Ally Loprete is a stay-at-home mother of 2, a former television, theatre and film actress, singer, performer, storyteller, and teacher. An advocate of parents, Ally founded OurMilkMoney.com in 2007 as a means to help parents find financial opportunities and support.
Ally believes that the number one problem facing parents today is the inability for families to survive on just one income. Parents are torn between providing for their families and spending time nurturing their children. Because of this, Ally is passionateabout helping others transition from being full time working parents to becoming successful entrepreneurs. She is determined to help others deal with the sometimes overwhelming prospect of starting a new business while still running a household.
According to Ally, the biggest challenge of working from home is that you are your own boss. You decide what your pace is, how many hours a day you will work, when to respond to emails and phone calls, etc. In order to maximize your time and energy it is critical to create policies/rules for you to follow as you work from home.
Two of Ally’s personal policies are:
1. Choose a work schedule.
2. Never work in front of your kids.
Ally started out working from 8pm-11pm. Her husband took care of their son so Ally could have uninterrupted work time. Occasionally she even worked at a coffee shop when she got too distracted at home.
The reason that Ally chooses not to work in front of her kids is that it creates resentment in the children because the parent is not paying attention to them. Also, sometimes the parents can resent their children for interrupting them when they are trying to work.
Over time, Ally came up with 5 Universal Rules to Being a Part of the Self-Employed Movement.
They are:
1. Family comes first, business comes second. You don’t have to apologize for it. If you show respect for being self-employed, others will respect you for it.
2. Families come in all shapes and sizes. Let go of preconceived notions of how families should be. Show empathy, compassion, and respect to everyone’s decisions.
3. Never apologize for your children or the fact that you have chosen to be a self-employed parent.
4. Do business with other self-employed parents as much as possible. That includes purchasing each others products and services.
5. Trading of products and services is accepted and encouraged. You can offer to babysit in exchange for piano lessons. This keeps the budget low while you are increasing your income.
Ally works with parents to create a schedule that works for the family. She also teaches them how to:
1. Realize what their calling is, what skills will benefit their community.
2. How to organize their time
3. Create a map of the assets they already have (what their resources are)
4. Create a marketing plan without spending money
You can find out more about Ally’s coaching program here: www.GreatParentingShow.com/ally
Click here to listen to the replay of the interview
Here’s what some listeners had to say about the interview with Ally Loprete:
Loved the last show. I am working on building my business so I can stay home with my boys and this was so helpful! ~ Priscilla De Leon
I loved the last speaker! Ally Freund Loprete was one of the most empowering and insightful speakers I’d heard on this topic of becoming a self-employed parent. I felt for the first time like I really could “do it all” – take care of my kids while working at home. I love how she was honest about how treacherous the road will be- but that it’s still worth trying, and that failure was not an option for any of us as parents. I am so excited to jump in with both feet! ~Julie Holloway
Ally, I think what you say is so true. I think there has to be work and family time seperate and I also believe that you follow your calling – go and do something you are really passionate about. I am sure you are helping lots of families with your advice.
Naomi recently posted..Adoption and Anger
[Reply]