Featured Entrepreneur
Mary Sullivan Cooper
MommyMixer
What does your business do?
We help moms to connect with great babysitters and we help babysitters to meet cool moms.
What do you like best about being an entrepreneur?
Working on something that I created. It has been so fun to foster, mold and bring a completely unique concept that I invented to 27 other cities around the country. Knowing that I am driving the train and truly making a difference in people's lives keeps me going.
What was your biggest fear in starting a business?
Of course, failing is always a fear in the beginning. Thinking that no one would show up at that first mixer did scare me. Even when only three moms showed up, I patted myself on the back and began to plan for the next one. I never look back, only forward.
What has been your proudest moment in starting your business?
Every time I receive an email from frazzled moms or college students saying how happy and thankful they are with the help or jobs they found at a mixer. It makes me so proud to know that I am helping folks. Life is too short not to help people.
What is the biggest obstacle to growth in your business?
Funding of course. MommyMixer is operating in 27 cities outside of Austin. We have interest in an additional 60 cities but simply don't have the funding to support the launch in these cities yet. We are currently looking for additional investors to help grow our brand bigger and better!
What is different about being a women entrepreneur?
What is different for me is that I am also mom to three tiny kids - ages four, two and five months. I am responsible for it all -- running my business and keeping my family alive and happy. It is like having 4 full time jobs and only being able work part time. At any given moment I might be typing left handed while nursing, sidewalk chalking while on a conference call, or wiping someone's nose while signing checks.
I am very emotionally attached to my business. I started MommyMixer before I had kids so it is like my first child. I make decisions from my heart and it is difficult to make unemotional decisions. That is probably a big difference between men and women entrepreneurs.
What is different about you since becoming an entrepreneur?
I have gained so much confidence in myself. I used to be timid about speaking in front of a group of people. Now, it is second nature. Whether it is speaking to potential investors, a group of women at a mixer or Good Morning America, I am confident in my brand and myself.
Which female entrepreneur has inspired you most?
All women business owners are inspiring to me.
What message would you give to other women entrepreneurs?
Keep up the hard work - it can be very difficult but it is yours and you are making a difference in lives that surround your business.
What do you like best about Austin Women Entrepreneurs?
Someone once said, it is like therapy for business owners. That is very true. To hear that others are dealing with similar challenges is very therapeutic. I also love to hear ideas of what has worked for other women and what has not. It gives great perspective on strategy no matter the size of the business.
