We recently asked an American working Mum and an Irish working Mum how they manage to juggle their work and family life. Both women run their own successful businesses and both actually work with their husbands too.

Nellie Akalp is the CEO of Corpnet.com in Los Angeles which she runs with her husband. Here is her family / working life story.

What are the ages of your children?

I have four children, boy and girl twins that are 11, an eight year old boy and a 16 month old baby girl….

Did you take much maternity time off – before and after your children were born?

Nope…in fact I worked up to the last minute of each of my pregnancies; in fact when I went into the operating room to have my twins, I was on the phone on a biz development deal with a huge brick and mortar company and they asked me to get off the phone; this is when I owned my first company…

How do you juggle work and looking after your youngest child?

I have help, however, due to the power of technology these days, I am able to work whenever and wherever I want so it makes it much easier and less challenging.  However, the secret receipt is being organized and planning ahead and just taking it one day at a time; otherwise I stress myself out.

Can you give me some tips for working Mums?

• Plan ahead
• Take time out for yourself even if its 5 minutes a day
• Trust your instincts and use your strengths and  go for it without any hesitation; it is the most gratifying feeling to be able to work for yourself, earn a living and do what you love and believe in each and every day…but you have to love what you do and believe in it!
• I also think humility is an admirable trait.  I think it’s important to defer to the judgments of your parents, elders and experts  My instincts are my most valuable asset; I have learned to rely on my instincts more from this point forward which was something I failed to do in the past and by failing to do so have been burned and hurt in the process.  Now I am more careful…

Claire Dalton runs Dungarvan Brewing Company in Co. Waterford with her husband, brother and sister-in-law. Here is her working / family life story.

What are the ages of your children?

18 months and 3 and a half

Did you take much maternity time off – before and after your children were born?

Not really any before, and in theory three full months after on each but you're never off when you have your own business and I often had to pop in to take care of some things and was still taking calls and emails.

How do you juggle work and looking after your youngest child?

He goes to a childminder four days a week, plus my parents help out a lot. I often spend time in the evening when they are in bed doing work, and I've often brought them to the brewery with me! The hardest part is that due to the nature of our business we have to spend a lot of times at weekends working at festivals and events which can be quite difficult, but we do try to make Sunday a family day as much as possible.

Can you give me some tips for working Mums?

Well, you have to be organised and you have to learn to put the phone / computer etc away at times as well. Running your own business, it's easy to get caught up in stuff the whole time but it's important for yourself and your children to learn to say no to work sometimes and enjoy your time together and ignore work for a while.

Are you a working Mum? Do you run your own business and family at the same time? Maybe you have some tips you'd like to share with us below?

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