SavvyMom Media congratulates Laura Berg of My Smart Hands, the winner of the 2010 SavvyMom Mom Entrepreneur of the Year.

Some Words from Our Winner

My Smart Hands benefits both the parents who take our classes and the instructors who teach our program. My program allows women (and men) from all walks of life to work for themselves. I have mothers, grandmothers, students, teachers, interpreters, speech pathologists and doctors who are My Smart Hands instructors. They have all joined for different reasons but they all have one thing in common: their passion for sign language. For the parents who take our classes, it’s a fun and interactive way for them to learn how to use American Sign Language (ASL) signs to communicate with their pre-verbal babies. Our classes combine music and games to reinforce the learning and are a great way for parents to meet other signing families!

On Mom Entrepreneurship

I love being a mom entrepreneur. It has allowed me to stay at home with my children but to also be a strong and successful business woman. The most exciting thing for me is meeting other mom entrepreneurs. It is amazing how many great business ideas have come out of women who have a desire to create something for their families. It is also amazing to see how supportive other mom entrepreneurs are of one another. It’s a growing community of very strong and independent women that I am so proud to be a part of.

About My Smart Hands

The Product

My Smart Hands is a company that offers baby sign language classes and products. Families take our classes to learn how to use American Sign Language signs to communicate with their babies. Signing with babies has shown to seriously reduce the child’s frustration because they are able to easily communicate with you through the use of signs. We use music, books and games in our classes to reinforce the learning of signs. It is a fun way for parents to spend time learning sign language with their babies. Our program uses 100% ASL signs and all of our instructors are required to have formal ASL training, as well as complete our My Smart Hands certification program.

The Inspiration

My inspiration to start My Smart Hands was 100% my daughter. I wanted to stay at home with her but I also needed to have some form of income. I was a teacher before I started My Smart Hands and when I was brainstorming ideas of what business I could do this just made total sense. I have a M.Ed. and a pre-interpreter’s degree in ASL, so I combined my two passions for teaching and sign language and created My Smart Hands. I consider myself extremely lucky. I love, love, love being the head of such a great organization and if it wasn’t for my beautiful daughter My Smart Hands would never have come to be.

The Rewards of Being a Mom Entrepreneur

The most rewarding thing for me is the time I am able to spend with my children. I am able to volunteer at my daughter’s school, I can take my son to music class, and I can take both my children swimming during the day. I feel very lucky to be my own boss and schedule my work around my life. Being a mom entrepreneur allows me to have the flexibility a 9-5 job doesn’t allow for. It has also provided me with the opportunity to meet a wonderful group of other mom entrepreneurs and be part of a great community of women.

The Plan for the Prize

First and foremost, I am going to use the $5000 to pay for some of the printing costs of my manuals and flash cards, key materials we have developed to be used in our approach. I am excited about working with Limelite PR, as I have always wanted to work with a PR firm! I have so many exciting things coming up in My Smart Hands, like iPhone apps and flash cards, that this is the perfect time for PR. I am looking forward to the advice I get from Eighty8 Online, I know the value of SEO work and what it can do for your online presence. I’m curious to see what both Clear Concepts Inc. and EntrepreNursery Inc have to say about my work processes and my brand. I also know the power of social media so I am interested in working with Virtual Business Solutions ON DEMAND to help take my social media platform to the next level. Of course having the mentorship from Shirley and learning from her success will be very valuable and I already have a place picked out for the crystal keepsake from Raynes & Co!