My name is Lisa Smith and I am 29 years old.  I have a 2 YO daughter and an 8 year old Golden Retriever.  My husband works for the AZ Diamondbacks Baseball Club and travels with the team.  After 8 years of working in a family owned business I decided to go into business for myself after my daughter was born and have been working to get Regionz Kidz out into the public eye.

1. What businesses do you and/ or your family run?

My company is called Regionz Kidz ( http://www.regionzkidz.com ) and we are a multicultural clothing line and educational products company. After visiting a regional gift show and seeing the lack of infant and toddler clothing that was upscale, culturally-diverse and customized for kids, I decided to create my own designer t-shirt line. I wanted a regional infant and toddler clothing line that would highlight some of the fun aspects about living in a country as diverse as the US. I also wanted multi-cultural designs celebrating the diversity of the children and families all across the country.
Our 15 hand-drawn, customized designs were created to be regionally specific and to represent the wonderful attributes of the different areas of the United States. In addition, we have multi-cultural girl and boy designs enabling all moms to find a Regionz Kidz character that matches their child’s personality.  We have recently launched our Educational CD Series as well as a line of 100% certified Organic Cotton tank tops.

2.    What made you decide to work from home?

I couldn’t stand the idea of putting my daughter into daycare and having someone else get to spend time with her for a large portion of the day.  I really wanted to be home with her and be able to travel with my husband when he is on the road and work my schedule around my daughter’s activities.

3.    What kind of support have you gotten from your community?

I have received overwhelming support from friends and family as well as from strangers that see my designs and are encouraged by my message of diversity and unity.  I have been able to partner up with some wonderful people that have agreed to cross-promote and review my products and create publicity for Regionz Kidz because they think it is such a unique concept and such an important message to send to children.

4.    What sort of things does being self-employed allow you to do, for example, being involved in your child's life, school projects...etc?

The biggest thing that self-employment does for me is that it allows me to work around my husband’s travel schedule.  When he is in town, we can spend half the day as a family before he goes into the ballpark, and when he is out of town, we have the option to travel with him to different places across the country.  I am also free to take my daughter to swim lessons, gymnastics classes and any other activities that she enjoys because I am not tied down to working specific hours.

5.    How do you feel your children see you as an entrepreneur?  What things are they learning by watching you work?

My daughter is too young to really pick up on many things but she does know that when I am on the computer, that is my work time and she plays quietly on her own.  Both of my parents have worked from their home for as long as I can remember and I learned several valuable lessons watching them.  They taught me that you can make a small business successful if you work hard enough and smart enough & they taught me that if I really have a passion for what I do, it would be fun for me and not like work at all.  I also learned that you have to work a lot of hours when you are self-employed because there is no one else to hand the responsibilities off to!

6.    How is being a self-employed parent difficult?  What sort of things (if any) would make your job easier?

The balance sometimes is difficult.  If I have something that HAS to be done but my daughter is sick or we have an activity, then work has to wait and sometimes that is hard for me.  I find that sometimes I get impatient with my daughter if I am in the middle of something and she needs me or gets fussy.  I have tried really hard to schedule out times to work either before she gets up in the morning, when she is napping or after she goes to bed.  If I can set that out in advance, then I don’t get too stressed out when other things come up. 

7.    What would you most like for consumers to know about you and the businesses that you run?

That Regionz Kidz is more than a clothing line or about more than selling things.  We really believe that we can help begin a line of communication between parents and children about racial, ethnic or cultural differences.  If children are exposed to pictures, activities, books, etc that feature multicultural children, then they will begin to ask questions and will be more tolerant of others as they grow up.  We feature wonderful articles, resources and guest comments on our blog, http://www.regionzkidz.com/blogz and they can assist parents in how to talk to children about differences and teach about other cultures in a non-judgmental way.

8.    What are you most proud of as a parent?

I am proud that when we take my daughter out to different places that they tell me what a well-behaved and polite little girl she is.  I see her learn and change everyday and I am proud that I have helped contribute to the beautiful girl she is becoming.

9.    Do you have any advice for other parents who are running their own businesses or want to?
If it’s something you believe in, then, go for it.  Also, be realistic of the timeline for success.  Because your family is first, it may take longer than average to start turning a profit or getting exposure.  Never forget that you should be a parent first.  Everything else can wait

10.    What was your favorite childhood toy?
I loved Strawberry Shortcake, My Little Pony and Care Bears.  We also had a great playset in the backyard of our house that we played on for hours; swinging, sliding and just climbing all over the place!
Interview for parent Spotlight