When a business looks for a place where they can advertise, it usually means they need to look for affordable advertising in an area that is related to the market they are trying to reach. We take a different approach to that by giving parents a place to promote their business amongst others that are just like them. People that just want to work from home whether it’s to care for their children or even their grandchildren.

I make a point of encouraging parents everywhere to work from home if that is where they wish to be. So many people don’t feel that they have the opportunity to work for themselves, but with the right tools, there are so many services that can be provided out of your home. The question is what are you doing for someone else that you can be doing for yourself? We encourage people to use the tools they already have. Do you love pets? Why not dog groom in your back yard? Do you bake? Why not offer some catering services? Are you a great book keeper? Are you good with spreadsheets? Writing? Emailing? All of these things can be done virtually, and Our Milk Money is a way to promote it for a very small annual fee.

What is ‘Our Milk Money’? We are an organization that is dedicated to helping parents earn more for their families. The basic function of OMM is a national online directory that lists all the self-employed parents across the country. We encourage our members to make purchases from each other and create a mini-economy amongst ourselves so that our businesses will thrive more. The basic concept is about educating the public on the value of making a purchase from a family rather than a mega store. We work to inspire parents to contribute to this movement and we believe that we can make some significant changes by working together.

It is imperative that we look to support each other. In some ways the life we lead as parents is so much more difficult than when our parents were raising us. In this society most families cannot survive on one income- and we weren’t prepared for this struggle. It’s easy to blame ourselves for not choosing a better career, a better school, a different industry. It’s easy to blame our parents and teachers for not preparing us better, or politicians, or old bosses…but all of that is so counterproductive. We really believe in looking forward and that we can make a difference by looking at the power we have from within. The stronger our membership, the better chance we have at succeeding in this concept.

How did we come up with the idea? I was a working parent and hated it. I hated the daycare my son was in and the number of hours I spent in the car with him. I wanted to come home desperately but could not find the right opportunity to leave my job, and we would not have been able to survive without my income. During a strange turn of events, I was let go, and was able to collect some severance. While at home, my son started to flourish and I realized I never wanted to leave him again. I started thinking of ways to help others stay home and support their families as well. I am a big believer in karma, so I felt that if I started contributing to others, I’d be taken care of as well. I didn’t have the money to just give away, but I realized I could use the budget I had for our every day purchases simply by giving my business to the right people. So, I started searching for parents who sold the everyday products and services that I was spending my money on anyway…but this wasn’t easy. I couldn’t believe that there was nothing out there to aid me in my search. I am usually pretty good at finding just about everything I need online so I was surprised that nothing like this existed. I told my friend Kelli about how there should me a directory that lists only parents who are working from home. Kelli loved that idea and urged me to create it myself. I had never run my own business before and didn’t want to attempt it alone. Because I saw Kelli’s passion in the idea, I knew she’d make the perfect partner. So I asked and she agreed.

The only mandatory criteria we have is that you must be a self-employed parent. We also list grandparents, and family members who are contributing to a family run business. Membership is only $25/year - which gives you a local business listing in the community, and full access to your profile. There are options to buy into other communities for an additional fee.

We don’t sell ads to big companies so the small service listings will not be drowned out. Our Milk Money is constantly looking for ways to help empower the self-employed parent and we will always be available to lend support or advice.