How to Build a WAHM Business in 90 Minutes a Day
This week, we have a special Mom Career Interview with Melissa Ricker of EngineeredMotherhood.com here to chat about her journey to work-at-home-mom success and how she built her WAHM business in just 90 minutes a day! Melissa is a productivity & time management expert – skills she has taken from her pre-mom career and transitioned into an at-home business she LOVES.
Melissa also graciously stopped by the Scattered Woman Facebook page this week to chat LIVE with us! You can check out the interview replay below:
Welcome, Melissa! Why don’t you go ahead and tell us a bit about yourself?
I have two baby boys, Jax is 3 and Wes is 1. My husband, boys, two dogs, 3 cats and a horse live in Magnolia, TX (just north of Houston). Sean and I are both engineers and we met when we were both working at one of the nuclear power plants here in Texas (and no, I don’t glow, lol).
Ah, but you DO glow with purpose! 😜
You’ve really lived out this whole Mosaic Life concept we talk about here on Scattered Woman – going from nuclear engineer to online business builder! Walk us through your work history and how you went from engineering to your at-home business.
Like I mentioned, I’m an engineer. I have my masters degree in Nuclear engineering from Texas A&M University. I worked in the corporate world until about 2.5 years ago. Most recently, I was an engineering manager for a big oil company here in Houston. I was definitely on the fast track to the top and just always assumed climbing the corporate ladder was what I wanted.
Until I had Jaxon.
And then everything changed. Working 12+ hour days didn’t work. I couldn’t stand having someone else raise my baby.
I totally understand that!!
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This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service through these links, I may receive a small commission, which helps to keep my family and this blog afloat. Your price, as always, stays exactly the same. Thank you for your support! View my complete terms & conditions here.
So, tell us a bit more about your business. What is your mission?
I’ve always been huge on financial empowerment for women. I was the first in my family to get into a technical field and the first one to hit six figures. After watching my mom struggle with her own financial independence, I knew I’d always have my own paycheck.
And now … I get to help other women earn a paycheck … but it’s even more than that. It has become my mission to help moms earn an income so that they are empowered to make the life choices they desire.
Money has always been kind of a taboo topic, but it shouldn’t be. Money empowers us to make better choices. And as a mom, the ability to make choices is huge.
We should never be forced to choose because of financial reasons. There is nothing wrong with desiring more money. And we should never have to choose between money and mommy.
Financial empowerment is definitely a huge thing for a lot of moms!
So, are you building this business all by yourself? Or have you been able to hire some help?
I started as a one-woman shop. I now have a part-time VA (virtual assistant) and a business manager. My business coach really pushed me to outsource before I thought I was ready, but it was because of that that I saw quicker growth.
It really is awesome how having a coach to push us & encourage us makes that forward progress happen so much faster!
A Quick Note from Laura:
One of the best ways I’ve found to make money as a stay-at-home mom is to become a Virtual Assistant. You don’t need any special skills to get started, and you can do what you need to do while your babies sleep. Doesn’t that sound AWESOME?
What you DO need, first and foremost, is a step-by-step guide to setting up your business legally AND finding your first clients. Here’s where I tell everyone to start when it comes to becoming a VA: the Become a Booked Out Virtual Assistant training by The Virtual Savvy.
All by itself, this training is CRAZY helpful in getting you going. As a bonus, they offer you a back-door to join The Savvy System (the program I used) to jumpstart your VA success and give you that proven, step-by-step, A-Z guide to starting, growing, and scaling your new VA business.
(It’s a phenomenally helpful and supportive program! Truly, I recommend it to EVERYONE who asks about how to make actual money from home! Plus, if you join through my affiliate link for the free training above, you’re invited to do mentoring with me, as well! 👍)
Secondly, if communication with clients is a struggle, I strongly encourage you to check out my Client Personality Puzzle Workbook. 
It walks you through every stage of client communication — from the discovery call to onboarding to troubleshooting those inevitable miscommunications that can be so frustrating and disheartening as a new VA.
And there you have it! Two tools to help you get started with a work-at-home virtual assistance business! If you have any questions or just want to chat about how to make a VA business or these tools work for you, I’m just an email away. Hit me up here!
One of the hardest things for me as a WAHM is to answer the question, “so what do you do?” How do YOU answer that question?
That is a tough one, huh? We really do wear a bunch of hats. I like to call myself a “business alchemist for busy moms who want it all (and aren’t afraid to do the work to make it happen).”
And what does that mean?I help moms strategically launch and automate their businesses so they can live life and make money at the same time. ~ Melissa Ricker of Engineered Motherhood Share on X
What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned about yourself and your work over the years?
Where to begin? I’ve developed and changed so much since starting my own business. I guess the biggest lesson I’ve learned is how critical it is that we detach ourselves from the pressure of society and from those around us. I held myself back for so long because I was afraid of what others would think of me. Looking back, it was so silly.
Learning to let go of others’ expectations is really hard sometimes!
What is one thing you would have done differently in your work life, if you could do it over?
I would have started speaking my truth a lot sooner. Loud and proud. I would have stopped caring about those who didn’t like my message and realized that by always staying middle of the road, that I couldn’t ever have the impact I hoped to make in the lives of others.
It’s true: we DO learn so much about ourselves as we build our business at home!
One awesome benefit of working from home is that our kids get to watch us and how we handle both work and home. What lessons about work do you hope your kids learn from watching you over the years?
To never give up. To hold strong on their vision. To serve others and trust in God. That there is no magic button … just keep showing up.
If you could leave the Scattered Woman Crew with ONE piece of advice or encouragement about this Mosaic Life we moms tend to have, what would it be?
Get really clear on what you want and why. Set your boundaries and make them abundantly clear from the beginning. No matter if you head back to the corporate world or start your own business, always start with the end in mind.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years/10 years/20 years? Make sure that you are climbing a ladder that you care about and that you are living your life on your terms. We only get this one.
Do you have any business tips you’d like to share for those of us interested in the entrepreneurial route?
Oh, so many good things here!
Again, you have to get really clear on what you want to create. How much money do you want to make? How many hours a day/week do you want to work? How can you serve others while also meeting those goals?
For busy moms in particular, be really careful about trading hours for dollars. Especially too little dollars. Almost every business model can be built strategically to include passive income potential or multiple income streams. I have 4 income streams and work 4 hours a day. That can be pretty powerful when the kids get sick or I get sick or we want to take a vacation or homeschool our kids.
And then don’t be afraid to invest in your business. None of us want to hear it, but it takes money to make money. And if we aren’t investing in ourselves, how can we expect others to invest in themselves through us?
If we aren’t investing in ourselves, how can we expect others to invest in themselves through us? ~ Melissa Ricker of Engineered Motherhood Share on XBe strategic and smart in your investments and make sure you have a clear idea of your vision before you do … but don’t shy away from it. This is one of the biggest factors that separates those who struggle from those who don’t.
Do you have any other parting thoughts for us?
There are no “incorrect” answers to almost any question in life. I feel like so many women feel pressured to live and follow a certain path … and we are almost brainwashed by society that that path is the right (and only) one.
But that is hardly the case.
If something doesn’t feel good or doesn’t feel right or doesn’t light you up inside, find something else. Another boss, another job, your first business, another business. Whatever that looks like for you.
There are no wrong answers … and only you know what the right answer is for your situation.
Thank you so much for joining us today, Melissa!
If you’re looking for someone to help you with productivity & time management in your at-home business, be sure to hop over to EngineeredMotherhood.com & learn more from Melissa.
Are you ready to start your own WAHM business? Worried you don’t have the skills you need to do it? Come join the SavvySystem! This program gives you a step-by-step plan and all the resources you need to start your own virtual assistance business. You can learn more about what it means to be a virtual assistant in this FREE training from The Virtual Savvy. I used this program to jumpstart my own VA business, and I recommend it to EVERY mama I talk with about starting a WAHM business. It is THE BEST way to get started working from home!
As a former University Resident Director, Career Counselor, Certified Personality Trainer, and high school Spanish teacher, Laura has quite the “scattered” background — with one underlying theme: education! She writes to teach and inspire women on topics related to faith, family, and lifework. She is also a resume writer, specializing in resumes for moms, career changers, and new graduates.
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