
Happy Pinay Mommy: When did you decide to be a WAHM?
Mommy Jaclyn: “I already started working at home while I was pregnant last 2013 because I had a complicated pregnancy that required me to be on bed rest. So, in a way, I became a WAHM as soon as I gave birth. Myook Butts started around April 2014 but I was selling (on and off) hand sewn crafts on Etsy as far back as 2008.”
HPM: What made you decide to Work at Home?
Mommy Jaclyn: “It was quite a natural decision for us, my husband and I never hired any help since we were married, so it was natural for me to stay at home to take care of the baby. Work is an outlet so I still feel productive and creative even if I’m staying at home. Starting my own business is somewhat another easy decision because it allowed me to control my timings and priorities as I deem necessary.”
(Post continued below)
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- Four Household Products that you need in Your Hospital Bag
- How to make your own baby-safe insect repellent
- Cloth Diapering Tips for Condo Families
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HPM: What is the greatest challenge you have faced in relation to being a WAHM?
Mommy Jaclyn: “Greatest challenge would be addressing mistakes that I made along the way (wrong fabric types, materials, sewing style, etc), but I’m really lucky and thankful that my mommy customers have been very forgiving and accommodating to my mistakes. They were willing to listen to my explanation and were open to give me another chance to improve on my products. This is the reason I am still making nappies until now. I would have been disheartened if fate had handed me a different set of mommy customers.
Another great challenge that I think all artists/crafters encounter is being copied. I used to be really bothered whenever I see copies of my style being done. I personally do a lot of research and experiments to make my products unique, so it really hurt to see some of my original ideas and styles being copied without permission. Now I’ve learned to let go of the negativity and just focus on improving my own brand.”
HPM: What advice can you give to those who may want to become a WAHM?
Mommy Jaclyn: “Being a WAHM is not easy because you will need to push yourself (you’re your own boss), but being able to spend time a lot of time with your kid/s while still earning on the side is awesome. You need to be highly motivated; if you’re lazy, your income or non-income will reflect it.”
HPM: Who inspires you?
Mommy Jaclyn: “My husband and son inspires me to do better every day.”
HPM: How does your husband/partner support you?
Mommy Jaclyn: “My husband is very supportive; he’s my investor and number one fan. (He also helps me cut and snap sometimes!) He said that I should be doing what makes me happy and was also the one who encouraged me to quit my day job when I was complaining about work every day. He believes that people should be doing work that makes them feel happy and positive.”
When asked what was her favorite among all the nappies she made, she said this:
We also interviewed some of Mommy Jaclyn’s Loyal Clients. Mommy Clarisse Kay is a self-confessed Myook Butts Fan who has no qualms in waiting in line for months and months just to get hold of a Myook Butts HF “I’m an avid fan of Myook because I love her original doodles, her craftsmanship and because the soakers last considerably longer than other HFs in our stash. Also, Mommy Jac is one of the nicest WAHMs I know. She is very accommodating, warm and generous (she gave us free soakers and cloth bags!)”
Another Myook Butts avid fan is Mommy Cheng Dajalos. She says: “I got our Batibot HF from their Stocking 3.0 in September 2014. It was love at first sight when I received it! And it fitted well on my then six-month old little man. B was–and still is–on the lean side and the few HFs we had looked really bulky on him. But not this one. The rest was history. I believe I got something from each of Myook Butts’ stockings since then. Stalker mode talaga.”
Mommy Cheng added “Performance-wise, I did not have any issues with it. We use HFs as nap time nappies, including our MB’s. That means nappies on baby’s bum between 2 and 4 hours. Never had leaks with them. And for the record, MB soakers are by far the longest among the HF brands that we have. (We have a few, all local WAHMs.) Another thing that I love about our Myook Butts HFs is that most of them are original prints created by mommy Jac herself: Batibot, Doodle Harry, Watawat, Peeta and Kumaw. I plan to collect them all and they will definitely be part of our permastash!”
Another hard-core Myook Butts Fan is Mommy Nickie Lemen-Dahingo. “I am a self-confessed potterhead. Super huge fan! My dream is to have a harry potter print nappy that is from an awesome WAHM. I viewed the (Myook Butts Cloth Diapers) albums of previous stockings and when I saw the famous DOODLE HARRY I fell head over heels with it. It was my unicorn! I told myself I really need to have my hands on that nappy! I patiently waited for the next stocking and when stocking 6.0 was announced I immediately checked on the prints. Sad to say Doodle Harry was not part of the stocking but the Mexican Woven Cotton Blanket (which incidentally fits) baby Gavin’s birthday’s theme. Sad to say though I wasn’t able to get the slot, but I sent a message to Mommy Jaclyn and told her about Gavin’s Birthday theme. She did not promise anything, but she did say that she will sew something for us – two weeks later she sent me a photo of the HF and the rest was history.”
When asked what Mommy Nickie likes most about Myook Butts, this is what she had to say: “What I love about MB is the quality of the nappy and its UNIQUENESS. Honestly I compared MB to the other Hybrid Fitted nappies that we have that was made by other WAHMs and it is the only nappy that has a very fluffy and soft inner lining and insert. I am really amazed on how soft it is! The first time we got the nappy I literally buried my face inside the nappy! Its quality is at par to an expensive and well known nappy made also by a WAHM in the US. We tried to use it as an overnight nappy no leaks for 8 hours! Mommy Jac is one of the WAHMs that I truly love! Soooo generous, very humble and kind hearted! I really fell head over heels with MB and so I have heaps in line as pre ordered and on waitlist. My unicorn Doodle Harry Hybrid Fitted with matching Doodle Harry Tula Carrier hood and drool pads is currently being sewn by Mommy Jac and will come home on October!”
So there you have it, that wraps up our pilot edition of happypinaymommy.com’s WAHM of the week. If you have a WAHM in mind that you wanna be featured, please drop by my Facebook page and leave me a message, and please hit the like button too.
Till Next Post!
Leaving you with this video on scheduling for Work at Home Moms:
http://happypinaymommy.com/2015/09/02/quick-and-easy-ways-to-clean-and-disinfect-toys/
