{by Maya from ThinkMaya}

My title is indeed inspired by the movie Julie and Julia – such is my own relationship with Margaret Rudkin!

This past weekend, I stumbled upon the story of Margaret Rudkin – the lady who founded Pepperidge Farm. It was the right story that came along at a perfect time – one I needed to hear and one that I could relate to at multiple levels.

Thus was born, in my head, the story of “Maya and Margaret” – my effort to tie in my own story of how my startup and my life today came about with Margaret’s story of how she founded Pepperidge Farm from a little loaf of bread ….

It is better unplanned …

It is 2 years and 2 months since I formally quit my job at a big company and moved to Seattle. I had imagined nothing of what my life would be. A couple of months off with the kids in the summer and back into corporate life was my plan. What can I say? Plans change. A 3 month old and a 20 month old with a broken arm and an extreme case of stranger anxiety caused me to slow down a bit.

As much as I dreaded being a mom 24*7 with no job that I can completely rely on to get that much needed break and distraction everyday, I decided to do it anyway. While I worked to help my daughter with her hand and get over her insanely acute stranger anxiety, my own need for a breather slowly sucked me into this online world.

Much like Margaret Rudkin, who started to bake bread because of her child’s allergy, I started this blog and started writing the children’s stories I had always wanted to write … almost as a necessity. (well – not much else I could do between the kids’ naps ?) Margaret had no idea what she was getting into as she started baking bread for her allergic son, but soon enough, I think, she knew to accept the fact that she was on to something. Much like Margaret, a keen sense of deliberate entrepreneurship came about in me as I explored the space of children’s books – completely unexpected but not a surprise. A children’s book grew into a business startup idea and grew on to become my startup Memetales.

I wish I could have a little conversation with Margaret Rudkin over tea and some warm baked bread (oooh – I am having memories of the movie Julie and Julia). I am almost sure she would tell me she completely knew what she was up to and yet had no idea. To me, her every move seems like a deliberate experiment (an almost oxymoron) – the results of which surprised her as much as they reassured her – like the little bits of my life have been over the past year …..

The past year and a half have been the best in my life …learning and discovering more about the outside world every day. The best discoveries I have made have been about myself though. Learning that I could take a little spark of an idea, knead it in with a lot of hard work and determination and make it into something tangible – while I inspire myself and others along …. I could not have planned it better!

A need to succeed matters way more than the economy ….

Today I work harder than I ever have … while balancing little kids, a home and a million other responsibilities in an economy that does not seem to want to recover. In a lot of ways though, this has been the easiest hard work I have done in years. A fire and passion burn deep inside …

As I prepare my pitch deck and story for potential investors, I think of Margaret Rudkin. Surely, convincing the bakery to buy her bread at 25 cents (15 cents more than the average!) in 1937 could have been no less daunting than pitching to an investor, right?

No, I have no Pepperidge Farm to my name, but I have a story and proof to show that the best time to do anything is the time that YOU think is the best. But I do have a desperate need to succeed. And a real sense of what I am worth. I am learning to gather my loaves of bread and walk out the door every day …..

It has been a joyous ride – not easy, yet incredibly satisfying. The bad economy has been a positive driver and the penny pinching a creative force in disguise.

Did you say gender?

In the past few months, I have heard way too much talk about women, lack of women in technology, the few startups by women that are getting any investments, the lack of women investors and so on. Clay Shirky wrote about women not promoting themselves enough. And most recently, Allyson Kapin wrote about it as well, after she felt that a number of facts were left out from this story. Cathy Brooks talked about it in her show too.

All this makes me wonder. What is it with women in the field? What is it with all these numbers? Really, is there discrimination here? Can we do better? What can we do?

I say we do nothing different. We keep on keeping ….

To me, as an entrepreneur, Margaret’s story is once again the answer. The gender issue swam in the back of my head as I read Margaret’s story –

The “fairy tale,” as Margaret liked to call Pepperidge Farm, became the passion of her life. Over the 26 years since she started Pepperidge Farm in her kitchen, the average annual growth rate for the Company was 53 percent! She had turned a single loaf of bread into a huge, multi-category enterprise. She was a bestselling author and renowned industry leader. She frequently lectured at Harvard and other business schools in the U.S. and Europe.

To my absolute surprise, as I read Margaret’s story, I even forgot she was a woman. And that was the best inspiration a woman can offer another woman…. Stories of women inspire me more when they do not make a fuss about the gender….Stories inspire me when women succeed because of who they are as individuals…

What do I have to offer then? The best I can do to inspire is to continue to keep a laser focus on what I am doing. If I continue to pen my own story, my experiences and learning, perhaps I will inspire some men and women?

It is all hard work. Raising capital is hard. Executing on a plan is hard. But then what isn’t? What on earth does not require hard work and a crazy amount of determination? Gender should not be another thing we have to worry about. The best of people would have done it anyway – regardless of whether they were man or woman.

No way is my story one of resounding success but I am a part of a much bigger story. Stories that need to be told. A story of how I planned something small and the bigger emerged …I planned a book and a business idea emerged … I planned on sharing my passion and storyteller and a speaker emerged. . Mine is a story that aspires to grow up and be the story of Margaret Rudkin…

It takes guts to go out there and do anything – man or woman. It takes guts to dream big and take risks. The first step is to go get your hands dirty. Go knead your bread. Perfect it and come back to tell YOUR story. I will be right here, writing my own story and waiting to read yours ….

“There isn’t a worthwhile thing in the world that can’t be accomplished with good hard work. You’ve got to want something first and then go after it with all your heart and soul” – Margaret Rudkin

This post is sponsored by Blog Nosh Magazine as part of the Blog Nosh Magazine and Pepperidge Farm Celebrate the Heart and Art of Motherhood carnival.

Maya has a long list of accomplishments and associations. Not only is she a mom, she is also a business owner, writer, and social media educator. She is a monthly columnist for SimplyLivingMedia, and writes her personal blog, ThinkMaya. Prior to starting Memetales, an online children’s picture book community, Maya worked in the corporate sector, but left to pursue her passion for children and education. Follow Maya on Twitter and subscribe to her blog here!

***

Inspired?  Recognize a dash of Maya’s and Margaret’s tenacity and compassion in yourself?

Our carnival of storytelling celebrates the art of
stepping up to the plate in order to answer a need and
unexpectedly discovering a fiery talent just waiting to flourish.

Please join our carnival and share your own story of stepping up to the plate and delivering a bit of spit-fire that you may never have realized you had.

To participate:

• point your readers toward the carnival here at http://storybleed.com so they can explore your fellow writers’ stories
• grab the carnival badge code provided below (so we know you are an active participant), and add your carnival post link in the linky below.

We’ll be selecting 5 additional carnival posts to feature on the front page of Blog Nosh Magazine (with your permission) during the month of May so add yours now!  We can’t wait to read your story!

<a href=”http://www.pepperidgefarm.com/News.aspx”><img src=”http://www.velveteenmind.com/Carnivals/PF/PFBN400x100.jpg” ></a>

Heart and Art of Motherhood carnival sponsored by Blog Nosh Magazine and Pepperidge Farm.

{by Michelle Lamar from V3 Marketing}

It’s been 11 years since my mom passed away. But there are still days that I start to pick up the phone—to try to call her with a question—and my grief washes over me like it was yesterday.

My mother was a classy lady. Like many women in her generation, she raised a family and juggled work at a time when it was not the norm. Mom stood for all of the stuff that the feminist movement stood for but she did it wearing pearls and a dress. My mother did what she could to bust through and live life on her own terms, for the good of her family. My mom was a businesswoman who was involved in several different companies. She started her last business, an import-export company, when she was 60 years old!

Modern mothers need to unite and support one another, because balancing work and family is very tough, especially in this economy. I love to hear about strong women and Pepperidge Farm founder Margaret Rudkin has an awesome story. Margaret was one mom of three who just happened to start a business—in the Great Depression!

Margaret was a 40-year-old-mother of three young boys, living in Connecticut on Pepperidge Farm—named for an ancient Pepperidge tree that grew there.

The family faced many challenges during the Great Depression—but as parents, one of the most difficult challenges was dealing with the severe allergies and asthma of their youngest son, whose condition made him unable to eat most commercially processed foods.

Based on the advice of doctors, Margaret put her son on a diet of fruits and vegetables and minimally processed foods.

Then one day Margaret decided to try baking him some all-natural stone ground whole wheat bread with vitamins and nutrients intact. At a time when puffy, aerated white bread dominated the market, many skeptics—including her son’s doctor—didn’t think it was possible to bake nutritious bread that was also delicious

Margaret proved them wrong and then some.

Margaret Rudkin’s bread recipe grew into a brand called Pepperidge Farm. I love Margaret’s story because she reminds me of my own mom—she did what she needed to do, for the good of her family. I’ve had the good fortune to be surrounded by a number of great women, like my mother, who have encouraged me to not accept the status quo. I loved learning about Margaret Rudkin and how Pepperidge Farm got started.

I believe it helps modern mothers to hear the stories about Margaret (and my mom). These women paved the way and we can still learn from them.

This post is sponsored by Blog Nosh Magazine as part of the Blog Nosh Magazine and Pepperidge Farm Celebrate the Heart and Art of Motherhood carnival.

Michelle Lamar is a self-proclaimed geek and marketing and media executive. Michelle is the editorial director for myGLOSS.com, regular contributor to the Huffington Post and her writing has been featured in national publications including The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. She also claims to be addicted to Twitter, so you can always follow her there.

***

Inspired?  Recognize a dash of Michelle’s and Margaret’s tenacity and compassion in yourself?

Our carnival of storytelling celebrates the art of
stepping up to the plate in order to answer a need and
unexpectedly discovering a fiery talent just waiting to flourish.

Please join our carnival and share your own story of stepping up to the plate and delivering a bit of spit-fire that you may never have realized you had.

To participate:

• point your readers toward the carnival here at http://storybleed.com so they can explore your fellow writers’ stories
• add our carnival badge to the bottom of your post using the code provided below (so we know you are an active participant), and add your carnival post link in the linky below.

We’ll be selecting 5 additional carnival posts to feature on the front page of Blog Nosh Magazine (with your permission) during the month of May so add yours now!  We can’t wait to read your story!

<a href=”http://www.pepperidgefarm.com/News.aspx”><img src=”http://www.velveteenmind.com/Carnivals/PF/PFBN400x100.jpg” ></a>

Heart and Art of Motherhood carnival sponsored by Blog Nosh Magazine and Pepperidge Farm.

-I have insomnia and I’m tired.

-I work 7 days a week but Mondays and Fridays are my FT kid days during the summer.

-E-mail is the best way to communicate for me; if you leave me a voicemail, you honestly might not get a call back. If you leave me an e-mail, you will definitely get a response.

I tell you all this not because you are my friends, my family, my colleagues or my clients (although you may be one or all of these things): I tell you this because being transparent about who I am as the owner of three companies and as mama to two kids is essential to the success of my businesses and peace in my personal life.

Being a mamapreneur means that my businesses don’t just rely on the products or the services, they rely on the entire brand package—and that includes me as the owner. As mamapreneurs, like it or not, we ARE the brand.

When I meet with mamapreneurs who want PR help but tell me they can’t mention their kids in any press releases or bios, or when mamapreneurs say they have to lie about their odd work hours because their clients wouldn’t understand, I am more than disappointed. Maybe it was growing up with Elizabeth Cady Stanton as my hero, but I’ve always felt that we have a responsibility as women not to conform to the rules but to help MAKE the rules. As a mamapreneur, I feel immense pride in being part of this amazing group of women who run businesses and raise families. I came from the corporate world where I’d pretend I didn’t have a life outside of the office persona, to the life of a mamapreneur, where personal and business often gets all tangled up. Why? Because I am the boss.

It doesn’t matter whether you work from home or are the owner of a multi-billion dollar company with thousands of employees: you are still a mom who runs a business, you are still the one who calls the shots. You have a family at home. To pretend that part of your life doesn’t exist when you’re in business mode is doing a disservice not only to yourself, but to the entire business world and to your fellow mamapreneurs in general. Once I understood this, accepted and embraced it, I found the balance, the harmony, the peace I have always been searching for. It’s right there, if you’re willing to let go of traditional corporate thinking and just BE YOU.

One of the reasons I chose to make Mamapreneurs, Inc. an S-Corp instead of a non-profit was because I know that American corporations can do better. We CAN come back to a time when corporations aren’t looked at as mega-monsters, but as teams of individuals who are working to make the world a better place. My goal is to have Mamapreneurs, Inc. model what corporations SHOULD be. Mamapreneurs Inc. is about following through with family friendly policies and not just maintaining rhetoric on paper for appearances or awards. We’re about supporting the success of employees and members as moms, women and as business professionals. Here, working toward your version of success is important, but in doing so you don’t have to pretend to be the perfectly glossed CEO or the perfect mom.

I am human to the core, with quirks, many flaws and I will always make mistakes. I also have kids who sometimes get sick and I need to be there for them; they have doctor’s appointments and school events that take precedence over work. Work that I love dearly, but know can wait whereas many family issues cannot.

Sometimes I think we mamapreneurs forget that we’re the ones calling the shots; we are responsible for whether or not our lives are in harmony or in discord. If a design client seems hesitant to work with my hours, even though I would do a fabulous job for them & even if they would pay larger corporate rates, I politely decline the project. If a potential member doesn’t seem to “get” that Mamapreneurs, Inc is more about collaboration, support & building relationships than about hard core cold networking, then I am ok with them not joining the group. The right clients and customers will always be out there.

There is enough business to go around, and if you are true to yourself, your family, and your passion for what you do, then I firmly believe transparency in your business will help lead not only to great professional success but also to personal peace and fulfillment. And that, my friends, is what I believe “balance” is all about.

Editors Pick from Liz from Spoonfed: Marlynn is a Portland mom who writes about issues facing mamapreneurs at her blog www.mamapreneursinc.com. And she knows what she’s talking about. She’s the owner of a funky little design shop in Portland, Urban Bliss LLC www.urbanblissdesign.com and is also the Editor of Mama Lit www.mamalit.com.

Call us working moms, mompreneurs, work-at-home-moms, hybrid moms…whatever the label, we think you CAN have it all, with a little ingenuity and a lot of persistence.

To feed both my quick hit Tweets (I’m @AndreaLearned) and longer blog posts, I  survey the many marketing-related news stories on a daily basis.  Today, I found plenty of food for thought.  Two articles in the same MediaPost newsletter caught my eye: 1) a story of Swiffer doing promotions at the much-buzzed Blogher conference, and 2) the story of Target sponsoring “staycation” events.  Those news bits brought to my mind the broad continuum of marketing to women (over which the pendulum regularly swings) – from pinky, pink-ness to transparency – all in one place. Fascinating!

The background on those two tales -

(Visibly pink pitch) P&G’s Swiffer appealed to the girly side of female bloggers by sponsoring a pre-event Blogher lounge, SocialLuxe, which was described this way in Karl Greenberg’s MediaPost article:

As part of the partnership, P&G and Swiffer will offer guests manicures, pedicures, something called “clean-tinis,” and the first-ever BlogLuxe Award presentation — awards given by bloggers to bloggers — to recognize outstanding efforts in the blogging community.

(Full-on transparent approach) According to MediaPost’s Sarah Mahoney, Target is leveraging awareness of the bad economy/staycation trend to appeal to women and families trying to have fun with less money this year by:

…sponsoring a long list of local art events, offering 2,200 free days at more than 100 museums, theaters and cultural institutions throughout the country.

One approach resonates with today’s culture and the other seems lost in never-never land.  One is relevant to a lot more women for a longer period of time and one is fun for a small amount of women who may well not remember it a few days later.  One encourages/embraces a larger trend toward experiencing the wonders of your own “backyard,” and the other is counter to the more sustainable sensibilities that a lot of the members of its target market exhibit in their real and daily lives.

The pinkwashed, mani-/pedi angle was likely buzzing with activity and taken advantage of by plenty of early Blogher attendees.  By that measurement the promotion will be deemed a huge success.  But, do the SocialLuxe lounge event and Swiffer demonstrations/give-aways really speak to who those women deeply and for the longer term?

The transparent, not obviously “for her,” family culture and entertainment approach, on the other hand, can be appreciated by women as well as their kids and husbands.  It really does speak to a lot of women, in their language and around their values – especially right now.

Of course, we can go deep into each brand’s corporate history and practices, and pick them both apart in various ways.  No brand is, or will ever be, perfect.   My point was to simply take two marketing news-worthy stories on an average day in July and examine them for relevance to our immediate culture.  What do YOU see when you look around yourself today?  Which of those two marketing efforts would catch and hold your attention?

Pitching a product that is the antithesis of sustainable in a quick-hit, girly way to those assumed to still do all the housework (how 1950s) seems like a major disconnect right about now.  One more thing: do non-women-focused conferences have sponsored manly beer and sports caves with lawn mower and power tool demonstrations?  Argh.

What marketers have learned, especially in the past year or so, is that female and male consumers have very high expectations of the corporations behind the brands, as well as their marketing approaches.  They demand finely-tuned relevance to the issues and values that match theirs, or they can easily find another brand.

Is a pink drop in the promo bucket wise for Swiffer?  Once the super-influential target market of women bloggers gets back to writing, will cleaning gizmos or sponsored free museum visits this summer inspire their positive words?

Editor’s Pick by Melissa at Breaking The Dress Code: Andrea Learned, the co-author of Don’t Think Pink: What Really Makes Women Buy and How To Reach Your Share of This Crucial Market, is a leading women’s market expert, speaker and writer.She specializes in helping traditionally male-dominated industries learn about women’s ways of buying in order to serve everyone more effectively. Andrea shares her consumer gender insights and analysis via her Learned On Women blog, and regular contributions to the Huffington Post and the MarketingProfs.com “Daily Fix” and Women-omics Follow her on Twitter @AndreaLearned and download her latest manfiesto on ChangeThiscom: Beware The Gender Gap