Editor’s Note: Good afternoon! If you missed Robin’s morning post on the very cool, fun and interesting Capilano Suspension Bridge, you can read it HERE. Now we kick off another year of amazing women in business with a warm profile on mom entrepreneur Emma Payton.

We’ve got some fantastic profiles of mom entrepreneurs this year. But, we’d love to hear from you about your favorite woman in business in the Comox Valley or Campbell River. Just e-mail Robin at editor@ourbigearth.com with a short blurb about your nomination and how to contact the nominee and we’ll profile her in 2010. How exciting to see so many women living their dreams. Have a great Sunday!

Motherhood, it changes you.

While there’s a whole list that involves sagging and wrinkled, exhausted and emotional that can be wrapped in there, for many women becoming a Mom takes life to a whole other level.

It brings out our genuine loves, forces them into places creatively and personally that reveal talents and ingenuity unrealized until that point.

It inspires.

Moms see a need and create the solution.

So, with this monthly series we celebrate the genius of Comox Valley women who turn the lessons of parenthood into a resource for the community.

We celebrate local mom entrepreneurs.

Name: Emma Payton
Age: 40
Partner and children: Deb Hughes. Two children – Maya and Courtney.
Business: Payton Hughes Consulting
Town: Courtenay, BC

About six years ago I was at a cross-roads in both my business management career and my social work career. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do next, so I took some time to explore my options. When I considered what I love to do (both business and social work), I decided to find a way to do both together and out of that came small business consulting.

As the mom of two teenage girls with active, busy lives, I often feel pulled to balance my work time and my family time - particularly if I have deadlines. Medical appointments and unexpected events (like the flu) can really impact the flow of my work week. Finding time for myself is always the most difficult thing to do and gets put off a lot.

If I had the opportunity to hang out by myself I would love to spend two weeks in a tropical place sleeping, reading, swimming and eating!

Word of mouth is how people learn about me and my business. About 95% of my clients have heard about me through a friend or business associate who has done business with me or knows me by reputation. I love this way of getting clientele because the referrals are always genuine and the clients I get are motivated and excited to work on their business.

Toughest Lesson: That you can’t please everyone, particularly if they are adamant that you can’t.

Biggest Success: Winning the 2009/2010 Minerva Award from the Comox Valley Women’s Business Network.

When I started my business I talked to my business mentors, business associates I’d been working with for years and my family.

Here are my strategies:

• Have a dedicated office space,
• Work around their schedules as much as possible, including working when they have gone to bed,
• Take opportunities to work when they arise – sleepovers or birthday parties can give me about four good hours of work time,
• Run an efficient, organized home – plan meals in advance, keep a shopping list going, use Google Calendar to plan everyone’s schedule, and
• As much as possible reserve weekends for family time – I never book clients on the weekends.

I have no such grand illusions, but one day I’d like to travel to a third world country and work with micro-enterprise development.

Well, I have written a lot on this subject but here it is in a nutshell: research and plan.

Hmmm, this is a hard question. I make referrals to local businesses every day and find that most of what we need to do business is right here. I have some clients who would benefit from a more accessible international trade resource.

Awkward Family Photos, Facebook and CBC.ca

Photo by McKinnon Photography.