VP of Finance. 57 Employees. 4 Kids. Zero Quitting. — Stephanie Lopez on The Blackout Period & How to Build Big Without Burning Out | Mama's got Aqua-Tots Swim School

VP of Finance. 57 Employees. 4 Kids. Zero Quitting. — Stephanie Lopez on The Blackout Period & How to Build Big Without Burning Out | Mama's got Aqua-Tots Swim School

Stephanie Lopez is a Vice President of Finance at a global consulting firm. She is also the owner of Aquatots Tom's River — a swim school with 57 employees that opened just two years ago. And a mom of four kids under seven. And she has never quit her corporate job. Let me say that again, mama: she has never quit. In this episode, Stephanie walks Brittany through the structural tool that makes her impossible-sounding life actually work. She calls it her "blackout period" — a daily non-negotiable window from 4:30 to 8:30pm where she does ZERO work, ZERO email, and is 100% present with her kids. Then her side hustle begins at 8:30 and runs until 11:30 every night. That four-hour container is the difference between burning out and building a 57-employee business while keeping her dream corporate role. This is the conversation for every mama who has been told she has to QUIT to build something big — and who is finally ready to learn the system that makes building-AND-keeping actually work. Plus: how she and her husband took their 401k and put their house on the line to open Aquatots, why waiting 9 extra months for the perfect location was the smartest move they made, the marketing strategy that took her from 200 pre-sales to 700 in one week, and the mistake she'd undo if she could (rushing the opening because of financial pressure). For the mama who's been told she has to choose. You don't have to choose. 💛 Find Stephanie: @aquatotstomsriver on Instagram | Aquatots Tom's River Pre- Order The Money Hungry Mama Guide -https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/money-hungry-mama-brittany-plumeri/1148503744

"I Quit My Corporate Job in JANUARY as a Single Mom of 3" | Mama's Got Willow and Oak Custom Planters

In January 2023 — the dead of winter, the wrong season for a gardening business, with no other income and three daughters depending on her — Mari Guadagno quit her 25-year corporate sales job at Xerox and went all-in on her container design business. Her daughters' first reaction? "Mom, it's January. How are you going to pay the mortgage?" Mari panicked. Until the angels answered. In this episode, Mari — a single mom of three girls and the founder of Willow and Oak Custom Planters — walks Brittany through the moment she realized her hobby was a real business, the COVID pivot that gave her permission to dream again, the text message that arrived in the exact moment she was second-guessing the biggest decision of her life, and the marketing strategy that built her business from zero to thriving in 4 years with almost zero online ads. This is the conversation for the mama who has been at a corporate job too long, the single mom who has been told she can't "play small," and every woman wondering if it's too late to start something. Mari is proof it isn't. Plus: why friends saying "you should get paid for this" is the universe trying to tell you something, why service-based local businesses are an underrated path to entrepreneurship, and how Mari is teaching her three girls what it really means to bet on yourself. For every mama who has been waiting for the "right time" to leap. 💛 Find Mari: @willowandoakcustomplanters on Instagram | willowandoakcustomplanters.com Fb grouphttps://www.facebook.com/share/g/1FVmxXpM3J/ [https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1FVmxXpM3J/] The Money Hungry Mama Guide — coming Sept 8, 2026https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/money-hungry-mama-brittany-plumeri/1148503744 Instagram: @themoneyhungrymama

"I Grew My Business and Felt YUCKY About It" — Louisa Vilardi on Refine and Release & Why Scaling Back Isn't Failing | Mama's Got Louisa Vilardi Photography

Louisa Vilardi had her best business year ever in 2025. She made the money. She hit the growth. She scaled her photography business in ways she'd been dreaming about for a decade. And it felt awful. Because the cost of that growth was her family. In this episode, Louisa — a former high school English teacher turned 10-year photography business owner and mama of three — walks Brittany through the framework she uses every January to make sure her business is growing the right way, not just the fast way. She calls it Refine and Release: keep what's working, release what's draining you, and stop measuring success by money alone. This is the conversation for every mompreneur who has ever felt the icky in between of "my business is growing but my family is paying the price" and who needs permission to scale back without it meaning failure. Plus: how Louisa built her business secretly during maternity leave (no website, no Instagram, no LLC), the pay-what-you-can pricing model she used to launch, the moment her mom passed away weeks after her son was born and changed her whole "why," the "two costs to every success" framework, and the fully-clothed-jump-in-the-ocean story that taught her how to take leaps in business. For the mama who is tired of the lie that more = better. 💛 Find Louisa: @louisavilardiphotography on Instagram | louisavilardi.com The Money Hungry Mama Guide — coming Sept 8, 2026 https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/money-hungry-mama-brittany-plumeri/1148503744 Instagram: @themoneyhungrymama Join the Free Fb Community: https://forms.gle/9V2zaH7A78s9SyXo8

The Skill You're Already Standing On | Mama's Got Beyond Sleep Solutions

hyllis King wasted almost two years buying online business courses, trying different models, and spinning her wheels — looking for the "next thing" to pivot into after her 13-year home daycare needed to close. And then one day she stumbled onto a pediatric sleep consulting certification and realized the truth that almost every mompreneur misses: "It was right there in front of me the whole time. I was so busy looking over here that I didn't see what's right here." In this episode of The Money Hungry Mama Podcast, Phyllis — a former kindergarten teacher, school social worker, mom of four notoriously bad sleepers, and 13-year home daycare owner — walks Brittany through how she built TWO thriving businesses using only the expertise she already had. And how every mama listening is probably standing on her next business idea right now without realizing it. Plus: pediatric sleep training that ISN'T "leave them to cry it out," giving moms permission to change their minds, why "the first pancake" theory will save your sanity, how to know when it's time to pivot, and the brutal truth about how public school squeezes out experienced teachers (and what to do when your career ousts you). If you have ever thought "I need to learn something new before I can start a business" — please, mama, listen to this one first. 💛 Find Phyllis: @beyondsleepsolutions on Instagram | beyondsleepsolutions.com Pre Order -> https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/money-hungry-mama-brittany-plumeri/1148503744

"Don't Wait Until They're Gone" — Lindsey Gann on Building Yourself BEFORE the Empty Nest | Mama's Got Bold and Bloom

By the time Lindsey Gann's four kids had all moved out, she didn't know who she was anymore. She had been their mom since she was 21 — and when the house went silent, the question came for her: who am I, if not their mom? She didn't have an answer. She had a depression. Then one night, doom-scrolling Amazon, she ordered a clay starter kit. That clay became Bold and Bloom — a hand-sculpted floral jewelry line for "moms who have spent years being everything for everyone else and are finally ready to feel like themselves again." In this episode of The Money Hungry Mama Podcast, Lindsey shares the empty-nest depression nobody warned her about, the question every mama needs to start asking now (no matter how young your kids are), how she built a business from scratch in her 40s, the focus rule that saved her business ("pick one thing"), and her redefinition of what it actually means to be a Money Hungry Mama. If you've ever felt yourself disappearing into the role of "mom" — this one is for you. 💛 Find Lindsey: @_boldandbloom on Instagram | shopboldandbloom.com