Mompreneurs Making a Difference

In honor of Mother’s Day, we’d like to highlight a few local “mompreneurs” who successfully juggle motherhood with running a small business. Not only are these inspiring women following their passion, they are also doing great things for the world—from helping clean up our environment, to providing legal services to women in need.

Kate Jotzat, owner of Chroma K8 Beautique, founded this eco-friendly hair salon in Lincoln Square in response to a lack of environmentally friendly hair salons in Chicago. Aware of the dangers of conventional hair treatments and the harmful chemicals they contain, Kate did not want to contribute to polluting our ecosystem with toxic waste. Since opening their doors in 2014, Chroma K8 uses only “green” beauty products derived of natural ingredients that are good for both people and our planet. When Kate isn’t busy working behind the chair full-time to help people feel beautiful, she’s raising her 4-year-old son with the help of her husband and business partner, Bill. Kate contributes her success to her local support system of friends and family who enable her to work late nights and weekends.

Kim Foerster, founder and CEO of CharacTour and member at Free Range Office, says she was inspired to start her company after her family’s au pair, Jun, enlisted her help with joining the online dating world in 2009. With Kim’s help, Jun was able to create a dating profile, but Kim quickly discovered the number of profiles on such sites to be overwhelming, making it difficult for any one person to stand out from the crowd, let alone choose a compatible date. This experience reminded Kim of her time working within the publishing industry, when she noticed how difficult it was for people to choose books when they were faced with such a staggering amount of online options. Kim thought there must be a better way to choose entertainment, so she created CharacTour—a site that matches your personality with movies, books and television shows, based on characters that you’re likely to connect with. Kim admits it’s sometimes difficult to leave work at the office, but she does enjoy the flexibility of running her own business, which allows her to be with her children when needed. Kim believes it’s the quality of time you spend with your family that’s important, not necessarily the quantity.

In 2013, Jenny Perillo opened Noktivo, an eco-friendly nail salon, after learning first hand about the dangers and health risks of conventional nail products as a traditional nail technician. After suffering from allergic reactions and health problems from the products she was using at her job, she began searching for greener alternatives. She manages to divide her time between running a business, being a mother to her daughter, and lobbying on Capitol Hill for stricter regulations on personal care products with the help of the Chicago-based non-profit organization, Mom + Baby. Jenny admits that finding balance between her two lives is a constant challenge but she makes it work by staying motivated, which she contributes to celebrating her successes, rather than focusing on what she is not able to accomplish within a day.

Liane Jackson, our very own founder, opened Free Range Office in 2013, filling a void for a coworking space in Wicker Park-Bucktown that allows independent works and entrepreneurs to collaborate and get productive. This mother of two is able to manage running her own business, along with providing pro bono legal services to women in need. In addition, Liane frequently writes on business and legal topics related to startups, independent workers and mompreneurs for such outlets as the Huffington Post and ABA Journal. Liane says that opening Free Range has allowed her the freedom and flexibility of being her own boss, while coworking in a community of likeminded people.