Interview with Barbara Ryan

Barbara is a wahm to two little boys and she has quite a lot of different sources of income. From her own Cherish Collages site to working as an interviewer for an online magazine for moms. Read along as she tells you all about how it began.
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What's your name and can ya tell me a bit about yourself? (not your job, but you)
My name is Barbara Ryan and I am now a work at home moms of 2 boys. I am originally from Montreal, but now live in upstate NY with my family. My family is Italian and my favorite food is of course pasta, preferably with a cream sauce! I love computers, I have great friends I’ve made online and I love working online. Basically, I love all things digital, my digital camera, digital scrapbooking, editing photos digitally, and my iPod.

I can totally relate on the love for pasta, my hubby is Italian as well.

How many kids do you have?
I have 2 boys ages 4 and almost 2.

Tell me a bit about your business? My business is called Cherish Collage and I design custom photo collages from people’s photographs. I help people get those photos out of a box and into a fabulous display piece.

I also have an online magazine and blog for moms called Mom2Mom Magazine, which is full of mom relevant articles and goodies.

Believe it or not I've never been able to get into scrapbooking. Course I think it deals with time more than anything else. I can't wait to settle down and go through all my photos.

Did you work outside the home before this?
I worked in the travel industry for over 10 years and decided to stay home after my second child was born in November of 2005. The cost of both kids in daycare was almost my whole salary so it made more sense to stay home.

I kind of fell into it as well, after the birth of my son I knew I wanted to be the only one to raise him. When our second child came we thought about it and then with the cost of day care we realized it wasn't worth it. Sounds like you had a lot of fun in travel. Did you go to many places?

What is the hardest thing about being a WAHP?
Balancing the time you want to spend on your business and building it and the time you want and need to spend with your family.

Yes, this seems to be the hardest part. Any advice on that?

How long have ya been a WAHP?
Since November 2005 so almost 2 years, but I started my business while I was still working.

What made you decide to be a WAHP?
I started designing photo collages as a personal hobby, I loved playing with the digital photographs of my first son and that’s how I got started. I built it up while still working and now it’s grown much more because I am home and have more time to devote to it. I didn’t really decide to become a work at home moms, so much as it just evolved.

Which do you prefer?
I love being a work at home mom. I love the freedom of having my own business, the creativity, and being my own boss and seeing something that I created grow. It’s like having another child really.

Are there moments where you wish you could work outside the home again?
Sure, when the kids are driving me crazy I think, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to drop them off at daycare and not have to hear the whining for 8 hours. But that is really the only time, I love being home with them.

hehe, I think the same thoughts from time to time. Especially when the kids are fighting with one another and the baby is moody. Course then I think of how much it'll cost to keep them there even for an hour and get over it.

How do you advertise it?
My biggest form of advertising comes from article marketing. It’s free and a great way to drive traffic. My articles are my biggest traffic referrals right now.

Thank you for taking your time and answering the many questions. For everyone else, there is currently a contest going on over at Mom2Mom. The winner gets their own Color
the Sky Travel Pillowcase Set or Beach Girl Pillowcase Set.