Here's to the OG Work-at-home Mom

On #internationalwomensday I want to recognize my mom. She's retired, and isn't on LinkedIn, but I sincerely believed that having her as my role model growing up has had a tremendous impact on my career.

She was making a living and raising children at a time when families were still transitioning from single income to dual income, but traditional gender roles hadn't seemed to shift at all yet. She was sold on Hamburger Helper and Shake 'n' Bake to get everything done and still put a "homemade" meal on the table each night.

She put her teaching career on hold to stay home with her kids when we were very small. She had the most creative ways of working and earning money. I remember days of playing in the living room while she watched over us and other people's kids from the back. Laboring tirelessly at a large work table, she assembled pieces for jewelry display counters.

That was my mom. Getting paid to babysit and work while she was at home with her preschool children. She was a trailblazing 1980s-style remote worker and she didn't even know it.

Later in the afternoon she'd shove all of her pieces and us kids in the car to return them to the warehouse, only to pick up twice as many to do the next day.

She was a paragon of efficiency. She knew how many of each type of piece she could assemble per hour and whether or not the payout for the job was worth it. Declining the less desirable jobs when she could, she held out for tasks where she could do her best work and make a bigger impact for everyone, including her family.

Apparently her work was exquisite. She'd get calls when specific pieces came in that they knew she assembled the best. Deploying kindness in every interaction with the women at the warehouse, she chatted them up when she stopped by and they often had a couple of extra boxes of her most profitable pieces tucked away for her. She learned the best times to come back and see what was available.

On top of this, she followed craft trends and made money being creative too. Remember the year Cabbage Patch Kids were all sold out? Everyone in my family got a custom-made doll just for them that was painstakingly sewn, eyes painted, yarn hair color a perfect match. She sold handmade items here and there to add to her income and get better at crafting.

Later on, my mom would get back to teaching and continue flex her creative and caring muscles. She eventually ran the gifted and talented classroom at her elementary school, and guided kids in hands-on exercises they looked forward to every year.

During the holidays, the kitchen table overflowed with gifts, candy, Bath and Body Works baskets, adoration and appreciation from students and their families

Looking back, I've come to appreciate just how industrious and innovative my mom was. I'd go on to have a very different career path, but I can't help but think her work ethic and ingenuity had a dramatic impact on where I am.