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News on Celebrating "Doing Business in Bathrobe Day"
February 10
SUMMIT DAILY NEWS FEATURE STORY
February 10, 2003BY:
Jane Stebbins
Mary
Lou Johns will be among those celebrating Doing Business
in your Bathrobe Day today
BRECKENRIDGE - Mary Lou Johns has ditched
the corporate rat race to work at home in her bathrobe.
The Breckenridge woman has joined the growing ranks of people
who work at home, and she joins others today in Doing Business
in your Bathrobe Day, a day founders hope to turn into an
annual event celebrating home businesses and the freedom
that comes with them.
"It's becoming more common with the Internet and telecommunications,"
Johns said. "It makes it possible to communicate faster;
your physical presence isn't required for lots of tasks."
Johns used to be a middle school principal in Chicago and
retired upon the request of her husband. She started reading
articles about life coaching and wondered if her experience
as a principal would help her in such a career. She owns
Blue Sky Coaching in Breckenridge.
"I went to an awareness program, and the coach explained
what it was, and I knew that was it," Johns said. "It
was simple for me. Life coaching is built on skills I had
as a mediator and a motivator, pulling different factions
together."
Getting established was an uphill battle, Johns said, because
many people haven't heard of life coaching. Now, however,
she helps people figure out what they want to do with their
lives, encourage them when they're discouraged and support
them in their endeavors - be it love, career, finances or
happiness.
"People want suggestions," she said. "They
need me to push them and acknowledge them and give them
some direction."
One of her clients is the wife of a former politician who,
after years of working as what Johns called "the woman
behind the throne," found herself out of a job when
her husband left the political arena.
"She wanted to figure out what she loves, what she
should be doing," Johns said. "She's 55, and life
isn't over. A coach is someone who's on your team and whose
only interest is your agenda and highest good. They're someone
who understands when you take two steps forward and one-and-a-half
steps back."
Johns particularly likes the job because she gets to set
her own hours, choose whether or not to "dress up"
for the office, and does all her work using the phone, fax,
FedEx, e-mail and the Internet.
That's where Doing Business in your Bathrobe Day comes into
play.
"It's a national day to support entrepreneurs everywhere
who are taking their work and paychecks into their own hands,"
said Kristie Rimmele, co-founder of WebMomz.com.
"Working from home is a popular option because of the
freedom it affords," said co-founder Michelle Floyd.
"You get to schedule your work around your life. You
choose your own career path, work hours and rates. You don't
compete with anyone but yourself."
"It's like heaven," Johns said. "It's so
great to set your own hours and not get dressed if you don't
want to. I do best in the morning, so I work then, play
in the afternoon and in the late afternoon, I do my professional
reading or administrative stuff. I break up the workday
to what suits me. When you work for someone else, you work
on their schedule."
Johns will host a seminar at the Home Business Success Summit
March 14-15 in Chicago - an event to which she will likely
have to wear more than a bathrobe.
"People who work at home have to be self-starters,"
she said. "And they have to know when to reach out.
But after that, all you need is a bathrobe and a headset,
and you're ready to roll."
Jane Stebbins can be reached at (970) 668-3998 ext. 228
or
jstebbins@summitdaily.com.
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