This week’s interview is with Sara Sutton Fell of FlexJobs. Sara’s business is so inspired & perfect for moms looking for legitimate at-home jobs in today’s shaky economy. Sara is a “Google girl” like me and has great vision to share with us. Enjoy…
Q: What is your name & how many children do you have?
A: Hi, my name is Sara Sutton Fell. My two amazing sons are 5 months and 2 years old.
Q: What is the name of your company and when did you start it?
A: I’m the CEO/Founder of FlexJobs. FlexJobs launched in late 2007 with the aim to be the best job site for legitimate telecommuting and work from home opportunities.
Q: What was the inspiration behind your company?
A: My own experience! When I became pregnant with my first son, I realized that I didn’t want to be working full-time out of the house. So I began looking for legitimate job opportunities that were both in line with my career and had a flexible component (options for telecommuting, flextime, or part-time hours, for example). It was pretty shocking to me at how little I found — even on some of the biggest and best job boards — and how frustrating it was to weed through scams and too-good-to-be-true job opportunities. Having worked in the internet field for over 10 years, I knew the technology was there and I believed that the jobs were too, but somehow the scams had seemingly taken over this otherwise very promising job niche. So, I decided to create FlexJobs as a solution to that-both for myself and other work from home parents, but also in light of what is going on in our world with the struggles for work-life balance, saving money, and reducing carbon footprints (all of which are helped by working from home for a wide variety of reasons!).
Q: How long did it take you to earn a profit from your business?
A: Well, to be honest, the revenue model we started with and tried for 9 months (charging employers while giving the service to job-seekers for free), didn’t get us to where we would need to be to earn a profit. So, in June we made a tough decision and began charging job-seekers a low subscription-based fee. Since then we have been able to make significant progress towards profitability, showing monthly increases and consistent growth, so I’m very happy to say that we’ve found the right path towards profitability.
Q: What obstacles (if any) did you face along the way & how did you overcome them?
A: As all the moms reading this know, taking care of a newborn (let alone a newborn and a two-year old!) is exhausting – I’ve had days that I was so *tired*! I never planned to be starting a company at the same time I was starting my family. But I’m so passionate about FlexJobs, and so proud of what we’re doing, that it energizes me. Another great thing about the company is our supportive, dedicated, enthusiastic board members and staff; every one of us works from home AND has a family, so we innately understand and appreciate the challenges we all go through finding work-life balance. Plus, an occasional business trip, with a full night of sleep in a quiet, comfortable hotel bed doesn’t hurt either!
Q: Did you ever feel like quitting? What kept you going?
A: No, I can’t say that I’ve thought about quitting. First, I believe in the company too much. Second, I have a fantastic situation with a truly *flexible schedule*, so that I am able to increase or reduce my hours per week whenever I need to, as long as I’m getting my work done. That’s the beauty of it telecommuting — it offers workers, employers, and the environment so many benefits. And third, when I need motivation, I think about conversations I’ve had with satisfied customers. The part of the business that is most fulfilling to me is knowing that we’ve helped people find jobs that fit their lives better.
Q: What quality/qualities (i.e., tenacity, discipline, time management) do you think are necessary for a mom entrepreneur?
A: The abilities to be organized, to multi-task, to prioritize clearly, and to be patient. All of these need to be applied (in abundance!) to both your personal life as well as to the business.
Q: What one thing (book, website, coach, tool, blog, service, etc) was VERY INSTRUMENTAL in your success?
A: A tool that has helped me IMMENSELY with managing and organizing all of my personal and professional responsibilities is Google Calendar. A few of my favorite Google Calendar features:
* Everywhere access – I can see my calendars from any computer connected to the Internet, which is great for traveling, and for my husband who can glance at the calendar from work to see what’s on the schedule. Google Calendar can also be synched with Outlook and smartphones.
* Easy access – The calendar can be included in the Google sidebar, which I have loaded on both my professional and our home computer, so it’s right there at all times.
* Multiple calendars – You can create multiple calendars, color code them, and display whichever ones you want to at a given time. For my family, we have 6 different calendars – one each for my work, my personal, my husband, our family as a whole, and one for each of our two boys (to juggle babysitting/daycare).
* Email/SMS reminders – Who doesn’t need a reminder from time to time?
* To-do lists – Although it’s technically another feature, I also enthusiastically use the Google Notepad, so that I keep a digital to-do list along with my calendars. It’s easy to update and edit. Nothing falls through the cracks and no one can doodle on it!
* It’s free!
Q: What is your favorite quote?
Here are two:
A: “Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolutions.” – Kahlil Gibran
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go..” – Dr. Seuss
Q: What advice would you give to a new mom entrepreneur?
A: Find a mentor, ideally another mom entrepreneur who can really understand! Someone who can:
- act as a sounding board
- provide support
- offer guidance, and
- inspire you.
Related posts:
- Success Tips From & For Mom Entrepreneurs One of my favorite things about being a mom entrepreneur...
- The Mogul Mom Features…Kelly Elizondo of Sara Langley Designs Q: What is your name & how many children do...
- 6 Steps To A Better Balancing Act Having an at-home business and maintaining a healthy work/life/family balance...
- 5 Ways To Use A Publication’s Media Kit Today, I’ll show you 5 ways to use a publication’s...
- From Seth Godin: 3 New Jobs You Might Want to Consider Another powerful post from Seth Godin: 3 New Jobs You...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I love learning about/from other mompreneurs. Thank you for sharing!