Join Us in the Fight for Preemies

I remember the moment I found out I was pregnant with each of my children. It was a moment filled with overwhelming joy and tears of excitement, yet one of worry. It was a worry like no other and one that stayed with me until the day they were born. I wanted my babies to be completely healthy, growing like they should and making it full term. If you are a mother, I know you understand. Therefore, I know you have compassion for mothers whose children do not make it full-term.

Premature birth is the number one killer of newborns and more than half a million babies are born too early each year. Those premature babies who do survive are often disabled for life. So as part of a national effort to save babies from premature birth, the March of Dimes has declared the month of November - Preemie Awareness Month.

What can you do to help? By visiting our website (http://www.pregoplanner.com/) during the month of November and clicking on the Preemie Awareness Month “ChipIn!” button in the bottom right-hand corner, you can donate and support a cause bigger than yourself. You can play a part in saving a precious child’s life and a mother’s heart. At the end of November, 100% of the funds raised will be donated to the March of Dimes.

Not only will contributing to such an amazing cause lift your spirits, but it will also enter you in a drawing to WIN fabulous prizes from our current awesome sponsors. Donate and you could WIN:

A fantastic all weather WooBee blanket (http://www.rainorshinekids.com/) – my most favorite blanket ever!

A FREE session fee and 8x10 with Heather Owens Photography
(http://www.heatherowensphotography.com/) – she just took pictures of my boys and they were so beautiful that they literally left me speechless.

A gift certificate from BabyLegs (http://www.babylegs.com/) – the most sought after children’s accessory in the world!

Completely tax deductible, you will receive the number of chances to win for each dollar that you donate. For example:

$1 = 1 ticket
$5 = 5 tickets
$10 = 10 tickets
$15 = 15 tickets
$20 = 20 tickets

Keep watching as our list of sponsors is expected to grow. Also, I understand that not everyone will be able to donate. However, I (and the unborn lives) would greatly appreciate it if you could help spread the word and pass this on to others.

Thank you in advance!!

P.S.
Please note that PayPal is not associated with the drawing as they do not participate in raffles. If you have questions about donating, please contact me at heather@braelynbountybug.com.

Tossed to the Floorboard

It’s been a very long time since I have tended to the GlaMOMorous World Blog. Poor thing, it has definitely been tossed to the floorboard of the third row seat. And in the famous words of my husband, “Excuses don’t explain and explanations don’t excuse.” However, I must get my ten (not two) cents in. It’s one of those things where business gets to going really great and you become so excessively busy that you loose track of your priorities. Busyness fills your days and soon you’re working until 1:00 am and pushing the envelope of becoming emotionally and physically drained. Then the in-laws visit for a couple of weeks…and before you know it…what started with tenacious drive (that’s for you honey ;o) has driven you to exhaustion.

So after a little break and some daylight savings, I’m getting a fresh start to this wife, mother, cleaning lady, diaper lady, laundry lady, lunch lady, taxi lady, business lady, blog, facebook, twitter, marketing, graphic designer, accountant, sales rep, public relations director thing. And as part of successfully fulfilling all of those positions, I decided that I will definitely feel more tenacious (for you again honey ;o) if I rise earlier in the mornings, shower and get fully dressed with a complete face of make-up and tamed hair. That being said, I have waited for a special occasion to wear this little v-neck purple jewel-toned shirt, but since date nights are few and far between, I decided to get some use out of it and wear it to “the office”. Before my coffee even had a chance to “add a special touch” to my shirt, my 1 year old co-worker had accessorized the left shoulder with snooty and my right shoulder with sticky fingerprints of honeydew melon. (As my mother used to say, “Can’t I keep anything nice around here?!”) Oh, the amazingly and wonderfully dog-tired world of a Work At Home Mompreneur…I wouldn’t trade it for the world ;o)

So, as I dust off the GlaMOMorous World Blog and nurture her back to her original beauty, I hope you’ll enjoy what’s in store. As a part of my 2010 Marketing Plan, the GlaMOMorous World Blog will take a new turn. Praying for its success, I am very excited! Stick around…I hope to make YOU a part of it!

Big News

I love this kind of day….the tenacious kind where nobody’s gonna slow me down (oh no, I’ve got to keep on moving…). The kind where you wake up early – only pressing the snooze button once - and share some quality time and a great workout with Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas. Get home and down a protein shake, get your beautiful children and husband fed and dressed, compose a press release, send it out to as many publications as possible, change 2 poopy diapers, find a new showroom, and accomplish two long conference calls without any interruption. All of this done by 2:00 p.m.

I also love the kind of days where you have great news to share with the world (hence the press release). What’s the big news you may ask? Well, today we officially announced our exclusive distribution and supply agreement with BMB Distribution Limited in Canada. Not only is it a big day for the Prego Planner, but it’s a big day for me as a mompreneur. I’m thrilled about entering the Canadian market with BMB Distribution and I see their focus on the maternity and baby market being a great strategic fit for the Prego Planner. Canada, here we come!

It's Not How You Start, It's How You Finish

Source: You Tube

You have to think anyway, so why not think big?

Big things are happening in this GlaMOMorous World! And I do mean BIG things people! (Don’t even go there…I’m not prego!) Well, I’m not prego, but my company is!! By the end of 2009, we’re expecting a company name change, new collateral, new marketing plan, and the big news, a new product. Yay!!

Bringing a new product into this world is like pregnancy without the swollen ankles. Your brain becomes mush. You’re overwhelmed, concerned about finances, and you fret about how your “baby” will make it in this world (especially in this economy) as well as the perfect name. You can’t sleep at night, but your spouse can. You find yourself eating chocolate chip Teddy Grahams at midnight while you’re planning for the big arrival and you have a “to-do” list a mile long.

A top priority on my current “to-do” list is “find a custom design studio for new collateral.” As I have been interviewing companies, I have found that they each ask me to complete a basic “who, what and why” questionnaire. And that is what I am doing today. I’m answering in-depth questions that require a lot of thought…which requires silence…which requires everyone in bed…which means once nap time is over, it will be nighty night time before I can work again.

So the question I just finished was, “What are five key goals over the next year/five years?” Hrmmm…Think. Think. Think. And as I was thinking, I recalled words I once heard from Donald Trump, “You have to think anyway, so why not think big?” And boy did I find myself thinking big…a mommy chic pink jet, a beautiful yacht named “Mommy’s Time Out” and me sipping champagne with a sun-kissed body like Heidi Klum’s on the back, an incredible penthouse office on the San Diego Bay….and just as I was getting to the fabulous handbag, the buzzer went off on the dryer.

Okay, so back to Reality…and Reality said, “Hey Prego Planner Mompreneur! Your key goal is to pay your bills and send your children to college!” Which is right, but I have to separate my “MOMpreneur goals” from my “Company goals”. So, since I have to think, I’m going to think big. In one to five years, my Company will (in no particular order):

1. Be an established brand
2. Have a fashionably extensive line of maternity products (not telling – still a secret)
3. Be the “go-to” for maternity needs
4. Be available in major department stores
5. Have worldwide distribution channels
6. Fill an empty niche in the maternity industry
7. Set new maternity trends

Did you see that?! They asked for five and I gave them seven. Yes, I’m an over-achiever today! Now it’s time to print these babies out and hang them above my computer. Better yet, tattoo them on my forehead backwards so each time I look in the mirror, I am reminded to get my tail in gear.

“You better work (cover girl), work it girl (give a twirl), do your thing….sashay shante”

Letter From A Stranger

In the famous words of Tone Loc, “And it goes a little somethin’ like this….” (You’re welcome…I’ll be singing it all day too.)

You have your first child. You fall madly and deeply in love with your child. You realize that you could never leave his side. You set out determined to find a way to stay at home to catch every single breath that he takes. You develop a terrific product. With the love, help and support of your husband, you start a business and take your product to market. You spend endless hours working your tail off to make something of your business hoping that your, now two sons, will see you as a successful, smart and determined woman who gave her all; a woman who didn’t see her children as an obstacle to her dreams, but glorious inspiration. Outside of your family, you have no idea that you are affecting others.

Well, that is my story in a nutshell. And until our recent article in Life in Chenal Magazine, I had no idea how much my business, my Prego Planner and my story, could affect others who I don’t even know.

Shortly after the Life In Chenal Magazine containing our article was published, I received a most amazing letter in the mail from the Executive Director of a place called “Birthright”. A loving place where women who are pregnant and need help can go for guidance, advice, medical care and so much more. The handwritten letter read:

Dear Mrs. Heather Patterson,

I so enjoyed reading your awesome message in Life In Chenal. My daughter is pregnant and I can not wait to order items from you! I also direct the Crisis Pregnancy Center here in Little Rock…. I would love to talk with you sometime! The joy really showed in the article…. Thank you again for representing the “joy of motherhood”! I will show this article to the ladies who come to our waiting room! Your message will be heard by many who are at a “crossroad” in their lives….

Wow! Receiving that letter was one of the highlights of my mompreneur career.

To learn more about Birthright, please call 501.664.0097. Birthright is located at 804 N. University, Little Rock, Arkansas, 72205.

Prego Planner Trunk Show

I’m a big city girl at heart…I prefer concrete over woods (there are a lot less bugs and snakes, but more importantly…better shopping). I get a “high” from tall buildings and busy interstates. I was 12 years old when I decided that, as soon as I had the chance, I wanted to move to Dallas, Texas. Dallas is big city coming from a hometown with a population of less than 25,000. So after I completed my 4 year, turned 5 year, bachelor’s degree plan of college, I moved to Dallas. I vividly remember telling my parents as we were returning the Uhaul truck, “Mom. Dad. I am finally home!” However, that is before I discovered San Diego, California.

Seven years ago, my husband introduced me to sunny San Diego and it was love at first sight. Matter of fact, I cried when we left. The weather – perfect! The food – delicious! The shopping – magnificent! The ocean – beautiful! The atmosphere – paradisiacal!

We have returned to San Diego nearly every year since and I still cry every time we leave. So when Dress for the Nines (http://www.dressforthenines.com/) invited me to have a trunk show in their new store, I jumped at the chance!

On Thursday, July 16, I hopped in my Enterprise full size rental car - complete with large cigarette burns and smoked filled seats - and headed off to this adorable little boutique in Hillcrest, San Diego. Bobbing and weaving traffic, I wanted the rest of the drivers to believe I was a true San Diegoan. And by the time I had arrived to Dress for the Nines, I had convinced myself that I was.

Allison Andrews, co-owner of Dress for the Nines, greeted me at the door with a most welcoming smile and vibrant personality. As I set up my table, I had an overwhelming sense of accomplishment as a mompreneur…Nah, na na na nah, na na na nah. Here comes the hotstepper! I looked towards the front of the store and saw my products proudly displayed in the window of a beautiful shop in the city I most desire to call home. A sign in front of the store noted the week’s events and Prego Planner was at the top of the list. Wow! All of my hard work beginning to pay off! Sitting on Cloud 9, I left the stratosphere when I looked back towards the display table and saw my new and upcoming product displayed for the first time. And not only was I showcasing our never before seen product, I was privileged to be giving away a new, 100% organic, made in the USA – Hot Mama Gown (http://www.hotmamagowns.com/).

The trunk show lasted from noon -2 p.m. and every minute was thoroughly enjoyed! Inspired by pregnancy, it was such a delight to watch bumps of all sizes and shapes and hormones of all levels walk through the doors. After the show, I zoomed back to the hotel to meet up with my hubby and we began our trunk show celebration "pregnancy style" by splitting a red velvet cupcake at Heavenly Cupcakes followed by a giant hot dog, popcorn and peanuts at the Padres game.

Being my first trunk show, I learned an amazing amount of tid bits to take with me through the planning and preparation of our next trunk show and business in general. Motivated from the trunk show and a week in San Diego, I’m ready to take the maternity world by storm – I can see the lightning now! No wait! That’s the paparazzi!!