EP Founder &

Home Office Columnist

for Oxygen Media

Lisa Roberts is the mother of four children (ages 6-14), founder of four home businesses, author of How to Raise A Family & A Career Under One Roof: A Parent's Guide to Home Business (Bookhaven Press, 1997) and the co-author with Paul & Sarah Edwards of The Entrepreneurial Parent: How to Earn Your Living at Home and Still Enjoy Your Family, Your Work & Your Life (Tarcher/Putnam, 2002).

 

Lisa understands what it's like to balance work and family under one roof. She has been an Entrepreneurial Parent (EP) for the past 14 years.

Quoted in:

• The New York Times
• Christian Science Monitor
• Kiplinger's
• Parents
• Newsday
• Family PC: Feb. '99 issue! Click here to read "Home Office Harmony" (search the site for article)
• Home Office Computing
• Business Start-Ups
• CT Post's "Womanwise" feature article

Featured on:

• CNN's "Your Money"
• CNBC's "Minding Your Business"
• FoxNews' "Fox on Psychology"
• MSG Metro
• Channel 8's (ABC Affiliate) "Family Matters"
• ExtraHelp Channel's "Your Small Business"
• Wall Street Journal's "Work & Family" Radio Show with Sue Shellenbarger

Parenting & Business Media click here.

 

Table of Contents

Are you Homeward Bound? Read Lisa's e-column at Oxygen Media!

If you're a free agent with kids, enjoy the Free Agent Chat transcript from "Take Your Child to Work Day"....

 

EP Musings:

 

Over the many years that I've been living the EP life, I have found that developing a home career is a lot like raising another child. You need goals and vision, frequent reality checks, and blocks of uninterrupted time for each to grow. You could also use a "go-with-the-flow" frame of mind for when that letter, phone call, kiss, hug, brochure, press release, diaper, band-aid, UPS truck and school bus compete for your attention -- all at the same time!

 

No question it's a juggling act, but so is the life of any working parent...!

 

EP History:

 

When I first became a parent, I felt torn between my desire to nurture my newborn daughter and my need to bring in a paycheck and feel competent in my daily activities. When Jessica was 6 weeks old, I answered an ad that employed "homeworkers" for seasonal data entry work. Within a year I had earned enough money to launch my first home business, followed by three others as my "home career" continues to evolve. My home businesses:

• PC Plus -- a word processing/database management service that served a local community (1987-1989).
• A Creative Type -- a marketing and communications consultancy that served the local SOHO market (1989-1998).
• HomeWord Bound Publishing -- an independent publishing company that was formed to produce How to Raise A Family & A Career Under One Roof. This enterprise never went into operation because my title was picked up by an established publisher, Bookhaven Press (1996).
• The Entrepreneurial Parent, LLC -- a community and career resource for entrepreneurial parents at en-parent.com (1998).

EP Home Life:

 

I currently live with my husband of 16 years and my four "good witches" -- Jessica, William, Jimmy and Thomas -- in southern Connecticut. You can reach me by e-mail at [email protected].