Working moms have it tough. Being committed fully to work and family is an impossible task that working moms have to take on. It can be exhausting and thankless, being perceived as not fully present as an employee or a mother. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
It is possible to pursue a fulfilling full-time career while taking an active role as a
Sheena, left a corporate, 6 figure job as an executive, overseeing the Training Department, in which she built the function at a growing tech/marketing company over the last few years. Sheena is no stranger to struggling to prove herself in professional and personal environments and when the demands of corporate life no longer worked with the demands Sheena had for herself and as a mother, Sheena decided to start Working Moms Co.
”I really believe that women should have every opportunity, training
and resource available to them to make the most of their careers and motherhood (if they chose). I want all women and particularly mothers to know and believe in their worth, strive to achieve more and always, always feel supported in having goals. In this new role as founder, I am able to use the best of my experiences as a working mom to create a safe space for women like myself to grow as individuals and as mothers.”
Working Moms Co organization is geared towards any mom who has goals for themselves while wanting to be the best mom they can be. Working Moms Co help moms find their ideal balance between having it all for themselves. Working Moms Co, is a place where ambitious moms will find the support, training
How does it work, Working Moms Co?
Working Moms Co works in three different ways, all of which revolve around coaching, courses and community for each mom. The first of which is our professional and personal development courses (we are currently beta testing) which help moms to identify their ideal work/mom life balance. The second way in which we work is through 1:1 coaching. I work directly with any mom in our program to work through the tough parts of uncovering their ideal balance, setting, as well as achieving their goals and maintaining positivity throughout the process. The third way we work is through our community. We are slowing building a community of likeminded and motivated moms from all different walks of life and stages.
Moms are busy already, how can they get coached? Explain this!^^
So, true! Moms are the busiest… Juggling two full
The basis of our program revolves first around walking through our process of identifying, developing and executing a personalized plan to achieve each client’s ideal work & mom life balance. Second (and often forgotten is) focusing on making time for themselves and we work closely with our moms to ensure they have “self-care” moments every day. It is within these moments between once a month to once a week that we connect with our clients.
The coaching sessions can be anywhere from 5 minutes check-ins to 1 hour 1:1
The purpose of the coaching sessions is to help identify, create and manage the delicate balance between work & mom life, so we are incredibly accommodating to our moms and what that looks like to them.
In your own words, what do you do?
I help ambitious, family & goal
What are the key elements of a successful work life balance?
The key elements of a successful work life balance are
- being really clear about what that means to you. For instance, my idea of balance means working 40+ hours, creating
trainings and helping moms and also being done by dinner time and giving my son a bath. For some of ourclients that means growing a side hustle during nap time or being home to kiss theirkids goodnight. Everyone has a different expectation and idea of balance, and we are here to help identify and work with our clients to have them obtain what it looks like for them.
- Identifying the goals that you have: these goals along with the above, but really it is about identifying what you want your goals to be with work and mom life. Do you want to be home by 5 pm every night? Do you want to create passive income to spend more time with your children? Whatever the perfect work and mom life are to our clients, that’s what we help them achieve.
- Creating and sticking to a schedule, as free of distractions as possible This is so important to not only achieving everything you want as a
mom, but also maintaining the right balance. Part of the method is to help our clients get used to planning and time blocking as well as work through the challenges of both. - Most importantly, not forgetting about yourself! I have found both personally, and through client exchanges and experiences that the easiest way to lose sight of and get off track is to forget to prioritize ourselves as well. Self-care is so, so important for everyone, but even more important for moms.
What are your goals what problems are you trying to solve?
Our mission is to help 10,000 Working Moms identify and achieve their ideal Work & Mom Life Balance, recognize their unique brilliance and create impactful longterm change for their families, their careers and most importantly themselves.
We are trying to solve the problem that all working moms I know have faced, and that is simply finding the right balance between personal and professional growth. Being a mom is so, so hard. Being career focused is so, so demanding. I want to help any mom who believes in themselves and has goals achieve more than they think is possible at this moment. Because, I truly believe that if I can, they can. The basis of our programs and mission is to provide an outline for success, support each along the way and celebrate wins, together.
Can you give us 3 tips on how to become more relaxed as a busy mom?
- Lead with your passion
Nothing will get done if you don’t actually want it. Any goal that you have should be something that you really want from your life. Our process helps moms to uncover what that actually means for them, so they can stop going through the motions and start loving every aspect of their lives.
- Don’t sweat the small stuff
There are so many thing that happen in a day as both someone who works and a mom. It is a constant balancing act of prioritizing each. I have found that most of my stress and the stress our clients experience can be pinpointed back to little things in life that just happen. Failures, or mishaps can have a strong effect on working moms. In my experience, letting go of things that are holding you back as well as the many failures you will experience in both, will make life a lot more enjoyable!
- Take a time out
Being a mom is so, so hard… and it gets harder the more we push ourselves onto the back-burner. It is so, so important for moms to get time for themselves. It can be 2 minutes before getting out of bed to mentally prepare, a
Tell us about a time when someone disliked your the idea of starting a business, how did you handle this situation?
I actively ask for a lot of feedback when it comes to my business ventures and work. For me, someone disliking what I am doing or the ideas that I have behind the business, is awesome, so long as it is constructive. I appreciate getting different perspectives, ideas and opinions on my business venture and ideas. I don’t believe in tunneling my ideas and love to have focus groups/share my information for feedback to make sure that it is actually good.
Any time someone has disagreed or disliked a concept, idea or business venture I have thought of and shared, I always ask them why? Why do you not like it? Why do you not want me to do this? Why does this not resonate with you?
When you ask people why they don’t like something, you have to develop tough enough skin to handle what they way, no matter what it is. One instance was when I shared the idea for Working Moms Co with a former co-worker. They simply didn’t like it or resonate with it. I asked why, and the response I got was simply that it wouldn’t be worth the time or effort, and there was no way I would be able to help so many women. I thanked them for their opinion and for being so open…
And I will prove them wrong, which will be the best way to hand the situation.
What advice would you want to give women who are starting a new career while having children?
The best piece of advice I can give to women who are starting a new career while having children is: no matter what, believe in yourself and believe that you can balance both, successfully.
One of the things that I see most often with the moms we work with is that they feel like they are pulled in multiple directions, completely lost and unable to be successful at work & a mom when they are managing both. This often leads to self doubt, lack of motivation and ultimately failure.
This too happened to me. Before I had my son, I was extremely worried that I wouldn’t be able to have a career and be a mom- I thought I had to do one or the other. But that isn’t true. When I shifted my mindset from an
What steps do you take when you want to get through a less of a good business day?
When dealing with a bad day in business whether it be losing a deal or missing a deadline, I think it is incredibly important to approach these “failures” in a similar way that I would with my son. That is to simply recognize that the small mishaps and bad days are simply that, one day. I believe that failures are not as bad as we think they are, but instead are opportunities to learn and grow. You can think of bad days and failures as learning opportunities. Each mistake I have made in business, and in life has helped to shape, mold and lead me to exactly where I am today and that is pretty amazing. If you take a big picture approach to bad days, you can see that they are all a part of something more…and it isn’t so bad.
![From Music to Perfume: How did your background as a music teacher influence your transition into perfumery, and how do you incorporate your musical sensibilities into creating fragrances? I’ve always thought in terms of metaphors, and music has many that can be related to perfumery! Beyond just thinking in terms of top, middle and base notes [soprano/alto/tenor in choir], I approach each fragrant idea as a composition. When documenting my ideas, song structures often come to mind. As the scent brief is visited, I meditate on what the fragrance should convey - do I want to create an accord or a “chord” of fragrance note combinations? Do I want an a capella soloist (a particular ingredient to stand out more than others?) Many of my thoughts regarding song composition transfers to my scent formulation process, with me treating each note as an intentional soliloquy at some point.
Brand Origin: What inspired you to start Pink MahogHany in 2005, and how has your vision for the brand evolved since its inception?
An avid lover of all things pleasantly scented (with slight modesty), looking back in retrospect, it’s no huge surprise that I’ve created an indie perfume house with just an idea to provide unique options for those who may be sensitive to unnecessary pungency. Initially, I just wanted to evaluate various blends to note their aroma profiles when “played” together…it wasn’t until I had friends and family asking if I knew of brands that catered to those who may be on the more olfactory sensitive side, that I really began to take my research more seriously. In the almost 20 years that Pink MahogHany has been in existence, our micro visions for the brand have evolved to larger territory. Where Pink MahogHany used to only be a personal brand, we are now also a bespoke formulation service provider to other indie brands seeking unique fragrance offerings for their products. These products range from (but are not limited to) perfumes, candles, body butters and lip balms. Ingredient Transparency: You emphasize transparency and the use of desirable ingredients in your products. How do you select your ingredients, and what challenges have you faced in maintaining this standard?
Being an indie brand often comes with a set of assumptions and misconceptions - one of them being more negative than positive as it relates to ingredients used. There is a lot of “fluff” in the industry with labeling falsification. Because fragrance formulas are a trade secret, not every molecular breakdown of a material has to be noted on the ingredient label (it would be incredibly long), but we at Pink MahogHany™️ adhere strongly to the IFRA [International Fragrance Regulatory Association] regulations that state for common and potential allergens to be listed on our ingredient label. We’ve taken this a step further to also include these ingredients listed on our website to promote further transparency, all while protecting our intellectual property. Unfortunately, we’ve had companies to unethically sell lesser expensive “dupes” of our artisan perfumes, so as a way to create a better authenticity stamp, we make it our duty to be honest about our claims. If our perfume says “Rose Bulgaria”, it is in fact just that and not a component of rose being passed off as the source material. Collaborations and Custom Scents: Can you share more about your work with private label clients? What excites you most about creating custom scent solutions for other indie brands? I could easily sum this up in one word and say “Funding.” True, there is money out there, but I’m always thinking outside the box. Having a program that has an “Each One Fund One” mentality doesn’t exist (that I’ve been made aware of). Bootstrapping can be quite the challenge, even when you’ve reached the 6-figure mark annually. Competition to be seen and set apart is extremely high, so having quality packaging and branding is a must. There are lots of factors to consider, though when desiring to make upgrades. If there were a unique, tier-geared funding operation available, it would help perfume brands offset packaging and bulk material costs in the beginning stages.
Industry Challenges: What are some of the biggest challenges you've faced as an independent fragrance house, and how have you overcome them to grow your brand? As the brand continues on the path of organic growth, I would like to expand our reach into schools, offering perfumery as an arts elective for middle and high school. I’d love to partner with botanists, farmers and horticulturists directly to grow and source raw materials for the students to work with in the creation of tinctures. My passion is getting back to nature as best as possible, as nature was my first “scent experience” as a child. We would also love to witness our fragrance creations being used to scent model homes, our focus diffuser blends being used in automobile dealerships as well as partner with Air Bnb and boutique hotels that specialize in highlighting minority, indie brands. Personal Journey: How has your personal experience, particularly as a divorced mother and someone who has experienced the loss of a child, shaped your approach to life and your work in perfumery?
Because I homeschool my twin sons, we are together a lot more than most, so one thing we all do is have moments of sharing where a neutral “floor” is laid to converse about anything. Though they are quite communicative by nature, I realize that sometimes I can be in work mode so much that it spills over into what should be our quality time. My sons see the authentic me and learn how to communicate through seeing authenticity. I’ve learned not to feel as if I have to be the epitome of perfection but allow them to see my imperfections vulnerably but with discernment. Having had two traumatic experiences pretty close together has taught me how to truly slow down and enjoy the simplicities of life - igniting a spiritual aspect that I’ve always carried but never fully explored…until Kenji’s sudden passing (2018.) Grief has a way of catapulting us into a quest for more meaningfulness in both life and business. After Kenji’s passing and my processing through the initial stages of grief, I was able to incorporate our spiritual bond into Pink MahogHany by way of essential oil diffuser blends for both focus and sleep and most recently aromatic perfume elixirs. It’s been quite the process channeling the void of his physical presence, but I also have peace knowing he can be honored in a great way through scent. I noticed once I began to be more open and receptive to spiritual signs, synchs and “winks”, more ideas began to flow. It’s been this way since his transition. Emotional Expression: Fragrance is often tied to memories and emotions. How does your personal life influence the fragrances you create, and do you have a particular scent that holds special meaning to you? My creative process is much more alchemic now, and I include Kenji by talking out loud to him, believe it or not. I’m a firm believer that when our loved ones transition from the physical plane, they are still present - just in another form. I choose to keep his memory alive by not pretending he never existed (even if for a brief period of time). I am working (slowly) on a book and accompanying fragrance, but I know it will require me to revisit some memories I’m not quite ready for, so until then, his big brothers will launch their debut fragrance, The Peaceful Tiger (they chose the name.) I’ve learned that even in what we consider “small things”, our transitioned loved ones want to be recognized and acknowledged. When the twins and I designed their fragrance label (with a designer out of the country that didn’t know anything about me personally), we had issues with the graphic - so much so that the designer asked if they could rework the design. When they sent the proof for approval, the Tiger was not only younger but sleeping, with an uncanny, angelic resemblance to baby Kenji! Becoming more aware and being more sensitive to my intention for launching a fragrance has definitely made room for more divine situations like these to occur. Healing Through Scent: In what ways has creating fragrances been a form of healing or expression for you, especially after the loss of your son, Kenji Mwamba? I know my sons may not necessarily want to be perfumers, but they definitely have an entrepreneurial heart. My desire is that whatever they decide to pursue (acting, script-writing, music or architecture), they know that anything is possible with the right amount of determination, grit, belief and immersion. One reason I chose to homeschool is so they could enjoy learning without restraint and have ample time to devote to their own separate passions and it still be fun. They know Pink MahogHany is theirs if they want it (many, many years from now - lol), and we are already discussing business structures for whatever they choose their role to be once I retire. Work-Life Balance: How do you find balance between your professional responsibilities and personal well-being, and what self-care practices do you prioritize? I’m not just a perfumer; I’m also a consumer, and self-care is huge for me. I often take salt baths to reset my energy and clear my mind after being around large groups of people or free a long day. I’m a habitual perfume sampler, and I have so many to choose from to wear as my “nightcap.” Even if just for 10-15 minutes, I cherish each moment I’m able to have some “me-time.” When time and co-parenting schedules permit, I’m definitely on a flight somewhere to indulge in some delicious food and mouth-watering mocktails!](https://www.womenontopp.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/IMG_3812-1200x720.jpeg)
Join the discussion!