Consumer

Working From Home An Attractive Option For Parents

Home-Based Businesses Allow Doting Parents To Have Successful Careers

CHICAGO (CBS) ― It may seem impossible to be a doting parent and have a successful career at the same time, but, as CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker reports, the key to having it all could be found right where you start every day: inside your own home.

How would you like to drop out of the rat race and trade your corporate office for your dining room table?

Robin Zell used to work for a travel agency, now she runs her own and focuses on mother and daughter outings or girlfriend getaways with her company, Just Girls Trips.

"There's no commute involved. I can work when I need to work, I can stop when my kids need me to stop," Zell said.

She has been in business just a few weeks, but estimates she'll make $3,000 a month on commissions from the hotels and resorts she books for her clients. Her business is growing so quickly because of the resources she found on a Web site called Home-Based Working Moms.

"They have promotions information that you can send out free of charge," Zell said. "I paid for a virtual assistant from Home-Based Working Moms to do e-mail blasts for me."

Lesley Spencer Pyle is the founder of Home-Based Working Moms. Her site is not only a resource for women with their own companies, but she also provides information on corporations looking for moms. They don't have to have a college degree, and can make $10 to $15 an hour.

"It might be a virtual assistant. It might be working for some of these companies that use home based customer service reps," Pyle said.

And if you don't want to be tied to a computer, but still work from home, consider following in the footsteps of Sharon Kelly. She hosts jewelry parties in the evening, so she can have quality time with her children by day.

Kelly makes more than a $1,000 a month selling jewelry.

"It's nice," she said. "I bought my kitchen table. I paid for expenses on our summer home."

If you're interested in starting your own home-based company, or working for a corporation from home, check out these Web sites:

Home-Based Working Moms
Hire My Mom
Arise Virtual Solutions
Work At Home Mom
Premier Designs To learn more about Premier Designs and jewelry sales, you can e-mail Kelly at DSKelly@wowway.com

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