2 stay-at-home entrepreneurs juggle careers and carpools

9 to 5? Try 24/7.

A sister to the stay-at-home mom is popping up all over Utah County — the mompreneur. And it’s bringing new meaning to the phrase, “When two worlds collide.”

These women launch businesses during nap time. They make conference calls during “Dora the Explorer.” And they answer e-mails in the wee small hours of the morning.

Meet two such women with the same title but different tales — Erika Wilde of StopDirt.com and Tracy Behunin of Art De Coeur.

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The Wilde Card
Erika Wilde is no door mat as mom and entrepreneur

Every morning at 7 a.m., Erika Wilde grins — and her kids bare it.

“We start each day with scriptures and nudity,” laughs Wilde, founder of StopDirt.com, an online door mat retailer. “All the kids climb into bed with me, and there’s usually a little bare butt somewhere. We definitely have a stripper in the group.”

But Wilde, an entrepreneur and mother of four (with three kids under 3), is accustomed to contrast: scripture study and nudity. Business calls and trampolines. Customer service and crayons. Marketing plans and pitter-pattering feet.

You might say she lives a life of constant contrast — a life where two worlds collide all the day long.

“It never goes away,” says Wilde, whose venture as a door mat “middle-woman” brought in $750,000 in revenue last year. “I’ve gotten better about disciplining myself, but it’s difficult. It’s hard not to jump on the computer every spare minute to process orders. It’s hard to have kids jump on my lap when I’m working. Kids require so much, and I need to give it to them.”

The ol’ push and pull of motherhood and career is a constant struggle for women across Utah County, with the ever-elusive quest for “balance” sitting on an emaciated beam of unrealistic expectations. (Those gymnastics gals have it easy.)

Wilde, meanwhile, is teeter-tottering with the best of them — and it’s A-OK by her.

“There is no true balance,” she says. “It’s just not possible. What’s helped me is taking it one day at a time. Some days it’s going to be a business day — a day where I’ll say, ‘Kids, go rot your brains on the television, I have to take care of this new marketing push.’ Other days, I don’t get anything done work-wise — I just need to be a mom.”

Accepting the unbalanced life comes at the cost of perfection — but it’s worth it to Wilde.

“I want to do it all and do it all really well,” she says. “But something has to give — something has to slide. My life isn’t always going to be neatly tied together, and my house isn’t always going to be perfectly clean. But I always do the best I can.”

THE MOTHER LOAD
Wilde weighs in on working it as a mom

On why she works …
“Motherhood is the most taxing job I’ve ever done. But strangely enough, I can be incredibly busy and incredibly bored at the same time. I crave that mental stimulation work gives me, and I love the energy and challenge it brings. Plus, I’m good at it.”

On working for someone else …
“I have a college degree and could go out and work anywhere. I could climb the corporate ladder and enjoy myself. But I’d spend the day worrying about my kids.”

On working for herself …
“It’s a wonderful lifestyle for me and my family. I’m my own boss, and I can decide what’s right for me. I couldn’t be in a better position.”

On working from home …
“It’s certainly not glamorous.”

On having help …
“My mother comes to my house and nannies for me. It’s great because she’s downstairs with the kids, so I’m right there if there’s a massive meltdown. I do pay her, though, so it’s not elderly abuse.”

On bedtime …
“I tell the kids my love ends at 7 p.m. With three kids under the age of 3, I need some hours of peace.”

On outlets …
“I love triathlons, so I train and run with a bunch of fun gals in the neighborhood. It’s the most efficient hour of my day — I get to exercise and be social at the same time.”

On spouse time …
“My husband and I often get a baby sitter so we can have a conversation.”

On networking …
“I’m involved in two groups — the Young Founders of BYU Center for Entrepreneurship, where I’m one of only two women, and Startup Princess, which is a group just for women. The first is a fun group of guys, and the second is a fun group of ladies. The two couldn’t be more different, which is what I love about them.”

On moderation …
“It’s been a very conscious choice of mine to grow my business moderately. At times I’ve been tempted by the money to take it to the next level, but I have to keep my life sane. I don’t want to own a warehouse. I don’t want to manage 12 employees. It’s just not sane for me right now. First and foremost, I need to be a momma.”

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Home Is Where The Art Is
Tracy Behunin is a ‘big picture’ entrepreneur

Tracy Behunin has owned her business for eight years — but you wouldn’t have guessed it.

“I kept it pretty hush-hush in the early days. My entire neighborhood didn’t know about my business,” says Behunin, founder of Art De Coeur, a company that commissions custom oil paintings and sells them through designers. “My garage was overflowing with frames, and people still didn’t put it together.”

The top secret nature was for a top cause: her kids.

“I didn’t want to give my kids the impression that I had a career,” Behunin says. “If I had to be gone from home, I wanted it to feel like I was running errands. I didn’t want them to think I was choosing work over them.”

Behunin’s choice to keep her kids out of the work loop stemmed from a passion to be a stay-at-home mom — a passion made complicated by her life situation.

Nine years ago, Behunin was living in northern Utah when her husband decided he didn’t want to be married anymore. Devastated, she packed up her four boys and belongings and moved to Cedar Hills, determined to figure out her next step both emotionally and financially.
That’s when she saw the writing (or painting, rather) on the wall. Before her marriage ended, Behunin and her husband traveled to Thailand and hired an artist to paint pictures for their home — which gave her the inspired idea. She would commission artists to paint affordable custom oil paintings and sell them through interior designers.

The idea was a new concept at the time, and Behunin has capitalized on the unique business plan. The company has grown exponentially (sales have quadrupled in the past four years), moved to a new home in Highland (complete with a work warehouse), and added framing as an additional arm of the company (Behunin represents and does framing for designers nationwide).

Behunin has since remarried and added her husband’s five boys to the kid count (yes, that makes nine boys), and her life is brimming with hard work and happiness. But the true success, she says, has been in the little miracles — miracles that have enabled her to be a stay-at-home mom as well as an entrepreneur.

“I’ve been continually led to the right people and the right sources,” she says. “This journey has been filled with moment after moment of inspiration.”

Oh, and the secret’s out.

Her school-aged kids (ages 13-23) now know all-too-well what Behunin’s “errands” are. In fact, they’re doing a few themselves.

THE MOTHER LOAD
Behunin weighs in on working it as a mom

On being a stay-at-home mom …
“It was extremely important to me to not work outside of the home. It’s great for women to have outlets — it’s extremely important, in fact. But that time at home with your young kids is just so sacred.”

On having all boys …
“Oh, I love my boys. They are so respectful and just a joy for a mother to have. I also love that as they’ve grown up, they’ve been able to see their mother — a woman — work hard through challenges and succeed.”

On being a single working mom …
“It’s so hard to be a single mom and have a job. It’s much harder than being married with both parents working.”

On the trade-offs of being a mompreneur …
“A messy house is a big trade-off.”

On finances …
“I haven’t taken out loans. The largest loan I took was from a family member for $5,500, and I worked hard to pay that back quickly. And now I don’t have debt I can’t pay back over a month. I don’t know how in the world that’s worked out, but it has.”

On being a female business owner …
“I’ve actually gotten farther in my business than I would have as a man. All of my vendors and artists treat me with great respect because I am a woman. It has not been the typical, ‘Let’s look down on what you do because you’re a woman.’”

On miracles …
“I feel so blessed. It’s not in the stars for everyone to work in the home. And as a single mom for so many years, it was a miracle I was able to.”

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