The Mompreneur Phenomenon

5 stay-at-home moms using talents and hobbies to craft home businesses

- Vanessa Infanzon

Several Charlotte-area stay-at home moms are part of a growing trend to use artistic and creative talents and skills to become savvy business owners. They are making jewelry, handbags, skin care products and clothing to sell online, and on Facebook and Etsy — and they are doing it all from home while taking care of their children. Some want to make extra money for household expenses or extras like family vacations and summer camp, while others crave the connection and support they receive from the entrepreneurial community and their customers. Meet five Charlotte moms who are using their creative energy and savvy organizational skills to build their own businesses.

Humble Tree Naturals

Monique “Free Spirit” Sweeting, 40, is mom to Justin Sweeting, 17, and Sarah Sweeting, 8. She is also the owner of Humble Tree Naturals, a skin care products company she opened in 2016. Sweeting handcrafts natural bath, body and hair products in her home using unrefined fair-trade shea butter harvested by women in Ghana.

“I am very conscious of my ingredients, where they come from and how they are produced. I also love it because it’s naturally vitamin-rich, balancing, and hydrating for both hair and skin,” Sweeting says.

Sweeting’s educational and corporate background in management and finance has helped build her business, but her skills as a parent have also added to her success.

“Manager and mom should be synonymous,” she says. “I've cultivated many skills being a single mom like multitasking, problem-solving, creativity and managing on a budget.”

Sometimes Sweeting works until 3 a.m., but normally she tries to complete projects when her children are in school. Scheduling "me" time is important to maintain a healthy balance in her life, she says.