In August 2007, a friend sent me a link to a cover story in US News & World Report titled: The New Mommy Track. The story detailed what I had been thinking since becoming a mom myself in 2005, which is that the traditional roles and rules of corporate America don’t work for today’s moms. And for this reason, more and more moms are starting their own businesses.

Today women represent more than one-third of all people involved in entrepreneurial activity. In fact, there are currently an estimated 10 million women-owned, privately-held U.S. businesses in existence!

These statistics were very exciting to me, as were the number of young women and new moms that had reached out to me for advice on starting their own businesses. I always enjoyed helping these women, but I also knew I didn’t have all the answers they needed. So when I read a copy of a fellow freelancer’s book on launching a profitable copywriting business, it hit me that a similar book for women – and specifically moms – looking to launch their own businesses would be a great asset.

Fortunately, my fellow freelancer and friend, Ed Gandia, agreed to collaborate on this effort with me. As we began work on our book however, we quickly realized that entrepreneurship was a very broad topic, and that the nuances surrounding different types of businesses were too many to tackle in a single book. We therefore decided to focus our book on providing advice to women looking to launch the type of business that we feel offers the best combination of flexibility and income potential, while also being low risk, easy to enter into and requiring minimal start-up capital. Namely, a freelance business, a model we’re very familiar with, since both of us started out our journeys to entrepreneurship as freelancers.

The Smart Mompreneur: A Step-By-Step Guide to Converting A Skill into a Lucrative and Flexible Business was published in the spring of 2009 and at the same time, I decided to launch a series of coaching programs aimed at helping women pursue freelance success.

Who am I and Why Do I Feel Qualified to be Giving Advice on this Topic?

My name is Noelle Abarelli. I am a visionary with a passion for helping others achieve their entrepreneurial dreams.

In 2003, I walked away from an exciting career in international marketing to achieve more balance in my life. At the time I was newly married and planning to start a family, and I knew in my heart that I would not find a position in corporate America where I could do well financially and professionally, while also doing a good job at home.

I founded a successful marketing consultancy, and after five years of running my own business, I realized I was spending much of my time informally coaching young women and new moms that were looking to pursue their own entrepreneurial dreams.

I took time out to research and write an e-book titled: The Smart Mompreneur: A Step-By-Step Guide to Converting A Skill into a Lucrative and Flexible Business and shortly after, I launched a series of coaching programs aimed at helping other women pursue freelance success.

Unlike many authors and coaches on the topic of entrepreneurship and self employment, I don’t have 30+ years of business experience. I don’t have fancy degrees and I haven’t worked with hundreds of Fortune 500 companies. But for you, that’s actually a good thing!

The ideas, tools and tactics I focus on within my book and coaching services are the same practical approaches I used to successfully launch my own profitable business. There’s no ‘theory’ within my offers. I’ve personally tried all the concepts and tactics I recommend and I know they work… extremely well.

Today, I continue to work within my marketing consultancy while also writing, speaking and coaching. I am a firm believer in work/life balance and I innately understand a mom’s need for an intellectual outlet that compliments the sometimes tedious task of child rearing. The goal of all of my work is to make balancing motherhood and a fulfilling career a little easier and a lot more enjoyable through creativity and practical strategy.

I am a graduate of Emory University and I currently reside in beautiful Boulder, CO with my husband, my two daughters and our rambunctious Irish Setter.