I am enjoying interviewing professionals and mom bosses about their line of work or their side hustles for working moms. Today I am sharing an interview with Mollie, a Digital Project Manager. Mollie shares how you can use your stay at home mom transferable skills to get contracts as a digital project manager.
Here you’ll learn how to start your own project management side hustle and turn it into your main job.
Digital Project Manger -a perfect Mom Career
Tell us about yourself. We love an introduction.
Hi, my name is Mollie. My motherhood journey was probably obvious to everyone but me. I have never been the person who does what society says, so I should have known I wouldn’t do things the traditional way when it came to motherhood.
When I had our son, I knew for sure I would be a Working Mom. I had my degree and was good at my job, so I found a friend to watch my son while I went to the office. This was like torture for me every single day. Fairly quickly my journey as a Working Mom ended, to only my surprise.
Then began my time as a Stay-At-Home-Mom. This was perfect for a time, I loved having my child with me and knew it was the right move for my family. In a very short amount of time, I began to lose myself outside of Motherhood with my only identity being a Mom.
In an effort to find myself again AND contribute financially I knew I needed to start working again. So I dusted off my skills and started taking contract jobs as a Digital Project Manager. I began the journey to find myself as a Mother, Wife, Sister, Daughter, Professional, and Community Member.
When I had our second child, my Hybrid Mom skills were put to the test because I had two under two, and many contracts I was working to keep active.
I now make more money than I have ever in any traditional job, and my children are both home with me. I have figured out the tips and tricks to help me feel present in my children’s life while performing at a high level with work. When I created the Digital Project Manager Academy, I felt my true passion come to life professionally. I can’t wait to help you experience all the wonderful perfect of life as a DPM Mom!
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What is a Digital Project Manager and what do they do?
A Digital Project Manager will oversee a project from conception to completion. This will include task management from a timeline, budget, and personnel perspective. A successful Digital Project Manager can inspire their team to deliver high-quality work and keep a strong relationship with the client. They are the point of contact for the project. They know the 30,000” view of the work and support their team while they complete the project. The best DPMs are Moms because they are professional problem solvers who inspire excellence.
As a DPM you can reasonably make more than $40/hour. As a part-time employee at 15 hours a week that is $2,400 a month. Think about what that extra money would do for your family’s budget!
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Related: See how your project management skills stack up against current best practices and trends in the field with this hiring guide.
What inspired you to launch a course to teach Digital Project Manager?
Once I found my style of motherhood, being a Working Mom with my kids at home with me, I finally felt at peace as a Mom. It didn’t take long for many of my other Mom friends to start asking me questions about what I did, and how I did it. Being a Digital Project Manager is a fairly new job and this was the first time many of them saw a Hybrid Mom (Working Mom and Stay At Home Mom) balance both worlds. It took me a bit to find a rhythm that worked for my family and as I found my way, more and more people started to ask me if I could teach them how to be a DPM. It didn’t take long to see that as Moms, we have the skills needed to be successful DPM’s. The ability to experience work freedom, financial freedom, professional success, and being present as a Mom should not be a luxury to the few in my circle of friends. I wanted all Moms to have the chance to take control of their motherhood journey in a way that serves them both as a parent and a professional, this is how the Digital Project Manager Academy was formed.
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Share your goals and mantra of your biz.
Finally, achieve a true work-life balance as a Mom. Without burning out or making minimum wage.
I want all Moms to have the ability to parent the way that serves them best. I don’t want other women to feel boxed into being either a Working Mom OR a Stay-At-Home-Mom. They both have value and they both have challenges so I want other Moms to be able to capitalize on the best parts of being a parent and a professional at the same time.
How does being a DPM help reduce the stress and mental load of motherhood?
Having control over my schedule, work location, and hourly rate gives me the chance to be the kind of mom I want to be for my children. Being a Mom is difficult and having a job that contributes to our family financially but doesn’t take away from the other tasks I do for our family, has been an answer to prayers. It’s time as Moms we accepted that we are not raising children in the world we grew up in, that includes how we work. With all the crazy things happening in the world today, the ability to work from anywhere has given me the chance to be nimble to my children’s needs while filling my personal cup.
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What are some of your favorite things about running your business?
As the owner of my business, I can backburner things if other priorities arise. Having this type of control is exactly what I always wanted professionally. I also love the creative freedom I have by being able to try out different ideas and test out new theories. I have a vision for my business and I want to show my children it’s possible to be a parent and a professional at the same time. I want them to see how hard work can be fulfilling and fruitful.
What are some challenges you ran into when starting your business?
It’s difficult getting into a grove and feeling like I am making progress with work, then needing to abruptly stop. When you love what you do, but also love being a Mom, it can feel like there is never enough of you to go around. It’s easy to say good things take time, but when you are excited to grow your business, but don’t have all the time to commit it takes longer. This business will take me longer to grow because I also care for my children 24/7, but I hope it shows them how strong I am as a Mom and as an entrepreneur.
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Any advice you want to give fellow moms?
All Moms Can Be Successful DPM’s
Learn to make money using the Mom skills you use every day and achieve flexibility of schedule with financial freedom. As a Mom, you have already started to develop the key skills that make a Project Manager successful, as a DPM you can use the skills all while working from anywhere at any time. It’s time you started making money for the skills you use on a daily basis.
Want to know a secret? You don’t have to be a digitally savvy person to be a successful Digital Project Manager. The “Digital” part just means you do the Project Manager part of the job remotely!
Learn more about Mollie and becoming a DPM at MommaBearMission.com!
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